Armenia in comments -- Book: Isaiah (tIs) Եսայի
Searched terms: chald
tIs 19::13 Are deceived "They have caused," etc. - The text has וחתעו vehithu, And they have caused to err. Fifty of Kennicott's MSS., fifty-three of De Rossi's, and one of my own, ancient, thirty-two editions, and the Vulgate and Chald:ee. omit the ו vau, and.
Stay "Pillars" - פנת pinnath, to be pointed as plural pinnoth, without doubt. So Grotius, and so the Chald:ee. Isaiah 19:14 tIs 19::14 In the midst thereof - בקרבם bekirbam; so the Septuagint, and perhaps more correctly." - Secker. So likewise the Chald:ee. Isaiah 19:15 tIs 19::16 Shall Egypt be "The Egyptians shall be" - יהיו yihyu, they shall be, plural, MS. Bodl. Septuagint, and Chald:ee. This is not proposed as an emendation, for either form is proper. Isaiah 19:17 tIs 19::18 The city of destruction "The city of the sun" - עיר החרס ir hacheres. This passage is attended with much difficulty and obscurity. First, in regard to the true reading. It is well known that Onias applied it to his own views, either to procure from the king of Egypt permission to build his temple in the Hieropolitan Nome, or to gain credit and authority to it when built; from the notion which he industriously propagated, that Isaiah had in this place prophesied of the building of such a temple. He pretended that the very place where it should be built was expressly named by the prophet, עיר החרס ir hacheres, the city of the sun. This possibly may have been the original reading. The present text has עיר ההרס ir haheres, the city of destruction; which some suppose to have been introduced into the text by the Jews of Palestine afterwards, to express their detestation of the place, being much offended with this schismatical temple in Egypt. Some think the latter to have been the true reading, and that the prophet himself gave this turn to the name out of contempt, and to intimate the demolition of this Hieropolitan temple; which in effect was destroyed by Vespasian's orders, after that of Jerusalem, "Videtur propheta consulto scripsisse הרס heres, pro חרס cheres, ut alibi scribitur בית און beith aven pro בית אל beith El: איש בשת ish bosheth for איש בעל ish baal, etc. Vide Lowth in loc." - Secker. "It seems that the prophet designedly wrote הרס heres, destruction, for חרס cheres, the sun: as elsewhere בית און beith aven, the house of iniquity, is written for בית אל beith El, the house of God; איש בשת ish bosheth for איש בעל ish baal," etc. But on the supposition that עיר ההרס air haheres is the true reading, others understand it differently. The word הרס heres in Arabic signifies a lion; and Conrad Ikenius has written a dissertation (Dissert. Philol. Theol. XVI.) to prove that the place here mentioned is not Heliopolis, as it is commonly supposed to be, but Leontopolis in the Heliopolitan Nome, as it is indeed called in the letter, whether real or pretended, of Onias to Ptolemy, which Josephus has inserted in his Jewish Antiquities, lib. 13 c. 3. And I find that several persons of great learning and judgment think that Ikenius has proved the point beyond contradiction. See Christian. Muller. Satura Observ. Philolog. Michaelis Bibliotheque Oriental, Part v., p. 171. But, after all, I believe that neither Onias, Heliopolis, nor Leontopolis has any thing to do with this subject. The application of this place of Isaiah to Onias's purpose seems to have been a mere invention, and in consequence of it there may perhaps have been some unfair management to accommodate the text to that purpose; which has been carried even farther than the Hebrew text; for the Greek version has here been either translated from a corrupted text, or wilfully mistranslated or corrupted, to serve the same cause. The place is there called πολις Ασεδεκ, the city of righteousness; a name apparently contrived by Onias's party to give credit to their temple, which was to rival that of Jerusalem. Upon the whole, the true reading of the Hebrew text in this place is very uncertain; fifteen MSS. and seven editions have חרס cheres, the city of Hacheres, or, of the sun. So likewise Symmachas, the Vulgate, Arabic, Septuagint, and Complutensian. On the other hand, Aquila, Theodotion, and the Syriac read הרס heres, destruction; the Chald:ee paraphrase takes in both readings.
The reading of the text being so uncertain, no one can pretend to determine what the city was that is here mentioned by name; much less to determine what the four other cities were which the prophet does not name. I take the whole passage from the 18th verse to the end of the chapter, to contain a general intimation of the future propagation of the knowledge of the true God in Egypt and Syria, under the successors of Alexander; and, in consequence of this propagation, of the early reception of the Gospel in the same countries, when it should be published to the world. See more on this subject in Prideaux's Connect. An. 145; Dr. Owen's Inquiry into the present state of the Septuagint Version, p. 41; and Bryant's Observations on Ancient History, p. 124. - L. Isaiah 19:19
tIs 19::2 And I will set - (סכסכתי sı̂ksaketı̂y). This word (from סכך sākak) means properly "to cover," to spread over, to hide, conceal, to protect. Another signification of the verb is, to weave, to intermingle. It may mean here, 'I will arm the Egyptians against each other' (Gesenius); or, as in our version, 'I will mingle, confound, or throw them into discord and strife.' The Septuagint renders it, Ἐπεγερθήσονται Epegerthēsontai - 'They shall be excited,' or, 'raised up.' Symmachus, Συμβαλῶ Sumbalō. Syriac and Chald:ee, 'I will excite.' The sense is, that there would be discord and civil war, and this is traced to the agency or overruling providence of God - meaning that he would "permit and overrule" it. Compare the notes at Isa 45:7 : 'I make peace, and I create evil; I, Yahweh, do all these things;' Amo 3:6 : 'Shall there be evil in a city and Jehovah hath not done it?' The civil war here referred to was probably that which arose between the twelve kings in the time of the dodekarchy (see the Analysis to the chapter), and which resulted in the single dominion of Psammetichus. Dr. Newton ("On the Prophecies," xii.) supposes, however, that the prophet refers to the civil wars between Apries and Amasis at the time of the invasion by Nebuchadnezzar. But it agrees much better with the former discord than with this. The description which follows is that of anarchy or civil strife, where "many" parties are formed, and would naturally lead to the supposition that there were more than two engaged.
And kingdom against kingdom - Septuagint, Νόμος έπὶ νόμων Nomos epi nomōn - 'Nome against nomes.' Egypt was formerly divided into forty-two "nomes" or districts. The version by the Septuagint was made in Egypt, and the translators would naturally employ the terms which were in common use. Still the event referred to was probably not that of one "nome" contending against another, but a civil war in which one dynasty would be excited against another (Gesenius), or when there would be anarchy and strife among the different members of the dodekarchy. See the Analysis of the chapter. Isaiah 19:3 tIs 19::6 And they shall turn the rivers far away - (האזיּחוּ he'ezenı̂ychû), probably from זנח zânach, "to have an offensive smell; to be rancid, or putrid." The word in this form occurs nowhere else. It is in the Hiphil conjugation, and is probably a form made from a mixture with the Chald:ee. The sense is not doubtful. It means 'the rivers shall become putrid - or have an offensive smell;' that is, shall become stagnant, and send forth unwholesome "miasmata" producing sickness, as stagnant waters often do. The Vulgate renders it, 'And the rivers shall fail.' The Septuagint, 'And the Egyptians shall drink the waters from the sea, but the river shall fail, and be dried up, and the rivers shall fail, and the streams (διὼρυχες diōruches) of the river, and all the assembling (συναγωγή sunagōgē) waters shall be dried up.'
And the brooks of defense - Hebrew, 'The rivers of מצור mâtsôr. The word מצור mâtsôr often means "straitness, affliction;" then a siege, a wall, a bulwark, a fortification. But, probably, it here means "Egypt," or the same as מצרים mı̂tserayı̂m (compare Isa 37:25; Kg2 18:24; Mar 7:12). Perhaps the Hebrews may have thought of Egypt as a strongly fortified place, and thus have given the name to it; or possibly this may have been a modification of the name "Mitsraim."
The reeds and flags - Which grew on the banks of the Nile - the papyrus, etc. (see the note at Isa 18:2) Isaiah 19:7 tIs 19::7 The paper reeds - (ערות ‛ârôt). This is not the word which occurs in Isa 18:2, and which, it is supposed, means there the papyrus (see the note on that place). Interpreters have been divided in regard to the meaning of the word here. Gesenius derives it from ערה ‛ârâh, "to be naked, open, bare;" and supposes that it means an open place, a place naked of wood, and that it here denotes the pastures on the banks of the Nile. So Rosenmuller interprets it of the green pastures on the banks of the Nile; and the Hebrew commentators generally so understand it. The Vulgate renders it, 'And the bed (alveus) of the river shall be dried up from the fountain.' So the Chald:ee, 'And their streams shall be desolate.' It probably denotes, not paper reeds, but the green pastures that were beside the brooks, or along the banks of the Nile.
By the brooks - Hebrew, 'Rivers' (יארי ye'orēy). By the 'brooks' here, in the plural number, the prophet probably means the artificial canals which were cut in every direction from the Nile for the purpose of conveying the waters to various parts of the land.
By the mouth of the brooks - At the mouth of the canals, or where they emptied into the Nile. Such meadows, being "near" the Nile, and most sure of a supply of water, would be more valuable than those which were remote, and are, therefore, particularly specified.
Shall wither ... - That is, there shall be utter and entire desolation. If the Nile ceased to overflow; if the streams, reservoirs, and canals, could not be filled, this would follow as a matter of course. Everything would dry up. Isaiah 19:8 tIs 19::10 And they shall be broken - There has been a great variety of opinion in regard to the interpretation of this verse, and much difficulty in the construction of the Hebrew words. The Vulgate renders it, 'And its wet places shall fail; all who make ponds to take fish.' The Septuagint, 'And all who make beer (ζύθον zuthon) shall lament, and shall afflict their souls.' This ζύθον zuthon was a sort of malt liquor made of fruits by fermentation, and was used in Egypt in the place of wine, since the grape did not flourish there. Jerome on this place says, that this was much used also in Dalmatia and Pannonia, and was commonly called "Sabaium." The Chald:ee renders this, 'And the place where they weave cloth shall be trodden down, and the place where they make fish ponds, and where they collect waters, each one for his own life.' This variety of reading arises chiefly from the different modes of "pointing" the Hebrew words.
The word rendered 'broken' (מדכאים medâkâ'iym) means "trodden down," from דכא dâkâ' "to tread, or trample down," and agrees in the Hebrew with the word rendered 'purposes - the proposes shall be trodden down.' The word 'purposes' (שׁתתיה shâtoteyhâ) is found only in the plural, and is translated in Psa 11:3, 'foundations,' from שׁית shiyth, "foundation or pillar." According to this, it would mean that all "the pillars or foundations, that is, probably all the "nobles" of Egypt, would be trodden down. But this does not well suit the connection. Others derive it from שׁתה shâtâh, "to drink;" and suppose that it means that which is prepared for drink shall be trodden down or destroyed. Others suppose that it is derived from שׁתה shâtâh, "to weave," and that it refers to the places where they wove the cloth, that is, their looms; or to the places where they made their nets. And others suppose that it is not the "places" where they wove which are intended, but the "weavers themselves." Forerius supposes it to be derived from שׁתת shâthath, "to place, lay," and that it refers to the "banks or dykes" that were made to retain the waters in the canals, and that these would be trodden down. This, it seems to me, is the most probable interpretation, as it suits the connection, and agrees with the derivation of the word. But the meaning cannot be certainly ascertained.
All that make sluices - There has been quite as great a variety in the intepretation of this passage as in the former. The word rendered 'sluices' (שׂכר s'eker), our translators understand in the sense of places where the water would be retained for fish ponds - made by artificial banks confining the waters that overflow from the Nile. This sense they have given to the word, as if it were derived from סכר sâkar, "to shut up, to enclose." The Septuagint reads it as if it meant the Hebrew שׁכר shêkār, or strong drink; and so also the Syriac renders it - as if from שׁכר shēkâr, "to drink." There is no doubt that by a difference of pointing it may have this signification. But the most probable interpretation, perhaps, is that which derives it from שׂכר s'âkar, "to hire," and means that they made those places for reward, or for gain. They thus tolled for hire; and the prophet says, that they who thus made enclosures for fish in order to make a livelihood, would be trodden down - that is, they would fail of their purposes.
Ponds for fish - The word rendered 'fish' (נפשׁ nephesh), denotes properly any living thing ("see the margin"), but if the usual interpretation is given of this verse, it is evident that fish are intended. The description, therefore, in this entire passage, from verse fifth to verse tenth, is designed to denote the calamities which would come upon Egypt from the failure of the waters of the Nile; and the slightest knowledge of the importance of the Nile to that country will show that all these calamities would follow from such a failure. Isaiah 19:11 tIs 19::11 Surely the princes - The following verses, to Isa 19:16, are designed to describe further the calamities that were coming upon Egypt by a want of wisdom in their rulers. They would be unable to devise means to meet the impending calamities, and would actually increase the national misery by their unwise counsels. The word 'princes' here is taken evidently for the rulers or counselors of state.
Of Zoan - The Vulgate, Septuagint, and Chald:ee, render this 'Tanis.' Zoan was doubtless the Tans of the Greeks (Herod. ii. 166), and was a city of Lower Egypt, built, according to Moses Num 13:22, seven years after Hebron. It is mentioned in Psa 78:12; Isa 19:11, Isa 19:13; Isa 30:4; Eze 30:14. It was at the entrance of the Tanitic mouth of the Nile, and gave name to it. Its ruins still exist, and there are seen there at present numerous blocks of granite, seven obelisks of granite, and a statue of Isis. It was the capital of the dynasty of the Tanitish kings until the time of Psammetichus; it was at this place principally that the miracles done by Moses were performed. 'Marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers in the land of Egypt; in the field of Zoan' Psa 78:12. Its ruins are still called "San," a slight change of the word Zoan. The Ostium Taniticum is now the "Omm Faredje."
Are fools - They are unable to meet by their counsels the impending calamities. Perhaps their folly was evinced by their flattering their sovereign, and by exciting him to plans that tended to the ruin, rather than the welfare of the kingdom.
The wise counselors of Pharaoh - Pharaoh was the common name of the kings of Egypt in the same way as "Caesar" became afterward the common name of the Roman emperors - and the king who is here intended by Pharaoh is probably Psammetichus (see the note at Isa 19:4).
How say ye ... - Why do you "flatter" the monarch? Why remind him of his ancestry? Why attempt to inflate him with the conception of his own wisdom? This was, and is, the common practice of courtiers; and in this way kings are often led to measures most ruinous to their subjects. Isaiah 19:12 tIs 19::13 The princes of Zoan - (the note at Isa 19:11). This "repetition" is intensive and emphatic, and shows the deep conviction of the prophet of their folly. The design is to show that "all" the counselors on which the Egyptians depended were fools.
The princes of Noph - The Vulgate, the Septuagint, and the Chald:ee, render this 'Memphis,' and there is no doubt that this is the city intended. The name Memphis may have easily arisen from Noph. It was written also "Moph," and hence, Memphis. It is called "Menouf" by the Copts and Arabians. According to Plutarch, the name Memphis means "the port of the good." The situation of Memphis has been a subject of considerable dispute, and has afforded matter for long and laborious investigation. Sicard and Shaw fix its site at Djezeh or Ghizeh, opposite to old Cairo. Pococke, D'Anville, Niebuhr, and other writers and travelers, place Memphis more in the direction of Mitraheny, about fifteen miles further south, on the banks of the Nile, at the entrance of the plain of the mummies, at the north of which the pyramids are placed. It was the residence of the ancient kings of Egypt until the time of the Ptolemies, who commonly resided at Alexandria. Memphis retained its splendor until it was conquered by the Arabians, about 641 a.d. At the supposed site of Memphis south of Ghizeh, there are large mounds of rubbish, a colossal statue sunk in the ground, and a few fragments of granite, which remain to test the existence of this renowned capital. In Strabo's time, although partly in ruins, it was yet a populous city, second only to Alexandria. The total disappearance of the ancient edifices of Memphis is easily accounted for by the circumstance, that the materials were employed for the building of adjacent cities. Fostal rose out of the ruins, and when that city was again deserted, these ruins migrated again to the more modern Cairo (see Robinson's "Bib. Researches," vol. i. p. 40).
They have also seduced Egypt - That is, they have by their counsels caused it to err, and have led it into its present embarrassment.
The stay ... - Hebrew, פנה pinnâh - the "corner; that is, those who should have been the support. So the word is used to denote the head or leader of a people in Jdg 20:2, Jdg 20:14; Sa1 14:38; Psa 118:22; Isa 28:16; Zac 10:4. Isaiah 19:14 tIs 19::18 In that day - The word 'day' is used in Scripture in a large signification, "as including the whole period under consideration," or the whole time that is embraced in the scope of a prophecy. In this chapter it is used in this sense; and evidently means that the event here foretold would take place "somewhere" in the period that is embraced in the design of the prophecy. That is, the event recorded in this verse would occur in the series of events that the prophet saw respecting Egypt (see Isa 4:1). The sense is, that somewhere in the general time here designated Isa 19:4-17, the event here described would take place. There would be an extensive fear of Yahweh, and an extensive embracing of the true religion, in the land of Egypt.
Shall five cities - The number 'five' here is evidently used to denote an "indefinite" number, in the same way as 'seven' is often used in the Scriptures (see Lev 26:8). It means, that several cities in Egypt would use that language, one of which only is specified.
The language of Canaan - Margin, 'Lip of Canaan.' So the Hebrew; but the word often means 'language.' The language of Canaan evidently means the "Hebrew" language; and it is called 'the language of Canaan' either because it was spoken by the original inhabitants of the land of Canaan, or more probably because it was used by the Hebrews who occupied Canaan as the promised land; and then it will mean the language spoken in the land of Canaan. The phrase used here is employed probably to denote that they would be converted to the Jewish religion; or that the religion of the Jews would flourish there. A similar expression, to denote conversion to the true God, occurs in Zep 3:9 : 'For there I will turn to the people a pure language, that they may call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent.'
And swear to the Lord of hosts - That is, they shall "devote" themselves to him; or they shall bind themselves to his service by solemn covenant; compare Deu 10:20; Isa 45:20, where conversion to God, and a purpose to serve him, is expressed in the same manner by "swearing" to him, that is, by solemnly devoting themselves to his service.
One shall be called - The name of one of them shall be, etc. Why "one" particularly is designated is not known.
The city of destruction - There has been a great variety of interpretation in regard to this expression. Margin, 'Heres,' or, 'The sun.' The Vulgate, 'The city of the sun;' evidently meaning Heliopolis. The Septuagint Ασεδέκ Asedik - 'The city Asedek.' The Chald:ee, 'The city of the house of the sun (שׁמשׁ בית bēyith shemesh), which is to be destroyed.' The Syriac, 'The city of Heres.' The common reading of the Hebrew text is, ההרס עיר 'iyr haheres. This reading is found in most MS. editions and versions. The word הרס heres commonly means "destruction," though it may also mean "deliverance;" and Gesenius supposes the name was to be given to it because it was to be a "delivered" city; that is, it would be the city to which 'the saviour' mentioned in Isa 19:20, would come, and which he would make his capital. Ikenius contends that the word 'Heres' is taken from the Arabic, and that the name is the same as Leontopolis - 'The city of the lion,' a city in Egypt. But besides other objections which may be made to this interpretation, the signification of "lion" is not given to the word in the Hebrew language.
The common reading is that which occurs in the text - the city of "Heres." But another reading (החרס hacheres) is found in sixteen manuscripts, and has been copied in the Complutensian Polyglot. This word ( חרס cheres) properly means the "sun," and the phrase means the city of the sun; that is, Heliopolis. Onias, who was disappointed in obtaining the high priesthood (149 b.c.) on the death of his uncle Menelaus, fled into Egypt, and ingratiated himself into the favor of Ptolemy Philometer and Cleopatra, and was advanced to the highest rank in the army and the court, and made use of his influence to obtain permission to build a temple in Egypt like that at Jerusalem, with a grant that he and his descendants should always have a right to officiate in it as high priests. In order to obtain this, he alleged that it would be for the interest of Egypt, by inducing many Jews to come and reside there, and that their going annually to Jerusalem to attend the great feasts would expose them to alienation from the Egyptians, to join the Syrian interest ("see" Prideaux's "Connection," under the year 149 b.c. Josephus expressly tells us ("Ant." xiii. 3. 1-3), that in order to obtain this layout, he urged that it had been predicted by Isaiah six hundred years before, and that in consequence of this, Ptolemy granted him permission to build the temple, and that it was built at Leontopolis. It resembled that at Jerusalem, but was smaller and less splendid. It was within the Nomos or prefecture of Heliopolis, at the distance of twenty-four miles from Memphis. Onias pretended that the very place was foretold by Isaiah; and this would seem to suppose that the ancient reading was that of 'the city of the sun.' He urged this prediction in order to reconcile the Jews to the idea of another temple besides that at Jerusalem, because a temple erected in Egypt would be an object of disapprobation to the Jews in Palestine. Perhaps for the same reason the translation of Isaiah in the Septuagint renders this, Ἀσεδέκ Asedek - 'The city of Asedek,' as if the original were צדקה tsedâqâh - 'The city of righteousness' - that is, a city where righteousness dwells; or a city which was approved by God. But this is manifestly a corruption of the Hebrew text.
It may be proper to remark that the change in the Hebrew between the word rendered 'destruction' (הרס heres), and the word 'sun' (חרס cheres), is a change of a single letter where one might be easily mistaken for the other - the change of the Hebrew letter ה (h) into the Hebrew letter ח (ch). This might have occurred by the error of a transcriber, though the circumstances would lead us to think it not improbable that it "may" have been made designedly, but by whom is unknown. It "may" have been originally as Onias pretended and have been subsequently altered by the Jews to counteract the authority which he urged for building a temple in Egypt; but there is no certain evidence of it. The evidence from MSS. is greatly in favor of the reading as in our translation (הרס heres), and this may be rendered either 'destruction,' or more probably, according to Gesenius, 'deliverance,' so called from the "deliverance" that would be brought to it by the promised saviour Isa 19:20.
It may be added, that there is no evidence that Isaiah meant to designate the city where Onias built the temple, but merely to predict that many cities in Egypt would be converted, one of which would be the one here designated. Onias took "advantage" of this, and made an artful use of it, but it was manifestly not the design of Isaiah. Which is the true reading of the passage it is impossible now to determine; nor is it important. I think the most probable interpretation is that which supposes that Isaiah meant to refer to a city saved from destruction, as mentioned in Isa 19:20, and that he did not design to designate any particular city by name. The city of Heliopolis was situated on the Pelusian branch of the Nile, about five miles below the point of the ancient Delta. It was deserted in the time of Strabo; and this geographer mentions its mounds of ruin, but the houses were shown in which Eudoxus and Plato had studied.
The place was celebrated for its learning, and its temple dedicated to the sun. There are now no ruins of ancient buildings, unless the mounds can be regarded as such; the walls, however, can still be traced, and there is an entire obelisk still standing. This obelisk is of red granite, about seventy feet high, and from its great antiquity has excited much attention among the learned. In the neighboring villages there are many fragments which have been evidently transferred from this city. Dr. Robinson who visited it, says, that 'the site about two hours N. N. E. from Cairo. The way thither passes along the edge of the desert, which is continually making encroachments, so soon as then ceases to be a supply of water for the surface of the ground. The site of Heliopolis is marked by low mounds, enclosing a space about three quarters of a mile in length, by half a mile in breadth, which was once occupied by houses, and partly by the celebrated temple of the sun. This area is now a plowed field, a garden of herbs; and the solitary obelisk which rises in the midst is the sole remnant of the splendor of the place. Near by it is a very old sycamore, its trunk straggling and gnarled, under which legendary tradition relates that the holy family once. rested.' ("Bib. Researches," vol. i. pp. 36, 37.) The illustration in the book, from the Pictorial Bible, will give an idea of the present appearance of Heliopolis. Isaiah 19:19
tIs 19::18 that day: Isa 19:19, Isa 19:21, Isa 2:11; Zac 2:11
shall five: Isa 11:11, Isa 27:13; Psa 68:31
speak: Zep 3:9
language: Heb. lip, Gen 11:1
and swear: Isa 45:23, Isa 45:24; Deu 10:20; Neh 10:29; Jer 12:16
destruction: Heb. Heres, or, the sun, Instead of heres "destruction," which is also the reading of Aquila, Theodotion, and the Syriac, fifteen manuscripts and seven editions have cheres "the sun;" agreeable to Symmachus, the Arabic, and Vulgate; while the Chald:ee takes in both readings; and the LXX reads πολις ασεδεκ, "the city of righteousness," a name apparently contrived by the party of Onias, to give credit to his temple. As, however, heres in Arabic signifies a lion, Conrad Ikenius is of opinion that the place here mentioned is not Heliopolis, as is commonly supposed, but Leontopolis in the Heliopolitan nome, as it is termed in the letter of Onias to Ptolemy. The whole passage, from this verse to the end, contains a general intimation of the propagation of the knowledge of the true God in Egypt and Syria, under the successors of Alexander, and the early reception of the gospel in the same countries. Isaiah 19:19