And he shall pass through the sea with affliction, and shall smite the waves in the sea, and all the deeps of the river shall dry up: and the pride of Assyria shall be brought down, and the sceptre of Egypt shall depart away.
And he shall pass through the sea with affliction. - Personifying the "sea:" He shall afflict the sea - i:e., He shall cause it to cease to be an obstacle to Israel's return to Palestine (Isaiah 11:15-16). The Vulgate translates х tsaaraah (H6869)], 'the strait of the sea.' Maurer takes the Hebrew word as a verb, 'He shall cleave and smite,' etc. The English version is the best (Psalms 114:3). As Yahweh smote the Red Sea, to make a passage for His people (Exodus 14:16; Exodus 14:21), so hereafter shall He make a way through every obstacle which opposes Israel's restoration.
And all the deeps of the river shall dry up - the Nile (Amos 8:8; Amos 9:5) or the Euphrates. Thus the Red Sea and the Euphrates, in the former part of the verse, answer to "Assyria" and "Egypt" in the latter. Many think that the ten tribes are mainly located in Affghanistan, Malabar, and Abyssinia, countries whence in one case the return to Palestine would be across the Euphrates, in the other across the Nile.
And the pride of Assyria shall be brought down, and the sceptre of Egypt shall depart - (Ezekiel 30:13).