6. Nation was destroyed. The may be translated, “And nation shall make war against nation and city against city, because God has confounded them with every affliction” (see Isa. 19:2). A typical example may be drawn from the period of the judges, a time of great unrest and weakness, not only in Palestine, but throughout the Near East. Egypt, which had been a strong power, grew progressively weaker, until a very low ebb was reached during the Twentieth and Twenty-first dynasties, 1200- 950 (see II, 28, 29, 48-50). Forces of disruption were everywhere in evidence, royalty lost its respect, workmen were starving, and general disorder pervaded the land. Assyria had not yet risen to its great power and Babylon was weak (see II, 55-57). The Hittite empire, which during the early part of this period had been a powerful state, collapsed under the onslaughts of the invading Sea Peoples (see II, 27, 32-34) and broke up into a large number of petty states. The prophet gives a vivid and remarkably accurate description of the situation that prevailed in the Near East in the latter part of the second millennium , though his description also fits other periods (see on 3).
