New King James Version
Isaiah 19:11
11Surely 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?”
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 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
9Moreover those who work in fine flax And those who weave fine fabric will be ashamed; 10And its foundations will be broken. All who make wages will be troubled of soul. 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?” 12Where are they? Where are your wise men? Let them tell you now, And let them know what the Lord of hosts has purposed against Egypt. 13The princes of Zoan have become fools; The princes of Noph are deceived; They have also deluded Egypt, Those who are the mainstay of its tribes.
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 19:3The spirit of Egypt will fail in its midst; I will destroy their counsel, And they will consult the idols and the charmers, The mediums and the sorcerers.
- Isaiah 29:14Therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work Among this people, A marvelous work and a wonder; For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, And the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden.”
- Isaiah 44:25Who frustrates the signs of the babblers, And drives diviners mad; Who turns wise men backward, And makes their knowledge foolishness;
- Job 5:12He frustrates the devices of the crafty, So that their hands cannot carry out their plans.
- Job 12:17He leads counselors away plundered, And makes fools of the judges.
- Psalms 33:10The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect.
- Jeremiah 49:7Against 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 will come upon disaster, And rumor will be upon rumor. Then they will seek a vision from a prophet; But the law will perish from the priest, And counsel from the elders.
- 1 Corinthians 1:19For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.”
- Isaiah 30:4For his princes were at Zoan, And his ambassadors came to Hanes.
- Numbers 13:22And they went up through the South and came to Hebron; Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, were there. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)
- Psalms 78:12Marvelous things He did in the sight of their fathers, In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.
- Ezekiel 30:14I will make Pathros desolate, Set fire to Zoan, And execute judgments in No.
- Psalms 73:22I was so foolish and ignorant; I was like a beast before You.
- Psalms 92:6A senseless man does not know, Nor does a fool understand this.
- Proverbs 30:2Surely I am more stupid than any man, And do not have 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
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries