Passage

Isaiah 19.25

Book: Isaiah · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

23. In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria; and the Egyptians shall worship with the Assyrians. 24. In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth;

25. for that Jehovah of hosts hath blessed them, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance. (Isaiah 19:23-25, ASV)

WEB

23. In that day there will be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria; and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians. 24. In that day, Israel will be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, a blessing within the earth;

25. because Yahweh of Armies has blessed them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.” (Isaiah 19:23-25, WEB)

KJV

23. In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians. 24. In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land:

25. Whom the LORD of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance. (Isaiah 19:23-25, KJV)

YLT

23. In that day is a highway out of Egypt to Asshur, And come in have the Assyrians to Egypt, And the Egyptians into Asshur, And the Egyptians have served with the Assyrians. 24. In that day is Israel third, After Egypt, and after Asshur, A blessing in the heart of the earth.

25. In that Jehovah of Hosts did bless it, saying, 'Blessed [is] My people, Egypt, And the work of My hands, Asshur, And Mine inheritance, Israel!' (Isaiah 19:23-25, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: Isaiah the prophet, closing the oracle concerning Egypt (19:1-25) with a blessing spoken by "Jehovah of hosts"
Audience: Judah, who hear an oracle about Egypt and Assyria
Location: Jerusalem, where Isaiah ministered
Time period: Eighth century BC, during Isaiah's ministry (1:1), when Assyria was the dominant empire and Egypt its great rival

Theological reading

"For that Jehovah of hosts hath blessed them, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance." The verse completes the picture of 19:23-24: a highway from Egypt to Assyria, the two nations worshipping together, and Israel "the third with Egypt and with Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth."

Enemies renamed. Egypt enslaved Israel, and in Isaiah's day Assyria was the empire that would carry off the northern kingdom. Yet God gives each a title that belonged to Israel. Egypt is "my people" (Strong's H5971, am), the phrase of the exodus, "Let my people go" (Exodus 5:1). Assyria is "the work of my hands" (H4639), language Isaiah elsewhere uses of Israel (60:21; 64:8). Israel remains "mine inheritance" (H5159, nachalah), God's own portion. The verse does not erase Israel's place, but it opens the circle of God's people to its oppressors.

The blessing of Abraham. Calling Israel "a blessing in the midst of the earth" (19:24) echoes God's promise to Abraham: "in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed" (Genesis 12:3). The blessing given to Israel is meant to reach the nations.

An ancient alternative reading. The Greek Septuagint renders the line differently, as a blessing on God's people who are in Egypt and among the Assyrians, which is usually taken to mean Israelites living in those lands. The Hebrew text that underlies the ASV, KJV, WEB and YLT names Egypt and Assyria themselves. On the Hebrew reading, the prophecy anticipates what the New Testament describes: Gentile nations brought into the one people of God (Ephesians 2:12-19). Kemetic Religion vs the Christian God cites the verse to show that the Bible speaks of Egypt with hope as well as judgment. See also Isaiah 19.20-21.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word.

H6635 - tzevaot, tzevaot, Strong's H6635
H3068 - YHWH, YHWH, Strong's H3068

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

People:

Isaiah the Prophet, via Isaiah 19.23-25

Passages:

Isaiah 19.20-21

Notes

Your annotations.

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.