Isaiah 19:11

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

9Those who work with flax will be dismayed; those combing it and weaving linen will turn pale. 10Egypt’s weavers will be dejected; all her wage earners will be demoralized. The princes of Zoan are complete fools; Pharaoh’s wisest advisers give stupid advice! How can you say to Pharaoh, “I am one of the wise, a student of eastern kings”? 12Where then are your wise men? Let them tell you and reveal what the Lord of Armies has planned against Egypt. 13The princes of Zoan have been fools; the princes of Memphis are deceived. Her tribal chieftains have led Egypt astray.

Isaiah 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 19:3Egypt’s spirit will be disturbed within it, and I will frustrate its plans. Then they will inquire of worthless idols, ghosts, mediums, and spiritists.
• Isaiah 29:14Therefore, I will again confound these people with wonder after wonder. The wisdom of their wise will vanish, and the perception of their perceptive will be hidden.
• Isaiah 44:25who destroys the omens of the false prophets and makes fools of diviners; who confounds the wise and makes their knowledge foolishness;
• Job 5:12He frustrates the schemes of the crafty so that they achieve no success.
• Job 12:17He leads counselors away barefoot and makes judges go mad.
• Psalms 33:10The Lord frustrates the counsel of the nations; he thwarts the plans of the peoples.
• Jeremiah 49:7About Edom, this is what the Lord of Armies says: Is there no longer wisdom in Teman? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom rotted away?
• Ezekiel 7:26Disaster after disaster will come, and there will be rumor after rumor. Then they will look for a vision from a prophet, but instruction will perish from the priests and counsel from the elders.
• 1 Corinthians 1:19For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will set aside the intelligence of the intelligent.
• Isaiah 30:4For though his princes are at Zoan and his messengers reach as far as Hanes,
• Numbers 13:22They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, were living. Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.
• Psalms 78:12He worked wonders in the sight of their ancestors in the land of Egypt, the territory of Zoan.
• Ezekiel 30:14I will make Pathros desolate, set fire to Zoan, and execute judgments on Thebes.
• Psalms 73:22I was stupid and didn’t understand; I was an unthinking animal toward you.
• Psalms 92:6A stupid person does not know, a fool does not understand this:
• Proverbs 30:2I am more stupid than any other person, and I lack a human’s ability to understand.

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

• Sorcery
• War
• Zoan

In the dictionaries

• Pharaoh
• Pharaoh, king of Egypt
• Egypt
• Zoan
• Ancient
• Brute; Brutish
• Evil
• Ezekiel
• Fool; Folly
• Heredity

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