Isaiah 18:1

The land shadowing with wings. Literally, “the land of winged crickets,” or “the land of whirring wings.” The Heb. silsal, “crickets” (not “shadowing”), is translated “locust” in Deut. 28:42 and “cymbals” in 2 Sam. 6:5; Ps. 150:5. Ethiopia (see on Gen. 10:6) is here referred to. A popular Egyptian emblem was a sun disk with outstretched wings. In this chapter and the next, Ethiopia and Egypt are grouped together. The Twenty-fifth Dynasty governed all Egypt from about 715 to 663 B.C., when Egypt was ruled by a line of “Ethiopian” (actually Nubian) kings (see Vol. II, pp. 52, 53). Taharka, who held the throne from about 690 to 664, was the Tirhakah (2 Kings 19:9) whose intervention in Judea Sennacherib expected to meet. As the “Ethiopians” swept up from what is now the Sudan and extended their rule over all Egypt, and as they threatened the hosts of Assyria, who were then invading Judea, those of the Israelites who were wont to place their trust in men and horses rather than in God, turned to Ethiopia for help. The Lord wanted His people to realize that their real defense was to be found in Him rather than in the forces of Egypt. After all, the Egyptians were only men, and wicked men at that; now it was their turn to have a woe pronounced upon them. It was better to trust under the wings of the Almighty (Ps. 17:8; 57:1; 91:4) than under the whirring wings of Egypt. Egypt might appear formidable, but her strength would fail when God pronounced His woe upon her (see on Isa. 19:1).