Charles Ellicott Commentary Isaiah 19:3

"And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst of it; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek unto the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards." — Isaiah 19:3 (ASV)

The charmers, and to those who have familiar spirits ... —The old reputation of Egypt for magic arts (Exodus 7:22; Exodus 8:7) seems to have continued. The “charmers” or mutterers were probably distinguished by some peculiar form of ventriloquism, like those that peep in Isaiah 8:19. A time of panic, when the counsel of ordinary statesmen failed, was sure there, as at Athens in its times of peril, to be fruitful in oracles and divinations.