Charles Ellicott Commentary Isaiah 19:16

"In that day shall the Egyptians be like unto women; and they shall tremble and fear because of the shaking of the hand of Jehovah of hosts, which he shaketh over them." — Isaiah 19:16 (ASV)

In that day shall Egypt be like unto women. —This image of panic, terror, and weakness has been natural in the poetry of all countries (compare Homer, “Achaean women, not Achaean men”), and appears in its strongest form in Jeremiah 48:41. In such a state, even the land of Judah, once so despised, will become a source of terror.