Isaiah Chapter 19 verse 11 Holy Bible
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?
read chapter 19 in ASV
The chiefs of Zoan are completely foolish; the wisest guides of Pharaoh have become like beasts: how do you say to Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the offspring of early kings?
read chapter 19 in BBE
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?
read chapter 19 in DARBY
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?
read chapter 19 in KJV
read chapter 19 in WBT
The princes of Zoan are utterly foolish; the counsel of the wisest counselors of Pharaoh is become brutish: how do you say to Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings?
read chapter 19 in WEB
Only, fools `are' the princes of Zoan, The counsel of the wise ones of the counsellors of Pharaoh hath become brutish. How say ye unto Pharaoh, `A son of the wise am I, a son of kings of antiquity?'
read chapter 19 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 11. - Surely the princes of Zoan are fools. Zoan, or Tanis, which had been an insignificant city since the time of the shepherd-kings, came to the front once more at the time of the struggle between Egypt and Assyria. Esarhaddon made it the head of one of the petty kingdoms into which he divided Egypt (G. Smith, 'History of Asshur-bani-pal,' p. 21, 1. 2). Early in the reign of his son it revolted, in conjunction with Sais and Mendes, but was ere long reduced to subjection by the Assyrians. Its king, Petu-bastes, was taken to Nineveh, and there probably put to death. Its "princes" were, no doubt, among those who counseled resistance to Assyria. The counsel of the wise, etc.; literally, as for the wise coun-sellers of Pharaoh, their counsel is become senseless. Two classes of advisers seem to be intended - nobles, supposed to be qualified by birth; and "wise men," qualified by study and education. Both would now be found equally incapable. Pharaoh. Probably Tirhakah is intended. It is possible that he was really suzerain of Egypt at the time of Sennacherib's invasion, when Shabatek was nominally king. It is certain that, after the death of Shabatok (about B.C. 698), he was recognized as sovereign both of Ethiopia and of Egypt, and ruled over both countries. Esarhaddon found him still occupying this position in B.C. 673, when he made his Egyptian expedition. Tirhakah's capital at this time was Memphis. How say ye, etc.? With what face can you boast of your descent, or of your learning, when you are unable to give any sound advice?
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(11) Surely the princes of Zoan are fools.--Zoan, the great city of the Delta, was known to the Greeks as Tanis, founded, as stated in Numbers 13:22, seven years after Hebron. Here the great Rameses II. fixed his capital, and the city thus acquired the name of Pi-Rameses.How say ye unto Pharaoh . . .?--The princes of Zoan, probably priest-princes and priest-magicians (Exodus 7:11), boasting at once of their wisdom and their ancestry, are represented as speaking to the Pharaoh of the time (probably, as in Isaiah 18, of Ethiopian origin) in something like a tone of superiority. They claim to be the only counsellors; and the prophet challenges their claim. Can they disclose, as he can, the future that impends over their country?
