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

9The people who make linen cloth will not know what to do. There will be no flax for them to use. 10They will be very upset. All the people who work to get money will be sad. The royal officers in Zoan are fools! Pharaoh's wise leaders tell him to do stupid things! They should not boast to Pharaoh that they are wise. They should not say that they are descendants of wise kings from long ago. 12Pharaoh, where have your wise men gone? Call them to come! Ask them to tell you what the Lord Almighty has decided to do against Egypt. 13The officers in Zoan are fools. The officers in Memphis have confused each other. The leaders of Egypt's clans have led their people in the wrong direction.

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 19:3The Egyptians will become afraid, so that they do not know what to do. They will ask for help from their idols. They will ask the spirits of dead people to tell them what to do. They will ask magicians to talk to those spirits on their behalf.
• Isaiah 29:14So now I will surprise these people again. I will surprise them with great miracles! Wise people will not seem wise any more. Clever people will no longer seem to be clever.’
• Isaiah 44:25I show that the false prophets speak useless messages. I show that those who use magic to say what will happen are fools. I cause the ideas of wise people to become useless. People think that their advice is foolish.
• Job 5:12He stops the ideas of clever people. They cannot do what they want to do.
• Job 12:17He causes clever people to become ashamed. He causes leaders to do foolish things.
• Psalms 33:10Nations decide what they want to do, but the Lord causes their plans to be useless.
• Jeremiah 49:7The Lord Almighty gave this message about Edom: ‘It seems that wisdom has disappeared from Teman. Edom's clever men have no good advice. Their great ideas have gone away.
• Ezekiel 7:26Many troubles will happen, one after another. There will be lots of news about terrible things. People will ask the prophets to tell them what will happen. The priests will not have anything to teach the people. The leaders will not have any good advice.
• 1 Corinthians 1:19It says in the Bible: ‘I, God, will destroy all the clever thoughts of wise people. I will show that their clever ideas are useless.’
• Isaiah 30:4Judah's officers have arrived in Zoan, and some of them have gone to Hanes.
• Numbers 13:22When they had gone up through the Negev desert in the south of the land, they arrived at Hebron. That was where Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, were living. They had built Hebron seven years before the Egyptians built Zoan.
• Psalms 78:12He did miracles for their ancestors to see, in the region of Egypt that is called Zoan.
• Ezekiel 30:14I will make Pathros a desert. I will burn Zoan with fire. I will punish the city of Thebes.
• Psalms 73:22I was stupid, and I did not understand you properly. I was no better than an animal.
• Psalms 92:6Here is something that stupid people do not know. Fools do not understand it.
• Proverbs 30:2I feel more stupid than any other person. I do not understand things as other people do.

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