ABSTRACT
In the Superscription (vv.1-2a) the prophet is told to talk about (’l) Pharaoh king of Egypt, but apart from that and the closing formula the oracle contains no specific reference to Egypt or to any event connected with it in historical terms. The mention of rivers and waters in v. 4 refers to the mythological thwm (Zimmerli, 1969) and not to the Nile (for example, Cooke, 1936; Fohrer and Galling, 1955). It is possible that the original reference was to Assyria, depending on the interpretation of ’šwr in v. 3 (many wish to alter this to t’šwr, a kind of cypress). Indeed Boadt (1980) claims that the majority of scholars favours this reading. However, he notes that Assyria and Egypt are mentioned together in Isa 19.23 (ON) and Zech. 10.11.
