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?
• 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?”
• 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

9Those who work with combed flax will despair, the weavers of fine linen will lose hope. 10The workers in cloth will be dejected, and all the wage earners will be sick at heart. 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”? 12Where are your wise men now? Let them show you and make known what the Lord Almighty has planned against Egypt. 13The officials of Zoan have become fools, the leaders of Memphis are deceived; the cornerstones of her peoples 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 19:3The Egyptians will lose heart, and I will bring their plans to nothing; they will consult the idols and the spirits of the dead, the mediums and the spiritists.
• Isaiah 29:14Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder; the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.”
• Isaiah 44:25who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who overthrows the learning of the wise and turns it into nonsense,
• Job 5:12He thwarts the plans of the crafty, so that their hands achieve no success.
• Job 12:17He leads rulers away stripped and makes fools of judges.
• Psalms 33:10The Lord foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.
• Jeremiah 49:7Concerning Edom: This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Is there no longer wisdom in Teman? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom decayed?
• Ezekiel 7:26Calamity upon calamity will come, and rumor upon rumor. They will go searching for a vision from the prophet, priestly instruction in the law will cease, the counsel of the elders will come to an end.
• 1 Corinthians 1:19For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”
• Isaiah 30:4Though they have officials in Zoan and their envoys have arrived in Hanes,
• Numbers 13:22They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, lived. (Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)
• Psalms 78:12He did miracles in the sight of their ancestors in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan.
• Ezekiel 30:14I will lay waste Upper Egypt, set fire to Zoan and inflict punishment on Thebes.
• Psalms 73:22I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you.
• Psalms 92:6Senseless people do not know, fools do not understand,
• Proverbs 30:2Surely I am only a brute, not a man; I do not have human understanding.

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
• Egypt
• Zoan
• Ancient
• Brute; Brutish
• Evil
• Ezekiel
• Fool; Folly
• Heredity
• Isaiah

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