Surely the princes of Zoan are fools, the counsel of the wise counsellors of Pharaoh is become brutish: how say ye unto Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings?
Zoan. The Greeks called it Tanis, a city of Lower Egypt, east of the Tanitic arm of the Nile, now San; it was one of the nearest Egyptian towns to Palestine (Numbers 13:22), the scene of Moses' miracles (Psalms 78:12; Psalms 78:43). It, or else Memphis, was the capital under Sethos.
The counsel of the wise counselors of Pharaoh is become brutish: how say ye unto Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings? Ye have no advice to suggest to Pharaoh in the crisis, notwithstanding that ye boast of descent from wise and royal ancestors (according to the testimony of Strabo, Plato, etc.) The priests were the usual "counselors" of the Egyptian kings. He was generally chosen from the priestly caste; or, if from the warrior caste, he was admitted into the sacred order, and was called a priest. The priests, therefore, meant themselves, severally and individually, by the expression, "I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings:" this was their favourite boast (Herodotus, 2:141. cf. Amos 7:14; Acts 23:6; Philippians 3:5). "Pharaoh" was the common name of all the kings: Sethos, probably, is here meant. The priests identify themselves with the Pharaohs, who belonged, either by birth or by adoption, to their caste.