New English Translation
Isaiah 11:15
15The Lord will divide the gulf of the Egyptian Sea; he will wave his hand over the Euphrates River and send a strong wind, he will turn it into seven dried-up streams, and enable them to walk across in their sandals.
Isaiah 11:15 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dryshod.
- New International Version (NIV)The Lord will dry up the gulf of the Egyptian sea; with a scorching wind he will sweep his hand over the Euphrates River. He will break it up into seven streams so that anyone can cross over in sandals.
- English Standard Version (ESV)And the Lord will utterly destroy the tongue of the Sea of Egypt, and will wave his hand over the River with his scorching breath, and strike it into seven channels, and he will lead people across in sandals.
- New King James Version (NKJV)The Lord will utterly destroy the tongue of the Sea of Egypt; With His mighty wind He will shake His fist over the River, And strike it in the seven streams, And make men cross over dry-shod.
Context of Isaiah 11:15
13Ephraim’s jealousy will end, and Judah’s hostility will be eliminated. Ephraim will no longer be jealous of Judah, and Judah will no longer be hostile toward Ephraim. 14They will swoop down on the Philistine hills to the west; together they will loot the people of the east. They will take over Edom and Moab, and the Ammonites will be their subjects. The Lord will divide the gulf of the Egyptian Sea; he will wave his hand over the Euphrates River and send a strong wind, he will turn it into seven dried-up streams, and enable them to walk across in their sandals. 16There will be a highway leading out of Assyria for the remnant of his people, just as there was for Israel, when they went up from the land of Egypt.
Read all of Isaiah 11Isaiah 11:15 word by word
וְהֶחֱרִ֣ים יְהוָ֗ה אֵ֚ת לְשׁ֣וֹן יָם־מִצְרַ֔יִם וְהֵנִ֥יף יָד֛וֹ עַל־הַנָּהָ֖ר בַּעְיָ֣ם רוּח֑וֹ וְהִכָּ֙הוּ֙ לְשִׁבְעָ֣ה נְחָלִ֔ים וְהִדְרִ֖יךְ בַּנְּעָלִֽים׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
- shall utterly destroyחָרַםchâram · to devote/destroyH2763
- the tongueלָשׁוֹןlâshôn lâshôn leshônâh · tongue: barH3956
- of the Egyptianמִצְרַ֫יִםmitsrayim · (Sea of) EgyptH4714
- seaיָםyâm · seaH3220
- and with his mightyעֲיָם‛ăyâm · heatH5868
- windרוּחַrûach · spirit: breathH7307
- shall he shakeנוּףnûph · to waveH5130
- his handיָדyâd · handH3027
- over the riverנָהָרnâhâr · RiverH5104
- and shall smiteנָכָהnâkâh · to smiteH5221
- it in the sevenשֶׁ֫בַעsheba‛ shib‛âh · sevenH7651
- streamsנַ֫חַלnachal nachlâh nachălâh · torrent: riverH5158
- go overדָּרַךְdârak · to treadH1869
- dryshodנַ֫עַלna‛al na‛ălâh · sandalH5275
Cross-references for Isaiah 11:15
- Isaiah 50:2Why does no one challenge me when I come? Why does no one respond when I call? Is my hand too weak to deliver you? Do I lack the power to rescue you? Look, with a mere shout I can dry up the sea; I can turn streams into a desert, so the fish rot away and die from lack of water.
- Isaiah 51:9Wake up! Wake up! Clothe yourself with strength, O arm of the Lord! Wake up as in former times, as in antiquity! Did you not smash the Proud One? Did you not wound the sea monster?
- Zechariah 10:11The Lord will cross the sea of storms and will calm its turbulence. The depths of the Nile will dry up, the pride of Assyria will be humbled, and the domination of Egypt will be no more.
- Exodus 14:21Moses stretched out his hand toward the sea, and the Lord drove the sea apart by a strong east wind all that night, and he made the sea into dry land, and the water was divided.
- Isaiah 19:16At that time the Egyptians will be like women. They will tremble and fear because the Lord who commands armies brandishes his fist against them.
- Isaiah 19:5The water of the sea will be dried up, and the river will dry up and be empty.
- Exodus 7:19Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over Egypt’s waters – over their rivers, over their canals, over their ponds, and over all their reservoirs – so that it becomes blood.’ There will be blood everywhere in the land of Egypt, even in wooden and stone containers.”
- Psalms 74:13You destroyed the sea by your strength; you shattered the heads of the sea monster in the water.
- Ezekiel 29:10I am against you and your waterways. I will turn the land of Egypt into an utter desolate ruin from Migdol to Syene, as far as the border with Ethiopia.
- Ezekiel 30:12I will dry up the waterways and hand the land over to evil men. I will make the land and everything in it desolate by the hand of foreigners. I, the Lord, have spoken!
- Revelation 16:12Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates and dried up its water to prepare the way for the kings from the east.
Commentaries on Isaiah 11:15
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 15The Lord - shall smite it in the seven streams "Smite with a drought" - The Chaldee reads החריב hecherib ; and so perhaps the Septuagint, who have , the word by which they commonly render it. Vulg. desolabit; "shall desolate." The Septuagint, Vulgate, and Chaldee read הדריכהו hidrichahu, "shall make it passable," adding the pronoun, which is necessary: but this reading is not confirmed by any MS. Here is a plain allusion to the passage of the Red Sea. And…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 15And the Lord - The prophet goes on with the description of the effect which shall follow the return of the scattered Jews to God. The language is figurative, and is here drawn from that which was the great storehouse of all the imagery of the Jews - the deliverance of their fathers from the bondage of Egypt. The general sense is, that all the embarrassments which would tend to impede them would be removed; and that God would make their return as easy and…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 10-16Verses 10-16 When the gospel should be publicly preached, the Gentiles would seek Christ Jesus as their Lord and Saviour, and find rest of soul. When God's time is come for the deliverance of his people, mountains of opposition shall become plains before him. God can soon turn gloomy days into glorious ones. And while we expect the Lord to gather his ancient people, and bring them home to his church, also to bring in the fulness of the Gentiles, when all…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 15-16Isaiah used images from Israel's past exodus to encourage his listeners. He promised that God would lead his people out of Assyria just as he led them out of Egypt (Exodus 14:29–15:18; see also Revelation 16:12).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1515. There shall be a second exodus, destined to eclipse even the former one from Egypt in its wonders. So the prophecies elsewhere (Psa 68:22; Ex 14:22; Zec 10:11). The same deliverance furnishes the imagery by which the return from Babylon is described (Is 48:20, 21). destroy--literally, "devote," or "doom," that is, dry up; for what God dooms, perishes (Psa 106:9 Na 1:4). tongue--the Bubastic branch of the Nile [Vitringa]; but as the Nile was not the…Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 11:15
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Isaiah 11
- 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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