And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up.
Ver. 5. And the waters shall fail from the sea,] i.e., Their sea traffic shall be taken from them, to their very great loss. Historians testify, that by frequent navigation out of the Bay of Arabia into India and Trogloditiae, the revenue of Egypt was so increased, that Auletes, the father of Cleopatra, received thence yearly twelve thousand and five hundred talents.
And the river shall be wasted and dried up,] i.e., The river Nile, which watereth Egypt and maketh it fruitful. See Deu 11:9-10 Ezekiel 29:3; Ezekiel 29:9 .
“ Creditur Aegyptus caruisse iuvantibus arva
Imbribus, atque annis sicca fuisse novem. ”
- Ovid. Art., lib. i.