Isaiah Institute Translation
Isaiah 31
- a5 Text emended to include Hebrew direct object qēn before the similar sounding adverb kēn, so.
- b9 Literally, rock, a probable military term.
King James Version
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Isaiah Institute Translation
IIT
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Masoretic Text
HEB
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Woe 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! | 1 | Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help,relying on horses,putting their trust in immense numbersof chariots and vast forces of horsemen,but who do not look to the Holy One of Israel,nor inquire of Jehovah! | הוֹי הַיֹּרְדִים מִצְרַיִם לְעֶזְרָה עַל־סוּסִים יִשָּׁעֵנוּ וַיִּבְטְחוּ עַל־רֶכֶב כִּי רָב וְעַל פָּרָשִׁים כִּי־עָצְמוּ מְאֹד וְלֹא שָׁעוּ עַל־קְדוֹשׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאֶת־יְהוָה לֹא דָרָשׁוּ ׃ |
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. | 2 | Yet he too is shrewdand will bring disaster upon them,and not retract his words.He will rise up against the brood of miscreantsand allies of evildoers. | וְגַם־הוּא חָכָם וַיָּבֵא רָע וְאֶת־דְּבָרָיו לֹא הֵסִיר וְקָם עַל־בֵּית מְרֵעִים וְעַל־עֶזְרַת פֹּעֲלֵי אָוֶן ׃ |
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. | 3 | The Egyptians are human, not divine;their horses are flesh, not spirit:when Jehovah stretches out his hand,those who help them will stumbleand those helped will fall;both shall come to an end together. | וּמִצְרַיִם אָדָם וְלֹא־אֵל וְסוּסֵיהֶם בָּשָׂר וְלֹא־רוּחַ וַיהוָה יַטֶּה יָדוֹ וְכָשַׁל עוֹזֵר וְנָפַל עָזֻר וְיַחְדָּו כֻּלָּם יִכְלָיוּן ׃ |
For 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. | 4 | For thus said Jehovah to me:As a lion or a young lion growls over the preywhen the shepherds muster in full force against him,and is not dismayed at the sound of their voicenor daunted by their numbers,so shall Jehovah of Hosts be when he descendsto wage war upon Mount Zion and upon its heights. | כִּי כֹה אָמַר־יְהוָה אֵלַי כַּאֲשֶׁר יֶהְגֶּה הָאַרְיֵה וְהַכְּפִיר עַל־טַרְפּוֹ אֲשֶׁר יִקָּרֵא עָלָיו מְלֹא רֹעִים מִקּוֹלָם לֹא יֵחָת וּמֵהֲמוֹנָם לֹא יַעֲנֶה כֵּן יֵרֵד יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת לִצְבֹּא עַל־הַר־צִיּוֹן וְעַל־גִּבְעָתָהּ ׃ |
As birds flying, so will the Lord of hosts defend Jerusalem; defending also he will deliver it; and passing over he will preserve it. | 5 | As birds hover over [the nest],aso will Jehovah of Hosts guard Jerusalem;by protecting it he will deliver it,by passing over it, preserve it. | כְּצִפֳּרִים עָפוֹת כֵּן יָגֵן יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת עַל־יְרוּשָׁלִָם גָּנוֹן וְהִצִּיל פָּסֹחַ וְהִמְלִיט ׃ |
Turn ye unto him from whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted. | 6 | Return to him from whom you have contrived to go far astray, O children of Israel. | שׁוּבוּ לַאֲשֶׁר הֶעְמִיקוּ סָרָה בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל ׃ |
For 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. | 7 | For in that day every one of you will despise your idolatrous silver and gold by which your hands have incurred guilt. | כִּי בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא יִמְאָסוּן אִישׁ אֱלִילֵי כַסְפּוֹ וֶאֱלִילֵי זְהָבוֹ אֲשֶׁר עָשׂוּ לָכֶם יְדֵיכֶם חֵטְא ׃ |
Then 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. | 8 | And Assyria shall fall by a sword not of man;a sword not of mortals shall devour them:before that sword they shall waste awayand their young men melt; | וְנָפַל אַשּׁוּר בְּחֶרֶב לֹא־אִישׁ וְחֶרֶב לֹא־אָדָם תֹּאכֲלֶנּוּ וְנָס לוֹ מִפְּנֵי־חֶרֶב וּבַחוּרָיו לָמַס יִהְיוּ ׃ |
And 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. | 9 | their captainb shall expire in terrorand their officers shrink from the ensign,says Jehovah, whose fire is in Zion,whose furnace is in Jerusalem. | וְסַלְעוֹ מִמָּגוֹר יַעֲבוֹר וְחַתּוּ מִנֵּס שָׂרָיו נְאֻם־יְהוָה אֲשֶׁר־אוּר לוֹ בְּצִיּוֹן וְתַנּוּר לוֹ בִּירוּשָׁלִָם ׃ |
וַיְהִי בִּימֵי אָחָז בֶּן־יוֹתָם בֶּן־עֻזִּיָּהוּ מֶלֶךְ יְהוּדָה עָלָה רְצִין מֶלֶךְ־אֲרָם וּפֶקַח בֶּן־רְמַלְיָהוּ מֶלֶךְ־יִשְׂרָאֵל יְרוּשָׁלִַם לַמִּלְחָמָה עָלֶיהָ וְלֹא יָכֹל לְהִלָּחֵם עָלֶיהָ ׃ | |
King James Version
KJV
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Isaiah Institute Translation
IIT
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And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up toward Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it. |
When Ahaz son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, was king of Judah, Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not overpower it. |
Apocalyptic Commentary |
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Two generations of kings from the time Isaiah receives his prophetic commission, an expansionist Assyria threatens to invade the kingdom of Aram (Syria), the ten-tribed Northern Kingdom of Israel, and the Southern Kingdom of Judah and to annex them into its empire. When King Ahaz of Judah refuses to join Aram and Israel in an alliance to resist Assyria, they invade the Southern Kingdom to overthrow Ahaz and put a puppet ruler on his throne who will join their coalition. Ahaz, moreover, becomes an important type in the Book of Isaiah of an end-time ruler who proves disloyal to Israel’s God. |
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Apocalyptic Commentary
Isaiah 31
A twin covenant curse to Isaiah 30:1-5, this repeats Jehovah’s condemnation of those who rely on Egypt’s military might—on an arm of flesh (v 3)—instead of on him. Were they to “look to” Jehovah or “inquire of” him, he would reveal his will to them. Now he is compelled to bring “disaster” or “evil” (ra‘) on them as a result of their ill-advised actions. In his Day of Judgment, Jehovah “rises up” against the “brood of miscreants”—the Egyptians—and against the “allies of evildoers”—the Egyptians’ confederates—as he rises up against all the wicked (Isaiah 2:19, 21; 3:13; 14:22; 28:21; 33:10; 42:13-15).
Because of Egypt’s reputation as an invincible world power, people look up to Egypt as more than human. Jehovah disabuses their minds when he stretches out his hand over them as did Moses when Pharaoh’s armies who pursued the Israelites drowned in the depths of the sea (Exodus 14:21-28). Jehovah’s hand—in this instance, the king of Assyria/Babylon—invades Egypt and takes captive many of its inhabitants (Isaiah 20:4-5; 37:25). Like all the wicked in that day, the Egyptians and their allies “stumble” and “fall” and “come to an end” (Isaiah 3:8; 8:14-15; 10:4; 13:15; 21:9; 28:13; 59:10).
A verse similar to Isaiah 29:7-8—in which “the nations that amass to fight against Mount Zion” come away empty—this depicts Jehovah’s descent on the mount in a great display of power as he did anciently on Mount Sinai (cf. Exodus 19:16-20). When enemy herders or shepherds think to deal the death blow to Jehovah’s people by destroying his elect, Jehovah descends to wage war upon them (Isaiah 30:30-32; 64:1-3). While many may be “dismayed” by the enemy’s voice—the king of Assyria/Babylon—or “daunted” by his formidable forces, none can withstand the divine power of Jehovah.
Jehovah “guards” or defends his elect against Assyria’s assault in a new Passover. The words “by protecting it he will deliver it, by passing over it, preserve it” create word links to other instances of Jehovah’s delivering his people: “I will protect this city and save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David” (Isaiah 37:35); “I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; I will protect this city” (Isaiah 38:6); “Those whose minds are steadfast, [O Jehovah,] you preserve in perfect peace, for in you they are secure” (Isaiah 26:3; cf. 1:8; 41:11-12; 51:22-23; 54:15-17).
Similar to Isaiah 30:22 in its censure of idolatry, this appeal to Jehovah’s people to abandon their culture of materialism ends the homiletic theme of chapters 28-31. What more proof do his people want of Jehovah’s desire to deliver them from destruction in his Day of Judgment? Or what additional evidence do they need that their idolatry brings covenant curses? Parallel verses show that his people’s giving up the things they covet that money can buy defines repentance itself. Repenting of worshiping idols, in other words, constitutes an integral part of returning to God (cf. Isaiah 42:17-23; 55:2, 7).
Assyria’s “fall”—like the fall of all entities comprising Greater Babylon—concludes Jehovah’s Day of Judgment on a wicked world. Besides being “fought in mortal combat” (Isaiah 30:32), Assyria perishes by a heavenly sword—Jehovah’s secret weapon (Isaiah 49:2). Unlike physical human weapons, this manifestation of Jehovah’s power is divine. As the king of Assyria/Babylon personifies Jehovah’s sword, ensign, and fire to destroy the wicked, so Jehovah’s servant, his divinely appointed opponent, personifies Jehovah’s sword, ensign, and fire to deliver Jehovah’s elect and to destroy Assyria.