Isaiah 19:1 - Exposition

The Lord rideth upon a swift cloud . Natural imagery to express the rapidity of Divine visitations (comp. Psalms 104:3 ). God, being about to visit Egypt with a judgment of extreme severity, is represented as entering the land in person (so in Isaiah 13:5 ). The idols of Egypt shall be moved. Neither Piankhi nor any other Ethiopian conqueror made war on the Egyptian idols; but the Assyrians were always bent on humbling the gods of the hostile countries (see above, Isaiah 10:10 ; and comp. Isaiah 36:18-20 ). We have no detailed account of Esarhaddon's campaign; but we find Asshur-bani-pal's first victory over Tirhakah immediately followed by the presentation to him in his camp of Egyptian deities, i.e. of their images. These were probably taken to Nineveh, or else destroyed. At a later date, the same monarch deprived an Egyptian temple of two of its sacred obelisks. The heart of Egypt shall molt (coup. Isaiah 13:7 ; Psalms 22:14 ).