Isaiah 11:15

Tongue of the Egyptian sea. That is, what is now known as the Gulf of Suez — an arm of the Red Sea — the waters of which would again be dried up, perhaps figuratively rather than literally, to facilitate another miraculous and glorious deliverance from Egypt.

The river. Heb. harmahar, used commonly in the OT of the Euphrates (see Gen. 15:18; see on Gen. 24:10). The Euphrates would be dried up to prepare the way for deliverance from Babylon. The two nations of antiquity that most heavily oppressed the Hebrew people were Egypt and Babylon, and both of these powers were smitten by the hand of the Lord in order to accomplish the deliverance of His people. Egypt was smitten at the time of the Exodus, when the Lord dried up the waters of the Red Sea. Babylon was smitten near the end of the 70 years of captivity (which was still future in the time of Isaiah), when the Euphrates was turned out of its course by Cyrus in order that he might capture the city of Babylon (see Isa. 44:27, 28; see on Jer. 51:36). It was after his capture of the city of Babylon (see on Ezra 1:1) that Cyrus issued his decree permitting the Jews to leave Babylon, return to Judea, and rebuild the Temple (2 Chron. 36:22, 23; Ezra 1:1–6). As God delivered the Hebrews from the Egyptians, and later from the Babylonians, so He will deliver all His faithful people at the close of time.