Isaiah 19:11

BSB · Public Domain (CC0)

“The princes of Zoan are mere fools; Pharaoh’s wise counselors give senseless advice. How can you say to Pharaoh, “I am one of the wise, a son of eastern kings”?”

What this verse means

A short, plain-language explanation of Isaiah 19:11 goes here — the kind of answer a reader (or an AI assistant) can quote in one breath. Original meaning coming soon.

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BSBPD

“The princes of Zoan are mere fools; Pharaoh’s wise counselors give senseless advice. How can you say to Pharaoh, “I am one of the wise, a son of eastern kings”?”

Berean Standard Bible · Public Domain (CC0)
KJVPD

“Surely the princes of Zoan are fools, the counsel of the wise counsellors of Pharaoh is become brutish: how say ye unto Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings?”

King James Version · Public Domain
ASVPD

“The princes of Zoan are utterly foolish; the counsel of the wisest counsellors of Pharaoh is become brutish: how say ye unto Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings?”

American Standard Version · Public Domain
YLTPD

“Only, fools <FI>are<Fi> the princes of Zoan, The counsel of the wise ones of the counsellors of Pharaoh hath become brutish. How say ye unto Pharaoh, `A son of the wise am I, a son of kings of antiquity?'”

Young's Literal Translation · Public Domain
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Cross references

Other passages that echo Isaiah 19:11 — 24 related verses from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

  1. Genesis 41:38So Pharaoh asked them, “Can we find anyone like this man, in whom the Spirit of God abides?”
  2. Exodus 8:4The frogs will come up on you and your people and all your officials.’”
  3. Exodus 8:14They were piled into countless heaps, and there was a terrible stench in the land.
  4. Numbers 13:22They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, dwelled. It had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.
  5. 1 Kings 4:30Solomon’s wisdom was greater than that of all the men of the East, greater than all the wisdom of Egypt.
  6. 1 Kings 5:10So Hiram provided Solomon with all the cedar and cypress timber he wanted,
  7. Job 5:12He thwarts the schemes of the crafty, so that their hands find no success.
  8. Job 12:17He leads counselors away barefoot and makes fools of judges.
  9. Psalms 33:10The LORD frustrates the plans of the nations; He thwarts the devices of the peoples.
  10. Psalms 73:22I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before You.
  11. Psalms 78:12He worked wonders before their fathers in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan.
  12. Psalms 78:43when He performed His signs in Egypt and His wonders in the fields of Zoan.
  13. Psalms 92:6A senseless man does not know, and a fool does not understand,
  14. Proverbs 30:2Surely I am the most ignorant of men, and I lack the understanding of a man.
  15. Isaiah 19:3Then the spirit of the Egyptians will be emptied out from among them, and I will frustrate their plans, so that they will resort to idols and spirits of the dead, to mediums and spiritists.
  16. Isaiah 19:13The princes of Zoan have become fools; the princes of Memphis are deceived. The cornerstones of her tribes have led Egypt astray.
  17. Isaiah 29:14Therefore I will again confound these people with wonder upon wonder. The wisdom of the wise will vanish, and the intelligence of the intelligent will be hidden.”
  18. Isaiah 30:4For though their princes are at Zoan and their envoys have arrived in Hanes,
  19. Isaiah 44:25who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who confounds the wise and turns their knowledge into nonsense,
  20. Jeremiah 10:14Every man is senseless and devoid of knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols. For his molten images are a fraud, and there is no breath in them.
  21. Jeremiah 10:21For the shepherds have become senseless; they do not seek the LORD. Therefore they have not prospered, and all their flock is scattered.
  22. Jeremiah 49:7Concerning Edom, this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Is there no longer wisdom in Teman? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom decayed?
  23. Ezekiel 7:26Disaster upon disaster will come, and rumor after rumor. Then they will seek a vision from a prophet, but instruction from the priests will perish, as will counsel from the elders.
  24. Ezekiel 30:14I will lay waste Pathros, set fire to Zoan, and execute judgment on Thebes.

Cross-reference data: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain) via OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

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