Amplified Bible
Isaiah 19:11
11The princes of Zoan are complete fools; The counsel of the Pharaoh’s wisest advisors has become stupid. How can you say to Pharaoh, “I am a son of the wise, a son of ancient kings?”
Isaiah 19:11 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)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?
- New International Version (NIV)The officials of Zoan are nothing but fools; the wise counselors of Pharaoh give senseless advice. How can you say to Pharaoh, “I am one of the wise men, a disciple of the ancient kings”?
- English Standard Version (ESV)The princes of Zoan are utterly foolish; the wisest counselors of Pharaoh give stupid counsel. How can you say to Pharaoh, "I am a son of the wise, a son of ancient kings"?
- New King James Version (NKJV)Surely the princes of Zoan are fools; Pharaoh’s wise counselors give foolish counsel. How do you say to Pharaoh, “I am the son of the wise, The son of ancient kings?”
Context of Isaiah 19:11
9Moreover, those who make linen from combed flax And those who weave white cloth will be ashamed. 10[Those who are] the pillars and foundations of Egypt will be crushed; And all those who work for wages will be grieved in soul. The princes of Zoan are complete fools; The counsel of the Pharaoh’s wisest advisors has become stupid. How can you say to Pharaoh, “I am a son of the wise, a son of ancient kings?” 12Where then are your wise men? Please let them tell you, And let them understand what the Lord of hosts Has purposed against Egypt [if they can]. 13The princes of Zoan have acted like fools, The princes of Memphis are deluded [and entertain false hope]; Those who are the cornerstone of her tribes Have led Egypt astray.
Read all of Isaiah 19Isaiah 19:11 word by word
אַךְ־אֱוִלִים֙ שָׂ֣רֵי צֹ֔עַן חַכְמֵי֙ יֹעֲצֵ֣י פַרְעֹ֔ה עֵצָ֖ה נִבְעָרָ֑ה אֵ֚יךְ תֹּאמְר֣וּ אֶל־פַּרְעֹ֔ה בֶּן־חֲכָמִ֥ים אֲנִ֖י בֶּן־מַלְכֵי־קֶֽדֶם׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Surely the princesשַׂרώar · rulerH8269
- of Zoanצֹ֫עַןtsô‛an · ZoanH6814
- foolsאֱוִיל'ĕvîyl · fool(ish)H191
- the counselעֵצָה‛êtsâh · counselH6098
- of the wiseחָכָםchâkâm · wiseH2450
- counsellorsיָעַץyâ‛ats · to adviseH3289
- of Pharaohפַּרְעֹהpar‛ôh · PharaohH6547
- is become brutishבָּעַרbâ‛ar · be brutishH1197
- how sayאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- the sonבֵּןbên · son: childH1121
- of ancientקֶ֫דֶםqedem qêdmâh · front: oldH6924
- kingsמֶ֫לֶךְmelek · kingH4428
Cross-references for Isaiah 19:11
- Isaiah 19:3Then the spirit of the Egyptians will become exhausted within them and emptied out; And I will confuse their strategy, So that they will consult the idols and the spirits of the dead, And mediums and soothsayers.
- Isaiah 29:14Therefore, listen carefully, I will again do marvelous and amazing things with this people, wonderful and astonishing things; And the wisdom of their wise men will perish, And the understanding of their discerning men will be hidden.”
- Isaiah 44:25Frustrating the signs and confounding the omens of boasters (false prophets), Making fools out of fortune-tellers, Counteracting the wise And making their knowledge ridiculous,
- Job 5:12He frustrates the devices and schemes of the crafty, So that their hands cannot attain success or achieve anything of [lasting] worth.
- Job 12:17He makes [great and scheming] counselors walk barefoot And makes fools of judges.
- Psalms 33:10The Lord nullifies the counsel of the nations; He makes the thoughts and plans of the people ineffective.
- Jeremiah 49:7Concerning Edom. Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Is there no longer any wisdom in Teman? Has good counsel vanished from the intelligent and prudent? Has their wisdom decayed?
- Ezekiel 7:26Disaster will come upon disaster and rumor will be heaped on rumor; they will seek a vision from a prophet, but the law and guidance will be lost from the priest and [wise] counsel [will cease] from the elders.
- 1 Corinthians 1:19For it is written and forever remains written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise [the philosophy of the philosophers], And the cleverness of the clever [who do not know Me] I will nullify.”
- Isaiah 30:4For his princes are at Zoan And his ambassadors arrive at Hanes [in Egypt].
- Numbers 13:22When they had gone up into the Negev (the South country), they came to Hebron; and Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai the descendants of Anak were there. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)
- Psalms 78:12He did marvelous things in the sight of their fathers In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan [where Pharaoh resided].
- Ezekiel 30:14I will make Pathros desolate, Set fire to Zoan And execute judgments and punishments on Thebes.
- Psalms 73:22Then I was senseless and ignorant; I was like a beast before You.
- Psalms 92:6A senseless man [in his crude and uncultivated state] knows nothing, Nor does a [self-righteous] fool understand this:
- Proverbs 30:2Surely I am more brutish and stupid than any man, And I do not have the understanding of a man [for I do not know what I do not know].
Commentaries on Isaiah 19:11
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 11The counsel of the wise counselors of Pharaoh is become brutish "Have counseled a brutish counsel" - The sentence as it now stands in the Hebrew, is imperfect: it wants the verb. Archbishop Secker conjectures that the words פרעה יועצי yoatsey pharoh should be transposed; which would in some degree remove the difficulty. But it is to be observed, that the translator of the Vulgate seems to have found in his copy the verb יעצו yaatsu added after פרעה pharoh…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 11Surely the princes - The following verses, to Isaiah 19:16, are designed to describe further the calamities that were coming upon Egypt by a want of wisdom in their rulers. They would be unable to devise means to meet the impending calamities, and would actually increase the national misery by their unwise counsels. The word princes‘ here is taken evidently for the rulers or counselors of state. Of Zoan - The Vulgate, Septuagint, and Chaldee, render this…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 11Zoan was the capital of Egypt, located in the Nile delta (see Numbers 13:22). princes … wise counselors: The king relied on the strategies and advice of wise men (Isaiah 19:12; see Genesis 41:39–40). The officials of Zoan were famous for their wise ancestors, and Egypt often boasted about them.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1111. Zoan--The Greeks called it Tanis, a city of Lower Egypt, east of the Tanitic arms of the Nile, now San; it was one the Egyptian towns nearest to Palestine (Nu 13:22), the scene of Moses' miracles (Psa 78:12, 43). It, or else Memphis, was the capital under Sethos. I am ... son of the wise ... kings--Ye have no advice to suggest to Pharaoh in the crisis, notwithstanding that ye boast of descent from wise and royal ancestors. The priests were the usual…Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 19:11
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Isaiah 19
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
Amplified Bible — © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631
Commentaries