Isaiah 31:2
in Isaiah 31Yet He too is wise and brings disaster; He does not call back His words. He will rise up against the house of the wicked and against the allies of evildoers.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Yet he also is wise, and will bring evil, and will not call back his words, but will arise against the house of the evil-doers, and against the help of them that work iniquity.
KJV
Yet he also is wise, and will bring evil, and will not call back his words: but will arise against the house of the evildoers, and against the help of them that work iniquity.
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This verse in Isaiah 31
Commentary
10 notes on this verseHis words “His word” - דברו debaro, singular, without י yod, two MSS. of Dr. Kennicott’s the Septuagint, and Targ. Hieros. דרכיו derachaiv, his ways, is found in one MS.
This site's exposition
go down to Egypt for help
on Isaiah 31:1-3
The woe names its cause: they "rely on horses", yet "They do not look to the Holy One of Israel". The LORD "too is wise and brings disaster". Its center is one line, "the Egyptians are men, not God; their horses are flesh, not spirit", so helper and helped fall.
This site's exposition
Yet He too is wise
He too is wise answers the counsellors of Judah who thought their Egyptian treaty clever. Matthew Henry records the view that Egypt required its allies to worship the gods of Egypt, which made Judah one of the allies of evildoers. The words the LORD has spoken stand.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Chapter 31, verses 1 onwards) Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the great strength of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the Lord. Yet he too is wise and can bring disaster; he does not take back his words. He will rise up against the wicked nation, against those who help evildoers.
The Medieval Church1 voice
694. Second, he threatens the punishment: but he. And first, against their contempt of divine help he sets out the wisdom of God, and the firmness of the sentence: the wise one has brought evil, and has not removed his words, that is, he has …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Some think the Egyptians made it one condition of their coming into an alliance with him that they should worship the gods of Egypt, and they consented to it, and therefore they are both called evil-doers and workers of iniquity.
He is safe - You think you are safe, in engaging the Egyptians; but God is not inferior to them in wisdom or strength, and therefore you have done foolishly, in preferring them before him, who will execute his judgments upon you, notwithstanding all the Egyptians can do.
Yet he also is wise,....
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
he also is wise--as well as the Egyptian priests, so famed for wisdom (Ac 7:22), but who are "fools" before Him (Isa 19:11). He not only devises, but executes what He devises without "calling back His words" (Nu 23:19). home--the whole race. help--the Egyptian succor sought by the Jews.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Yet he also is wise - God is wise. It is in vain to attempt to deceive him, or to accomplish such purposes without his knowledge. And will bring evil - The punishment which is due to such want of confidence in him. But will arise against the house of the evil-doers - This is a general proposition, and it is evidently just as true now as it was in the time of Isaiah.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
and His words He did not retract What He said, “And the Lord shall take you back to Egypt in ships” (Deut.:68). This is payment in kind, for I said to you, “You shall no longer see it (ibid.),” and you went there of your own free will.
2 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Woe Concerning Hoshea and the ten tribes who went down to Egypt for aid, who sent emissaries to So, king of Egypt (II Kings 17).
shall turn His hand For the Holy One, blessed be He, supports everything with His hand, and when He turns it, they will fall, like one who holds something in his hand, and when he inclines his hand, it falls. So is the Midrash Aggadah (Mechilta, Exodus:12).
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
17 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְגַם־ | vegam- | and also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| ה֤וּא | hu' | he | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| חָכָם֙ | chakham | [is] wise | H2450 → | 138 times |
| וַיָּ֣בֵא | vaiyave' | and he has brought | H935 → | 2568 times |
| רָ֔ע | ra' | calamity | H7451 → | 662 times |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| דְּבָרָ֖יו | devarav | words his | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| הֵסִ֑יר | hesir | he has turned aside | H5493 → | 299 times |
| וְקָם֙ | vekam | and he will rise up | H6965 → | 628 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| בֵּ֣ית | beit | [the] house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| מְרֵעִ֔ים | mereim | evil-doers | H7489 → | 107 times |
| וְעַל־ | veal- | and on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| עֶזְרַ֖ת | ʾezrat | [the] help of | H5833 → | 26 times |
| פֹּ֥עֲלֵי | poalei | [those who] do | H6466 → | 57 times |
| אָֽוֶן׃ | ʾaven | <of> wickedness | H205 → | 77 times |
וְגַם־and also
vegam-H1571 →769 times
ה֤וּאhe
hu'H1931 →1879 times
חָכָם֙[is] wise
chakhamH2450 →138 times
וַיָּ֣בֵאand he has brought
vaiyave'H935 →2568 times
רָ֔עcalamity
ra'H7451 →662 times
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
דְּבָרָ֖יוwords his
devaravH1697 →1440 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
הֵסִ֑ירhe has turned aside
hesirH5493 →299 times
וְקָם֙and he will rise up
vekamH6965 →628 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
בֵּ֣ית[the] house of
beitH1004 →2046 times
מְרֵעִ֔יםevil-doers
mereimH7489 →107 times
וְעַל־and on
veal-H5921 →5755 times
עֶזְרַ֖ת[the] help of
ʾezratH5833 →26 times
פֹּ֥עֲלֵי[those who] do
poaleiH6466 →57 times
אָֽוֶן׃<of> wickedness
ʾavenH205 →77 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Numbers 23:19God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 15:29
Moreover, the Glory of Israel does not lie or change His mind, for He is not a man, that He should change His mind.”
- James 1:17
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, with whom there is no change or shifting shadow.
- Malachi 3:6
“Because I, the LORD, do not change, you descendants of Jacob have not been destroyed.
- Hebrews 6:18
Thus by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be strongly encouraged.
- Titus 1:2
in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.
- 1 Samuel 15:29
Through
Isaiah 45:7I form the light and create the darkness; I bring prosperity and create calamity. I, the LORD, do all these things.
it leads to
- Ecclesiastes 7:13–14
Consider the work of God: Who can straighten what He has bent?
- Amos 3:6
If a ram’s horn sounds in a city, do the people not tremble? If calamity comes to a city, has not the LORD caused it?
- Psalms 75:7
but it is God who judges; He brings down one and exalts another.
- Ecclesiastes 7:13–14
Where this verse is studied
About Isaiah
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.