Albert Barnes Commentary Isaiah 19:9

"Moreover they that work in combed flax, and they that weave white cloth, shall be confounded." — Isaiah 19:9 (ASV)

Moreover - In addition to the calamities that will come upon the fishermen, the drying up of the river will affect all who are supported by what the overflowing of its waters produced.

Those who work in short flax - Egypt was celebrated anciently for producing flax in large quantities and of superior quality (1 Kings 10:28). The fine linen of Egypt, manufactured from this, is celebrated in Scripture (Proverbs 7:16; Ezekiel 27:7). The Egyptians had early carried the art of manufacturing linen to a great degree of perfection. As early as the exodus of the Hebrews, we find that the art was known by which fabrics made of linen or other materials were curiously worked and embroidered. ‘And thou shalt make an hanging for the door of the tent, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine-twined linen, made with needlework’ (Exodus 26:36; Exodus 36:37).

So Ezekiel 27:7: ‘Fine linen, with broidered work from Egypt.’ So also Martial refers to embroidery with the needle in Egypt:

Haec tibi Memphitis tellus dat munera; victa est
Pectine Niliaco jam Babylonis acus.

Martial, xiv. Ep. 50.

In regard to the “fineness” of the linen produced and made in Egypt, we may introduce a statement by Pliny when speaking of the “nets” made there. ‘So delicate,’ he says, ‘were some of them that they would pass through a man’s ring, and a single person could carry enough of them to surround a whole wood.’

Julius Lupus, who died while governor of Egypt, had some of these nets; each string consisted of 150 threads. This fact is perfectly surprising to those unaware that the Rhodians preserve to this day, in the temple of Minerva, the remains of a linen corslet. This corslet was presented to them by Amasis, king of Egypt, and its threads are each composed of 365 fibres (Pliny, xix. 1).

Herodotus also mentions this corslet (iii. 47), and another presented by Amasis to the Lacedemonians, which had been carried off by the Samians: ‘It was of linen, ornamented with numerous figures of animals, worked in gold and cotton.’

Each thread of the corslet was worthy of admiration. For though very fine, every thread was composed of 360 other distinct threads, the quality being similar to that of the one dedicated to Minerva at Lindus by the same monarch.’

Pliny (xix. 1) mentions four kinds of linen that were particularly celebrated in Egypt—the Tanitic, the Pelusiac, the Butine, and the Tentyritic. He also says that the quantity of flax cultivated in Egypt was accounted for by their exporting linen to Arabia and India.

It is now also known that the cloth used for enveloping the dead, now found in abundance on mummies, was “linen.” This fact was long doubted; until recently, many supposed the cloth was made of cotton. That it is linen was settled beyond dispute by accurate experiments conducted by Dr. Ure, Mr. Bauer, and Mr. Thompson, using powerful microscopes.

It was found that linen fibres uniformly present a cylindrical, transparent, and articulated (or jointed like a cane) form, while cotton fibres appear as a flat ribbon with a hem or border at the edge. In the mummy cloths, without exception, the fibres were found to be linen.

Vast quantities of linen must, therefore, have been used. The linen of the mummy cloths is generally coarse; the warp usually contains about 90 threads per inch, and the woof about 44. Occasionally, however, very fine linen cloth is found, showing the skill with which it was manufactured.

Sir John G. Wilkinson observes that a piece of linen in his possession from Egypt had 540 (or 270 double) threads in one inch in the warp. Some cambric manufactured today has only 160 threads per inch in the warp and 140 in the woof.

It is also to be remembered that linen in Egypt was spun by hand, without machinery (see, on this whole subject, Wilkinson’s “Ancient Egyptians,” vol. iii. pp. 113-142, Ed. Lond. 1837).

The word rendered ‘fine’ here denotes, according to Gesenius, “combed or hatchelled.” The word ‘fine,’ however, expresses the idea with sufficient accuracy. Fine linen was used for clothing but was so expensive that it was worn chiefly by the rich and by princes (Luke 16:19).

Those who weave networks - Margin, ‘White-works.’ According to Gesenius, the word הורי hôrây means “white linen”—that which is fully bleached. The word הוד hôd means “a hole or cavern” but is not applied to cloth. The parallelism seems rather to require that the word should mean ‘white,’ or what would correspond to ‘fine,’ or valuable; and it is not known that the Egyptians had the art of working lace from linen. Saadias supposes that “nets” are meant, as being made with holes or meshes, but it is evident that a finer work is intended than that.

Shall be confounded - Hebrew, ‘Shall be ashamed.’ That is, they will be thrown out of employment and not know what to do.