19:11-13 The ministers of Zoan are utter fools; the wisest of Pharaoh's advisers give absurd counsel. How can you say to Pharaoh, We ourselves are as wise as the first rulers? Where are your wise men indeed? Let them please tell you, if they can discern it, what Jehovah of Hosts has in mind for Egypt! The ministers of Zoan have been foolish, the officials of Noph deluded; the heads of state have led Egypt astray.
In Egypt's political capital, Pharaoh and his advisers follow foolish policies in their attempts at economic recovery, further exacerbating Egypt's problems. Considering themselves as wise as Egypt's founding fathers, they act presumptuously, only to lead Egypt deeper into ruin. Deviating from well-proven principles-relying instead on their own wisdom-they and their remedial strategies cause a loss of confidence in the nation, leading to anarchy and civil war (vv 2-3). If Pharaoh and his advisers are indeed as wise as they regard themselves, then let them predict what Jehovah has in store for Egypt!
19:14-15 Jehovah has permeated them with a spirit of confusion; they have misled Egypt in all that she does, causing her to stagger like a drunkard into his vomit. And there shall be nothing the Egyptians can do about it, neither head nor tail, palm top or reed.
Egypt's ruling elite resemble disoriented persons possessed by a spirit of confusion who lead an entire nation astray, politically and economically. The people's cumulative guilt has reached its saturation point. Only Jehovah's judgments can cleanse the nation of its wickedness and idolatry (v 3). The motifs of a "drunkard" who "staggers" into his "vomit" link the nation of Egypt to Jehovah's people of the tribe of Ephraim and to Ephraim's intoxicated prophets (Isaiah 28:1, 3, 7-8; 56:10-12). The "head" and "tail," "palm top" and "reed" allude to the people's leaders (Isaiah 7:8-9; 9:14-15; 36:6).
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