Charles Ellicott Commentary Isaiah 19:22

"And Jehovah will smite Egypt, smiting and healing; and they shall return unto Jehovah, and he will be entreated of them, and will heal them." — Isaiah 19:22 (ASV)

And the Lord shall smite Egypt ... —The tone of the preceding verses seems at first at variance with the stern prophecies of disaster with which the chapter opened. The prophet, however, does not retract his words.

What he has learned is to look beyond the chastisement, and to see that it is as true of Egypt as of Israel that whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth. The sword of Jehovah struck but to heal, and the healing could not come without the striking. Through it they would be led to pray, and prayer was the condition of all spiritual recovery.