Isaiah 19:11
9 The workers in flax will be dismayed, and the weavers of fine linen will turn pale.
10 The workers in cloth will be dejected, and all the hired workers will be sick at heart.
The princes of Zoan are mere fools; Pharaoh’s wise counselors give senseless advice. How can you say to Pharaoh, “I am one of the wise, a son of eastern kings”?
12 Where are your wise men now? Let them tell you and reveal what the LORD of Hosts has planned against Egypt.
13 The princes of Zoan have become fools; the princes of Memphis are deceived. The cornerstones of her tribes have led Egypt astray.
This was said to Israel at a particular time, so it is wise to read it together with the surrounding text. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- The princes of Zoan are mere fools; Pharaoh’s wise counselors give senseless advice. How can you say to Pharaoh, “I am one of the wise, a son of eastern kings”?
- KJV
- 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?
- WEB
- The princes of Zoan are utterly foolish. The counsel of the wisest counselors of Pharaoh has become stupid. How do you say to Pharaoh, “I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings”?
- ASV
- The princes of Zoan are utterly foolish; the counsel of the wisest counsellors of Pharaoh is become brutish: how say ye unto Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings?
- DARBY
- They are but fools, the princes of Zoan, the wise counsellors of Pharaoh: [their] counsel is become senseless. How say ye unto Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings?
- BLB
- Indeed the princes of Zoan [are] fools, the counsel [of] the wise counselors of Pharaoh has become dull. How can you⁺ say to Pharaoh, “A son of wise men, I [am] a son of kings [from] [times] before?
- ÅB
- Bare dårer er Soans høvdinger; de viseste blant Faraos rådgivere gir uforstandige råd. Hvordan kan dere si til Farao: Jeg er en ætling av vismenn, en ætling av fortidens konger?
- OTB
- Embetsmennene i Soan er bare dårer; de vise rådgiverne til farao gir meningsløse råd. Hvordan kan du si til farao: "Jeg er en av de vise, en disippel av gamle konger"?
- B1930
- Bare dårer er Soans høvdinger; de viseste blandt Faraos rådgivere gir uforstandige råd. Hvorledes kan I si til Farao: Jeg er en ætling av vismenn, en ætling av fortidens konger?
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Numbers 13:22
They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, dwelled. It had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.
Read in contextIsaiah 30:4
For though their princes are at Zoan and their envoys have arrived in Hanes,
Read in contextPsalms 78:43
when He performed His signs in Egypt and His wonders in the fields of Zoan.
Read in contextActs 7:22
So Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.
Read in context1 Kings 4:30
Solomon’s wisdom was greater than that of all the men of the East, greater than all the wisdom of Egypt.
Read in contextGenesis 41:38–39
So Pharaoh asked them, “Can we find anyone like this man, in whom the Spirit of God abides?”
Read in contextPsalms 78:12
He worked wonders before their fathers in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan.
Read in contextProverbs 30:2
Surely I am the most ignorant of men, and I lack the understanding of a man.
Read in context