Isaiah 18:2 That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, [saying], Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled!
Related Topics and Bible Verses
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Rush
the papyrus (Job 8:11). (See BULRUSH ¯T0000662.) The expression
"branch and rush" in Isa. 9:14; 19:15 means "utterly."
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Paper
The expression in the Authorized Version (Isa. 19:7), "the paper
reeds by the brooks," is in the Revised Version more correctly
"the meadows by the Nile." The words undoubtedly refer to a
grassy place on the banks of the Nile fit for pasturage.
In 2 John 1:12 the word is used in its proper sense. The
material so referred to was manufactured from the papyrus, and
hence its name. The papyrus (Heb. gome) was a kind of bulrush
(q.v.). It is mentioned by Job (8:11) and Isaiah (35:7). It was
used for many purposes. This plant (Papyrus Nilotica) is now
unknown in Egypt; no trace of it can be found. The unaccountable
disappearance of this plant from Egypt was foretold by Isaiah
(19:6, 7) as a part of the divine judgment on that land. The
most extensive papyrus growths now known are in the marshes at
the northern end of the lake of Merom.
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Bulrush
(1.) In Isa. 58:5 the rendering of a word which denotes
"belonging to a marsh," from the nature of the soil in which it
grows (Isa. 18:2). It was sometimes platted into ropes (Job.
41:2; A.V., "hook," R.V., "rope," lit. "cord of rushes").
(2.) In Ex. 2:3, Isa. 18:2 (R.V., "papyrus") this word is the
translation of the Hebrew _gome_, which designates the plant as
absorbing moisture. In Isa. 35:7 and Job 8:11 it is rendered
"rush." This was the Egyptian papyrus (papyrus Nilotica). It was
anciently very abundant in Egypt. The Egyptians made garments
and shoes and various utensils of it. It was used for the
construction of the ark of Moses (Ex. 2:3, 5). The root portions
of the stem were used for food. The inside bark was cut into
strips, which were sewed together and dried in the sun, forming
the papyrus used for writing. It is no longer found in Egypt,
but grows luxuriantly in Israel, in the marshes of the Huleh,
and in the swamps at the north end of the Lake of Gennesaret.
(See CANE ¯T0000710.)
