Isaiah 19:6

"The waters will fail from the sea, and the river will be wasted and become dry."

Key Reflection

In Isaiah 19:6, the drying up of the seas and rivers symbolizes the complete devastation and loss of sustenance that Egypt will experience as divine judgment. This imagery underscores a profound spiritual truth, illustrating how even the most abundant sources can be rendered barren by God’s wrath, foreshadowing the comprehensive nature of divine correction or punishment.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

And they shall turn the rivers far away -(האזיּחוּhe'ezenı̂ychû), probably fromזנחzânach, “to have an offensive smell; to be rancid, or putrid.” The word in this form occurs nowhere else. It is in the Hiphil conjugation, and is probably a form made from a mixture with the Chaldee. The sense is not doubtful. It means ‘the rivers shall become putrid - or have an offensive smell;’ that is, shall become stagnant, and send forth unwholesome “miasmata” producing sickness, as stagnant waters often do.

More from Isaiah 19

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

Go deeper with Bible.talk - your AI Bible study companion