Isaiah 19:3

"I will stir up the Egyptians against the Egyptians, and they will fight everyone against his brother, and everyone against his neighbor; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom."

Key Reflection

The prophecy in Isaiah 19:3 foretold a devastating civil war within Egypt itself, where brother fought brother and neighbor against neighbor. This internal strife would lead to cities rising up against one another and kingdoms turning on each other. For the original audience, this vision of self-destructive conflict would have underscored God’s judgment on Egypt for its idolatry and rebellion against His will, demonstrating that even powerful nations are not immune to divine retribution when they persist in sin.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

And the spirit of Egypt -(seeIsaiah 19:1). They shall be exhausted with their long internal contentions and strifes; and seeing no prospect of deliverance, and anxious that the turmoils should end, they shall seek counsel and refuge in their gods and necromancers, but in vain. Shall fail -(נבקהnâbeqâh). Margin, ‘Be emptied.’ The word means, literally, “to pour out, empty, depopulate.” Here it means that they would become disheartened and discouraged. And I will destroy -Margin, as the Hebrew, ‘I will swallow up.’ So the word is used inPsalms 107:27, ‘All their wisdom is destroyed’ (Hebrew, ‘swallowed up. ‘) And they shall seek to the idols -According to Herodotus (ii.

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