Isaiah 19:3

Authorized King James Version (1611)

And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וְנָבְקָ֤ה רֽוּחַ־מִצְרַ֙יִם֙ בְּקִרְבּ֔וֹ וַעֲצָת֖וֹ אֲבַלֵּ֑עַ וְדָרְשׁ֤וּ אֶל־הָֽאֱלִילִים֙ וְאֶל־הָ֣אִטִּ֔ים וְאֶל־הָאֹב֖וֹת וְאֶל־הַיִּדְּעֹנִֽים׃

Transliteration

And-nāḇqāh rûaḥ-Miṣrayim in-qirbô and-ʿăṣātô ʾăḇallēaʿ and-dārĕšû to-the-ʾĕlîlîm and-to-the-ʾiṭṭîm and-to-the-ʾōḇôṯ and-to-the-yiddĕʿōnîm

Grammar Details

• *nāḇqāh*: verb, niphal perfect, 3rd person feminine singular - will be emptied/confused
• *rûaḥ*: noun, feminine singular construct - spirit of
• *Miṣrayim*: proper noun, masculine dual/plural - Egypt
• *qirbô*: noun, masculine singular with 3rd person masculine singular suffix - its midst
• *ʿăṣātô*: noun, feminine singular with 3rd person masculine singular suffix - his counsel/plan
• *ʾăḇallēaʿ*: verb, piel imperfect, 1st person singular - I will confound/swallow up
• *dārĕšû*: verb, qal perfect, 3rd person plural - they will seek/inquire
• *ʾĕlîlîm*: noun, masculine plural - idols
• *ʾiṭṭîm*: noun, masculine plural - charmers/necromancers
• *ʾōḇôṯ*: noun, masculine plural - mediums/those with familiar spirits
• *yiddĕʿōnîm*: noun, masculine plural - wizards/soothsayers

Word Meanings

• *nāḇqāh*: will be emptied/confused/poured out/wasted away
• *rûaḥ*: spirit/wind/breath/mind/courage
• *ʿăṣātô*: his counsel/plan/advice/wisdom
• *ʾăḇallēaʿ*: I will confound/swallow up/frustrate/ruin
• *dārĕšû*: they will seek/inquire/consult/resort to
• *ʾĕlîlîm*: idols/worthless things/vain things
• *ʾiṭṭîm*: charmers/necromancers/whisperers/murmurers
• *ʾōḇôṯ*: mediums/those with familiar spirits/ghost-conjurers
• *yiddĕʿōnîm*: wizards/soothsayers/fortune-tellers/those who claim supernatural knowledge

Referenced Verses

• Isa 8:19 : 19 And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead?
• Dan 2:2 : 2 Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to shew the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king.
• 1 Chr 10:13 : 13 So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the LORD, [even] against the word of the LORD, which he kept not, and also for asking [counsel] of [one that had] a familiar spirit, to enquire [of it];
• 2 Chr 25:16-20 : 16 And it came to pass, as he talked with him, that [the king] said unto him, Art thou made of the king's counsel? forbear; why shouldest thou be smitten? Then the prophet forbare, and said, I know that God hath determined to destroy thee, because thou hast done this, and hast not hearkened unto my counsel. 17 ¶ Then Amaziah king of Judah took advice, and sent to Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, Come, let us see one another in the face. 18 And Joash king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, The thistle that [was] in Lebanon sent to the cedar that [was] in Lebanon, saying, Give thy daughter to my son to wife: and there passed by a wild beast that [was] in Lebanon, and trode down the thistle. 19 Thou sayest, Lo, thou hast smitten the Edomites; and thine heart lifteth thee up to boast: abide now at home; why shouldest thou meddle to [thine] hurt, that thou shouldest fall, [even] thou, and Judah with thee? 20 But Amaziah would not hear; for it [came] of God, that he might deliver them into the hand [of their enemies], because they sought after the gods of Edom.
• Job 5:12-13 : 12 He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform [their] enterprise. 13 He taketh the wise in their own craftiness: and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong.
• Ps 76:12 : 12 He shall cut off the spirit of princes: [he is] terrible to the kings of the earth.
• Ps 107:27 : 27 They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits' end.
• Prov 21:30 : 30 ¶ [There is] no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the LORD.
• 1 Sam 25:37 : 37 But it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became [as] a stone.
• 2 Sam 15:31 : 31 ¶ And [one] told David, saying, Ahithophel [is] among the conspirators with Absalom. And David said, O LORD, I pray thee, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.
• 2 Sam 17:14 : 14 And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, The counsel of Hushai the Archite [is] better than the counsel of Ahithophel. For the LORD had appointed to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that the LORD might bring evil upon Absalom.
• 2 Sam 17:23 : 23 And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled [his] ass, and arose, and gat him home to his house, to his city, and put his household in order, and hanged himself, and died, and was buried in the sepulchre of his father.
• Isa 14:27 : 27 For the LORD of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul [it]? and his hand [is] stretched out, and who shall turn it back?
• Isa 15:2 : 2 He is gone up to Bajith, and to Dibon, the high places, to weep: Moab shall howl over Nebo, and over Medeba: on all their heads [shall be] baldness, [and] every beard cut off.
• Isa 19:1 : 1 ¶ The burden of Egypt. Behold, the LORD rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it.
• Isa 19:11-13 : 11 Surely the princes of Zoan [are] fools, the counsel of the wise counsellors of Pharaoh is become brutish: how say ye unto Pharaoh, I [am] the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings? 12 Where [are] they? where [are] thy wise [men]? and let them tell thee now, and let them know what the LORD of hosts hath purposed upon Egypt. 13 The princes of Zoan are become fools, the princes of Noph are deceived; they have also seduced Egypt, [even they that are] the stay of the tribes thereof.
• Isa 44:25 : 25 That frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad; that turneth wise [men] backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish;
• Isa 47:12 : 12 Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth; if so be thou shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest prevail.
• Isa 57:16 : 16 For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth: for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls [which] I have made.
• Jer 46:15 : 15 Why are thy valiant [men] swept away? they stood not, because the LORD did drive them.
• Ezek 21:7 : 7 And it shall be, when they say unto thee, Wherefore sighest thou? that thou shalt answer, For the tidings; because it cometh: and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and all knees shall be weak [as] water: behold, it cometh, and shall be brought to pass, saith the Lord GOD.
• Ezek 22:14 : 14 Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee? I the LORD have spoken [it], and will do [it].
• Dan 4:6-7 : 6 Therefore made I a decree to bring in all the wise [men] of Babylon before me, that they might make known unto me the interpretation of the dream. 7 Then came in the magicians, the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers: and I told the dream before them; but they did not make known unto me the interpretation thereof.
• Dan 5:7 : 7 The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. [And] the king spake, and said to the wise [men] of Babylon, Whosoever shall read this writing, and shew me the interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with scarlet, and [have] a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.
• 1 Cor 3:19-20 : 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. 20 And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.