John Calvin 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)

And the spirit of Egypt shall be emptied. As Isaiah had, a little before, deprived the Egyptians of courage, so he now takes away their understanding. Both of these are exceedingly necessary for the defense of kingdoms, for when these have been taken away, there is no possibility of transacting national affairs.

Now, the Egyptians had so high an opinion of their own wisdom that they considered themselves superior to other nations. It is well known that they haughtily despised all other nations as barbarians, as if there were no civilization, refinement, learning, or skill, except in Egypt alone.

They boasted that they were the inventors of learning, that philosophy and astronomy came from them, and, in short, that Egypt was the workshop of all the liberal arts.

Therefore, they would never have thought it possible that they would fail in wisdom and prudence. Unquestionably, if this prediction had come to their knowledge, they would have laughed at it in disdain. They would have thought that the waters of the sea would sooner be dried up, and everything be overturned, than that this would befall those who imagined that prudence was their birthright.

But Isaiah declares it boldly, for he did not speak from himself.

Again, since he had predicted that they would be deprived of courage (in which they excelled), the context requires us to understand that they would be struck with blindness, for both faculties of the soul depend entirely on the favor of God.

Consequently, רוח (rūăch) here means understanding and sagacity. This should be carefully observed, for many are mistaken about the meaning of this word.

When he immediately adds, I will destroy the counsel thereof, this is a stronger expression of the former statement, for it shows what is the cause of that emptiness: namely, that God will take and carry away their counsel.

Even though they seek it. This is spoken by anticipation, for he meets the objections of the Egyptians, who might have said, “Do we not have gods whom we can consult? Do we not have magicians, diviners, and soothsayers? Do you reckon those to be of no value?” He threatens that all these things will be of no avail to them, however much they may rely on them and be puffed up with the empty name of wisdom.

I will not spend much time on these names, though it is probable that Isaiah’s enumeration proceeds by gradual advancement. First, he mentions gods, next magicians, and afterwards diviners and fortune-tellers. They had their oracles, in which they placed the highest confidence. Next after them came the magicians, though these too had great influence.

In matters of lesser importance, they consulted the soothsayers. Superstitious people are so restless that nothing can satisfy them, for they are fickle and unsteady, and sometimes resort to one remedy and sometimes to another.

Indeed, Satan deceives them in such a way that at first he offers them the appearance of peace and quietness, which they think they have fully obtained. But afterwards, he shows them that they have not reached it, and distresses and harasses them more and more, compelling them to seek new grounds of confidence.

Thus, our minds cannot obtain rest and peace except in God alone.

And undoubtedly, the Prophet condemns those arts as contrary to reason, for God has revealed all that is necessary to be known through the arts and sciences that he intended to be used and of which he approves.

If anyone wishes to be wise in any other manner, they must have Satan for their teacher.