There is nothing Egypt can do. All are helpless— the head and the tail, the noble palm branch and the lowly reed.
Parallel translations
- WEB Neither shall there be any work for Egypt, which head or tail, palm branch or rush, may do.
- KJV Neither shall there be any work for Egypt, which the head or tail, branch or rush, may do.
- BSB There is nothing Egypt can do—head or tail, palm or reed.
- NKJV Neither will there be any work for Egypt, Which the head or tail, Palm branch or bulrush, may do.
- NASB There will be no work for Egypt Which its head or tail, its palm branch or bulrush, may do.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
No one in Egypt, high or low, can do anything to save the nation. It matters because it underscores the totality of God's judgment.
Overview
The proverbial pairing of 'head or tail, palm branch or rush' covers the whole range of society from the greatest to the least. None of them can accomplish any rescue. The judgment is comprehensive, leaving no human resource untouched. The verse closes the first part of the oracle by stressing Egypt's complete helplessness.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Isa 9:14–15Therefore Yahweh will cut off from Israel head and tail, palm branch and reed, in one day.
- Prov 14:23In all hard work there is profit, but the talk of the lips leads only to poverty.
- Hag 1:11I called for a drought on the land, on the mountains, on the grain, on the new wine, on the oil, on that which the ground produces, on men, on livestock, and on all the labor of the hands.”
- Ps 128:2For you will eat the labor of your hands. You will be happy, and it will be well with you.
- Hab 3:17For though the fig tree doesn’t flourish, nor fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive fails, the fields yield no food; the flocks are cut off from the fold, and there is no herd in the stalls:
- 1 Th 4:11–12and that you make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, even as we instructed you;
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Christ at the center
Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).
How Isaiah 19:15 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.