Bible Strands
2 Kings 18:21
Look now, you are trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff that will pierce the hand of anyone who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Sennacherib’s envoy addresses Hezekiah’s officials during the Assyrian siege of Jerusalem, challenging the basis of Judah’s rebellion before asking whom they trust.
The words — The Hebrew phrase מִשְׁעֶנֶת קָנֶה רָצוּץ (mish.'e-net ka-neh ra-tzutz) literally translates to “staff of a crushed reed,” describing a support that breaks and wounds the hand that leans on it.
The thread — This image of Egypt’s unreliability appears in Isaiah 30:7 and Isaiah 30:2, where seeking Egyptian shelter is condemned as futile, and in Ezekiel 29:6, where Egypt is explicitly labeled a staff of reeds to Israel.
Why it lands — The text states that leaning on a fractured support causes injury, requiring the reader to evaluate political alliances by their structural integrity rather than their reputation.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Now, behold, thou trustest upon the staff of this bruised reed, even upon Egypt, on which if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt unto all that trust on him.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 30:7 Egypt’s help is futile and empty; therefore I have called her Rahab Who Sits Still.
- Isaiah 30:2 They set out to go down to Egypt without asking My advice, to seek shelter under Pharaoh’s protection and take refuge in Egypt’s shade.
- Ezekiel 29:6 Then all the people of Egypt will know that I am the LORD. For you were only a staff of reeds to the house of Israel.
- 2 Kings 17:4 But the king of Assyria discovered that Hoshea had conspired to send envoys to King So of Egypt, and that he had not paid tribute to the king of Assyria as in previous years. Therefore the king of Assyria arrested Hoshea and put him in prison.
- Isaiah 31:1 Woe 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.
- Isaiah 36:6 Look now, you are trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff that will pierce the hand of anyone who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.
- Jeremiah 46:17 There they will cry out: ‘Pharaoh king of Egypt was all noise; he has let the appointed time pass him by.’