19:2 “I will provoke civil strife in Egypt, 1
brothers will fight with each other,
as will neighbors,
cities, and kingdoms. 2
19:3 The Egyptians will panic, 3
and I will confuse their strategy. 4
They will seek guidance from the idols and from the spirits of the dead,
from the pits used to conjure up underworld spirits, and from the magicians. 5
1 tn Heb I will provoke Egypt against Egypt” (NAB similar).
2 tn Heb “and they will fight, a man against his brother, and a man against his neighbor, city against city, kingdom against kingdom.” Civil strife will extend all the way from the domestic level to the provincial arena.
3 tn Heb “and the spirit of Egypt will be laid waste in its midst.”
4 tn The verb בָּלַע (bala’, “confuse”) is a homonym of the more common בָּלַע (bala’, “swallow”); see HALOT 135 s.v. I בלע.
5 tn Heb “they will inquire of the idols and of the spirits of the dead and of the ritual pits and of the magicians.” Hebrew אוֹב (’ov, “ritual pit”) refers to a pit used by a magician to conjure up underworld spirits. See the note on “incantations” in 8:19.