Isa 19:11-14 | NETfull | STEP | The officials of Zoan are nothing but fools; Pharaoh’s wise advisers give stupid advice. How dare you say to Pharaoh, “I am one of the sages, one well-versed in the writings of the ancient kings?”

Isaiah 19:11-14

11 The officials of Zoan are nothing but fools; ^{▼▼ Or “certainly the officials of Zoan are fools.” אַךְ (’akh) can carry the sense, “only, nothing but,” or “certainly, surely.”}
Pharaoh’s wise advisers give stupid advice.
How dare you say to Pharaoh,
“I am one of the sages,
one well-versed in the writings of the ancient kings?” ^{▼▼ Heb “A son of wise men am I, a son of ancient kings.” The term בֶּן (ben, “son of”) could refer to literal descent, but many understand the word, at least in the first line, in its idiomatic sense of “member [of a guild].” See HALOT 138 s.v. בֶּן and J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:371. If this is the case, then one can take the word in a figurative sense in the second line as well, the “son of ancient kings” being one devoted to their memory as preserved in their literature.}
12 But where, oh where, are your wise men? ^{▼▼ Heb “Where are they? Where are your wise men?” The juxtaposition of the interrogative pronouns is emphatic. See HALOT 38 s.v. אֶי.}
Let them tell you, let them find out
what the Lord who commands armies has planned for Egypt.
13 The officials of Zoan are fools,
the officials of Memphis ^{▼▼ Heb “Noph” (so KJV); most recent English versions substitute the more familiar “Memphis.”} are misled;
the rulers ^{▼▼ Heb “the cornerstone.” The singular form should be emended to a plural.} of her tribes lead Egypt astray.
14 The Lord has made them undiscerning; ^{▼▼ Heb “the Lord has mixed into her midst a spirit of blindness.”}
they lead Egypt astray in all she does,
so that she is like a drunk sliding around in his own vomit. ^{▼▼ Heb “like the going astray of a drunkard in his vomit.”}