DRAFT: A Chiastic Reconfiguration Of Isaiah 19

Kuruvilla Thomas
Bangalore
Published on 21 May 2024 *

Fig. 1

Introduction

This study treats Isaiah 19 as a cryptochiasmus in order to arrive at a coherent reconfiguration of the text ( see definition of cryptochiasmus in [1] ). If you wish to skip the technicalities of a chiastic parse, you may read starting from Section 4 of the Discussion section, which has the reconfigured text.

We show that Isaiah 19 prophesies Nebuchadnezzar's invasion of Egypt, and predicts that the Western Empire will come under God's control at the start of Christ's Millennial Reign.

Discussion

1. Presuppositions

We base our parse of Isaiah 19 on the assumption that it refers to 3 periods:

1. Nebuchadnezzar invades Egypt (c.568BC).
2. The Temple at Jerusalem is destroyed (70AD) during the First Jewish–Roman War (66AD–73AD).
3. The Western Empire comes under God's control at the Start of Christ's Millennial Reign (circa 2027AD).

2. Parsing the chiasmus

We will use the NIV Bible for this parse.

Parsing this chiasmus involves dividing portions of the text into three categories as above. We will call the time of Nebuchadnezzar's invasion of Egypt Period 1, the Destruction of Jerusalem Period 2 and the start of Christ's Millennial Reign Period 3.

We believe that the name "Egypt" refers to ancient Egypt in Period 1, and to the Western Empire in Period 3 (see our parse of Isaiah 18 [3]) .

Categorizing Isaiah 19

vs 1b-3 belong to Period 3. After Satan's empires are defeated, the Lord comes down "in a swift cloud" to punish the Western Empire. The Lord stirs up conflict throughout the nations that make up the Western Empire.

vs 4-8 belong to Period 1. Nebuchadnezzar takes control of Egypt, a great drought devastates the land.

vs 9-10 belong to Period 2. Those who deal in fine linen lose their livelihood after the destruction of the temple at Jerusalem in 70AD. This is the only passage in the chapter that does not contain the name "Egypt" or a proper noun related to Egypt.

vs 11-15 belong to Period 1. Ancient Egypt is cursed with poor advice from its counsellors.

vs 16-25 belongs to Period 3. After a period of tribulation, the Western Empire comes under God's control. We take the phrase "In that day", which can mean "at a later date", as denoting the start of this subunit. We see no reason for ancient Egypt to fear weak Judah, as in vs 17.

Original text

We color-code the chiastic units of the original text (NIV) below for easy visual identification using: red for Period 1, blue for Period 2 and green for Period 3. We have retranslated parts of the text.

Isaiah 19 1b See, the Lord rides on a swift cloud and is coming to Egypt. The idols of Egypt tremble before him, and the hearts of the Egyptians melt with fear.
2 “I will stir up Egyptian against Egyptian— brother will fight against brother, neighbor against neighbor, city against city, kingdom against kingdom. 3 The Egyptians will lose heart when I [a] bring their plans to nothing; they will consult the idols and the spirits of the dead, the mediums and the spiritists.
4 I will hand the Egyptians over to the power of a cruel master, and a fierce king will rule over them,” declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty.
5 The waters of the river will dry up, and the riverbed will be parched and dry. 6 The canals will stink; the streams of Egypt will dwindle and dry up. The reeds and rushes will wither, 7 also the plants along the Nile, at the mouth of the river. Every sown field along the Nile will become parched, will blow away and be no more. 8 The fishermen will groan and lament, all who cast hooks into the Nile; those who throw nets on the water will pine away.
9 Those who work with combed flax will despair, the weavers of fine linen will lose hope. 10 The foundations of the trade will be broken, and all who live off it will be sick at heart. [b]
11 The princes of Zoan are nothing but fools; the wise counselors of Pharaoh give foolish advice.[c] How can you say to Pharaoh, “I am a son of the wise,[d] a son [e] of the ancient kings”? 12 Where are your wise men now? Let them show you and make known what the Lord Almighty has planned against Egypt. 13 The princes of Zoan have become stupid, the princes of Memphis are delusional; the cornerstones of her peoples lead Egypt astray. [f] 14 The Lord has poured into them a spirit of distortion [g]; they make Egypt stagger in all that she does, as a drunkard staggers around in his vomit. 15 There is nothing Egypt can do— head or tail, palm branch or palm leaflet [h].
16 In that day the Egyptians will be like women [i]. They will shudder with fear at the uplifted hand that the Lord Almighty raises against them. 17 And the land of Judah will bring terror to the Egyptians; everyone to whom Judah is mentioned will be terrified, because of what the Lord Almighty is planning against them.
18 In that day five cities in Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the Lord Almighty. One of them will be called the City of Overthrow [j].
19 In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the heart of Egypt, and a monument to the Lord at its border. 20 It will be a sign and witness to the Lord Almighty in the land of Egypt.
When they cry out to the Lord because of their oppressors, he will send them a savior, a mighty one [k], and he will rescue them. 21 So the Lord will make himself known to the Egyptians, and in that day they will acknowledge the Lord. They will worship with sacrifices and [l] offerings; they will make vows to the Lord and keep them. 22 The Lord will strike Egypt [m]; he will strike them and heal them. They will turn to the Lord, and he will respond to their pleas and heal them.
23 In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. 24 In that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing on the earth. 25 The Lord Almighty will bless them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance.”

Retranslation notes for Isaiah 19:
[a] vs 3 "heart when I" instead of "heart, and I will".
[b] vs 10 "The foundations of the trade will be broken, and all who live off it will be sick at heart" instead of "The workers in cloth will be dejected, and all the wage earners will be sick at heart".
[c] vs 11 "The princes of Zoan are nothing but fools; the wise counselors of Pharaoh give foolish advice" instead of "The officials of Zoan are nothing but fools; the wise counselors of Pharaoh give senseless advice".
[d] vs 11 "a son of the wise" instead of "one of the wise men".
[e] vs 11 "son" instead of "disciple".
[f] vs 13 "The princes of Zoan have become stupid, the princes of Memphis are delusional; the cornerstones of her peoples lead Egypt astray" instead of "The officials of Zoan have become fools, the leaders of Memphis are deceived; the cornerstones of her peoples have led Egypt astray".
[g] vs 14 "distortion" instead of "dizziness". From the NASB.
[h] vs 15 "palm leaflet" instead of "reed". Assuming a parallel design in the idiom.
[i] vs 16 "be like women" instead of "become weaklings", as in the Hebrew.
[j] vs 18 "Overthrow" instead of "the Sun", as in the Hebrew.
[k] vs 20 ", a mighty one" instead of "and defender". From the NKJV.
[l] vs 21 removed the word "grain". Not specified in the Hebrew
[m] vs 22 removed the phrase "with a plague". Not in the Hebrew.

3. Building the reconfigured text

From this parse, it appears that Isaiah 19 forms a cryptochiasmus as below:

A1   Vs 1b-3 Period 3. Conflict within the Western Empire
  B1   Ch Vs 4-8 Period 1. Egypt is invaded, has a drought
    X   Vs 9-10 Period 2. The temple in Jerusalem is destroyed
  B2   Vs 11-15 Period 1. Egypt is poorly advised
A2   Vs 16-25 Period 3. The Western Empire comes under God's control

We now reconstruct the passages in the right order based on the chiastic structure above and based on the ordering rules of a cryptochiasmus [1].

We lead with central pivot point 'X'. The corresponding subunits (For example; subunit A1 corresponds to A2) are placed contiguously to form units (For example, A1,A2 is a unit ) so that we get a list of such units.

The sequence selected for rearrangement is:

X  [A1,A2]  [B1,B2]        (1)

Translating (1) into verse numbers, we get:

vs 9-10   [vs 1b-3, vs 16-25]   [vs 4-8, vs 11-15]        (2)

We arrive at the reconfigured passage in the next section by rearranging the verses so they are in sequence (2).

4. Isaiah 19 Reconfigured

The Temple at Jerusalem is destroyed (70AD) during the First Jewish–Roman War (66AD–73AD) (vs 9-10)



The Western Empire comes under God's control at the Start of Christ's Millennial Reign (circa 2027AD) (vs 1b-3, vs 16-25)

Chiasmus 1: The Western Empire faces God's wrath


Chiasmus 2: The Western Empire worships God



Nebuchadnezzar invades Egypt (c.568BC) (vs 4-8, vs 11-15)

5. A Commentary on the Reconfigured Text

5.0 The Title of the Prophecy (vs 1a)

1a A prophecy against Egypt:

This prophecy predicts disaster for Egypt as punishment from God in Period 1. It also predicts that the "Egypt" of Period 3, the Western Empire, will become an empire under God at the start of the Millennial Reign.

5.1 The Temple at Jerusalem is destroyed (70AD) during the First Jewish–Roman War (66AD–73AD) (vs 9-10)

This Period is arranged in the form of a single-unit chiasmus:

A1 vs 9 The ceremonial garment industry is in despair
    X 10a Ceremonial garments are no longer required
A2 10b The ceremonial garment industry is in despair

Subunit A1: The ceremonial garment industry is in despair (vs 9)

9 Those who work with combed flax will despair, the weavers of fine linen will lose hope.

The craftsmen of Judea and the surrounding regions who specialized in fine linen work for temple priests are in despair, because there is no longer a demand for their products.

Pivot X: Ceremonial garments are no longer required (10a)

10a The foundations of the trade will be broken,

The priestly class in Jerusalem required fine linen for their ceremonial garments (see Exodus 28), but with the destruction of the temple in 70AD and the Old Covenant no more in force, there is no longer a demand for this delicate, expensive clothing ("the foundations of the trade are broken"). After the Roman slaughter of the Judahites, only the Christian Judahites remained - those who had taken Jesus' advice to flee to the mountains [2].

Subunit A2: The ceremonial garment industry is in despair (vs 10b)

10b and all who live off it will be sick at heart.

All who worked in the fine linen industry - the traders, suppliers, etc. - will now have to find another way to make a living.

5.2 The Western Empire comes under God's control at the Start of Christ's Millennial Reign (circa 2027AD) (vs 1b-3, vs 16-25)

"Egypt", in the prophecy of this Period, refers to the Western Empire (see parse of Isaiah 18 [3]), and we define the Western Empire to be Western Europe and its offshoots, like the USA and Australia (these nations make up the 6th king of Rev 17:10 and they will be a crucial part of the Beast empire of Rev. 13). Although these nations are considered Christian, their leadership consists of demon worshippers, and they are controlled by the Satanic bloodline families (see appendix in [6] for more on these bloodline families).

This Period is structured as a series of 2 chiasmi.

Chiasmus 1: The Western Empire faces God's wrath

We believe the events of this chiasmus occur after the defeat of the Beast army outside the New Israel (see Ezekiel 39, Rev 19:17-21).

The passage below in 1b-3,16-17 is structured as a single-unit chiasmus:

A1 1b-2 The Western Empire is in terror at God's wrath
    X 3 The plans of the Western Empire are foiled
A2 16-17 The Western Empire is in terror at God's wrath

Subunit A1: The Western Empire is in terror at God's wrath (1b-2)

1b See, the Lord rides on a swift cloud and is coming to Egypt. The idols of Egypt tremble before him, and the hearts of the Egyptians melt with fear.

God will punish the Western Empire for its wickedness, particularly during the reign of the Beast, and God, or His angels, will move into the physical realm to administer this punishment (the "swift cloud" represents a mechanism to travel between the spiritual and physical realms for a short time - see Psalm 104:3, see also Matt 24:30, Dan 7:13 ...). The wicked of the Western Empire and the fallen angels ("idols") that they worship, now tremble in fear before the might of God.

2 “I will stir up Egyptian against Egyptian— brother will fight against brother, neighbor against neighbor, city against city, kingdom against kingdom.

God stirs up internal conflict between the nations and the peoples that make up the Western Empire, so that the empire is weakened and split apart. It may be that the people of God in the Western Empire will battle the people of Satan, who are greatly weakened after the defeat of "Babylon" and the Beast army.

Pivot X: The plans of the Western Empire are foiled (vs 3)

3 The Egyptians will lose heart when I bring their plans to nothing; they will consult the idols and the spirits of the dead, the mediums and the spiritists.

The plans of the wicked in the Western Empire to rule the world for Satan are thwarted by God. The wicked seek the help of the fallen angels ("idols") they worship, but these spiritual beings are unable to fight God's will; the wicked communicate with the spiritual world through witchcraft, necromancy, mediums, spiritists, all of which are expressly forbidden by God (Deut. 18:10-11). Although the Western Empire has the largest population of Christians in the world, it also has a large population of secret Satan worshippers, and so this empire had formed a powerful arm of Satan's "Babylon" and Beast empires.

Subunit A2: The Western Empire is in terror at God's wrath (16-17)

16 In that day the Egyptians will be like women. They will shudder with fear at the uplifted hand that the Lord Almighty raises against them. 17 And the land of Judah will bring terror to the Egyptians; everyone to whom Judah is mentioned will be terrified, because of what the Lord Almighty is planning against them.

The wicked of the once mighty Western Empire will be fearful ("like women") and tremble at the judgement coming from God and from his chosen nation, the New Israel ("Judah", Isaiah's nation, represents the New Israel of the Millennial Reign). The Beast army, in which the Western Empire played a major role, had been thoroughly defeated when it came to attack the New Israel, and God's plans against the nations that made up the army have been revealed (see Ezekiel 39:21, Rev 19:21).

Chiasmus 2: The Western Empire worships God

The passage below in 18-25 is structured as a single-unit chiasmus:

A1 18-20a The Western Empire will worship God
    X 20b-22 God makes Himself known to the Western Empire
A2 23-25 The Western Empire will worship God: China too

In that day... In Biblical prophecy, the phrase "in that day" can mean "at a later date". The prophecies in the subunits of this chiasmus begin with this phrase, indicating that they will be fulfilled well into the Millennial Reign.

Subunit A1: The Western Empire will worship God (18-20a)

18 In that day five cities in Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the Lord Almighty. One of them will be called the City of Overthrow.

While most of the Israelites living in the Western Empire will return to the New Israel, a few Israelites will be sent to the Western Empire to help the Messiah govern it (see also Micah 5:5,6). They will gather in 5 cities so that they can more easily preserve their religion and culture as the people of God - so that they figuratively "speak the language of Canaan". These cities will effectively be colonies of the New Israel, and, like Israel, they will swear allegiance to God. It may be that these 5 cities are spread out in the 5 larger nations of the Western Empire - USA, Europe, Canada, Australia and New Zealand - so that the coming Messiah may control these nations through these cities.

One of these cities will be called the "City of Overthrow", presumably for its role in delivering the Western Empire from the tyranny of Satan's people (see vs 20b below).

19 In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the heart of Egypt, and a monument to the Lord at its border. 20a It will be a sign and witness to the Lord Almighty in the land of Egypt.

The leadership and the people of the Western Empire will set up monuments that acknowledge the God of Israel (we believe vs 19 is a parallelism and so take "altar" to mean "memorial", as in Joshua 22:22-26). So instead of pagan, Satanic monuments, like the Statue of Liberty and the Washington Monument, the Western Empire will have symbols appropriate to a Christian people.

Pivot X: God makes Himself known to the Western Empire (20b-22)

20b When they cry out to the Lord because of their oppressors, he will send them a savior, a mighty one, and he will rescue them. 21 So the Lord will make himself known to the Egyptians, and in that day they will acknowledge the Lord. They will worship with sacrifices and offerings; they will make vows to the Lord and keep them.

After the Western Empire endures a period of tribulation under oppressors, God will send a mighty saviour, likely the coming Messiah, to rescue them, so that it is clear to the people of the Western Empire that the God of Israel is the one true God. They will worship God with sacrifices and offerings (but not the literal sacrifices and offerings on the altar, as in the Old Covenant) and will vow to do according to His will.

22 The Lord will strike Egypt; he will strike them and heal them. They will turn to the Lord, and he will respond to their pleas and heal them.

The Lord will strike the Western empire with tribulation and rescue them when they cry to Him for help, so that they will recognize Him as God. ( This passage seems to be a restatement of 20b, so this Pivot X is itself structured as a chiasmus.)

Subunit A2: The Western Empire will worship God: China too (23-25)

23 In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. 24 In that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing on the earth. 25 The Lord Almighty will bless them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance.”

This trio of nations - the Western Empire ("Egypt"), China ("Assyria") and the New Israel - will be blessed nations under God, and they will be in turn, a blessing to the world during the Millennial Reign. The two great Japhetic powers of the Western Empire and China, that had previously been the two strongest nations of the Beast army, will now, along with Israel, form a strong union under God (there will be a "highway" between them).

The Western Empire has been a great bastion of Christianity from the time Paul and others preached the gospel among its people (Romans 1:14-15), and it has played a vital role in promoting Christianity around the world; so the righteous of the Western Empire have been God's people from the time of Christ ("Egypt" my people). However the Satanic bloodlines that made this part of the world their home from the time of the Alexander, have parasitically used these nations for their evil purposes. At the time of the Millennial Reign, with Satan and his acolytes defeated, the peoples of the Western Empire will form a blessed, fruitful nation under God (see also Isaiah 18:7).

China is called "Assyria", because, just as Satan ruled the world from Assyria at the time of the prophecy, the fallen angels will operate from China during the Millennial Reign (Satan will be imprisoned at this time - Rev 20:1-3). The people of the Babylonian bloodlines (see appendix in [6]) will move into China at the start of the Millennial Reign (China is the 7th king of Rev 17:10); Magog (China) and its controlling angel (Gog) will lead attacks on the Israelites during (Ezekiel 38) and after (Rev 20:7-9) the Millennial Reign. However, the righteous in China will have far more control over the nation, and they will be a blessing to the world during the Millennial Reign. At this time, China has one of the largest and fastest growing Christian populations in the world ("Assyria" my handiwork).

The Northern Tribes, who make up the majority of the population of Israel, had been cursed with spiritual blindness for the waywardness of their forefathers (Isaiah 29:9,10), but they will once again turn back to their God at the time of the Millennial Reign (Ezekiel 37:13-14). The New Israel will now be "God's portion" (as in Exodus 19:5) in the fullest sense and will remain faithful to God till the end. God and Christ will rule the world through this New Israel ("Israel my inheritance").

5.3 Nebuchadnezzar invades Egypt (c.568BC) (vs 4-8, vs 11-15)

The passages of this Period predict a time of great tribulation for Egypt, primarily in the form of an invasion by Nebuchadnezzar and a drought, as detailed in Ezekiel 30:10-12 (see also Eze. 29:17-20, Jer. 44:11-12). One fragmentary Babylonian text implies that Babylonia invaded Egypt around 568/567BC, and this is supported by Josephus (Antiquities X, ix.7).

This Period is arranged in the form of a single-unit chiasmus:

A1 vs 4-8 Egypt is punished
    X 11 The counsellors of Egypt give foolish advice
A2 12-15 Egypt is punished: its counsellors are punished

Subunit A1: Egypt is punished (4-8)

4 I will hand the Egyptians over to the power of a cruel master, and a fierce king will rule over them,” declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty.

Egypt is given over to the cruel king Nebuchadnezzar, who was known for his excessive brutality to the people he subjugated (see Ezekiel 30:10,11, Ezekiel 32:11-13, Ezekiel 29:17-21).

5 The waters of the river will dry up, and the riverbed will be parched and dry. 6 The canals will stink; the streams of Egypt will dwindle and dry up. The reeds and rushes will wither, 7 also the plants along the Nile, at the mouth of the river. Every sown field along the Nile will become parched, will blow away and be no more. 8 The fishermen will groan and lament, all who cast hooks into the Nile; those who throw nets on the water will pine away.

Around the time of Nebuchadnezzar's attack, Egypt was also punished by a calamitous drought that devastated the land and its economy (see Ezekiel 30:10-12, Jer 44:13, Ezekiel 32:14).

Pivot X: The Egyptians are punished for their foolish actions (vs 11)

11 The princes of Zoan are nothing but fools; the wise counselors of Pharaoh give foolish advice. How can you say to Pharaoh, “I am a son of the wise, a son of the ancient kings”?

God punished Egypt with these calamities, presumably because its counsellors ignored God's orders and warning, and instead given bad advice to the Pharaoh. The counsellors (the priest-princes of Egyptian gods) of Zoan (one of the capitals - Isaiah 30:4) who advised the Pharaoh came from strong Satanic bloodline families ("son of ancient kings"); these families had access to great knowledge and power through the spiritual strength of their bloodlines, their Satan worship and sorcery. But after the counsellors gave Pharaoh this bad advice that resulted in Egypt's devastation, God asks them how they can continue to call themselves "wise advisors" and boast about their spiritually powerful bloodlines ("son of the ancient kings").

Subunit A2: Egypt is punished: its counsellors are punished (12-15)

12 Where are your wise men now? Let them show you and make known what the Lord Almighty has planned against Egypt.

In their distress at the calamities they face, the people of Egypt ask their counsellors what will happen to them. These counsellors ("wise men") can make limited predictions based on information given to them by the fallen angels they worship, but they cannot correctly prophesy about this period, as they know nothing about God's consequential plans against the nation.

13 The princes of Zoan have become stupid, the princes of Memphis are delusional; the cornerstones of her peoples lead Egypt astray. 14 The Lord has poured into them a spirit of distortion; they make Egypt stagger in all that she does, as a drunkard staggers around in his vomit. 15 There is nothing Egypt can do— head or tail, palm branch or palm leaflet.

The counsellors belong to the highest royal-priestly caste ("cornerstones of her peoples", "princes") and channel the wisdom of their gods to advise the Egyptians from the capitals of Zoan and Memphis. But because of their disobedience, God has confused their minds (through "a spirit of distortion"), so that their advise leaves Egypt as hopelessly incapable as an extremely inebriated person ("staggers around in his vomit") (cf. Isaiah 28:8). Because of the poor counsel it receives, Egypt can do nothing right in any field of endeavour (the phrase "head or tail, palm branch or palm leaflet" is an idiom that means "all of [something]", the [something] in this context being "the fields of endeavour" - cf. Isaiah 8:14).

Conclusion

With this chiastic reconstruction of the text, we have shown that Isaiah 19 contains prophecies on three distinct Periods. Egypt's defeat and loss of regional power due to the foolishness of its leaders in Period 1 appears to be a type of the Western Empire's loss of superpower status because of the wickedness of its leaders in Period 3.

References

[1] A Definition of Cryptochiasmus
[2] A Chiastic Reconfiguration Of "The 70 Weeks Of Daniel"
[3] A Chiastic Reconfiguration Of Isaiah 18
[4] A Chiastic Reconfiguration Of Isaiah 23
[5] A Chiastic Reconfiguration Of Revelation 4-22, Part 2
[6] A Chiastic Reconfiguration Of Daniel 8





* First version published on November 3 2021.