Isaiah 36:6

Listen to me! You are relying on the army of Egypt. But that will be like [MET] using a broken reed for a walking stick on which you could lean. But it would pierce the hand of anyone who would lean on it! That is what the King of Egypt would be like for anyone who relied on him for help.

Translation for Translators

In The King James Version

Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt; whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him.

In Context

5You say that you have weapons to fight us and some country’s promises to help you, and that will enable you to defeat us, but that is only talk [RHQ]. Who do you think will help you to rebel against my soldiers from Assyria?

7But perhaps you will say to me, ‘ No, we are relying on Yahweh our God to help us.’ I would reply, ‘Is he not the one whom you insulted by tearing down his shrines and altars and forcing everyone in Jerusalem and other places in Judah to worship only in front of the altar in Jerusalem?’

Read all of Isaiah 36

Cross References

2 Kings 18:21Listen to me! You are relying on the army of Egypt. But that is like [MET] using a broken reed for a walking stick on which you could lean. But it would pierce the hand of anyone who would lean on it! That is what the king of Egypt would be like for anyone who relied on him for help.

Isaiah 30:1Yahweh says, “Terrible things will happen to you, my people who rebel against me. You make plans, but what you plan is not what I want. You have made an alliance with the rulers of Egypt, but you did not ask my Spirit if that was what you should do. By doing that, you have increased the number of your sins.

Isaiah 31:3The soldiers of Egypt that you people of Judah are relying on are humans, not God! And their horses are only horses; they are not powerful spirits! So when Yahweh raises his fist to strike/punish the soldiers of Egypt whom you thought would help you, he will also strike you who thought that you would be helped, and you and they will stumble and fall down; all of you will die together.

Jeremiah 37:7“ I, Yahweh, the God whom you Israelis say you belong to, say this: ‘The King of Judah has sent messengers to you to ask me what is going to happen. Tell the king that even though the army of the King of Egypt came to help him, they are about to return to Egypt.

Ezekiel 29:6When that happens, all the people of Egypt will know that it is I, Yahweh, who have the power to do what I say that I will do. The Israeli people trusted that you would help them. But you have been like [MET] a reed pole in their hands.

Matthew Henry on Isaiah 36:2-11

Sennacherib's Insolent Message. ( b. c. 710.) 1 Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the defenced cities of Judah, and took them. 2 And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem unto king Hezekiah with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field. 3 Then came forth unto him Eliakim, Hilkiah's son, which was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, Asaph's son,… Read the whole commentary →

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