Teks -- Isaiah 19:6 (NET)

19:6 The canals will stink; the streams of Egypt will trickle and then dry up; the bulrushes and reeds will decay,

Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Kata/Frasa (per frasa)

Wesley: Isa 19:6 - Rivers

The rivers (those rivulets by which the waters of Nile were distributed into several parts of the land) shall be turned far away, as they must needs be, when the river which fed them was dried up.

Wesley: Isa 19:6 - Brooks

The several branches of the river Nile, which were a great defence to Egypt.

Wesley: Isa 19:6 - Reeds

Which were useful to them for making their boats.

Wesley: Isa 19:6 - Whither

As they commonly do for want of water.

JFB: Isa 19:6 - they shall turn the rivers

Rather, "the streams shall become putrid"; that is, the artificial streams made for irrigation shall become stagnant and offensive when the waters fail [MAURER]. HORSLEY, with the Septuagint, translates, "And waters from the sea shall be drunk"; by the failure of the river water they shall be reduced to sea water.

JFB: Isa 19:6 - brooks of defence

Rather, "canals of Egypt"; "canals," literally, "Niles," Nile canals, the plural of the Egyptian term for the great river. The same Hebrew word, Matzor, whence comes Mitzraim, expresses Egypt, and a place of "defense." HORSLEY, as English Version translates it, "embanked canals,"

JFB: Isa 19:6 - reeds . . . flags

The papyrus. "Reed and rush"; utter withering.

Clarke: Isa 19:6

Shall turn the rivers far away "Shall become putrid"- האזניחו heeznichu . This sense of the word, which Simonis gives in his Lexicon, from the meaning of it in Arabic, suits the place much better than any other interpretation hitherto given; and that the word in Hebrew had some such signification, is probable from 2Ch 29:19, where the Vulgate renders it by polluit , polluted, and the Targum, by profaned, and made abominable, which the context in that place seems plainly to require. The form of the verb here is very irregular; and the rabbins and grammarians seem to give no probable account of it.

Calvin: Isa 19:6 - And the brooks of defence shall be emptied and dried up

6.And the brooks of defence shall be emptied and dried up ³¹ What he adds about fortifications is to the same purpose with what he had stated immediately before. He alludes to the embankments, which not only restrained the overflowing of the Nile, but protected the whole country; as if he had said that the embankments will not be needed, because the Nile will be dried up. Now, it is certain that the Nile was not laid dry, and yet the Prophet did not foretell what was not accomplished. We must therefore call to remembrance what we have already said, that on account of our stupidity those calamities are represented to us in a lively manner, which places them as it were before our eyes; for we need to have a representation made to us which is fitted to impress our minds, and to arouse us to consider the judgments of God, which otherwise we despise. We ought to observe the haughtiness of the Egyptians, whose resources were so various and abundant, and who thought that it was impossible for them to be overtaken by such a calamity.

TSK: Isa 19:6 - and the // the reeds

and the : Isa 37:25; 2Ki 19:24

the reeds : Isa 18:2; Exo 2:3; Job 8:11

Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Kata/Frasa (per Ayat)

Poole: Isa 19:6 - They shall turn the rivers far away // The brooks of defence // The reeds and flags // Shall wither

They shall turn the rivers far away which is to be taken impersonally, as such expressions are very frequently, for, the rivers (those small rivulets by which the waters of Nilus were conveyed and distributed into several parts of the land)

shall be turned far away as they must needs be, when the greater river Nilus, which fed them, was dried up.

The brooks of defence the several branches of the river Nilus, which were a great defence to Egypt, as is well known.

The reeds and flags which were very useful to them for making their boats, which were absolutely necessary in that country, and divers other things.

Shall wither as they commonly do for want of water.

Gill: Isa 19:6 - And they shall turn the rivers far away // and the brooks of defence shall be emptied and dried up // the reeds and flags shall wither

And they shall turn the rivers far away,.... The river Nile, called "rivers", the plural for the singular, because of the abundance of water in it; or its seven streams, with other rivulets, derived from it. Some make the "they" here to refer to the kings of Egypt, and interpret the words of some projects of theirs, by which the course of the river was turned to great disadvantage; particularly they understand it of the twelve tyrants that reigned after Sethon, to whom they ascribe the digging of the vast lake of Moeris, the two pyramids built in the midst of it, and a labyrinth near it, though only the labyrinth was made by them ^b; and as for the lake, it was made by Moeris, a king of Egypt, from whom it had its name, some hundred years before; and, besides, was of service, and not disservice, to the Nile; for it received its waters when it overflowed too much, and it furnished it with water by an outlet when it failed: rather therefore this passage may be illustrated by the attempt which Necus, the son of Psammiticus, whom the Scripture calls Pharaohnecho, made, to join the Nile and the Red Sea together, by making a canal from the one to the other; in which work he lost a hundred and twenty thousand men, and desisted from it without finishing it ^c; but it is thought hereby the river was greatly weakened:

and the brooks of defence shall be emptied and dried up; as the river of Nile and its streams were the defence of the land of Egypt, as well as made for the fruitfulness of it, for these must make it less accessible to a foreign enemy; and besides, here lay their shipping, which were their protection; and moreover, from hence brooks and courses of water might be derived and carried about their fortified cities, which added to the strength of them. The Targum renders it deep brooks or rivers; and Kimchi interprets it the brooks of Egypt, taking Matzor to signify Egypt, a word in sound near to Mitzraim, the common word used for Egypt. It looks, by this and other expressions in the context, as if more were designed than the above instance or instances will account for:

the reeds and flags shall wither; which grew in the brooks, and near them; and therefore much more the grass and corn, and other trees, which were at a distance; besides, these are mentioned, bemuse of the great usefulness they were of; for of these they made ships, barks, and boats, and mats for bedding, and nets fishing; as also paper to write on, as follows, and which was a staple commodity with them; See Gill on Isa 18:2.