Isaiah 19:5
in Isaiah 19The waters of the Nile will dry up, and the riverbed will be parched and empty.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and become dry.
KJV
And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up.
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This verse in Isaiah 19
Commentary
11 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
A public record is kept at Cairo of the daily rise of the water at the proper time of overflow, namely, August: if it rises to a less height than twelve cubits, it will not overflow the land, and famine must be the result. So, also, when it rises higher than sixteen; for the waters are not drained off in time sufficient to sow the seed.
This site's exposition
a cruel lord
on Isaiah 19:4-6
The oracle turns from idols to politics: Egypt is given over into the hand of a cruel lord and a fierce king rules over it, which the older commentators diversely trace to Assyrian conquest, Ethiopian dynastic collapse, or later Persian rule, named without settling the exact fulfillment. The Nile itself is judged next, the waters failing from the sea and the river wasted and dried up, the river Egypt worshipped as a god reduced to nothing by the God who made it. Delitzsch and Barnes note that the Nile's flood was Egypt's entire economy, so its failure is not one plague among many but the collapse of the nation's whole foundation.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 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.
(Verses 5-7) And the water of the sea shall dry up, and the river shall be desolate and dry, and the streams shall diminish and dry up the water-courses. The reed and the rush shall wither, the channel of the river shall be laid bare and all the irrigated seed shall dry up, wither, and not exist. It is natural that when captivity comes through the anger of God, his wrath shall be followed by pestilence, and all the elements shall rage against those who offend God. Where it is written in another Prophet (Jer. XII), 'And the birds in the air fail, and the fishes in the waters, so that all things are taken away from human use.' We say this if we want to take the dryness of the Nile river and its streams simply. But if we take it as a metaphor: in the river, we understand the kingdom, and in its streams, the leaders; and in the greenness, and the reed, and the papyrus, all the abundance of Egypt, so that through these things, the wealth of Egypt is described, of which Egypt is most fertile. Let us read Ezekiel, where the king Pharaoh is described as a great dragon dwelling in the rivers, and says: The river is mine, and I have made myself. And it is heard: I will put a bit in your jaws, and I will stick the fish of your rivers to your scales, and I will draw you out from the midst of your rivers, and all your fish will cling to your scales, and I will cast you into the desert (Ezek. XXIX, 3, 4). However, in the coming of Christ, all these things are to be understood figuratively, according to what we read above: The Lord will make the sea of Egypt a desert. And again: the Lord will stretch out His hand over the violent river of Egypt, and He will strike it in seven valleys, so that it can be crossed by foot with shoes on. […]
The Medieval Church1 voice
The destruction of the land he designates by the drought of the waters in which Egypt is well-endowed and rich; because the wrath of God goes before so that their waters are dried up and their animals die; or he speaks hyperbolically, as if to …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Egypt was never watered with the rain of heaven ( Zech. xiv. 18 ), and therefore the fruitfulness of their country depended wholly upon the overflowing of their river; if that therefore be dried up, their fruitful land will soon be turned into barrenness and their harvests cease: Every thing sown by the brooks will wither of course, will be driven away, and be no more,
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
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
So there is no need of understanding by sea either the river Nile, or the great lake of Maeris, which, after the manner of the Hebrew, might be so called. The river - Nile: upon whose fulness and overflow both the safety and the wealth of the land depended; and therefore this was a very terrible judgment.
And the waters shall fail from the sea,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
The river shall be wasted and dried up - The Nile shall not overflow its banks; and if no inundation, the land must become barren. For, as there is little or no rain in Egypt, its fertility depends on the overflowing of the Nile.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And the waters shall fail - Here commences a description of the “physical” calamities that would come upon the land, which continues to Isa 19:10. The previous verses contained an account of the national calamities by civil wars. It may be observed that discord, anarchy, and civil wars, are often connected with physical calamities; as famine, drought, pestilence. God has the elements, as well as the hearts of people, under his control; and when he chastises a nation, he often mingles anarchy, famine, discord, and the pestilence together. Often, too, civil wars have a “tendency” to produce these calamities.
The words behind it
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְנִשְּׁתוּ־ | venishetu- | and they will be dried up | H5405 → | |
| מַ֖יִם | mayim | waters | H4325 → | 581 times |
| מֵֽהַיָּ֑ם | mehaiyam | from the sea | H3220 → | 396 times |
| וְנָהָ֖ר | venahar | and a river | H5104 → | 119 times |
| יֶחֱרַ֥ב | yecherav | it will become dry | H2717 → | 40 times |
| וְיָבֵֽשׁ׃ | veyavesh | and it will be dry | H3001 → | 59 times |
וְנִשְּׁתוּ־and they will be dried up
venishetu-H5405 →
מַ֖יִםwaters
mayimH4325 →581 times
מֵֽהַיָּ֑םfrom the sea
mehaiyamH3220 →396 times
וְנָהָ֖רand a river
venaharH5104 →119 times
יֶחֱרַ֥בit will become dry
yecheravH2717 →40 times
וְיָבֵֽשׁ׃and it will be dry
veyaveshH3001 →59 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
Jeremiah 51:36Therefore 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.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 50:38
A drought is upon her waters, and they will be dried up. For it is a land of graven images, and the people go mad over idols.
- Romans 12:19
Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but leave room for God’s wrath. For it is written: “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, says the Lord.”
- Psalms 140:12
I know that the LORD upholds justice for the poor and defends the cause of the needy.
- Isaiah 44:27
who says to the depths of the sea, ‘Be dry, and I will dry up your currents,’
- Deuteronomy 32:43
Rejoice, O heavens, with Him, and let all God’s angels worship Him. Rejoice, O nations, with His people; for He will avenge the blood of His children. He will take vengeance on His adversaries…
- Jeremiah 50:38
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…
- Micah 5:5–6
And He will be our peace when Assyria invades our land and tramples our citadels. We will raise against it seven shepherds, even eight leaders of men.
- Ezekiel 30:13
Through
Ezekiel 30:12I will make the streams dry up and sell the land to the wicked. By the hands of foreigners I will bring desolation upon the land and everything in it. I, the LORD, have…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 29:3
Speak to him and tell him that this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I am against you, O Pharaoh king of Egypt, O great monster who lies among his rivers, who says,…
- Ezekiel 29:3
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 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; 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; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.