Isaiah 19:14

14 The LORD has poured into them a spirit of dizziness; they make Egypt stagger in all that she does, as a drunkard staggers around in his vomit.

Isaiah 19:14 in Other Translations

King James Version (KJV)
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.
English Standard Version (ESV)
14 The LORD has mingled within her a spirit of confusion, and they will make Egypt stagger in all its deeds, as a drunken man staggers in his vomit.
New Living Translation (NLT)
14 The LORD has sent a spirit of foolishness on them, so all their suggestions are wrong. They cause Egypt to stagger like a drunk in his vomit.
The Message Bible (MSG)
14 God has scrambled their brains, Egypt's become a falling-down-in-his-own-vomit drunk.
American Standard Version (ASV)
14 Jehovah hath mingled a spirit of perverseness in the midst of her; and they have caused Egypt to go astray in every work thereof, as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit.
GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)
14 The LORD mixes up their minds. So they lead the Egyptians astray like a drunk who staggers in his vomit.
Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
14 The Lord has mixed within her a spirit of confusion. [The leaders] have made Egypt stagger in all she does, as a drunkard staggers in his vomit.
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
14 The LORD has given them a spirit that makes them feel dizzy. They make Egypt unsteady in everything it does. Egypt is like a person who drinks too much. He throws up and then walks around in the mess he's made.

Isaiah 19:14 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 19:14

The Lord hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst
thereof
A spirit of error, as the Targum, Septuagint, and Arabic versions; or of giddiness, as the Vulgate Latin: this he mingled in a cup for them, and poured it out, and gave them it to drink; and an intoxicating cup it was, such as men are made drunk with; to which the allusion is, as the last clause of the verse shows; so that the infatuation and want of wisdom in their counsels were from the Lord; who, because of the vain boasts of their wisdom in righteous judgment, gave them up to judicial blindness, stupidity, and folly: and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof;
both in religious and civil affairs, leading them into superstition and idolatry, to which they were of old inclined and addicted, and forming such schemes and projects, and putting them upon such works, as were very detrimental to the nation. Some think this refers to the twelve tyrants, who disagreeing among themselves, being actuated by a perverse spirit, greatly distracted the people; though rather it may refer to the times of Necho, and to his project in cutting a canal for the bringing of the Nile to the Red sea before mentioned, in which he lost several thousands of men without accomplishing it; and of his predecessor, in besieging Ashdod twenty nine years ere he took it F23: as a drunken [man] staggereth in his vomit;
who is so very drunk, that his head is quite giddy, and cannot walk upright, but staggers as he goes, and vomits as he staggers, and falls down, and is rolled in it, as the Targum; just like such a man were the princes and governors of the Egyptian provinces.


FOOTNOTES:

F23 Herodot. l. 2. c. 157, 158.

Isaiah 19:14 In-Context

12 Where are your wise men now? Let them show you and make known what the LORD Almighty has planned against Egypt.
13 The officials of Zoan have become fools, the leaders of Memphis are deceived; the cornerstones of her peoples have led Egypt astray.
14 The LORD has poured into them a spirit of dizziness; they make Egypt stagger in all that she does, as a drunkard staggers around in his vomit.
15 There is nothing Egypt can do— head or tail, palm branch or reed.
16 In that day the Egyptians will become weaklings. They will shudder with fear at the uplifted hand that the LORD Almighty raises against them.

Cross References 2

  • 1. S Proverbs 12:8; Matthew 17:17
  • 2. S Psalms 107:27
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