Isaiah 23:3 And by great waters the seed of Sihor, the harvest of the river, is her revenue; and she is a mart of nations. The valley of the Nile was the field for sowing and reaping. The ships of Tyre trafficked far and wide, and by purchase or by barter the corn supplies of Egypt were fetched in to fill the barns and granaries of the merchant city, and were thence resold with profit to many nations. The harvest of the Nile most accurately describes and stands for all the resources and the wealth of Egypt, which depend entirely upon the Nile. This river brings down from the mountains of Abyssinia a great quantity of decayed vegetable matter and rich alluvial deposit, which in flood time it spreads over the land. A failure in the rise of the Nile means famine in Egypt, and it was lately computed that one foot difference in the height of the annual flood makes a difference of £2,000,000 to the income of the country. So little in this respect have things changed since the days of Isaiah. (P. T. Bainbrigge, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: And by great waters the seed of Sihor, the harvest of the river, is her revenue; and she is a mart of nations. |
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