Egypt’s help is futile and empty; therefore I have called her Rahab Who Sits Still.
Parallel translations
- WEB For Egypt helps in vain, and to no purpose; therefore I have called her Rahab who sits still.
- KJV For the Egyptians shall help in vain, and to no purpose: therefore have I cried concerning this, Their strength is to sit still.
- NKJV For the Egyptians shall help in vain and to no purpose. Therefore I have called her Rahab-Hem-Shebeth.
- NASB Even Egypt, whose help is vain and empty. Therefore, I have called her “Rahab who has been exterminated.”
- NLT Egypt’s promises are worthless! Therefore, I call her Rahab— the Harmless Dragon.
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
Egypt's help is empty and useless, so God names her 'Rahab who sits still.' It matters because the mighty ally is exposed as all bluster and no action.
Overview
The LORD declares Egypt's aid vain and gives her a mocking title, Rahab (a name for a proud sea-monster) who merely 'sits still'—all reputation, no rescue. Egypt looks fearsome but will do nothing. The verse strips away the illusion of human power, redirecting trust to the God who truly acts to save His people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Isa 2:22Put no more trust in man, who has only the breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he?
- Lam 3:26It is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.
- Isa 31:1–5Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in their abundance of chariots and in their multitude of horsemen. They do not look to the Holy One of Israel; they do not seek the LORD.
- Ps 118:8–9It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man.
- Hos 5:13When Ephraim saw his sickness and Judah his wound, then Ephraim turned to Assyria and sent to the great king. But he cannot cure you or heal your wound.
- Isa 7:4and say to him: Calm down and be quiet. Do not be afraid or disheartened over these two smoldering stubs of firewood—over the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and of the son of Remaliah.
- Exod 14:13But Moses told the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the LORD’s salvation, which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians you see today, you will never see again.
- Isa 51:9Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD. Wake up as in days past, as in generations of old. Was it not You who cut Rahab to pieces, who pierced through the dragon?
- Isa 28:12to whom He has said: “This is the place of rest, let the weary rest; this is the place of repose.” But they would not listen.
- Jer 37:7“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says that you are to tell the king of Judah, who sent you to Me: Behold, Pharaoh’s army, which has marched out to help you, will go back to its own land of Egypt.
- Isa 30:15For the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, has said: “By repentance and rest you would be saved; your strength would lie in quiet confidence—but you were not willing.”
- Ps 76:8–9From heaven You pronounced judgment, and the earth feared and was still
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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 30:7 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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