The Prophets · Old Testament
Isaiah 31
Isaiah 31: woe to those who trust Egypt's horses, and the Lord who fights for Zion
General context
The chapter opens with a woe on those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, chariots and horsemen because they are many and strong, and who do not look to the Holy One of Israel. The speaker answers that the Lord also is wise: he will bring evil, will not call back his words, and will rise against the house of the evildoers and against their helpers. The Egyptians are men and not God, their horses flesh and not spirit; when the Lord stretches out his hand, helper and helped fall together. The speaker reports what the Lord has spoken: as a lion roaring over its prey is not frightened by a crowd of shepherds, so the Lord of hosts will come down to fight for mount Zion. As birds flying, he will defend Jerusalem, deliver it, and passing over will preserve it. The hearers are told to turn to him from whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted, and in that day every man will cast away the idols of silver and gold his own hands made. Then the Assyrian will fall by a sword not of a mighty man or a mean man; he will flee from the sword, his young men will be discomfited, he will pass over to his stronghold in fear, and his princes will be afraid of the ensign. This is said by the Lord, whose fire is in Zion and his furnace in Jerusalem.
Cited passages: Isaiah 31:1, Isaiah 31:2, Isaiah 31:3, Isaiah 31:4, Isaiah 31:5, Isaiah 31:6, Isaiah 31:7, Isaiah 31:8, Isaiah 31:9
Isaiah 31 (KJV)
1Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the Lord!
2Yet 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.
3Now 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.
4For thus hath the Lord spoken unto me, Like as the lion and the young lion roaring on his prey, when a multitude of shepherds is called forth against him, he will not be afraid of their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them: so shall the Lord of hosts come down to fight for mount Zion, and for the hill thereof.
5As birds flying, so will the Lord of hosts defend Jerusalem; defending also he will deliver it; and passing over he will preserve it.
6Turn ye unto him from whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted.
7For in that day every man shall cast away his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which your own hands have made unto you for a sin.
8Then shall the Assyrian fall with the sword, not of a mighty man; and the sword, not of a mean man, shall devour him: but he shall flee from the sword, and his young men shall be discomfited.
9And he shall pass over to his strong hold for fear, and his princes shall be afraid of the ensign, saith the Lord, whose fire is in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem.
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Historical context
The chapter names Egypt as the source of help sought, and the Assyrian as the one who falls, but it does not say who in Judah goes down to Egypt or name a king or a date. Verse 4 has a first-person report, thus hath the Lord spoken unto me, and the speaker is not named in these verses. The sword that devours the Assyrian is described only by what it is not, not of a mighty man and not of a mean man, and the text does not say whose sword it is or when it falls. The children of Israel are named in verse 6 as those who have deeply revolted. The place defended is called mount Zion, the hill thereof, and Jerusalem. The chapter repeats the complaint of 30:2, going down into Egypt, and it precedes the narrative of chapters 36 and 37, where the king of Assyria's messenger mocks trust in Egypt and the Assyrian army is struck; the text of chapter 31 does not itself refer to those events.
Cited passages: Isaiah 31:1, Isaiah 31:8, Isaiah 31:4, Isaiah 31:6, Isaiah 30:2, Isaiah 36:6
Literary context
The chapter is short and built on contrasts. Horses, chariots and horsemen are trusted because they are many and very strong, and the answer is a pair of opposites: men and not God, flesh and not spirit. The word help is turned against those who seek it, since the helper and the helped fall together. Two animal images carry the promise: the lion unafraid of shouting shepherds, and birds flying over the city, and the second is worked through three verbs, defend, deliver, preserve. The call to turn in verse 6 stands between the promise and the idol-casting, and the phrase your own hands have made connects the idols to the earlier reliance on human strength. The Assyrian's fall is framed by what the sword is not, and by his flight to a stronghold, so that the enemy ends the chapter afraid. The last words, fire in Zion and furnace in Jerusalem, place the fire on the side of the city. The chapter closes the pair of Egypt woes begun at 30:1, and chapter 32 changes register to a king reigning in righteousness.
Cited passages: Isaiah 31:1, Isaiah 31:3, Isaiah 31:4, Isaiah 31:5, Isaiah 31:7, Isaiah 31:9, Isaiah 30:1, Isaiah 32:1
Key moments
- Woe to those who trust horses (Isaiah 31:1). Those who go down to Egypt rely on chariots and horsemen and do not seek the Lord.
- Men and not God (Isaiah 31:3). The Egyptians are flesh, and helper and helped will fall together.
- The lion unafraid of shepherds (Isaiah 31:4). The Lord of hosts will come down to fight for mount Zion like a lion over its prey.
- Birds over Jerusalem (Isaiah 31:5). As birds flying, the Lord will defend, deliver and preserve the city.
- Idols cast away (Isaiah 31:7). In that day every man throws away the silver and gold idols his hands made.
- The Assyrian falls by a sword (Isaiah 31:8). The Assyrian falls by a sword not of a mighty man or a mean man, and flees in fear.
For reflection
The woe falls on those who trust horses because they are many and strong, and the answer is that they are flesh and not spirit. What does the text suggest is wrong with counting, when the numbers are real?
