Isaiah 31:3 BSB — MannaFest

Isaiah 31:3

But the Egyptians are men, not God; their horses are flesh, not spirit. When the LORD stretches out His hand, the helper will stumble, and the one he helps will fall; both will perish together.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit: and when Jehovah shall stretch out his hand, both he that helpeth shall stumble, and he that is helped shall fall, and they all shall be consumed together.

KJV

Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit. When the Lord shall stretch out his hand, both he that helpeth shall fall, and he that is holpen shall fall down, and they all shall fail together.

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Commentary

2 voices

Albert Barnes

1798–1870

Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)

Now the Egyptians are men - They are nothing but people; they have no power but such as other people possess. The idea here is, that the case in reference to which they sought aid was one in which “divine” help was indispensable, and that, therefore, they relied on the aid of the Egyptians in vain. And their horses flesh, and not spirit - There is need, not merely of “physical” strength, but of wisdom, and intelligence, and it is in vain to look for that in mere brutes. Both he that helpeth - Egypt, whose aid is sought.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

The Egyptians were shortly to be reckoned with, as appears by the burden of Egypt ( ch. xix. ), and then those who fled to them for shelter and succour should fall with them; for there is no escaping the judgments of God. Evil pursues sinners, and it is just with God to make that creature a scourge to us which we make an idol of.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

18 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
וּמִצְרַ֤יִם	u.mitz.Ra.yim	and Egypt	H4714 →
אָדָם֙	'a.Dam	[is] humankind	H120 →
וְֽלֹא־	ve.lo'-	and not	H3808 →
אֵ֔ל	'El	God	H410 →
וְסוּסֵיהֶ֥ם	ve.su.sei.Hem	and horses their	H5483 →
בָּשָׂ֖ר	ba.Sar	[are] flesh	H1320 →
וְלֹא־	ve.lo'-	and not	H3808 →
ר֑וּחַ	Ru.ach	spirit	H7307 →
וַֽיהוָ֞ה	va.Yah.weh	and Yahweh	H3068 →
יַטֶּ֣ה	ya.Teh	he will stretch out	H5186 →
יָד֗וֹ	ya.Do	hand his	H3027 →
וְכָשַׁ֤ל	ve.kha.Shal	and he will stumble	H3782 →
עוֹזֵר֙	o.Zer	[one who] helps	H5826 →
וְנָפַ֣ל	ve.na.Fal	and he will fall	H5307 →
עָזֻ֔ר	'a.Zur	[one who] is helped	H5826 →
וְיַחְדָּ֖ו	ve.yach.Dav	and together	H3162 →
כֻּלָּ֥ם	ku.Lam	all of them	H3605 →
יִכְלָיֽוּן׃ ס	yikh.la.Yun	they will come to an end !	H3615 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Jeremiah 15:6
You have forsaken Me, declares the LORD. You have turned your back. So I will stretch out My hand against you and I will destroy you; I am weary of showing compassion.
leads to
- Jeremiah 7:24
  Yet they did not listen or incline their ear, but they followed the stubborn inclinations of their own evil hearts. They went backward and not forward.
- Zephaniah 1:4
  “I will stretch out My hand against Judah and against all who dwell in Jerusalem. I will cut off from this place every remnant of Baal, the names of the idolatrous and pagan priests—
Through
Isaiah 30:7
Egypt’s help is futile and empty; therefore I have called her Rahab Who Sits Still.
leads to
- Isaiah 2:22
  Put no more trust in man, who has only the breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he?
- Hosea 5:13
  When Ephraim saw his sickness and Judah his wound, then Ephraim turned to Assyria and sent to the great king. But he cannot cure you or heal your wound.
- Isaiah 31:1–5
  Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in their abundance of chariots and in their multitude of horsemen. They do not look to the Holy…
- Psalms 118:8–9
  It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man.
- Isaiah 7:4
  and say to him: Calm down and be quiet. Do not be afraid or disheartened over these two smoldering stubs of firewood—over the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and of the son of…
Through
Isaiah 9:17
Therefore the Lord takes no pleasure in their young men; He has no compassion on their fatherless and widows. For every one of them is godless and wicked, and every mouth speaks folly. Despite…
leads to
- Isaiah 10:6
  I will send him against a godless nation; I will dispatch him against a people destined for My rage, to take spoils and seize plunder, and to trample them down like clay in the…

Featured studies on this passage

On Isaiah 31:3

Egypt

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Passover

The night a lamb's blood turned judgment aside — and the Lamb it was always drawing toward.

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About Isaiah

The Prophet Isaiah — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

Isaiah: the study guide →Read chapter 31 →The featured study →

Continue: Isaiah 31 →

01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

05Featured studies on this passage

06About Isaiah

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

Featured studies on this passage

About Isaiah