Isaiahchapter 31
9 verses · BSBIsaiah book hub →
Speaks with:Jeremiah 3×2Psalms 20×1Jeremiah 17×1Deuteronomy 17×1Numbers 23×1Isaiah 45×1
Summary
Chapter summary
Woe falls on those who go down to Egypt for help, relying on horses and chariots instead of looking to the Holy One of Israel (v. 1). The Egyptians are men and not God, their horses flesh and not spirit; when Jehovah stretches out his hand, helper and helped stumble and fall together (v. 3). Two images then govern the chapter: Jehovah of hosts comes down to fight on Mount Zion like a lion undismayed by a crowd of shepherds, and protects Jerusalem like birds hovering; he will pass over and preserve it (vv. 4–5). Israel is called to turn back to the one deeply revolted against, and in that day each man casts away his idols of silver and gold (vv. 6–7). The Assyrian falls by a sword not of man, his princes dismayed, for Jehovah's fire is in Zion and his furnace in Jerusalem (vv. 8–9).
Context
Prophecy · Isaiah — Isaiah overview
- A. 1–3 Woe to Those Who Go Down to Egypt for Horses
- B. 4–9 As Birds Hovering, So Will the LORD Defend Jerusalem
The outline
A.Woe to Those Who Go Down to Egypt for Horsesvv. 1 to 3
Read vv. 1 to 3 →B.As Birds Hovering, So Will the LORD Defend Jerusalemvv. 4 to 9
Read vv. 4 to 9 →
The world behind this chapter
Isaiah 31The history
The arms trade is the subject. Egypt bred and sold horses and built chariots, and a chariot corps was the heavy armor of the age: fast, expensive, and useless in hill country. Judah had no cavalry tradition of its own and had to buy. Isaiah's one-line audit is devastating and unarguable: the Egyptians are men, not God, and their horses are flesh, not spirit.
The lion image is drawn from shepherd life. When a lion or a young lion stands over its kill and a whole company of shepherds turns out shouting and banging to drive it off, the lion is not afraid of the noise and does not give up the carcass. Isaiah applies it to God coming down to fight on Mount Zion — not driven off by an army's noise.
The second image is smaller and gentler: birds hovering, so the LORD of hosts will defend Jerusalem — defending, and passing over, and preserving it. The word for passing over is the Passover word. It is the same protective hovering, the same night, the same God.
The chapter ends with a promise that is easy to skip past and was in fact fulfilled within a few years: then shall the Assyrian fall by a sword, not of man; and the sword, not of a mean man, shall devour him. His officers panic at the standard, and his strongholds pass away for fear.
What it meant to them
The demand at the center is repentance in political terms: turn to him from whom you have deeply revolted. On that day every man will throw away the silver and gold idols his own hands made for himself, as sin.
For hearers who thought faith was a private matter and defense was a professional one, the chapter refuses the split. Where you buy your horses is a theological statement.
Sources cited
- K. A. Kitchen, On the Reliability of the Old Testament
- Edward J. Young, The Book of Isaiah (3 vols.)
The text of this chapter
This page carries no textual note on Isaiah 31. Where this site has examined a place the manuscripts differ, the examination is in the manuscripts room. Every place this site examines →
This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.