The princes of Zoan are become fools, the princes of Noph are deceived; they have also seduced Egypt, even they that are the stay of the tribes thereof.

The princes of Zoan are become fools, the princes of Memphis are deceived; they have caused Egypt to go astray, that are the corner-stone of her tribes.

The princes of Tanis are become fools, the princes of Memphis are gone astray, they have deceived Egypt, the stay of the people thereof.

The princes of Zoan are become foolish, the princes of Noph are deceived; and the corner-stones of its tribes have caused Egypt to err.

The princes of Zoan are become fools, the princes of Noph are deceived; they have caused Egypt to go astray, that are the corner stone of her tribes.

The princes of Zoan are become fools, the princes of Noph are deceived; they have also seduced Egypt, even they that are the support of its tribes.

Foolish have been princes of Zoan, Lifted up have been princes of Noph, And they have caused Egypt to err, The chief of her tribes.

The chiefs of Zoan have become foolish, the chiefs of Noph are tricked, the heads of her tribes are the cause of Egypt's wandering out of the way.

The leaders of Tanis have become foolish. The leaders of Memphis have decayed. They have deceived Egypt, the corner of its people.

Infatuati sunt principes Zoan, decepti sunt principes Noph, seduxerunt Ægyptum angulus tribuum ejus.

The princes of Zoan are become infatuated, the princes of Noph are deceived. Zoan was one of the chief cities of Egypt; Noph also was highly celebrated; [1] but what cities they were we cannot with certainty determine. Some think that one of them was Alexandria, the antiquity and wealth of which may be inferred from many passages of Scripture, which serve also to refute the notion of those who think that it was founded by Alexander the Great; for although it had been frequently destroyed, yet he did not build it anew, but only repaired it. That at one time it was an independent state, and allied to the Egyptians, and that it was one of the most flourishing cities in the whole world, is evident from Nahum 3:8. The Prophet justly represents the stupidity of the princes to be the forerunner of its destruction; because the chief strength of any commonwealth or kingdom consists in wisdom and prudence, without which neither great riches nor a numerous population can be of any avail. A corner of its tribes have deceived Egypt. [2] I consider the word corner to be here used metaphorically for the chief part of a building on which the whole weight rests; and I choose rather to view it in the nominative than in the accusative case. [3] It ought, I think, to be viewed as referring to those wise men by whom the Egyptians supposed themselves to be so powerfully defended that no evil could befall them. But Isaiah says that this is too feeble a support, because, having been deceived in their counsels, they ruined Egypt; and therefore he holds up to mockery that pretended wisdom which, when it is not accompanied by the fear of God, ought to be called vanity and folly, and not wisdom. Not only do men abuse an excellent gift of God, but they are puffed up with vain ambition, and are more delighted with cunning than with real prudence. To this is added a devilish fury, which leads them to disregard the providence of God, and to bring down all events to the level of their own capacity. This is the reason why Scripture so frequently attacks wise men of that description, and declares that they are fools. They usurp what belongs to God, and claim it for themselves; which is shocking and intolerable sacrilege. We need not wonder if the Lord make fearful displays against such wise men, so that with all their great acuteness and ingenuity they stumble and fall in the smallest matters, and run into great dangers which any peasant or artisan would have foreseen. Let these things be a warning to us, that we may not be elated or lay claim to the praise of wisdom. If we have any abilities or prudence, we ought to ascribe it wholly to God, and conform ourselves to the rule of sobriety and modesty; for if our wisdom rest on God he will truly be a steadfast corner-stone, which no one shall shake or overthrow.

Footnotes

1 - "Zoan, the Tanis of the Greeks, was one of the most ancient cities of Lower Egypt, (Numbers 13:22,) and a royal residence. The name is of Egyptian origin, and signifies low situation. Noph is the Memphis of the Greek geographers, called Moph, (Hosea 9:6.) It was one of the chief cities of ancient Egypt, the royal seat of Psammetichus." -- Alexander.

2 - "The stay (Heb., corners) of the tribes thereof." -- Eng. Ver.

3 - Instead of phnt, (pinnath,) the construct singular, Grotius, Lowth, and others, prefer the conjectural reading, phnvt (pinnOth,) corners. But Rosenmüller removes the difficulty of the Syntax by remarking, that phnh, (pinnah,) a collective noun, and agreeably to the frequent usage of the Hebrew tongue, fitly agrees with a plural verb; and he quotes 2 Samuel 19:41, as a parallel instance. -- Ed.

The princes of Zoan - (the note at Isaiah 19:11). This "repetition" is intensive and emphatic, and shows the deep conviction of the prophet of their folly. The design is to show that "all" the counselors on which the Egyptians depended were fools.
The princes of Noph - The Vulgate, the Septuagint, and the Chaldee, render this 'Memphis,' and there is no doubt that this is the city intended. The name Memphis may have easily arisen from Noph. It was written also "Moph," and hence, Memphis. It is called "Menouf" by the Copts and Arabians. According to Plutarch, the name Memphis means "the port of the good." The situation of Memphis has been a subject of considerable dispute, and has afforded matter for long and laborious investigation. Sicard and Shaw fix its site at Djezeh or Ghizeh, opposite to old Cairo. Pococke, D'Anville, Niebuhr, and other writers and travelers, place Memphis more in the direction of Mitraheny, about fifteen miles further south, on the banks of the Nile, at the entrance of the plain of the mummies, at the north of which the pyramids are placed. It was the residence of the ancient kings of Egypt until the time of the Ptolemies, who commonly resided at Alexandria. Memphis retained its splendor until it was conquered by the Arabians, about 641 a.d. At the supposed site of Memphis south of Ghizeh, there are large mounds of rubbish, a colossal statue sunk in the ground, and a few fragments of granite, which remain to test the existence of this renowned capital. In Strabo's time, although partly in ruins, it was yet a populous city, second only to Alexandria. The total disappearance of the ancient edifices of Memphis is easily accounted for by the circumstance, that the materials were employed for the building of adjacent cities. Fostal rose out of the ruins, and when that city was again deserted, these ruins migrated again to the more modern Cairo (see Robinson's "Bib. Researches," vol. i. p. 40).
They have also seduced Egypt - That is, they have by their counsels caused it to err, and have led it into its present embarrassment.
The stay - Hebrew, פנה pinnâh - the "corner; that is, those who should have been the support. So the word is used to denote the head or leader of a people in Judges 20:2, Judges 20:14; 1-Samuel 14:38; Psalm 118:22; Isaiah 28:16; Zac 10:4.

Are deceived "They have caused," etc. - The text has וחתעו vehithu, And they have caused to err. Fifty of Kennicott's MSS., fifty-three of De Rossi's, and one of my own, ancient, thirty-two editions, and the Vulgate and Chaldee. omit the ו vau, and.
Stay "Pillars" - פנת pinnath, to be pointed as plural pinnoth, without doubt. So Grotius, and so the Chaldee.

The princes of Zoan are become fools, the princes of (l) Noph are deceived; they have also seduced Egypt, [even they that are] the (m) support of its tribes.
(l) Or Memphis, Alexandria, and now called the great Cairo.
(m) The principal upholders of it are the main cause of their destruction.

The princes of Zoan are become fools,.... Or infatuated, in their counsels to Pharaoh, and by giving heed to the magicians and diviners; See Gill on Isaiah 19:11,
the princes of Noph are deceived; called Moph, in Hosea 9:6 where our translation renders it Memphis; and so do the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions here; the Arabic version has it Menphis; the Syriac version Mophis; and the Targum Mephes; the city of Memphis is no doubt intended, which was the chief of the first of the nomes or provinces of Egypt, from whence it was called Memphites: it was the metropolis of upper Egypt, and the seat of their kings and princes; it was built by their first king Menes (t), or Mizraim, and had in it the famous temple of Vulcan; it continues to this day, and goes by the name of Alkair, or Grand Cairo:
they have also seduced Egypt; the princes of the above places, being deceived themselves by the diviners and astrologers, deceived the common people that inhabited the nomes and provinces where they dwelt; it being usual with such to follow their superiors in principle and practice:
even they that are the stay of the tribes thereof; or, "who are the corner of its tribes" (u); meaning the nomes or provinces of Egypt, especially the Tanitic and Memphitic nomes, whose provinces are mentioned; these are called tribes by the prophet, in the language of the Jews, which land were divided into tribes, as the land of Egypt was divided into nomes; and about this time it was divided into twelve kingdoms, as Israel was into twelve tribes: now, the princes of these tribes and kingdoms, who should have been as cornerstones, to which civil magistrates are compared, see Psalm 118:22 the stay and support of the people, and should have kept them right, these led them wrong, into mistakes and errors.
(t) Ib. (Herodot. l. 2.) c. 99. (u) "angulus vel tribuum ejus"; so some in Vatablus.

Noph--called also Moph; Greek, Memphis (Hosea 9:6); on the western bank of the Nile, capital of Lower Egypt, second only to Thebes in all Egypt: residence of the kings, until the Ptolemies removed to Alexandria; the word means the "port of the good" [PLUTARCH]. The military caste probably ruled in it: "they also are deceived," in fancying their country secure from Assyrian invasion.
stay of . . . tribes--rather, "corner-stone of her castes" [MAURER], that is, the princes, the two ruling castes, the priests and the warriors: image from a building which rests mainly on its corner-stones (see on Isaiah 19:10; Isaiah 28:16; Psalm 118:22; Numbers 24:17, Margin; Judges 20:2; 1-Samuel 14:28, Margin; Zac 10:4).

Noph - Another chief city, and one of the kings seats, called also Moph, and by latter authors, Memphis. The stay - Their chief counsellors. Tribes - Of the provinces, which he calls by a title borrowed from the Hebrews, in whose language he spake and wrote this prophecy.