And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up.
The sea is the Nile, according to a Hebrew manner of speech that could give the name sea to the great rivers, both the Nile and the Euphrates, a manner of speech still kept up by Arabic writers and by Egyptians who call the Nile a sea. The failing of waters from the sea and the wasting and drying up of the river mean the failing of the waters of Egypt and the wasting and drying of its river, and to that extent the destruction of Egypt as a habitable land. The whole country depends for irrigation and harvest and life itself upon the rise and overflowing of the Nile, and the prophetic denunciations against Egypt recognize that dependence.
That part of the prophecy concerning Egypt is already fulfilled. Its fulfillment took place centuries ago, and is not to be looked for in modern times. The drying has been literally fulfilled in the Delta, where a traveler in one day's journey may cross forty dry watercourses and must carry water-skins about ruined cities whose walls were once blockaded by Greek and Roman navies. This proves the prophecy true, together with the invasion and conquest and spoiling of Egypt, its being put forever into the hand of strangers, its being made the basest of kingdoms, and its being made to renounce idolatry.
The prophecy containing this declaration refers to the preaching of the gospel in Egypt and in Assyria in New Testament times. It also describes the day of the Lord at the pouring out of the vials upon the sea and upon the rivers and fountains, when waters fail from the sea and the river is wasted and dried up. Then the brooks are emptied, the reeds and flags wither, and everything sown by the brooks withers and vanishes away. Fishers and all that cast hooks and spread nets languish and mourn, and the workers in fine flax and the weavers of white cloth, that is the linen and cotton manufactories, are confounded.
The sea is the Nile, according to a Hebrew manner of speech that could give the name sea to the great rivers, both the Nile and the Euphrates, a manner of speech still kept up by Arabic writers and by Egyptians who call the Nile a sea. The failing of waters from the sea and the wasting and drying up of the river mean the failing of the waters of Egypt and the wasting and drying of its river, and to that extent the destruction of Egypt as a habitable land. The whole country depends for irrigation and harvest and life itself upon the rise and overflowing of the Nile, and the prophetic denunciations against Egypt recognize that dependence.
That part of the prophecy concerning Egypt is already fulfilled. Its fulfillment took place centuries ago, and is not to be looked for in modern times. The drying has been literally fulfilled in the Delta, where a traveler in one day's journey may cross forty dry watercourses and must carry water-skins about ruined cities whose walls were once blockaded by Greek and Roman navies. This proves the prophecy true, together with the invasion and conquest and spoiling of Egypt, its being put forever into the hand of strangers, its being made the basest of kingdoms, and its being made to renounce idolatry.
The prophecy containing this declaration refers to the preaching of the gospel in Egypt and in Assyria in New Testament times. It also describes the day of the Lord at the pouring out of the vials upon the sea and upon the rivers and fountains, when waters fail from the sea and the river is wasted and dried up. Then the brooks are emptied, the reeds and flags wither, and everything sown by the brooks withers and vanishes away. Fishers and all that cast hooks and spread nets languish and mourn, and the workers in fine flax and the weavers of white cloth, that is the linen and cotton manufactories, are confounded.