Isaiah 20:5
in Isaiah 20Those who made Cush their hope and Egypt their boast will be dismayed and ashamed.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And they shall be dismayed and confounded, because of Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt their glory.
KJV
And they shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt their glory.
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This verse in Isaiah 20
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
And they shall be afraid - The Jews, or the party or faction among the Jews, that were expecting aid from allied Ethiopia and Egypt. When they shall see them vanquished, they shall apprehend a similar danger to themselves; and they shall be ashamed that they ever confided in a people so little able to aid them, instead of trusting in the arm of God. Egypt their glory - Their boast, as if Egypt was able to save them.
This site's exposition
with bared buttocks
on Isaiah 20:4-6
The three years become a forecast: "the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Cush, young and old alike, naked and barefoot". Isaiah had already worn that shame. Verse 6 lands the sign on "the dwellers of this coastland", who had made "Cush their hope and Egypt their boast".
This site's exposition
Those who made Cush their hope
Barnes applies the warning to the party in Judah that made Egypt its hope against the king of Assyria. Isaiah presses the same charge at 30:7 and 31:1. The chief commander of Assyria mocks that hope at 36:6, calling Egypt a splintered reed.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Chapter 20, verses 1 and following) In the year that Tartan came to Ashdod, when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him and he fought against Ashdod and took it, at that time the Lord spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, "Go, and loose the sackcloth from your waist and take off your sandals from your feet," and he did so, walking naked and barefoot. And the Lord said, "As my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot for three years, as a sign and a portent against Egypt and Cush.
The Medieval Church1 voice
And they shall be afraid. Here he places the effect on the Jews; first, fear, and they shall be afraid; second, confusion, and confounded.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And they shall be afraid and ashamed,....
Hereupon all about them were ashamed that ever they promised themselves any advantage from two such weak and cowardly nations, and were more afraid now than ever they were of the growing greatness of the king of Assyria, before whom Egypt and Ethiopia proved but as briers and thorns put to stop a consuming fire, which do but make it burn the more strongly.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
A warning to the party among the Jews, who, though Judah was then the subordinate ally of Assyria, were looking to Egypt as a preferable ally (Isa 30:7). Ethiopia was their "expectation"; for Palestine had not yet obtained, but hoped for alliance with it. Egypt was their "glory," that is, boast (Isa 13:19); for the alliance with it was completed.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
shall be broken and ashamed All those who look in expectation upon the aid of Cush and boast of the support of Egypt.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
the inhabitants of this isle The land of Israel, who relied on Pharoah for aid.
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. 5 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
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְחַתּ֖וּ | vechatu | and they will be dismayed | H2865 → | 52 times |
| וָבֹ֑שׁוּ | vavoshu | and they will be ashamed | H954 → | 127 times |
| מִכּוּשׁ֙ | mikush | from Cush | H3568 → | 29 times |
| מַבָּטָ֔ם | mabatam | hope their | H4007 → | |
| וּמִן־ | umin- | and from | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| מִצְרַ֖יִם | mitzrayim | Egypt | H4714 → | 641 times |
| תִּפְאַרְתָּֽם׃ | tifartam | boasting their | H8597 → | 51 times |
וְחַתּ֖וּand they will be dismayed
vechatuH2865 →52 times
וָבֹ֑שׁוּand they will be ashamed
vavoshuH954 →127 times
מִכּוּשׁ֙from Cush
mikushH3568 →29 times
מַבָּטָ֔םhope their
mabatamH4007 →
וּמִן־and from
umin-H4480 →1188 times
מִצְרַ֖יִםEgypt
mitzrayimH4714 →641 times
תִּפְאַרְתָּֽם׃boasting their
tifartamH8597 →51 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 17:5This is what the LORD says: “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind, who makes the flesh his strength and turns his heart from the LORD.
it leads to
- Psalms 118:8–9
It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man.
- Psalms 146:3–4
Put not your trust in princes, in mortal man, who cannot save.
- Isaiah 2:22
Put no more trust in man, who has only the breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he?
- 2 Chronicles 32:8
With him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God to help us and to fight our battles.” So the people were strengthened by the words of Hezekiah…
- Isaiah 31:1–9
Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in their abundance of chariots and in their multitude of horsemen. They do not look to the Holy…
- Psalms 118:8–9
Through
Isaiah 30:5everyone will be put to shame because of a people useless to them. They cannot be of help; they are good for nothing but shame and reproach.”
it leads to
- Jeremiah 2:36
How unstable you are, constantly changing your ways! You will be disappointed by Egypt just as you were by Assyria.
- Jeremiah 2:36
Through
Isaiah 30:3But Pharaoh’s protection will become your shame, and the refuge of Egypt’s shade your disgrace.
it leads to
- Romans 10:11
It is just as the Scripture says: “Anyone who believes in Him will never be put to shame.”
- Jeremiah 17:5–6
This is what the LORD says: “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind, who makes the flesh his strength and turns his heart from the LORD.
- Romans 10:11
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Isaiah
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 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.