I will hand the Egyptians over to the power of a cruel master, and a fierce king will rule over them,” declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty. – Isaiah 19:4

Today’s Scripture Reading (January 11, 2017): Isaiah 19 & 20

When Psamtik I first took the throne in Egypt, he was just one of twelve co-rulers who ruled over Egypt. But Psamtik had no desire to rule over a divided nation. So Psamtik enlisted the help of a mercenary army from Greece and proceeded to unify the country. Once Egypt was united, Psamtik was able to throw off Egypt’s Assyrian masters. Because of his successes, Psamtik is remembered as a great pharaoh - and as the founder of the nation’s 26^th dynasty. But the reality is that to accomplish all that Psamtik achieved in Egypt; he would have to have been a fierce king – and maybe even a cruel one.

But another story from the reign of Psamtik may highlight the fierceness, and cruelty, of the Pharaoh. Apparently, Psamtik believed that language was innate and did not have to be learned. Well, at least one language was natural, and Psamtik wanted to know which one. So he took two babies and placed them in the care of a local shepherd. The instruction that he gave to the shepherd was that no one, including the shepherd, was to speak in the presence of the children. The shepherd was instructed to listen and see which language the children began to speak first spontaneously. So the children existed in silence as the shepherd listened to the noises that the children started to make. Eventually one of the children spoke what sounded like “bekos.” The Shepherd decided that the child was using the Phrygian word for bread and that it was asking for food. And with this satisfactory conclusion to the experiment, Psamtik declared that Phrygian was the natural or first language of humankind.

It is likely that it was Psamtik that Isaiah was referring to in this prophecy. He fits well with the picture that Isaiah is trying to paint. A divided nation where neighbor fought against neighbor that is united by a fierce king – and cruel king – even though history may not remember him as either. He was merely a king that was able to accomplish exactly what it was that he set out to do – and he did it less than a hundred years after the words of Isaiah were spoken.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Isaiah 21