Commentary upon the Prophecy of Isaiah

Vers. 3. And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the middest of her, and will destroy their counsel,^* and they shall seek at the Idols, and at the sorcerers, and at them that have spirits of divination, and at the soothsayers.

Vers. 3. And the spirit of Egypt shall faile in the middest of her, and will destroy their counsell,^* and they shall seeke at the Idoles, and at the sorcerers, and at them that haue spirits of diuination, and at the soothsayers.

1. *Or, yea, though they should.

Even as the Prophet in the former verses took heart and courage from the Egyptians, ⟨p. 188⟩so takes he from them now minds and spirits. These two things are exceeding necessary for the defence of kingdoms; because wh•nsoever they he taken away, there is no means left for upholding of a State. Now the Egyptians thought themselves far before all other nations,¹ as touching the conceit they had of their own wisdom: and proudly disdained them as barbarians; thinking themselves to be the only learned, industrious, civil, courteous, and honest men of the world. For they bragged that they were the inventers of learning, that Philosophy and Astrology came from them: in a word,² that Egypt was as it were the shop of all the liberal sciences. Therefore they could not imagine that wisdom and counsel should thus fail from amongst them: and doubtless if this prophecy had come to their view they would have scorned it, thinking that the Sea should sooner lack water, and that the whole order of nature should be overturned, then that they which thought themselves so naturally wise, should become fools. Yet doth Isaiah boldly affirm it: for indeed, he spake not of his own head, but having foretold that they should be stripped of their pride and arrogance; the context requires that we understand now that they should be smitten with amazedness, seeing both these faculties of the soul depended upon the free gift of God.