Isaiah 19:10 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Those who are the pillars of the land will be crushed, and all who work for pay will be grieved.

NIV: The workers in cloth will be dejected, and all the wage earners will be sick at heart.

NASB: And the pillars of Egypt will be crushed; All the hired laborers will be grieved in soul.

CSB: Egypt's weavers will be dejected; all her wage earners will be demoralized.

NLT: They will be in despair, and all the workers will be sick at heart.

KJV: And they shall be broken in the purposes thereof, all that make sluices and ponds for fish.

NKJV: And its foundations will be broken. All who make wages will be troubled of soul.

The Lord is predicting the devastation that will come on the usually prosperous nation of Egypt (Isaiah 19:5–6). He will dry up the Nile River. The farming industry would halt without the annual flooding of the Egyptian lowlands. The expansive fishing industry would cease to exist. Egypt's world-famous linen industry would stop functioning without the water from the Nile to grow flax. The Egyptian workers would be left without jobs or food to eat (Isaiah 19:7–9).

Scholars translate the Hebrew word sātōte' in the first phrase of this verse differently. Some understand it to mean "pillars," leading to the idea that the "great ones" of the land—leaders and rulers—will be dejected. Other scholars understand the word to mean "weavers" or "workers," indicating that the cloth-workers will be crushed. This may fit better with the idea that the "wage earners" will be devastated.

In either case, the picture is one that is familiar to people throughout time. When all the workers in a given industry suddenly lose their jobs, they fall into harsh poverty and the entire economy is dragged down with them.

Isaiah 19:1–15 is an oracle against the nation of Egypt. Isaiah describes the Lord, not Egypt's imaginary god Baal, as arriving on a swift cloud to judge the nation. The hearts of the people will melt, and their spirits will be emptied out. They will turn on each other. Neither their gods nor their wise men will be able to save them. Even the Nile River will dry up. Yet, in the kingdom of the Messiah, Egypt will turn to the Lord and be blessed by Him.

Isaiah's oracle describes the Lord's coming judgment on Egypt. The idols will fear when God arrives, and the people will turn on each other. A fierce king will conquer them. The Nile River will dry up, leaving many destitute. The advisors serving Egypt's leaders will be revealed as confused fools. Far in the future, Egypt will recognize Israel's God and repent, turning to worship the Lord. Assyria will join in that worship, blessing the earth along with Egypt and Israel.

Isaiah 19 introduces the next oracle against the nations of the earth. The Lord has been showing His people not to put their trust and hope in the foreign nations or their gods. They are to trust in Him alone to save them. The Lord's arrival in Egypt reveals the worthlessness of idols and spiritists. The terrified people will turn on each other. They will become destitute when the Nile dries up and the wise are shown to be foolish. In the far future, Egypt will worship the Lord and be blessed by Him.

Isaiah is among the most important prophetic books in the entire Bible. The first segment details God's impending judgment against ancient peoples for sin and idolatry (Isaiah 1—35). The second part of Isaiah briefly explains a failed assault on Jerusalem during the rule of Hezekiah (Isaiah 36—39). The final chapters predict Israel's rescue from Babylonian captivity (Isaiah 40—48), the promised Messiah (Isaiah 49—57), and the final glory of Jerusalem and God's people (Isaiah 58—66).