Isaiah 19:7

Isa 19:7 The paper reeds by the brooks, by the mouth of the brooks, and every thing sown by the brooks, shall wither, be driven away, and be no [more].

Ver. 7. The paper reeds by the brooks,] i.e., By the streams of Nile; for where this river arriveth not, is nothing but a whitish sand, bearing no grass but two little weeds called suhit and gazul, which, burnt to ashes, maketh the finest crystal glasses.

And everything sown by the brooks.] As far as Nile overflows is a black mould, so fruitful as they do but throw in the seed and have four rich harvests in less than four months.

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.

The Hebrew word is mouth, whereby they mean the spring out of the which the water gusheth as out of a mouth.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

paper-reeds--rather, pastures, literally, "places naked" of wood, and famed for rich herbage, on the banks of the Nile [GESENIUS]. Compare Gen 13:10; Deu 11:10. HORSLEY translates, "nakedness upon the river," descriptive of the appearance of a river when its bottom is bare and its banks stripped of verdure by long drought: so Vulgate.

the brooks--the river.

mouth--rather, "the source" [Vulgate]. "Even close to the river's side vegetation shall be so withered as to be scattered in the shape of powder by the wind" (English Version, "driven away") [HORSLEY].

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

(7) The paper reeds by the brooks.—Better, the meadows by the Nile. And so in the other clauses, the Hebrew word for “brooks” being used specifically for that river. For “shall wither and be driven away,” read, shall dry up and vanish. The valley of the Nile is to become as parched and barren as the desert on either side of it.

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

7. The paper reeds by the brooks, by the mouth of the brooks] Usually rendered as in R.V., “The meadows by the Nile, by the brink of the Nile.” The word for “meadows,” which does not occur again, is supposed to mean literally “bare place,” hardly a suitable designation! A safer translation would be, Bare places are on the Nile, on the (very) brink of the Nile. The LXX. has an entirely different text, which might suggest: “Bare is all verdure on the brink of the Nile.”

every thing sown] A unique term. Perhaps “seed-field,” but note the verb “driven away” which follows. “Seed-field of the Nile” might mean the alluvial deposit produced by the inundation, which is the source of Egypt’s fertility.

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.

The paper reeds by the brooks, by the mouth of the brooks,.... Not at the fountain or origin of the Nile and its streams, but by the sides thereof; on the banks of which grew a reed or rush, called by the Greeks "papyrus" and "biblus"; from whence come the words "paper" and "bible", or book, of which paper was anciently made; even as early as the times of Isaiah, and so, many hundreds of years before the times of Alexander the great, to which some fix the era of making it.

"According to Pliny (d), its root is of the thickness of a man's arm, and ten cubits long; from this arise a great number of triangular stalks, six or seven cubits high, each thick enough to be easily spanned. Its leaves are long, like those of the bulrush; its flowers stamineous, ranged in clusters at the extremities of the stalks; its roots woody and knotty, like those of rushes; and its taste and smell near akin to those of the cyprus.----The manner of making the Egyptian paper was this: they began with lopping off the two extremes of the "papyrus", viz. the head and root, as of no use in this manufacture; the remaining stem they slit lengthwise, into equal parts; and from each of these they stripped the thin scaly coats, or pellicles, whereof it was composed, with a point of a penknife (or needle, as some); the innermost of these pellicles were looked on as the best, and those nearest the rind or bark the worst; they were kept apart accordingly, and constituted different sorts of paper. As the pellicles were taken off, they extended them on a table; then two or more of them were laid over each other transversely, so as that their fibres made right angles; in this state they were glued together by the muddy waters of the Nilus. These being next pressed to get out the water, then dried, and lastly flatted and smoothed, by beating them with a mallet, constituted paper; which they sometimes polished further, by rubbing it with a hemisphere of glass, or the like. There were paper manufactures in divers cities of Egypt; but the greatest and most celebrated was that at Alexandria, where, according to Varro's account, paper was first made. The trade and consumption of this commodity were in reality incredible. Vopiscus relates, that the tyrant Firmus, who rebelled in Egypt, publicly declared he would maintain an army only, "papyro et glutine", with paper and glue (e).''

So that the withering and drying up of these paper reeds, here threatened, must be a great calamity upon the nation. And, besides paper, of this rush or reed were made sails, ropes, and other naval rigging, as also mats, blankets, clothes, and even ships were made of the stalk of the papyrus; and the Egyptian priests wore shoes made of it (f). It may be observed, that paper was made of the pellicles or little skins stripped off of the inside of the stem of the papyrus; which shows with what propriety the word (g) for paper reeds is here used, which comes from a root which signifies to strip or make bare, and from which also is derived a word which signifies a skin.

And everything sown by the brooks shall wither, be driven away, and be no more; all sorts of fruitful plants, and grain of every kind, hemp and flax, after mentioned, and which are opposed to reeds and rushes, which grew of themselves; and if these which were sown by the sides of brooks and rivers withered and came to nothing, then much more what was sown at a greater distance.

(d) Nat Hist. l. 13. c. 11. (e) Chambers's Cyclopaedia, in the word "Paper". (f) Herodot, Euterpe, sive l. 2. c. 37. (g) "ad" "nudari, inde" "pellis".

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

The paper reeds - (ערות ‛ârôt). This is not the word which occurs in Isa 18:2, and which, it is supposed, means there the papyrus (see the note on that place). Interpreters have been divided in regard to the meaning of the word here. Gesenius derives it from ערה ‛ârâh, “to be naked, open, bare;” and supposes that it means an open place, a place naked of wood, and that it here denotes the pastures on the banks of the Nile. So Rosenmuller interprets it of the green pastures on the banks of the Nile; and the Hebrew commentators generally so understand it. The Vulgate renders it, ‘And the bed (alveus) of the river shall be dried up from the fountain.’ So the Chaldee, ‘And their streams shall be desolate.’ It probably denotes, not paper reeds, but the green pastures that were beside the brooks, or along the banks of the Nile.

By the brooks - Hebrew, ‘Rivers’ (יארי ye'orēy). By the ‘brooks’ here, in the plural number, the prophet probably means the artificial canals which were cut in every direction from the Nile for the purpose of conveying the waters to various parts of the land.

By the mouth of the brooks - At the mouth of the canals, or where they emptied into the Nile. Such meadows, being “near” the Nile, and most sure of a supply of water, would be more valuable than those which were remote, and are, therefore, particularly specified.

Shall wither ... - That is, there shall be utter and entire desolation. If the Nile ceased to overflow; if the streams, reservoirs, and canals, could not be filled, this would follow as a matter of course. Everything would dry up.

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

CHAPTER XIX.

Fountain. The Nile rises in Ethiopia. But the canals alone were left dry. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "the achi, every green herb along the river, and every," &c. (Haydock)

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).

The paper reeds; which by a needle, or other fit instrument, were divided into thin and broad leaves, which being dried and fitted, were used at that time for writing, as our paper is; and consequently was a very good commodity.

Sown by the brooks; and much more what was sown in more dry and unfruitful places.

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

The paper reeds by the brooks, etc.; rather, the meadows on the river, along the banks of the river, and every seed-plot by the river. The banks of the Nile were partly grass-land, (Gen_41:2, Gen_41:18) partly cultivated in grain or vegetables (Herod., 2:14), in either case producing the most luxuriant crops. All, however, depended on the inundation, and if that failed, or so far as it failed, the results predicted by the prophet would happen.

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

Paper-reeds - These by a needle, or other fit instrument, were divided into thin and broad leaves, which being dried and fitted, were used at that time for writing; and consequently was a very good commodity. By brooks - And much more what was sown in more dry and unfruitful places.

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

“The meadows by the river, by the mouth of the river, and all the sown ground of the river, shall wither, being driven away, and it is not (or shall be no more).” The first word in Hebrew means bare or open places, (i.e., meadows, as distinguished from woodland). The English and some other versions treat it as the name of the papyrus, but without authority. The word translated river is the one already mentioned as the common name in Scripture for the Nile, nor is there any need of departing from this sense in the case before us. Calvin explains mouth to mean source or fountain, which is wholly arbitrary. Others regard it as synonymous with lip, used elsewhere (Gen 41:3; Exo 2:3) to denote the brink or margin of the Nile. Some of the older writers give the word its geographical sense, as denoting the place where the waters of a stream are discharged into another or the sea. The place of seed or sowing, (i.e., cultivated ground), is here distinguished from the meadows or uncultivated pastures.

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

every sown field beside the Nile

"the fields near the Nile where people have planted crops"

The fishermen will wail and mourn, and all who cast a hook into the Nile will mourn, and those who spread nets on the waters will grieve

These three phrases mean basically the same thing. If necessary, the reason they will grieve can be stated clearly. AT: "The fishermen who catch fish with hooks or nets will cry in despair because the fish in the Nile have died" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information and Parallelism)

cast a hook into the Nile

In order to catch fish, some people put a little food on a hook, tie the hook to a string, and throw the hook into the water. When a fish tries to eat the food, its mouth gets stuck on the hook, and the person pulls the fish out of the water. (See: Translate Unknowns)

cast

throw

spread nets on the waters

In order to catch fish, some people toss a net on the water. When fish get caught in it, they pull the net with the fish out of the water. (See: Translate Unknowns)

translationWords

Nile River

plant

fishermen

mourn

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

The well-rooted plants by the stream, by the brink of the stream Heb. עָרוֹת, an expression denoting something rooted very well. Comp. (Psalms 37:35) “The wicked, terrible in power, striking roots (מִתְעָרֶה) like a green tree in its native soil.” Menachem, too, equated it in this manner in his lexicon. [Menachem, however, explains both terms as an expression of growing and of freshness.] Seeds, well-rooted by the Nile, and even on its brink, and all those planted thereby, everything shall dry up and be driven away.

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.

ערות Some compare it with מתערה spreading himself (Ps. 37:35), and say that it means green; all green herbs that grow on the banks of the river and at its mouth, and all that is sown near the river, all will dry up. Others, The banks of the river and its mouths have been stripped of every thing that had been there, for the plants may be considered as a covering to them.

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.