And the LORD will strike Egypt with a plague; He will strike them but heal them. They will turn to the LORD, and He will hear their prayers and heal them.
22. Therefore Jehovah will smite Egypt. From what has been already said the Prophet draws the conclusion, that the chastisement which he has mentioned will be advantageous to the Egyptians, because it will be a preparation for their conversion; {Bogus footnote} as if he had said, that it will be for the good of Egypt that the Lord will punish her.
Out of the thick and threatening clouds of the foregoing prophecy the sun of comfort here breaks forth, and it is the sun of righteousness. Still God has mercy in store for Egypt, and he will show it, not so much by reviving their trade and replenishing their river again as by bringing the true religion among them, calling them to, and accepting them in...
Commenting on Isaiah 19:18-25
And the Lord shall smite Egypt,.... By one afflictive providence or another, which shall awaken them to a sense of sin and duty; or smite their consciences with convictions of sin, through the ministry of the word by his spirits: he shall smite and heal it; or "smiting and healing" (f); as he smites he shall heal, by an application of pardoning grace and mercy...