1 The burden of Egypt. Behold, the Lord rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it.
2 And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbour; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom.
3 And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards.
4 And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts.
5 And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up.
6 And they shall turn the rivers far away; and the brooks of defence shall be emptied and dried up: the reeds and flags shall wither.
7 The paper reeds by the brooks, by the mouth of the brooks, and every thing sown by the brooks, shall wither, be driven away, and be no more.
8 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.
9 Moreover they that work in fine flax, and they that weave networks, shall be confounded.
10 And they shall be broken in the purposes thereof, all that make sluices and ponds for fish.
11 Surely the princes of Zoan are fools, the counsel of the wise counsellors of Pharaoh is become brutish: how say ye unto Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings?
12 Where are they? where are thy wise men? and let them tell thee now, and let them know what the Lord of hosts hath purposed upon Egypt.
13 The princes of Zoan are become fools, the princes of Noph are deceived; they have also seduced Egypt, even they that are the stay of the tribes thereof.
14 The Lord hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof: and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof, as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit.
15 Neither shall there be any work for Egypt, which the head or tail, branch or rush, may do.
16 In that day shall Egypt be like unto women: and it shall be afraid and fear because of the shaking of the hand of the Lord of hosts, which he shaketh over it.
17 And the land of Judah shall be a terror unto Egypt, every one that maketh mention thereof shall be afraid in himself, because of the counsel of the Lord of hosts, which he hath determined against it.
18 In that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt speak the language of Canaan, and swear to the Lord of hosts; one shall be called, The city of destruction.
19 In that day shall there be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to the Lord.
20 And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt: for they shall cry unto the Lord because of the oppressors, and he shall send them a saviour, and a great one, and he shall deliver them.
21 And the Lord shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the Lord in that day, and shall do sacrifice and oblation; yea, they shall vow a vow unto the Lord, and perform it.
22 And the Lord shall smite Egypt: he shall smite and heal it: and they shall return even to the Lord, and he shall be intreated of them, and shall heal them.
23 In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians.
24 In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land:
25 Whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance.
<html><b>is riding on a light cloud</b> quickly to send easily and quickly the decree of His word to punish Egypt. <b>and the idols of Egypt shall quake from before Him</b> They will have no power to save their people from the messengers of the king of Assyria. The prophet presented the retribution of Egypt in this manner, unlike the way he presented it to other nations, because they are accustomed to being punished in this manner. (Exodus 12:12) “And I will pass through the land of Egypt…and upon all the gods of Egypt [will I execute punishment],” and it is customary to frighten a person with a misfortune from which he has already suffered.</html>
<html><b>And I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians</b> The end of the verse explains its beginning: And they shall war one man against his brother.</html>
<html><b>And the spirit of Egypt shall empty out</b> Heb. וְנָבְקָה. His wisdom shall be emptied out. Comp. (infra 24:1) “Empties out (בּוֹקֵק) the land.” <b>sorcerers</b> Heb. הָאִטִּים, one of the names of the idols.</html>
<html><b>And I will deliver</b> וְסִכַּרְתִּי, And I will deliver. Alternatively, it can be interpreted as an expression like (Gen. 8:2): “And the fountains of the deep were stopped up (וַיִּסָּכְרוּ).” I will stop him up and bind him. <b>into the hands of a harsh master</b> Heb. אֲדֹנִים קָשֶׁה. Any expression of lordship is used in the plural, even for a singular. Comp. (ibid. 39:20) “Joseph’s master (אֲדֹנֵי)”; (ibid. 16) “Until his master (אֲדֹנָיו) came.” <b>and a mighty king</b> The king of Assyria.</html>
<html><b>And water from the sea shall dry up</b> Heb. וְנִשְּׁתוּ, an expression like (Lam. 3:47): “The desolation (הַשְׁאֵת) and the breach.” Since the entire productivity of Egypt is due to the Nile, since no rain falls there, but the Nile rises and waters it through its man made canals, he, therefore, compares its retribution to the drying up of canals. [Some manuscripts read:] Rivers and canals. <b>And water from the sea shall dry up</b> And the sea shall not return the Nile to its source, but the Nile will descend into it and will not ascend to water Egypt. <b>and the river</b> This is the Nile.</html>
<html><b>And they shall abandon</b> When the water decreases, the mud is noticeable in it, and it becomes a mire and is abandoned.<b>the deep canals</b> Heb. יְאֹרֵי מָצוֹר. The deep canals, like the ditches of the sieges of cities. [Rashi according to Parshandatha. Printed editions read:] In the ditches of the sieges of cities. <b>reeds and rushes</b> that grew there because of their abundant water. <b>shall be cut off</b> When the canals dry up, the reeds stop growing, and they dry up and fall. Jonathan renders: Shall not come up. Elsewhere (infra 33:9), he renders: “The Lebanon was dried up, cut off (קָמַל),” as ‘fell.’ I say, however, that it is an expression of cutting off, that they are cut off by themselves because of their dryness, and they fall.</html>
<html><b>The well-rooted plants by the stream, by the brink of the stream</b> Heb. עָרוֹת, an expression denoting something rooted very well. Comp. (Psalms 37:35) “The wicked, terrible in power, striking roots (מִתְעָרֶה) like a green tree in its native soil.” Menachem, too, equated it in this manner in his lexicon. [Menachem, however, explains both terms as an expression of growing and of freshness.] Seeds, well-rooted by the Nile, and even on its brink, and all those planted thereby, everything shall dry up and be driven away.</html>
<html><b>And…shall lament</b> Heb. וְאָנוּ, an expression of lamentation and mourning. <b>the fishermen</b> They are the Egyptians who catch fish from the Nile, which spreads and goes up into many canals made on its banks over the surface of all the land of Egypt, unlike other rivers. <b>fishhooks</b> ajjm in O.F.</html>
<html><b>Those who work at flax</b> Who sow flax by the river. <b>to be combed</b> Flax that they comb and from which they weave fish nets, which are made with many holes. <b>nets</b> [lit. holes.] Since the suffix is irregular, ordinarily חוֹרִים Rashi enumerates similar instances e.g.,] (Psalms 8:5) “The beasts of the field (שָׂדָי)”; (Jer. 22:14) “And he will cut out for himself windows (חַלּוֹנָי).”</html>
<html><b>And its foundations shall be crushed, all who make dams</b> Eklusa in O.F., a sluice. Comp. (Gen. 8:2) “And the fountains of the deep were stopped up (וַיִּסָּכְרוּ),” for they would stop up the water that went out of the banks of the river and spread out, forming a pond of still water, standing in its place, where fish would spawn. The prophet says that the foundations of their diggings shall be crushed, and the dammed up pools that they made. <b>still ponds</b> An expression like (Ex. 31:17): “He rested and was refreshed (וַיִּנָּפַשׁ),” for the water of the ponds rests and stands in one place. Jonathan, however, renders: Who would make the dams and gather the water, each one for himself.</html>
<html><b>How will you say</b> from now on to Pharaoh, each one of you about himself, I am a son of the wise? Since he will fail because of your counsel, how will you boast before him to say, We are sons of the wise, O you who are a son of the kings of old.</html>
<html><b>have become foolish</b> Heb. נוֹאֲלוּ, an expression related to אֱלִילִים, fools. <b>have been misled</b> Heb. נָשְּׁאוּ, have been misled. Comp. (Gen. 3:13) “The snake misled me (הִשִּׁיאַנִּי) and I ate.”</html>
<html><b>The Lord has poured into its midst</b> He mixed a drink for them in its midst, which perverted their spirit, an expression similar to (Prov. 9:2), “She mixed (מָסְכָה) her wine.” Mixing a beverage in a cask until he blends it to its proper flavor is called מֶסֶךְ. <b>perverseness</b> Heb. עִוְעִים, the name of a malady of confusion.</html>
<html><b>that either the head or the tail, the branch or the reed shall do</b> These are the sorcerers and the astrologers who see in the stars that in the sky are heavenly bodies called by these names, formed in the pattern of a head and a tail, and they are placed in Aries. [Other editions read:] In Draco. Alternatively, it can be interpreted like the Targum: a head and a lower dignitary, a prince and a governor.</html>
<html><b>And the land of Judah shall be to Egypt for a dread</b> When those remaining in Egypt from the captivity of Sennacherib hear of his downfall, that he will fall in the land of Judah without any physical warfare, they will know that the Divine Presence is manifest in Israel and that their Savior is mighty, and they will fear and be frightened of the land of Judah. <b>a dread</b> Heb. לְחָגָּא, an expression of a breach and fear and fright, similar to (Psalms 107:27): “They were frightened (יָחוֹגוּ) and wander like a drunkard,” similarly (Song 2:14), “In the cracks of (בְּחַגְוֵי) the rock.” <b>because of the plan of the Lord of Hosts which he planned against him</b> to cause him to fall into the hands of Sennacherib, and Judah will escape from his hand.</html>
<html><b>On that day there shall be five cities, etc.</b> We learned in Seder Olam (ch. 23): Following Sennacherib’s defeat, Hezekiah stood up and released the armies he had brought with him from Egypt and from Cush in chains before Jerusalem, and they imposed upon themselves the kingdom of heaven, and returned to their place, and it is said: “On that day there shall be five cities, etc.” They went and built an altar to the Lord in the land of Egypt and they would sacrifice on it to heaven, to fulfill what was said: On that day there shall be an altar to the Lord in the land of Egypt. Some of our Sages expounded it in the tractate Menahoth (109b) as referring to the altar of the temple of Onias the son of Simon the Just, who fled to Egypt and built an altar there. <b>speaking the language of Canaan</b> like the Israelites in the land of Canaan. <b>one of which will be called “the city of Heres.”</b> Jonathan paraphrases: The city of Beth-shemesh which is destined to be destroyed will be said to be one of them. Jonathan renders “Heres” in two ways: an expression related to (Job 9:7) “Who says to the sun (לַחֶרֶס) and it will not shine,” [הֶרֶס and חֶרֶס being interchangeable since ‘heh’ and ‘heth’ are both gutterals,] and an expression of demolition and destruction. (Some editions add:) And whence did Jonathan derive this? From Jeremiah’s prophecy, which he prophesied in Tahpanhes (43:13): “He shall also break the monuments of Beth shemesh which is in the land of Egypt.” We learn from here that Beth-shemesh that was in the land of Egypt [and the monument] was destined to be destroyed, and the monuments mentioned there are identical with “the monument beside its border, to the Lord,” mentioned here, and it may be said that Beth-shemesh was situated in the border of Egypt on the boundary. Therefore it is stated: Beside its border.</html>
<html><b>And it shall be</b> The altar shall be for a sign and for a witness between them and the Omnipresent. <b>a savior and a prince</b> Heb. מוֹשִׁיעַ וְרָב, a savior and a prince.</html>
<html><b>And the Lord shall be known to the Egyptians</b> The strength of His might shall be recognized by them.</html>
<html><b>And…shall plague</b> Heb. נָגֹף. This is an expression of smiting. <b>plaguing and healing</b> And after the plague, He will create a cure for them. <b>and He shall accept their prayer</b> [lit.] and He shall be reconciled with them.</html>
<html><b>there shall be a highway</b> And there shall be a paved road by which they will always go from Egypt to Assyria. <b>and Assyria shall come upon Egypt</b> Jonathan renders: And the Assyrians shall wage war with the Egyptians.</html>
<html><b>Israel shall be a third to Egypt and to Assyria</b> for a blessing, since there was no prominent nation in the world at that time like Egypt and like Assyria, and the Jews were humble in the days of Ahaz and in the days of Hoshea the son of Elah. And the prophet states that, through the miracle that will be performed for Hezekiah, Israel’s name will be greatly magnified, and they will be as prominent as one of these kingdoms in regards to blessing and greatness.</html>
<html><b>Which…blessed them</b> [lit. him,] i.e., Israel. <b>Blessed is My people</b> Israel, whom I chose for Myself as a people when they were in Egypt. <b>and the work of My hands</b> I showed them with the mighty deeds I performed wondrously against Assyria, and through those miracles they will repent and be as though I just made them anew, and they will be My heritage, Israel. Jonathan paraphrased this in a similar manner.</html>