Isaiah 19:16,17 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

In that day shall Egypt be like unto women— The cowardice and effeminacy of the people in general, joined with their fear and trepidation, is here set forth as the other cause of their calamity; and the reason of this, among other things, is drawn from a sense of the divine judgment. They shall be like women; and this, because of the shaking of the hand of the Lord of Hosts, which he shall shake over them; that is to say, because they shall see and perceive that they are borne down by some greater power, even that of the Divinity; and (which some of them shall discern) that very Divinity whom the Jews worshipped at Jerusalem. In consequence of this, it is added in the 17th verse, And the land of Judah shall be a terror unto Egypt; that is to say, the Egyptians, crushed by these severe judgments, shall recollect the prophesies delivered by the prophets of the true God concerning this very calamity, and whereof they had obtained the knowledge. And when many of them, on the truth of these predictions, should begin to discern the majesty and supreme power of the God of Israel, it should come to pass, that upon the mention of the land of Judah, the peculiar habitation of that God, they should fear and tremble. The last words of this verse, as well as those in the 18th, abundantly prove the propriety of this interpretation. See the preceding note, respecting the completion of this part of the prophesy, and the note on chap. Isaiah 18:7.