Isaiah 19:6-8
6. they shall turn the rivers—rather, "the streams shall become putrid"; that is, the artificial streams made for irrigation shall become stagnant and offensive when the waters fail [MAURER]. HORSLEY, with the Septuagint, translates, "And waters from the sea shall be drunk"; by the failure of the river water they shall be reduced to sea water.
brooks of defence—rather, "canals of Egypt"; "canals," literally, "Niles," Nile canals, the plural of the Egyptian term for the great river. The same Hebrew word, Matzor, whence comes Mitzraim, expresses Egypt, and a place of "defense." HORSLEY, as English Version translates it, "embanked canals," reeds . . . flags—the papyrus. "Reed and rush"; utter withering.7. paper-reeds—rather, pastures, literally, "places naked" of wood, and famed for rich herbage, on the banks of the Nile [GESENIUS]. Compare Ge 13:10; De 11:10. HORSLEY translates, "nakedness upon the river," descriptive of the appearance of a river when its bottom is bare and its banks stripped of verdure by long drought: so Vulgate.
the brooks—the river. mouth—rather, "the source" [Vulgate]. "Even close to the river's side vegetation shall be so withered as to be scattered in the shape of powder by the wind" (English Version, "driven away") [HORSLEY].8. fishers—The Nile was famed for fish (Nu 11:5); many would be thrown out of employment by the failure of fishes.
angle—a hook. Used in the "brooks" or canals, as the "net" was in "the waters" of the river itself.