Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 20:4

So shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians prisoners, and the Ethiopians captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, even with [their] buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.

4. The apodosis. lead away ] as in 1Sa 30:2.

the Egyptians prisoners captives ] Better as R.V. the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Ethiopia. The two words for exile are both abstracts used in a concrete sense; the corresponding verbs denote, the one the act of making captive, the other the act of going into exile (lit. leaving the land bare).

to the shame ] The word means “nakedness,” and the construction is difficult.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

So shall the king of Assyria – The emphasis here is on the word so. As Isaiah has walked naked, that is, stripped off his usual clothing, so shall the Egyptians and Ethiopians be led away stripped of all their possessions.

The Egyptians prisoners, and the Ethiopians captives – The Egyptians and Ethiopians, or Cushites, were often united in an alliance, and appear to have been when this prophecy was delivered. Thus Nah 3:8 :

Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength, and it was infinite;

Put and Lubim were thy helpers.

To the shame of Egypt – It shall be a disgrace to them to be subdued, and to be carried captive in so humiliating a manner. It is remarked by Belzoni (Operations and Recent Discoveries in Egypt and Nubia), that in the figures on the remains of their temples, prisoners are often represented as naked, or only in aprons, with disheveled hair, and with their hands chained. He also remarks, that on a bas-relief, on the recently-discovered graves of the kings of Thebes, a multitude of Egyptian and Ethiopian prisoners are represented – showing that Egypt and Ethiopia were sometimes allied, alike in mutual defense and in bondage (compare Isa 47:2, and Nah 3:5).

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Lead away, like beasts, of which this word is commonly used.

Their buttocks uncovered; having their garments cut off by the middle, to the discovery of their buttocks and their secret parts. Compare 2Sa 10:4; Isa 47:2.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

4. buttocks uncoveredBELZONIsays that captives are found represented thus on Egyptian monuments(Isa 47:2; Isa 47:3;Nah 3:5; Nah 3:8;Nah 3:9), where as here, Egyptand Ethiopia are mentioned as in alliance.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

So shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians prisoners, and the Ethiopians captives,…. As beasts are led or driven, being taken prisoners, and carried captive by the king of Assyria, namely Sargon, whoever is intended by him:

young and old; without any regard to age, sparing none for their tender years or gray hairs:

naked and barefoot; as prisoners of war commonly are, being stripped by their conquerors of their clothes, and having only a few rags given them to cover their nakedness with, and obliged to travel without shoes on their feet:

even with [their] buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt; having no clothes on them to cover those parts; or the skirts of their garments cut off, as David’s servants were by the Ammonites,

2Sa 10:4 and this to humble and mortify the pride of the Egyptians.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

4. The captivity of Egypt and the removal of Ethiopia. (61) The words “captivity” and “removal” are taken collectively, to denote the multitude of captives and emigrants. Next, he shews that there will be no distinction of age, declaring that the old, as well as the young, shall be led into captivity.

(61) Bogus footnote

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

(4) So shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians . . .The prediction did not receive its fulfilment in the reign either of Sargon or Sennacherib, but Esarhaddon subdued the whole of Egypt, carried off its treasures, and appointed satraps over its provinces (Budges Esarhaddon, pp. 111-129). The prophet paints the brutality with which prisoners were treated on a march in vivid colours. What would men say of their boasted policy of an Egypto-Cushite alliance when they saw that as its disastrous issue? It may be noted that Rabshakehs scornful phrase, This bruised reed, seems to imply that Assyria had ceased to fear the power of Egypt; and Nahum (Nah. 3:8) speaks of No (i.e., No-Amun or Thebes) as having, when he wrote, been conquered, and his people carried into captivity.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

4, 5. So Thus, in like manner, as the prophet in his comparative nakedness.

Shall the king of Assyria In this expedition Assyria’s success is assured by the prophet. Precisely when this occurred is not easy to settle, as some imagine. Not even Rawlinson, in his Five Great Monarchies, vol. ii, page 416, (which see,) does this satisfactorily. Nor is it, as regards prophecy, very material.

Lead away the Egyptians prisoners Ethiopians captives This picture of naked captives taken in war, is found on the monuments in Egypt. See Isa 47:2-3; also Nah 3:5; Nah 3:8-9. The doctrine of the prophecy is: Vain is the reliance of Judah on Egypt and Ethiopia.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Isa 20:4 So shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians prisoners, and the Ethiopians captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, even with [their] buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.

Ver. 4. So shall the king of Assyria lead away. ] As men used to lead or drive cattle, for so the Hebrew word Nahag denotes: so are poor captives led; and so shall the Lord also one day “lead forth with” or in company of “the workers of iniquity” (notorious offenders) all such as “turn aside unto their crooked ways,” hypocrites and dissemblers; whenas “peace shall be upon Israel, upon the pure in heart.” Psa 125:5

Young and old. ] Young men are for action, old men for counsel. a E , . b They were all carried away together in a sad and sorry condition, little better, and sometimes more bitter, than death itself.

Even with their buttocks uncovered. ] Vel ad ludibrium, vel ad libidinem hostium, for the enemies either to scorn at, or to feed their filthy eyes upon. Thus and for such a purpose dealt the mitred fathers with the poor Albigenses, those ancient Protestants in France, when they had forced them to take quarter for their lives, voluerunt episcopi viros et mulieres nudos egredi, &c. The bishops wished the men and women to be led forth nude. And so Tilly dealt with the miserable citizens at the sack of Magdeburg; and much worse than so dealeth the devil with all his wretched captives, whom he driveth away hellward, naked and barefoot with their buttocks uncovered, the shame of their nakedness exposed to public view for want of the white raiment of Christ’s righteousness that they might be clothed. Rev 3:18

a Consilia senum, hastae iuvenum sunt.

b Pindar.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

shall: Isa 19:4, Jer 46:26, Eze 30:18

Egyptians: Heb. captivity of Egypt

with their: Isa 3:17, 2Sa 10:4, Jer 13:22, Jer 13:26, Mic 1:11

shame: Heb. nakedness, Rev 3:18

Reciprocal: 2Sa 15:30 – barefoot 1Ch 19:4 – and cut Isa 19:20 – they shall Isa 31:2 – against the help Isa 32:11 – strip Isa 47:2 – make bare Jer 46:19 – furnish thyself to go into captivity Jer 48:39 – a derision Jer 51:22 – General Eze 30:5 – Ethiopia Nah 3:10 – she carried Hab 2:16 – and let Zep 2:12 – Ethiopians

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge