Isaiah 19:22

Isa 19:22 And the LORD shall smite Egypt: he shall smite and heal [it]: and they shall return [even] to the LORD, and he shall be intreated of them, and shall heal them.

Ver. 22. And the Lord shall smite Egypt.] That he may bring it into the bond of the covenant. {Eze 20:37 Heb 12:9 Hos 6:1}

He shall smite and heal it.] Heb., Smiting and healing. Una eademque manus, &c. Una gerit bellum monstrat manus altera pacem; as it was said of Charles V. Facit opus alienum ut faciat proprium {Isa 28:20}

And shall heal them.] Pardon their sins, heal their natures, and make up all breaches in their outward estates.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

CHASTISEMENT

Isa_19:22. And the Lord shall smite Egypt, &c.

I. The benevolent design of God in chastisement. God smites in order to heal. Scripture teaches throughout that God’s dealings with men are—

1. Not capricious.

2. Not indiscriminate.

3. Not unjust. He does not impose burdens that cannot be borne, nor exact obedience which man cannot render, nor select favourites for preference or victims for vengeance, without any regard to the relations existing between man and Himself. Contrary to all this, God’s smiting is that—

(1) of a Rescuer, who inflicts blows upon our chains that He may set us free;

(2) of a Physician, who in mercy probes the wound that He may heal it;

(3) of a Father, who uses the rod for the salutary purposes of correction and reformation (H. E. I., 56–74).

II. The conduct befitting in men when under chastisement. “And they shall return,” &c. This return includes—

1. Submission (H. E. I., 143).

2. Entreaty for help. (See also Isa_19:20.) This involves humble confession of sin, and hearty reliance upon God (H. E. I., 145–147).

3. Sincerity of purpose, as manifested in the fulfilment of vows. (See also Isa_19:21.)—William Manning.

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

19:22 strike Egypt: The Hebrew verb used here is the same as the one used for the tenth plague (Exod 12:13, 23, 27), bringing up associations of what God did during the Exodus. • The Lord, who brings a plague, can also bring healing. • he will listen to their pleas and heal them: This expresses a covenantal relationship between the Lord and Egypt (see Isa 65:24).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

return--for heathen sin and idolatry are an apostasy from primitive truth.

heal--as described (Isa 19:18-20).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(22) And the Lord shall smite Egypt . . .—The tone of the preceding verses seems at first at variance with the stern prophecies of disaster with which the chapter opened. The prophet, however, is no eater of his words. What he has learnt is to look beyond the chastisement, and to see that it is as true of Egypt as of Israel, that “whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth.” The sword of Jehovah smote but to heal, and the healing could not come without the smiting. Through it they would be led to pray, and prayer was the condition of all spiritual recovery.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

22. he shall smite and heal it] lit. “with a smiting and a healing,” i.e. He will smite only in order to heal (Hos_6:1). be intreated] hear their supplications (Niph. tolerativum).

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the Lord shall smite Egypt,.... By one afflictive providence or another, which shall awaken them to a sense of sin and duty; or smite their consciences with convictions of sin, through the ministry of the word by his spirits:

he shall smite and heal it; or "smiting and healing" (f); as he smites he shall heal, by an application of pardoning grace and mercy, by sprinkling the blood of Christ on their wounded consciences, and by pouring in the oil and wine of divine love into the wounds made by sin:

and they shall return, even to the Lord: by faith and repentance; or to his worship, as the Targum; by an obedience to his will, and shall cleave unto him:

and he shall be entreated of them, and he shall heal them; when wounded with a sense of sin, and pricked to the heart, they shall cry unto him, and entreat his pardoning grace and mercy, which, being applied to them, heals; for healing diseases and forgiving iniquities are one and the same thing; see Psa 103:3.

(f) "percutiendo et sanando", Pagninus, Montanus, Piscator, Tigurine version.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

And the Lord shall smite Egypt - That is, in the manner described in the previous part of this prophecy Isa 19:2-10.

And heal it - Or restore it to more than its former splendor and prosperity, as described in the previous verses Isa 19:18-20. He shall send it a saviour; he shall open new sources of prosperity; and he shall cause the true religion to flourish there. These advantages would be more than a compensation for all the calamities that he would bring upon it.

And they shall return ... - These calamities shall be the means of their conversion to Yahweh.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Scourge. By means of Sennacherib, Cambyses, and Ochus. Afterwards the country was quietly subject to the kings of Persia, Alexander the Great, the Ptolemies, and the Romans. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

He shall smite and heal it; God will afflict them by oppressors, Isa 19:20, and otherwise; and by those afflictions he will convert and save them.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

22. Smite Egypt — Egypt’s allegiance to Jehovah will still be very mixed, calling for smitings to amend and correct the people.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And Jehovah shall smite Egypt, smiting and healing; i.e. Jehovah shall indeed "smite Egypt," as already prophesied (vers. 1-16), but it shall be with a merciful object, in order, after smiting, to "heal." His smiting shall induce them to "return" to him, and when they return he will forgive and save. (comp. Zep_3:8, 9 Jer_12:14-16) Egypt was a Christian country from the third century to the seventh; and the Coptic Church (though very corrupt) still remains, knowing Jehovah, and offering the holy oblation of the Christian altar continually.

Smiting and healing closely connected in God"s counsels.

God"s smiting is no doubt twofold,

(1) remedial and

(2) penal; but by far the greater portion of it is of the former kind.

Once only has he visited mankind at large penalty at the Deluge; but a thousand times has he visited them remedially. Similarly with nations. He smote Egypt in Moses" time with the ten plagues, not to destroy, but to chasten. So again at the Red Sea. So now by the hands of Esarhaddon and his son. So by Nebuchadnezzar, Cambyses, Ochus. And at last he bowed their hearts and caused them to turn to him, first partially, when Judaism gained an influence over them; afterwards, as a nation, when they accepted Christianity. Former chastisements had doubtless some remedial force, or the nation would scarcely have been borne with so long; but they did not fully heal, and blow after blow became requisite. So God went on "smiting and healing." And the course of his providence is similar with individuals. Primarily he smites to heal. Each offence brings down his red, but the stroke is comparatively light at first, and intended to warn, admonish, call to amendment. If men persist in wrong courses, the blows become heavier. But still the intention is the same; it is sought to bring them to repentance. God has no pleasure in the death of him that dieth. Only after repeated trials, after blow upon blow, warning upon warning, if they will not repent, if they will not be healed, the penal sentence goes forth to "pluck up and destroy". (Jer_12:17)

God both Smiter and Healer.

"The meaning is not simply that the stroke should be followed by healing, nor is it simply that the stroke should possess a healing virtue; but both ideas seem to be included." The full thought is expressed by the Prophet, (Hos_6:1, Hos_6:2) "Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight." Henderson says, "The doctrine here taught is, that when God has purposes of mercy towards a sinful people, he will continue to visit them with calamities till they are humbled, and thus brought into a fit state for appreciating the value of his mercies." For illustrations of the same view of God"s working, see Job_5:17-19 Isa_57:15-19 Hos_5:15. There are few conceptions of God which should seem so tender and so restfully satisfying as this to conscious sinners who long to be freed from their sins. God will not leave us alone; he will smite. God will watch the effects of his smiting, and take the first opportunity to heal. God never smites save with the prospect before him of healing, and with gracious intentions of making his healings an unspeakable blessing intention of healing is predominant throughout". (comp. Zep_3:8,jer Zeph 12:5-7)

I THESE TWO THINGS SMITING AND HEALING ARE OFTEN SEVERED IN MAN.

1. Some smite for others to heal.

2. Some smite in malice, and do not want us to be healed.

3. Some smite in willfulness, and do not care whether we are healed.

4. Some smite in kindness, but are unable to heal the wounds they make.

And so often men do not know how to smite, though they mean well, and so the wounds they make are mischievous, and only wounds, not really corrective agencies. Man"s bungling ways in smiting and healing, make us say, after David, "Let me fall into the hands of the Lord, and not into the hands of man.

II THESE TWO THINGS SMITING AND HEALING ARE ALWAYS UNITED IN GOD.

1. In God"s thought.

2. In God"s arrangement.

3. Given time enough, also in God"s action.

Because of the union God"s smitings can always be severe enough to be efficient. He can venture to smite harder than any man can ever do, But God"s wounds never go beyond his healing power. The most striking illustration is perhaps that set before us in the story of Job. In dealing with him we know not which to admire most God"s wonderful smitings, God"s wonderful healings, or the gracious way in which the smitings and the healings fitted in together. R.T.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Smite - God will afflict them and by those afflictions will convert and save them.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

“And Jehovah shall smite Egypt (or the Egyptians), smiting and healing, and they shall return unto Jehovah, and He shall be entreated of them and shall heal them.” Here again the second clause contains no advance upon the first, and the whole verse no advance upon the foregoing context, but an iteration of the same idea in another form. This verse may indeed be regarded as a recapitulation of the whole preceding prophecy, consisting as it does of an extended threatening (vs. 1-17) followed by an ample promise (vs. 18-21). As if he had said, ‘thus will God smite Egypt and then heal it.’ That great heathen power, with respect to which the Jews so often sinned both by undue confidence and undue dread, was to be broken and reduced; but in exchange for this political decline, and partly as a consequence of it, the Egyptians should experience benefits far greater than they ever before knew. Thus would Jehovah smite and heal, or smite but so as afterwards to heal, which seems to be the force of the reduplicated verb. The meaning is not simply that the stroke should be followed by healing, nor is it simply that the stroke should itself possess a healing virtue, but both ideas seem to be included. Returning to Jehovah is a common figure for repentance and conversion, even in reference to the heathen. (See Psa 22:27).

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Prophecies of Isaiah (1846–1847; New York: Scribner, 1870–1878) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And...shall plague Heb. נָגֹף. This is an expression of smiting.

plaguing and healing And after the plague, He will create a cure for them.

and He shall accept their prayer [lit.] and He shall be reconciled with them.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

ורפאם רפא ═ ורפא And he will surely heal them.

ונעתר And he will be entreated. He will accept their prayer.

Ibn Ezra on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009” (CC BY 4.0); and “Commentary of Ibn Ezra on Isaiah - trans. by M. Friedlander, 1873” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.