Isaiah 36:6
 Isaiah 36:6 
New International Version (©2011)
Look, I know you are depending on Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff, which pierces the hand of anyone who leans on it! Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who depend on him.

New Living Translation (©2007)
On Egypt? If you lean on Egypt, it will be like a reed that splinters beneath your weight and pierces your hand. Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, is completely unreliable!

English Standard Version (©2001)
Behold, you are trusting in Egypt, that broken reed of a staff, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
"Behold, you rely on the staff of this crushed reed, even on Egypt, on which if a man leans, it will go into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who rely on him.

King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)
Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt; whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him.

Holman Christian Standard Bible (©2009)
Look, you are trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff that will enter and pierce the hand of anyone who leans on it. This is how Pharaoh king of Egypt is to all who trust in him.

International Standard Version (©2012)
Take note: you're relying on Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff, which pierces the palm of anyone who leans on it. This is what Pharaoh king of Egypt is like to everybody who depends on him!

NET Bible (©2006)
Look, you must be trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed staff. If someone leans on it for support, it punctures his hand and wounds him. That is what Pharaoh king of Egypt does to all who trust in him!

GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
Look! When you trust Egypt, you're trusting a broken stick for a staff. If you lean on it, it stabs your hand and goes through it. This is what Pharaoh (the king of Egypt) is like for everyone who trusts him.

King James 2000 Bible (©2003)
Lo, you trust in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt; on which if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him.

American King James Version
See, you trust in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt; where on if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him.

American Standard Version
Behold, thou trustest upon the staff of this bruised reed, even upon Egypt, whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust on him.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Lo thou trustest upon this broken staff of a reed, upon Egypt: upon which if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharao king or Egypt to all that trust in him.

Darby Bible Translation
Behold, thou reliest upon the staff of that broken reed, upon Egypt, on which if a man lean, it goes into his hand, and pierces it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that rely upon him.

English Revised Version
Behold, thou trustest upon the staff of this bruised reed, even upon Egypt; whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust on him.

Webster's Bible Translation
Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt; on which if a man lean, it will enter his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him.

World English Bible
Behold, you trust in the staff of this bruised reed, even in Egypt, which if a man leans on it, it will go into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.

Young's Literal Translation
Lo, thou hast trusted on the staff of this broken reed -- on Egypt -- which a man leaneth on, and it hath gone into his hand, and pierced it -- so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all those trusting on him.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

36:1-22:See 2Ki 18:17-37, and the commentary thereon.


Pulpit Commentary

Verse 6. - This broken reed; rather, as in 2 Kings 18:21, this bruised reed (comp. Isaiah 42:3). A reed may be "bruised," and wholly untrustworthy as a support, while it appears sound. A "broken" reed no one would lean on. Egypt. There had been times when Egypt was a strong power, feared and respected by her neighbours, and a terror even to Assyria. But these times were long past. For the last fifty years the country had been divided against itself (see the comment on Isaiah 19:2), split up into a number of petty principalities, Recently the neighbouring kingdom of Ethiopia had claimed and exercised a species of sovereignty over the entire Nile valley, while allowing tributary princes to govern different portions of it. Of these princes the most important at the time of Rabshakeh's embassy seems to have been Shabatok, who reigned in Memphis, probably from B.C. 712 to B.C. 698. Egypt is likened to a "bruised reed" on account of her untrustworthincss. "So" (Sabaco) had given no substantial help to Hashes. Shabatok was little likely to imperil himself in order to assist Hezekiah. Even Tirhakah would probably avoid, as long as he could, a conflict with the full power of Assyria. Pharaoh, King of Egypt. Sennacherib uses the generic term, "Pharaoh," instead of mentioning any of the petty princes by name, because he means to speak generally. The King of Egypt, under present circumstances, whoever he may be, is no better than a bruised reed. In his own inscriptions, Sennacherib about this time uses the expression, "the kings of Egypt" ('Eponym Canon,' p. 133, 1.47).


Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt,.... His ally and auxiliary; and which is rightly called "the staff of a broken reed", if trusted to, and leaned upon, being weak and frail, and an insufficient ground of confidence to depend upon; the allusion seems to be to the cane or reed which grew upon the banks of the river Nile, in Egypt:

whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it; the splinters of the broken reed being leaned on, will enter into a man's hand, and do him harm, instead of being a help to him to walk with:

so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him; pernicious and harmful, instead of being useful and helpful.


Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

6. It was a similar alliance with So (that is, Sabacho, or else Sevechus), the Ethiopian king of Egypt, which provoked the Assyrian to invade and destroy Israel, the northern kingdom, under Hoshea.


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Sennacherib Invades Judah
5I say, say you, (but they are but vain words) I have counsel and strength for war: now on whom do you trust, that you rebel against me? 6See, you trust in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt; where on if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him. 7But if you say to me, We trust in the LORD our God: is it not he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away, and said to Judah and to Jerusalem, You shall worship before this altar? …

Psalm 146:3 Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save.
Proverbs 25:19 Like a broken tooth or a lame foot is reliance on the unfaithful in a time of trouble.
Isaiah 30:3 But Pharaoh's protection will be to your shame, Egypt's shade will bring you disgrace.
Isaiah 30:5 everyone will be put to shame because of a people useless to them, who bring neither help nor advantage, but only shame and disgrace."
Isaiah 31:1 Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the great strength of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the LORD.
Ezekiel 17:17 Pharaoh with his mighty army and great horde will be of no help to him in war, when ramps are built and siege works erected to destroy many lives.
Ezekiel 29:6 Then all who live in Egypt will know that I am the LORD. "'You have been a staff of reed for the people of Israel.
Ezekiel 29:7 When they grasped you with their hands, you splintered and you tore open their shoulders; when they leaned on you, you broke and their backs were wrenched.
Ezekiel 29:16 Egypt will no longer be a source of confidence for the people of Israel but will be a reminder of their sin in turning to her for help. Then they will know that I am the Sovereign LORD.'"

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Isaiah Chapter 36 Verse 6

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OT Prophets: Isaiah 36:6 Behold you trust in the staff (Isa Isi Is) Christian Bible Study Resources, Dictionary, Concordance and Search Tools

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