Isaiah 20:4

Isa 20:4 So shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians prisoners, and the Ethiopians captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, even with [their] buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.

Ver. 4. So shall the king of Assyria lead away.] As men used to lead or drive cattle, for so the Hebrew word Nahag denotes: so are poor captives led; and so shall the Lord also one day "lead forth with" or in company of "the workers of iniquity" (notorious offenders) all such as "turn aside unto their crooked ways," hypocrites and dissemblers; whenas "peace shall be upon Israel, upon the pure in heart." {Psa 125:5}

Young and old.] Young men are for action, old men for counsel. {a} Eργα νεων, βουλαι δε τεροντων. {b} They were all carried away together in a sad and sorry condition, little better, and sometimes more bitter, than death itself.

Even with their buttocks uncovered.] Vel ad ludibrium, vel ad libidinem hostium, for the enemies either to scorn at, or to feed their filthy eyes upon. Thus and for such a purpose dealt the mitred fathers with the poor Albigenses, those ancient Protestants in France, when they had forced them to take quarter for their lives, voluerunt episcopi viros et mulieres nudos egredi, &c. The bishops wished the men and women to be led forth nude. And so Tilly dealt with the miserable citizens at the sack of Magdeburg; and much worse than so dealeth the devil with all his wretched captives, whom he driveth away hellward, naked and barefoot with their buttocks uncovered, the shame of their nakedness exposed to public view for want of the white raiment of Christ’s righteousness that they might be clothed. {Rev 3:18}

{a} Consilia senum, hastae iuvenum sunt.

{b} Pindar.

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.

buttocks uncovered--BELZONI says that captives are found represented thus on Egyptian monuments (Isa 47:2-3; Nah 3:5, Nah 3:8-9), where as here, Egypt and Ethiopia are mentioned as in alliance.

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

(4) So shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians . . .—The prediction did not receive its fulfilment in the reign either of Sargon or Sennacherib, but Esarhaddon subdued the whole of Egypt, carried off its treasures, and appointed satraps over its provinces (Budge’s Esarhaddon, pp. 111-129). The prophet paints the brutality with which prisoners were treated on a march in vivid colours. What would men say of their boasted policy of an Egypto-Cushite alliance when they saw that as its disastrous issue? It may be noted that Rabshakeh’s scornful phrase, “This bruised reed,” seems to imply that Assyria had ceased to fear the power of Egypt; and Nahum (Nah_3:8) speaks of No (i.e., No-Amun or Thebes) as having, when he wrote, been conquered, and his people carried into captivity.

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

4. The apodosis. lead away] as in 1Sa_30:2.

the Egyptians prisoners … captives] Better as R.V. the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Ethiopia. The two words for exile are both abstracts used in a concrete sense; the corresponding verbs denote, the one the act of making captive, the other the act of going into exile (lit. leaving the land bare).

to the shame] The word means “nakedness,” and the construction is difficult.

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.

So shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians prisoners, and the Ethiopians captives,.... As beasts are led or driven, being taken prisoners, and carried captive by the king of Assyria, namely Sargon, whoever is intended by him:

young and old; without any regard to age, sparing none for their tender years or gray hairs:

naked and barefoot; as prisoners of war commonly are, being stripped by their conquerors of their clothes, and having only a few rags given them to cover their nakedness with, and obliged to travel without shoes on their feet:

even with their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt; having no clothes on them to cover those parts; or the skirts of their garments cut off, as David's servants were by the Ammonites, Sa2 10:4 and this to humble and mortify the pride of the Egyptians.

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

So shall the king of Assyria - The emphasis here is on the word “so.” As Isaiah has walked naked, that is, stripped off his usual clothing, “so” shall the Egyptians and Ethiopians be led away “stripped” of all their possessions.

The Egyptians prisoners, and the Ethiopians captives - The Egyptians and Ethiopians, or Cushites, were often united in an alliance, and appear to have been when this prophecy was delivered. Thus Nah 3:8 :

Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength, and it was infinite;

Put and Lubim were thy helpers.

To the shame of Egypt - It shall be a disgrace to them to be subdued, and to be carried captive in so humiliating a manner. It is remarked by Belzoni (‘Operations and Recent Discoveries in Egypt and Nubia’), that in the figures on the remains of their temples, prisoners are often represented as naked, or only in aprons, with disheveled hair, and with their hands chained. He also remarks, that on a “bas-relief,” on the recently-discovered graves of the kings of Thebes, a multitude of “Egyptian and Ethiopian prisoners” are represented - showing that Egypt and Ethiopia were sometimes “allied,” alike in mutual defense and in bondage (compare Isa 47:2, and Nah 3:5).

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

Shame. Thus captives were generally exposed to sale, chap. xlvii. 2., and Nahum iii. 5.

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).

Lead away, like beasts, of which this word is commonly used.

Their buttocks uncovered; having their garments cut off by the middle, to the discovery of their buttocks and their secret parts. Compare 2Sa 10:4; Isa 47:2.

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

4, 5. So — Thus, in like manner, as the prophet in his comparative nakedness.

Shall the king of Assyria — In this expedition Assyria’s success is assured by the prophet. Precisely when this occurred is not easy to settle, as some imagine. Not even Rawlinson, in his Five Great Monarchies, vol. ii, page 416, (which see,) does this satisfactorily. Nor is it, as regards prophecy, very material.

Lead away the Egyptians prisoners… Ethiopians captives — This picture of naked captives taken in war, is found on the monuments in Egypt. See Isa_47:2-3; also Nah_3:5; Nah_3:8-9. The doctrine of the prophecy is: Vain is the reliance of Judah on Egypt and Ethiopia.

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

So shall the King of Assyria lead away the Egyptians prisoners, and the Ethiopians captives. In Sennacherib"s annals for the year B.C. 701, twelve years after this prophecy was given, we find the following passage: "The kings of Egypt, and the archers, chariots, and horsemen of the King of Meroe, a force without number, gathered and came to the aid of Ekron. In the neighborhood of Eltekeh their ranks were arrayed before me, and they urged on their soldiers. In the service of Asshur, my lord, I fought with them, and I accomplished their overthrow. The charioteers and sons of the kings of Egypt, and the charioteers of the King of Meres, alive in the midst of the battle, my hand captured " (G. Smith, "Eponym Canon," pp. 133, 134). Young and old. The intermixture of young and old, of full-grown males with women leading children by the hand or carrying them upon the shoulder, in the Assyrian sculptures, strikes us even on the most cursory inspection of them. Naked and barefoot. Assyrian captives are ordinarily represented "barefoot." Most commonly they wear a single tunic, reaching from the neck to the knees, or sometimes to the ankles, and girt about the waist with a girdle. It is probable that Egyptian and Ethiopian prisoners would be even more scantily clad, since the ordinary Egyptian tunic began at the waist and ended considerably above the knee.

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

Uncovered - Having their garments cut off by the middle.

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

“So shall the king of Assyria lead the captivity (i.e., the captives) of Egypt and the exiles of Ethiopia, young and old; naked and barefoot, with their buttocks uncovered, the nakedness (or disgrace) of Egypt.” This verse completes the comparison begun in that before it. It is also clear from a comparison of the type and antitype, that the nakedness of v. 2 was a partial one, since captives were not commonly reduced to a state of absolute nudity. This is confirmed by the addition of the word barefoot in both cases, which would be superfluous if naked had its strictest sense. Connected as Egypt and Ethiopia were in fact and in the foregoing context, either name includes the other. The King of Assyria here meant is either Sennacherib or Sargon himself. Some suppose this prediction to have been fulfilled in the conquest of No-Ammon (i.e., Diospolis or Thebes) mentioned in Nah 3:8 as a recent event. How long beforehand the prediction was uttered, is a question of small moment and one which cannot be decided. There is no ground, however, for the supposition that the interval was so short as to convert the prophecy into a mere conjecture or an act of sagacious forecast.

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

with bare buttocks (וַחֲשׂוּפַי), like חֲשׂוּף, and the yud is superfluous, like the yud of חַלּוֹנָי (the window), חוֹרָי, (nets), שָׂדָי (the field).

buttocks Near the anus. Comp. (II Sam. 10:4): “And he cut off their garments in half, up to their buttocks (שְׁתוֹתֵיהֶם).” This retribution was due them because of Ham their ancestor, who saw his father’s nakedness and did not cover it, payment in kind.

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.

Ethiopia, that came to help them.

וַחְַשׁוּפַי And my naked people. The first person refers either to the prophet, the people whose nakedness he indicated by going naked, or to God; the people whom God hath made bare.

שת The back. Comp. 2 Sam. 10:14.

ערות מצרים Either, To the shame of Egypt; or join וחשופי, mentioned before, also to ערות, so that ערות מצרים is in apposition to. שת

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.