Bible Strands
Isaiah 19:7
The bulrushes by the Nile, by the mouth of the river, and all the fields sown along the Nile, will wither, blow away, and be no more.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet addresses Egypt, declaring impending judgment on its agricultural and economic lifelines immediately after describing the Nile's canals drying up. This oracle occurs within a broader pronouncement against Egyptian deities and state institutions.
The words — The text highlights עָר֥וֹת (a.Rot), meaning reeds, and מִזְרַ֣ע (miz.Ra'), denoting sown land, both positioned at the river's mouth and along its banks. These terms specify the exact vegetation and cultivated fields that will wither and vanish.
The thread — This imagery of river-dependent agriculture facing desolation echoes Isaiah 23:3, where the Nile's harvest supplies Tyre, and contrasts with the promised fertility in Isaiah 32:20. Jeremiah 14:4 similarly depicts agricultural failure, though it attributes cracked ground to drought rather than river loss.
Why it lands — The verse demands recognition that national stability depends entirely on God's provision rather than natural resources. It requires readers to abandon trust in earthly systems that inevitably wither under divine judgment.
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
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.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 23:3 On the great waters came the grain of Shihor; the harvest of the Nile was the revenue of Tyre; she was the merchant of the nations.
- Isaiah 32:20 Blessed are those who sow beside abundant waters, who let the ox and donkey range freely.
- Jeremiah 14:4 The ground is cracked because no rain has fallen on the land. The farmers are ashamed; they cover their heads.
- Ezekiel 19:13 Now it is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty land.
- Joel 1:17 The seeds lie shriveled beneath the clods; the storehouses are in ruins; the granaries are broken down, for the grain has withered away.