Isaiah 19:8
in Isaiah 19Then the fishermen will mourn, all who cast a hook into the Nile will lament, and those who spread nets on the waters will pine away.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the fishers shall lament, and all they that cast angle into the Nile shall mourn, and they that spread nets upon the waters shall languish.
KJV
The fishers also shall mourn, and all they that cast angle into the brooks shall lament, and they that spread nets upon the waters shall languish.
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This verse in Isaiah 19
Commentary
10 notes on this verseThe fishers also “And the fishers” - There was great plenty of fish in Egypt; see Num 11:5. “The Nile,” says Diodorus, lib. i., “abounds with incredible numbers of all sorts of fish.” And much more the lakes. So Egmont, Pococke, etc.
This site's exposition
The paper reeds by the brooks
on Isaiah 19:7-10
Three trades built on the Nile fall together: the reeds and flags wither at the water's edge, the fishers who cast angle and spread nets mourn and languish, and the weavers of fine flax and networks are confounded, a picture of Egypt's fishing and linen industries specifically named. Even the engineered ponds and sluices built to guarantee a catch fail their makers, so that every level of the river economy, from the wild fisherman to the planned pool, is broken in its own purposes. Gill and Clarke identify the linen trade as Egypt's chief export in Isaiah's day, making the collapse a judgment aimed at the nation's real wealth rather than a generic curse.
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.
(v. 8-10) And the fishermen shall mourn, and all those who cast the hook into the river shall lament, and those who spread the net over the face of the water shall wither away. And those who work with flax, twisting and weaving fine fabrics, shall be put to shame; and its pools shall be dried up, and all those who make fishing-gear for catching fish shall mourn.
The Medieval Church1 voice
Second, the ruin of fishers: the fishers also shall mourn: I will cast you forth into the desert, and all the fish of your river (Ezek 29:5).
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
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 (
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); they shall lament and languish, for their trade is at an end. There is nothing which the children of this world do more heartily lament than the loss of that which they used to get money by. Ploratur lachrymis amissa pecunia veris--Those are genuine tears which are shed over lost money.
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3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
The fishers also shall mourn,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
fishers--The Nile was famed for fish (Nu 11:5); many would be thrown out of employment by the failure of fishes. angle--a hook. Used in the "brooks" or canals, as the "net" was in "the waters" of the river itself.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The fishers also - In this verse, and the two following, the prophet describes the calamities that would come upon various classes of the inhabitants, as the consequence of the failing of the waters of the Nile. The first class which he mentions are the fishermen. Egypt is mentioned Num 11:5, as producing great quantities of fish. ‘We remember the fish which we did eat in Eypt freely.’ ‘The Nile,’ says Diodorus (i.), ‘abounds with incredible numbers of all sorts of fish.’ The same was true of the artificial canals, and lakes, and reservoirs of water Isa 19:10. Herodotus (ii. 93) says that large quantities of fish were produced in the Nile: ‘At the season of spawning,’ says he, ‘they move in vast multitudes toward the sea. As soon as that season is over they leave the sea, return up the river, and endeavor to regain their accustomed haunts.’ As a specimen of his “credulity,” however, and also of the attention which he bestowed on natural history, the reader may consult the passage here referred to in regard to the mode of their propagation. He also says that it is observed of the fish that are taken in their passage to the sea, that they have ‘the left part of their heads depressed.’ Of those that are taken on their return, the “right” side of the head is found to be depressed. This he accounts for by observing, that ‘the cause of this is obvious: as they pass to the sea they rub themselves on the banks on the left side; as they return they keep closely to the same bank, and, in both instances, press against it, that they may not be obliged to deviate from their course by the current of the stream.’ Speaking of the Lake Moeris, Herodotus says, that ‘for six months the lake empties itself into the Nile, and the remaining six, the Nile supplies the lake. […]
The words behind it
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאָנוּ֙ | veanu | and they will lament | H578 → | |
| הַדַּיָּגִ֔ים | hadaiyagim | the fishermen | H1771 → | |
| וְאָ֣בְל֔וּ | veavelu | and they will mourn | H56 → | 39 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| מַשְׁלִיכֵ֥י | mashlikhei | [those who] cast | H7993 → | 125 times |
| בַיְא֖וֹר | vayor | in the River | H2975 → | 65 times |
| חַכָּ֑ה | chakah | a fish hook | H2443 → | |
| וּפֹרְשֵׂ֥י | uforesei | and [those who] spread out | H6566 → | 67 times |
| מִכְמֹ֛רֶת | mikhmoret | <of> a fishing net | H4365 → | |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| פְּנֵי־ | penei- | [the] surface of | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| מַ֖יִם | mayim | [the] waters | H4325 → | 581 times |
| אֻמְלָֽלוּ׃ | ʾumlalu | they will languish | H535 → | 16 times |
וְאָנוּ֙and they will lament
veanuH578 →
הַדַּיָּגִ֔יםthe fishermen
hadaiyagimH1771 →
וְאָ֣בְל֔וּand they will mourn
veaveluH56 →39 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
מַשְׁלִיכֵ֥י[those who] cast
mashlikheiH7993 →125 times
בַיְא֖וֹרin the River
vayorH2975 →65 times
חַכָּ֑הa fish hook
chakahH2443 →
וּפֹרְשֵׂ֥יand [those who] spread out
uforeseiH6566 →67 times
מִכְמֹ֛רֶת<of> a fishing net
mikhmoretH4365 →
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
פְּנֵי־[the] surface of
penei-H6440 →2123 times
מַ֖יִם[the] waters
mayimH4325 →581 times
אֻמְלָֽלוּ׃they will languish
ʾumlaluH535 →16 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
Numbers 11:5We remember the fish we ate freely in Egypt, along with the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic.
it leads to
- Exodus 16:3
“If only we had died by the LORD’s hand in the land of Egypt!” they said. “There we sat by pots of meat and ate our fill of bread, but you have brought us…
- Exodus 16:3
Through
Ezekiel 47:10Fishermen will stand by the shore; from En-gedi to En-eglaim they will spread their nets to catch fish of many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea.
it leads to
- Matthew 4:19
“Come, follow Me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”
- Numbers 34:6
Your western border will be the coastline of the Great Sea; this will be your boundary on the west.
- Psalms 104:25
Here is the sea, vast and wide, teeming with creatures beyond number, living things both great and small.
- 2 Chronicles 20:2
Then some men came and told Jehoshaphat, “A vast army is coming against you from Edom, from beyond the Sea; they are already in Hazazon-tamar” (that is, En-gedi).
- Matthew 4:19
Through
Habakkuk 1:15The foe pulls all of them up with a hook; he catches them in his dragnet, and gathers them in his fishing net; so he rejoices gladly.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 16:16
But for now I will send for many fishermen, declares the LORD, and they will catch them. After that I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them down on every mountain…
- Amos 4:2
The Lord GOD has sworn by His holiness: “Behold, the days are coming when you will be taken away with hooks, and your posterity with fishhooks.
- John 21:6–11
He told them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it there, and they were unable to haul it in because of the…
- Jeremiah 16:16
About Isaiah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.