Isaiah 19:11
in Isaiah 19The princes of Zoan are mere fools; Pharaoh’s wise counselors give senseless advice. How can you say to Pharaoh, “I am one of the wise, a son of eastern kings”?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The princes of Zoan are utterly foolish; the counsel of the wisest counsellors of Pharaoh is become brutish: how say ye unto Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings?
KJV
Surely the princes of Zoan are fools, the counsel of the wise counsellors of Pharaoh is become brutish: how say ye unto Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings?
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This verse in Isaiah 19
Commentary
12 notes on this verseSurely the princes of Zoan are fools,.... Zoan was a very ancient city of Egypt, it was built within seven years of Hebron in the land of Judah, Num 13:22 here it was that the Lord did those miracles, by the hands of Moses and Aaron, before Pharaoh and his people, in order to oblige him to let Israel go, Psa 78:12 by which it appears that it was then the royal city, as it seems to have been now; since mention is made of the princes of it, who usually have their residence where the court is.
This site's exposition
The princes of Zoan are mere fools
on Isaiah 19:11-13
The wisdom of Egypt is mocked by name: "The princes of Zoan are mere fools". Verse 13 brings the same charge against "the princes of Memphis". Matthew Henry and Joseph Addison Alexander note that Zoan and Memphis were royal capitals, so the judgment reaches the seat of government.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
(Verset 5 et suiv.) And the sea water will dry up, and the river will be deserted and dried up, and the rivers will fail, and the streams of the embankments will be thin and dry up. The reed and the rush will wither, the bed of the river will be exposed from its source, and all irrigated crops will dry up. It will dry up and cease to exist.
(Vers. 11-13.) The foolish princes of Tanis, the wise counselors of Pharaoh, gave foolish counsel: How can you say to Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings? Where are your wise men now? Let them tell you and make known what the Lord of hosts has purposed against Egypt. The foolish princes of Tanis have become fools; the princes of Memphis are deceived; they have caused Egypt to stagger, the cornerstone of its peoples. Tanis was the capital of Egypt, as the Psalmist declares, where Moses performed many signs that are described in Exodus: He set his signs in Egypt and his wonders in the field of Tanis (Ps. 78:11). Memphis, also dedicated to magical arts, still shows traces of error from ancient times to the present. And this is briefly indicated, that with the coming of the Babylonian devastation, all the plans of the Magi, and of those who promised knowledge of the future, are proven foolishness, and with the advent of Christ everything is reduced to nothingness, not finding the advice of the Egyptian seers on how to suppress the Christian doctrine. However, the language of the Scriptures is that they place the angle for the kingdom, since it contains the peoples, and is the strongest in the whole house. And Christ, containing the walls of two peoples, is called the cornerstone (Ephesians II). And what he brings in: How will you say to Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of the ancient kings, signifies that the Egyptians imitate their heroes and gods, namely Horus, Isis, Osiris, and Typhon.
A commentator
Ambrose of MilanOn the Blessings of the Patriarchs, 11.49 · Written before 397.
proposed
And the Father says to him: Return to me, calling him from the earth to heaven, whom he had sent for our salvation. Therefore, raising up his only-begotten Son, he frustrated the plan of the slanderers. Hence, Isaiah also says: The futile plan of your spirit. And the one who had been accusing and directing arrows like a hunter, has disarmed everything: he has crushed the power of those who relied on their own strength and not on God.
The Medieval Church1 voice
The princes of Tanis are become fools. Here he sets out the stupidity of their men; and first, as to error in their counsels; second, as to fear in wars, where it says, in that day Egypt shall be like unto women (Isa 19:16). Concerning …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
That at length God's holy religion should be brought into Egypt, and set up there, in part by the Jews that should flee thither for refuge, but more fully by the preachers of the gospel of Christ, through whose ministry churches should be planted in Egypt in the says of the Messiah (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
5 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Zoan - The chief city, in which the king and court frequently resided. How - Why do you put such foolish words into Pharaoh's mouth? I am the son - Wisdom is heredity and natural to me.
Egypt was famous for such. But their counsel has all become brutish; they have lost all their forecast; one would think they had become idiots, and were bereaved of common sense. Let no man glory then in his own wisdom, nor depend upon that, nor upon the wisdom of those about him; for he that gives understanding can when he please take it away.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Surely the princes - The following verses, to Isa 19:16, are designed to describe further the calamities that were coming upon Egypt by a want of wisdom in their rulers. They would be unable to devise means to meet the impending calamities, and would actually increase the national misery by their unwise counsels. The word ‘princes’ here is taken evidently for the rulers or counselors of state. Of Zoan - The Vulgate, Septuagint, and Chaldee, render this ‘Tanis.’ Zoan was doubtless the Tans of the Greeks (Herod. ii.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
I am . . . son of the wise . . . kings--Ye have no advice to suggest to Pharaoh in the crisis, notwithstanding that ye boast of descent from wise and royal ancestors. The priests were the usual "counsellors" of the Egyptian king. He was generally chosen from the priestly caste, or, if from the warrior caste, he was admitted into the sacred order, and was called a priest.
The counsel of the wise counselors of Pharaoh is become brutish “Have counseled a brutish counsel” - The sentence as it now stands in the Hebrew, is imperfect: it wants the verb. Archbishop Secker conjectures that the words יועצי פרעה yoatsey pharoh should be transposed; which would in some degree remove the difficulty. But it is to be observed, that the translator of the Vulgate seems to have found in his copy the verb יעצו yaatsu added after פרעה pharoh: Sapientes consiliarii Pharaonis dederunt consilium insipiens, “The wise counsellors of Pharaoh gave unwise counsel.” This is probably the true reading: it is perfectly agreeable to the Hebrew idiom, makes the construction of the sentence clear, and renders the transposition of the words above mentioned unnecessary. - L.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
How will you say from now on to Pharaoh, each one of you about himself, I am a son of the wise?
2 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
And its foundations shall be crushed, all who make dams Eklusa in O.F., a sluice. Comp.
And there shall be trodden under foot the well watered place, where they have been making pits, waterpools each for himself.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
19 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אַךְ־ | ʾakh- | [are] only | H389 → | 161 times |
| אֱוִלִים֙ | ʾevilim | fools | H191 → | |
| שָׂ֣רֵי | sarei | [the] officials of | H8269 → | 421 times |
| צֹ֔עַן | tzoan | Zoan | H6814 → | 7 times |
| חַכְמֵי֙ | chakhmei | [the] wise [people] of | H2450 → | 138 times |
| יֹעֲצֵ֣י | yoatzei | [the] counselors of | H6098 → | 89 times |
| פַרְעֹ֔ה | faroh | Pharaoh | H6547 → | 274 times |
| עֵצָ֖ה | ʾetzah | counsel | H6098 → | 89 times |
| נִבְעָרָ֑ה | nivarah | foolish | H1197 → | 94 times |
| אֵ֚יךְ | ʾeikh | how? | H349 → | 82 times |
| תֹּאמְר֣וּ | tomeru | will you say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| פַּרְעֹ֔ה | paroh | Pharaoh | H6547 → | 274 times |
| בֶּן־ | ben- | [am] a son of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| חֲכָמִ֥ים | chakhamim | wise [people] | H2450 → | 138 times |
| אֲנִ֖י | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| בֶּן־ | ben- | a son of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| מַלְכֵי־ | malkhei- | kings of | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| קֶֽדֶם׃ | kedem | ancient time | H6924 → | 87 times |
אַךְ־[are] only
ʾakh-H389 →161 times
אֱוִלִים֙fools
ʾevilimH191 →
שָׂ֣רֵי[the] officials of
sareiH8269 →421 times
צֹ֔עַןZoan
tzoanH6814 →7 times
חַכְמֵי֙[the] wise [people] of
chakhmeiH2450 →138 times
יֹעֲצֵ֣י[the] counselors of
yoatzeiH6098 →89 times
פַרְעֹ֔הPharaoh
farohH6547 →274 times
עֵצָ֖הcounsel
ʾetzahH6098 →89 times
נִבְעָרָ֑הfoolish
nivarahH1197 →94 times
אֵ֚יךְhow?
ʾeikhH349 →82 times
תֹּאמְר֣וּwill you say
tomeruH559 →5305 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
פַּרְעֹ֔הPharaoh
parohH6547 →274 times
בֶּן־[am] a son of
ben-H1121 →4930 times
חֲכָמִ֥יםwise [people]
chakhamimH2450 →138 times
אֲנִ֖יI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
בֶּן־a son of
ben-H1121 →4930 times
מַלְכֵי־kings of
malkhei-H4428 →2525 times
קֶֽדֶם׃ancient time
kedemH6924 →87 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
1 Kings 4:30Solomon’s wisdom was greater than that of all the men of the East, greater than all the wisdom of Egypt.
it leads to
- Daniel 5:11–12
There is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him. In the days of your father he was found to have insight, intelligence, and wisdom like that…
- Genesis 25:6
But while he was still alive, Abraham gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them away from his son Isaac to the land of the east.
- Acts 7:22
So Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.
- Job 1:3
and he owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and a very large number of servants. Job was the greatest man of all the people of the East.
- Daniel 1:20
In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king consulted them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his entire kingdom.
- Daniel 5:11–12
Through
Numbers 13:22They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, dwelled. It had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.
it leads to
- Psalms 78:12
He worked wonders before their fathers in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan.
- Psalms 78:43
when He performed His signs in Egypt and His wonders in the fields of Zoan.
- Joshua 15:13–14
According to the LORD’s command to him, Joshua gave Caleb son of Jephunneh a portion among the sons of Judah—Kiriath-arba, that is, Hebron. (Arba was the forefather of Anak.)
- Psalms 78:12
Where this verse is studied
About Isaiah
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrose of Milan, On the Blessings of the Patriarchs, 11.49; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Joseph Addison Alexander, Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.