In that day the Egyptians will be as weak as women. They will cower in fear beneath the upraised fist of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
Parallel translations
- WEB In that day the Egyptians will be like women. They will tremble and fear because of the shaking of Yahweh of Armies’s hand, which he shakes over them.
- KJV In that day shall Egypt be like unto women: and it shall be afraid and fear because of the shaking of the hand of the LORD of hosts, which he shaketh over it.
- BSB In that day the Egyptians will be like women. They will tremble with fear beneath the uplifted hand of the LORD of Hosts, when He brandishes it against them.
- NKJV In that day Egypt will be like women, and will be afraid and fear because of the waving of the hand of the Lord of hosts, which He waves over it.
- NASB On that day the Egyptians will become like women, and they will tremble and be in great fear because of the waving of the hand of the Lord of armies, which He is going to wave over them.
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
On that day Egypt will tremble in fear before the LORD's uplifted hand. It matters because judgment is meant to bring proud Egypt to humble fear of God.
Overview
The phrase 'in that day' begins a shift toward Egypt's eventual turning to God. Here mighty Egypt is reduced to trembling, pictured as weak before the shaking of the LORD's hand. The fear that grips them is the beginning of a right response to God's power. What looks like terror prepares the way for the surprising mercy that follows in the chapter.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Jer 51:30The mighty men of Babylon have stopped fighting, they remain in their strongholds. Their might has failed. They have become as women. Her dwelling places are set on fire. Her bars are broken.
- Nah 3:13Behold, your troops among you are women. The gates of your land are set wide open to your enemies. The fire has devoured your bars.
- Isa 11:15Yahweh will utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his scorching wind he will wave his hand over the River, and will split it into seven streams, and cause men to march over in sandals.
- Jer 50:37A sword is on their horses, on their chariots, and on all the mixed people who are in the middle of her; and they will become as women. A sword is on her treasures, and they will be robbed.
- Jer 30:5–7For Yahweh says: “We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace.
- Isa 10:32This very day he will halt at Nob. He shakes his hand at the mountain of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.
- Zech 2:9For, behold, I will shake my hand over them, and they will be a plunder to those who served them; and you will know that Yahweh of Armies has sent me.
- Ps 48:6Trembling took hold of them there, pain, as of a woman in travail.
- Isa 30:30–32Yahweh will cause his glorious voice to be heard, and will show the descent of his arm, with the indignation of his anger, and the flame of a devouring fire, with a blast, storm, and hailstones.
- Isa 30:17One thousand will flee at the threat of one. At the threat of five, you will flee until you are left like a beacon on the top of a mountain, and like a banner on a hill.
- Heb 10:31It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
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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 19:16 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
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