Isaiah 19:3

Translations

King James Version (KJV)

And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the middle thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards.

American King James Version (AKJV)

American Standard Version (ASV)

And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst of it; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek unto the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards.

Basic English Translation (BBE)

And the spirit of Egypt will be troubled in her, and I will make her decisions without effect: and they will be turning to the false gods, and to those who make hollow sounds, and to those who have control of spirits, and to those who are wise in secret arts.

Webster's Revision

And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst of her, and I will destroy her counsel: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards.

World English Bible

The spirit of Egypt will fail in its midst. I will destroy its counsel. They will seek the idols, the charmers, those who have familiar spirits, and the wizards.

English Revised Version (ERV)

And the spirit of Egypt shall be made void in the midst of it; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek unto the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards.

Clarke's Isaiah 19:3 Bible Commentary

They shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards - And thei schul asken their symulacres, and their debynouris, and their devyl clepers, and their devyl sacristers. - Old Bible. The import of the original words has already been given where they occur in the Pentateuch. See Deuteronomy 18:10, etc.

Barnes's Isaiah 19:3 Bible Commentary

And the spirit of Egypt - (see Isaiah 19:1). They shall be exhausted with their long internal contentions and strifes; and seeing no prospect of deliverance, and anxious that the turmoils should end, they shall seek counsel and refuge in their gods and necromancers, but in vain.

Shall fail - (נבקה nâbeqâh). Margin, 'Be emptied.' The word means, literally, "to pour out, empty, depopulate." Here it means that they would become disheartened and discouraged.

And I will destroy - Margin, as the Hebrew, 'I will swallow up.' So the word is used in Psalm 107:27, 'All their wisdom is destroyed' (Hebrew, 'swallowed up. ')

And they shall seek to the idols - According to Herodotus (ii. 152), Psammetichus had consulted the oracle of Latona at Butos, and received for answer that the sea should avenge his cause by producing brazen men. Some time after, a body of Ionians and Carians were compelled by stress of weather to touch at Egypt, and landed there, clad in brass armor. Some Egyptians, alarmed at their appearance, came to Psammetichus, and described them as brazen men who had risen from the sea, and were plundering the country. He instantly supposed that this was the accomplishment of the oracle, and entered into an alliance with the strangers, and by their aid was enabled to obtain the victory over his foes. Compare the different accounts of Diodorus in the Analysis of this chapter. The whole history of Egypt shows how much they were accustomed to consult their idols (see Herodot. ii. 54ff, 82, 83, 139, 152). Herodotus says (ii. 83), that the art of divination in Egypt was confined to certain of their deities. There were in that country the oracles of Hercules, of Apollo, of Mars, of Diana, and of Jupiter; but the oracle of Latona in Butos was held in greater veneration than any of the rest.

And to the charmers - (אטים 'ı̂ṭı̂ym). This word occurs nowhere else. The root אטט 'âṭaṭ, in Arabic, means "to mutter, to make a gentle noise;" and this word probably denotes conjurors, diviners (see the note at Isaiah 8:19). The Septuagint renders it, 'Their idols.'

And to them that have familiar spirits - (see the note at Isaiah 8:19). The Septuagint renders this, 'Those who speak from the ground.'

And to the wizards - Septuagint - Ἐγγαστριμύθους Engastrimuthous - 'Ventriloquists.' The Hebrew word means a wise man, a soothsayer, a magician (ידענים yı̂dı̂‛onı̂ym from ידע yâda‛ "to know;" see Leviticus 19:31; Leviticus 20:6; Deuteronomy 18:11). This fake science abounded in Egypt, and in most Oriental countries.

Wesley's Isaiah 19:3 Bible Commentary

19:3 The spirit - Their courage.

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