Isaiah 11:15
in Isaiah 11The LORD will devote to destruction the gulf of the Sea of Egypt; with a scorching wind He will sweep His hand over the Euphrates. He will split it into seven streams for men to cross with dry sandals.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Jehovah will utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his scorching wind will he wave his hand over the River, and will smite it into seven streams, and cause men to march over dryshod.
KJV
And the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dryshod.
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This verse in Isaiah 11
Commentary
9 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
"The river" is the Euphrates, the obstruction to Israel's return "from Assyria" (Isa 11:16), a type of all future impediments to the restoration of the Jews. dry shod--Hebrew, "in shoes." Even in sandals they should be able to pass over the once mighty river without being wet (Re 16:12).
This site's exposition
The LORD will devote to destruction
on Isaiah 11:15-16
The LORD splits the Euphrates "for men to cross with dry sandals," recalling the Red Sea crossing. The chapter closes on "a highway for the remnant of His people who remain from Assyria," with the exodus as the pattern. The dried river and the highway make one image.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
And the Lord will dry up the tongue of the sea of Egypt, and he will lift his hand over the river with the strength of his spirit, and he will strike it in the seven streams, so that people can cross it in sandals. And there will be a highway for the remnant of my people who are left from Assyria, just as there was for Israel on the day when they came up from the land of Egypt.
The Medieval Church2 voices
381. And the Lord shall lay waste. Here the preparation of their liberation is set out. And concerning this two things are set out: first, the preparation, second, the attainment of the benefit: and there shall be a highway (Isa 11:16). And the preparation is …
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistMorals on the Book of Job, Book 33, Sections 18-19 · Written before 604.
proposed
It is said, as Paul witnesses: "And from sin He condemned sin." He bound his tongue with a cord, because by means of the likeness of sinful flesh He swept away all his deceitful arguments from the hearts of His Elect. For behold, when the Lord appears in the flesh, the tongue of Leviathan is bound, because, when His truth had become known, those doctrines of falsehood were silenced. For where is now the error of the Academicians, who endeavour to establish on sure grounds that nothing is sure, who with shameless brow demand from their hearers belief in their assertions, when they declare that nothing is true? Where is the superstition of the Mathematicians, who, looking up at the courses of the constellations, make the lives of men to depend on the motions of the stars? Though the birth of twins often scatters their doctrine to the winds; for though born at one and the same moment, they do not abide in the same kind of conversation. Where are those many false teachings, which we abstain from enumerating, for fear of digressing far from the course of our commentary? But every false doctrine has now been silenced, because the Lord has bound the tongue of Leviathan by the cord of His Incarnation. Whence it is also well said by the Prophet: "And the Lord shall lay waste the tongue of the Egyptian sea." For the 'tongue of the sea,' is the knowledge of secular learning. But it is well called 'the Egyptian sea;' because it is darkened with the gloom of sin. The Lord, therefore, laid waste the tongue of the Egyptian sea, because by manifesting Himself in the flesh, He destroyed the false wisdom of this world. The tongue of Leviathan is, therefore, bound with a cord, because the preaching of the old sinner was bound by the likeness of sinful flesh.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Converts shall be brought in chariots and in litters, ch. lxvi. Some think it is the further accession of multitudes to the church that is pointed at in that obscure prophecy of the drying up of the river Euphrates, that the way of the kings of the east may be prepared ( Rev. xvi. 12 ), which seems to refer to this prophecy.
And the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea,....
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
The Lord - shall smite it in the seven streams “Smite with a drought” - The Chaldee reads החריב hecherib; and so perhaps the Septuagint, who have ερημωσει, the word by which they commonly render it. Vulg. desolabit; “shall desolate.” The Septuagint, Vulgate, and Chaldee read הדריכהו hidrichahu, “shall make it passable,” adding the pronoun, which is necessary: but this reading is not confirmed by any MS. Here is a plain allusion to the passage of the Red Sea. And the Lord’s shaking his hand over the river with his vehement wind, refers to a particular circumstance of the same miracle: for “he caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land,” Exo 14:21. The tongue; a very apposite and descriptive expression for a bay such as that of the Red Sea. It is used in the same sense, Jos 15:2, Jos 15:5; Jos 18:19. The Latins gave the same name to a narrow strip of land running into the sea: tenuem producit in aequora linguam. Lucan. 2:613. He shall smite the river to its seven streams. This has been supposed to refer to the Nile, because it falls into the Mediterranean Sea by seven mouths: but R. Kimchi understands it of the Euphrates, which is the opinion of some good judges. See the Targum. See below. Herodotus, lib. i, 189, tells a story of his Cyrus, (a very different character from that of the Cyrus of the Scriptures and Xenophon), which may somewhat illustrate this passage, in which it is said that God would inflict a kind of punishment and judgment on the Euphrates, and render it fordable by dividing it into seven streams. […]
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And the Lord - The prophet goes on with the description of the effect which shall follow the return of the scattered Jews to God. The language is figurative, and is here drawn from that which was the great storehouse of all the imagery of the Jews - the deliverance of their fathers from the bondage of Egypt.
The words behind it
17 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהֶחֱרִ֣ים | vehecherim | and he will divide | H2763 → | 52 times |
| יְהוָ֗ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֵ֚ת | ʾet | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| לְשׁ֣וֹן | leshon | [the] tongue of | H3956 → | 117 times |
| יָם־ | yom- | [the] sea of | H3220 → | 396 times |
| מִצְרַ֔יִם | mitzrayim | Egypt | H4714 → | 641 times |
| וְהֵנִ֥יף | vehenif | and he will brandish | H5130 → | 37 times |
| יָד֛וֹ | yado | hand his | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | over | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הַנָּהָ֖ר | hanahar | the River | H5104 → | 119 times |
| בַּעְיָ֣ם | ba'yam | with [the] heat of | H5868 → | |
| רוּח֑וֹ | rucho | wind his | H7307 → | 378 times |
| וְהִכָּ֙הוּ֙ | vehikahu | and he will strike it | H5221 → | 499 times |
| לְשִׁבְעָ֣ה | leshivah | into seven | H7651 → | 394 times |
| נְחָלִ֔ים | nechalim | wadis | H5158 → | 141 times |
| וְהִדְרִ֖יךְ | vehidrikh | and he will make walk | H1869 → | 62 times |
| בַּנְּעָלִֽים׃ | banealim | in <the> sandals | H5275 → | 22 times |
וְהֶחֱרִ֣יםand he will divide
vehecherimH2763 →52 times
יְהוָ֗הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֵ֚ת<obj.>
ʾetH853 →10935 times
לְשׁ֣וֹן[the] tongue of
leshonH3956 →117 times
יָם־[the] sea of
yom-H3220 →396 times
מִצְרַ֔יִםEgypt
mitzrayimH4714 →641 times
וְהֵנִ֥יףand he will brandish
vehenifH5130 →37 times
יָד֛וֹhand his
yadoH3027 →1618 times
עַל־over
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
הַנָּהָ֖רthe River
hanaharH5104 →119 times
בַּעְיָ֣םwith [the] heat of
ba'yamH5868 →
רוּח֑וֹwind his
ruchoH7307 →378 times
וְהִכָּ֙הוּ֙and he will strike it
vehikahuH5221 →499 times
לְשִׁבְעָ֣הinto seven
leshivahH7651 →394 times
נְחָלִ֔יםwadis
nechalimH5158 →141 times
וְהִדְרִ֖יךְand he will make walk
vehidrikhH1869 →62 times
בַּנְּעָלִֽים׃in <the> sandals
banealimH5275 →22 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 50:2Why was no one there when I arrived? Why did no one answer when I called? Is My hand too short to redeem you? Or do I lack the strength to deliver you? Behold,…
it leads to
- Isaiah 59:1
Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear.
- Isaiah 66:4
So I will choose their punishment and I will bring terror upon them, because I called and no one answered, I spoke and no one listened. But they did evil in My sight and…
- Numbers 11:23
The LORD answered Moses, “Is the LORD’s arm too short? Now you will see whether or not My word will come to pass.”
- Joshua 3:16
the flowing water stood still. It backed up as far upstream as Adam, a city in the area of Zarethan, while the water flowing toward the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) was…
- Proverbs 1:24
Because you refused my call, and no one took my outstretched hand,
- Isaiah 59:1
Through
Revelation 16:12And the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings of the East.
it leads to
- Revelation 9:14
saying to the sixth angel with the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.”
- Jeremiah 51:36
Therefore this is what the LORD says: “Behold, I will plead your case and take vengeance on your behalf; I will dry up her sea and make her springs run dry.
- Revelation 9:14
Through
Zechariah 10:11They will pass through the sea of distress and strike the waves of the sea; all the depths of the Nile will dry up. The pride of Assyria will be brought down, and the…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 30:13
This is what the Lord GOD says: I will destroy the idols and put an end to the images in Memphis. There will no longer be a prince in Egypt, and I will instill…
- Ezekiel 30:13
Where this verse is studied
About Isaiah
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book 33, Sections 18-19; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.