English Standard Version
Isaiah 19:11
11The 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"?
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”?
- 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?”
- New Living Translation (NLT)What fools are the officials of Zoan! Their best counsel to the king of Egypt is stupid and wrong. Will they still boast to Pharaoh of their wisdom? Will they dare brag about all their wise ancestors?
Context of Isaiah 19:11
9The workers in combed flax will be in despair, and the weavers of white cotton. 10Those who are the pillars of the land will be crushed, and all who work for pay will be grieved. 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"? 12Where then are your wise men? Let them tell you that they might know what the Lord of hosts has purposed against Egypt. 13The princes of Zoan have become fools, and the princes of Memphis are deluded; those who are the cornerstones of her tribes have made Egypt stagger.
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 19:3and the spirit of the Egyptians within them will be emptied out, and I will confound their counsel; and they will inquire of the idols and the sorcerers, and the mediums and the necromancers;
- Isaiah 29:14therefore, behold, I will again do wonderful things with this people, with wonder upon wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden."
- Isaiah 44:25who frustrates the signs of liars and makes fools of diviners, who turns wise men back and makes their knowledge foolish,
- Job 5:12He frustrates the devices of the crafty, so that their hands achieve no success.
- Job 12:17He leads counselors away stripped, and judges he makes fools.
- Psalms 33:10The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples.
- Jeremiah 49:7Concerning Edom. Thus says the Lord of hosts: "Is wisdom no more in Teman? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom vanished?
- Ezekiel 7:26Disaster comes upon disaster; rumor follows rumor. They seek a vision from the prophet, while the law perishes from the priest and counsel from the elders.
- 1 Corinthians 1:19For it is written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart."
- Isaiah 30:4For though his officials are at Zoan and his envoys reach Hanes,
- Numbers 13:22They went up into the Negeb and came to Hebron. Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, were there. (Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)
- Psalms 78:12In the sight of their fathers he performed wonders in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan.
- Ezekiel 30:14I will make Pathros a desolation and will set fire to Zoan and will execute judgments on Thebes.
- Psalms 73:22I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward you.
- Psalms 92:6The stupid man cannot know; the fool cannot understand this:
- Proverbs 30:2Surely I am too stupid to be a man. I have not the understanding of a man.
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
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