Discovery BoxIsaiah 19:3 
Context19:3 The Egyptians will panic, 1
and I will confuse their strategy. 2
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. 3
Isaiah 19:13-14
Context19:13 The officials of Zoan are fools,
the officials of Memphis 4 are misled;
the rulers 5 of her tribes lead Egypt astray.
19:14 The Lord has made them undiscerning; 6
they lead Egypt astray in all she does,
so that she is like a drunk sliding around in his own vomit. 7
1 tn Heb “and the spirit of Egypt will be laid waste in its midst.”
2 tn The verb בָּלַע (bala’, “confuse”) is a homonym of the more common בָּלַע (bala’, “swallow”); see HALOT 135 s.v. I בלע.
3 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.
4 tn Heb “Noph” (so KJV); most recent English versions substitute the more familiar “Memphis.”
5 tn Heb “the cornerstone.” The singular form should be emended to a plural.
6 tn Heb “the Lord has mixed into her midst a spirit of blindness.”
7 tn Heb “like the going astray of a drunkard in his vomit.”
