Isaiah 19:12

Isaiah 19:12 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)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.
• New International Version (NIV)Where are your wise men now? Let them show you and make known what the Lord Almighty has planned against Egypt.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Where then are your wise men? Let them tell you that they might know what the Lord of hosts has purposed against Egypt.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Where are they? Where are your wise men? Let them tell you now, And let them know what the Lord of hosts has purposed against Egypt.

Context of Isaiah 19:12

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. 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?” Where 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. 14The Lord has mixed a spirit of distortion within her; Her leaders have caused Egypt to stagger in all that she does, As a drunken man staggers in his vomit.

Isaiah 19:12 word by word

אַיָּם֙ אֵפ֣וֹא חֲכָמֶ֔יךָ וְיַגִּ֥ידוּ נָ֖א לָ֑ךְ וְיֵ֣דְע֔וּ מַה־יָּעַ֛ץ יְהוָ֥ה צְבָא֖וֹת עַל־מִצְרָֽיִם׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Whereאַי'ay · where?H335
• they? whereאֵפוֹ'êphô 'êphô' · thenH645
• thy wiseחָכָםchâkâm · wiseH2450
• and let them tellנָגַדnâgad · to tellH5046
• thee now, and let them knowיָדַעyâda‛ · to knowH3045
• what the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• of hostsצָבָאtsâbâ' tsebâ'âh · HostsH6635
• hath purposedיָעַץyâ‛ats · to adviseH3289
• upon Egyptמִצְרַ֫יִםmitsrayim · EgyptH4714

Cross-references for Isaiah 19:12

• Isaiah 5:21Woe (judgment is coming) to those who are wise in their own eyes And clever and shrewd in their own sight!
• Isaiah 47:10For you [Babylon] have trusted and felt confident in your wickedness; you have said, ‘No one sees me.’ Your wisdom and your knowledge have led you astray, And you have said in your heart (mind), ‘I am, and there is no one besides me.’
• Judges 9:38Then Zebul said to Gaal, “Where is your [boasting] mouth now, you who said, ‘Who is Abimelech that we should serve him?’ Is this not the people whom you despised? Go out now and fight with them!”
• Jeremiah 2:28But where are your gods Which you made for yourself? Let them get up, if they can save you In the time of your trouble! For [as many as] the number of your cities Are your gods, O Judah. [Why do not your many man-made idols run to help you?]
• 1 Corinthians 1:20Where is the wise man (philosopher)? Where is the scribe (scholar)? Where is the debater (logician, orator) of this age? Has God not exposed the foolishness of this world’s wisdom?
• Isaiah 40:13Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, Or has taught Him as His counselor?
• Isaiah 41:22Let them bring forward [their evidence] and tell us what is going to happen. Regarding the former events, tell what they were, That we may consider them and know their outcome; Or announce to us the things that are going to come.
• Isaiah 44:7Who is like Me? Let him proclaim it and declare it; Yes, let him confront Me, Since I established the people of antiquity. And let them [those supposed gods] tell those people [who foolishly follow them] the things to come And the events that are going to take place.
• Job 11:6And [that He would] show you the secrets of wisdom! For sound wisdom has two sides. Know therefore that God forgets a part of your wickedness and guilt.
• Romans 11:33Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and decisions and how unfathomable and untraceable are His ways!

Commentaries on Isaiah 19:12

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 12"Let them come" - Here too a word seems to have been left out of the text. After חכמיך chochameycha, thy wise men, two MSS., one ancient, add יבאו yibu, let them come; which, if we consider the form and construction of the sentence, has very much the appearance of being genuine: otherwise the connective conjunction at the beginning of the next member is not only superfluous but embarrassing. See also the Version of the Septuagint, in which the same…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 12Where are they? - This whole verse is an appeal by the prophet to the king of Egypt respecting the counselors and soothsayers of his kingdom. The sense is, a time of distress and danger is evidently coming upon Egypt. They pretend to be wise; and there is now occasion for all their wisdom, and opportunity to evince it. Let them show it. Let them declare what is coming upon the nation, and take proper measures to meet and remove it; and they will then…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 12Where are your wise men now?: Compare 1 Corinthians 1:20.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1212. let them know--that is, How is it that, with all their boast of knowing the future [Diodorus, 1.81], they do not know what Jehovah of hosts ...Read the comment

Topics related to Isaiah 19:12

• Sorcery
• War

In the dictionaries

• Egypt
• Egypt, Egyptian
• Wise men
• Lord of Hosts
• Evil
• Ezekiel
• Isaiah
• Wisdom
• wise, wisdom

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