Isaiah / Chapter 31

Isaiah 31

9 verses • Westminster Leningrad Codex 2 traditions available

Translator's Introduction

What This Chapter Is About

Isaiah 31 is the briefest of the woe oracles and perhaps the most visceral. It opens with a final 'Woe' against those who go down to Egypt for military aid — trusting horses and chariots rather than looking to the Holy One of Israel. But God is also wise, Isaiah reminds them with biting irony, and He too can bring disaster. Egypt is human, not God; their horses are flesh, not spirit. When the LORD stretches out His hand, both helper and helped will stumble together. The oracle then pivots to two stunning animal similes: God will fight for Zion like a lion that refuses to be frightened off its prey by a crowd of shepherds, and He will hover over Jerusalem like birds in flight, shielding and delivering it. The chapter closes with a call to repentance — 'Return to the one you have so deeply revolted against' — and a promise that Assyria will fall by a sword that is not human, a sword not of mortals. We rendered this chapter with attention to the raw power of its imagery and the theological paradox at its heart: the same God is both the lion who will not let go and the bird who tenderly protects.

What Makes This Chapter Remarkable

The two animal similes in vv. 4-5 are theologically extraordinary. In v. 4, God is a lion crouching over its prey — fierce, immovable, undeterred by the noise of opposition. In v. 5, He is birds hovering over their young — tender, protective, shielding. The juxtaposition is deliberate: the God who fights for Zion is simultaneously ferocious and nurturing, and both images describe the same protective action. The 'sword not of man' (v. 8) has generated extensive messianic and eschatological interpretation — the defeat of Assyria will come by supernatural means, not military strategy.

Translation Friction

The lion simile in v. 4 is ambiguous in context: is the LORD the lion fighting for Zion (positive) or against Zion (negative)? The phrase 'so the LORD of Hosts will come down to fight on Mount Zion' could mean fight for or fight against. We follow the reading that takes vv. 4-5 together as positive — the lion and the birds both describe God's fierce-yet-tender protection of Jerusalem, consistent with the deliverance promise that follows. The 'birds hovering' (tsipporim afot) in v. 5 may specifically evoke the mother bird of Deuteronomy 32:11, who stirs her nest and hovers over her young — an image of protective training rather than passive shelter.

Connections

The condemnation of trusting Egypt's horses echoes Deuteronomy 17:16 (the king must not acquire many horses from Egypt) and anticipates Psalm 20:7 ('Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God'). The hovering-bird image connects to Deuteronomy 32:11 (the eagle stirring its nest), Genesis 1:2 (the Spirit hovering over the waters), and Jesus' lament over Jerusalem in Matthew 23:37 ('how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings'). The 'sword not of man' anticipates the supernatural destruction of Sennacherib's army in Isaiah 37:36 and connects to Daniel 2:34 (the stone cut without human hands). The call to return (v. 6) uses the same root (shuv) as 30:15's 'in returning and rest.' **Tradition comparisons:** Targum Jonathan provides interpretive renderings: Divine descent for battle becomes revelation for protection. The military theophany is real but the mode of arrival is revelation, not spatial descent. See [Targum Jonathan on Isaiah](/targum/isaiah).

Isaiah 31:1

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׃

Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses and trust in chariots because they are many, in horsemen because they are very strong, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel or seek the LORD!

KJV 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!

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

The final Egyptian-alliance woe. The catalogue of military assets (horses, chariots, horsemen) is set against the twofold spiritual failure: they do not 'look to' (sha'u) or 'seek' (darashu) the LORD. The full title 'the Holy One of Israel' stands in deliberate contrast to the military hardware they prefer.

Isaiah 31:2

וְגַם־הוּא חָכָם וַיָּבֵא רָע וְאֶת־דְּבָרָיו לֹא הֵסִיר וְקָם עַל־בֵּית מְרֵעִים וְעַל־עֶזְרַת פֹּעֲלֵי אָוֶן׃

Yet He too is wise — and He brings disaster! He does not take back His words. He will rise against the house of evildoers and against the allies of those who do wrong.

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.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

The sarcasm is sharp: 'He too is wise' — as if they had forgotten that God might also have a strategy. While they scheme with Egypt, God has His own plan, and He does not retract His words. The 'house of evildoers' is Judah's leadership; the 'allies' are Egypt.

Isaiah 31:3

וּמִצְרַיִם אָדָם וְלֹא־אֵל וְסוּסֵיהֶם בָּשָׂר וְלֹא־רוּחַ וַיהוָה יַטֶּה יָדוֹ וְכָשַׁל עוֹזֵר וְנָפַל עָזֻר וְיַחְדָּו כֻּלָּם יִכְלָיוּן׃

The Egyptians are human, not God; their horses are flesh, not spirit. When the LORD stretches out His hand, the helper will stumble and the one helped will fall, and both will perish 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.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

בָּשָׂר basar

"flesh" — flesh, meat, body, mortal weakness, humanity

In contrast with ruach ('spirit'), basar represents everything that is creaturely, limited, and mortal. The flesh/spirit contrast becomes foundational in later biblical theology (cf. John 6:63; Romans 8:4-8).

Translator Notes

This verse contains one of the sharpest theological contrasts in the Old Testament: human versus God, flesh versus spirit. The outcome is inevitable — when the LORD acts, both the Egyptian helper and the Judean client collapse simultaneously. The mutual destruction ('both will perish together') is the final refutation of the alliance strategy.

Dead Sea Scrolls (1QIsaᵃ, 125 BCE)minor

"and their horses"

Identical consonantal text. The theological contrast — 'Egyptians are human, not God; their horses are flesh, not spirit' — is preserved identically. This is one of Isaiah's most concise statements of the flesh/spirit distinction. No impact on meaning.

Isaiah 31:4

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׃

For this is what the LORD has said to me: As a lion — a great lion — growls over its prey, and when a full band of shepherds is called out against it, it is not frightened by their shouting nor cowed by their clamor — so the LORD of Hosts will come down to fight on Mount Zion and on its hill.

KJV 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 upon mount Zion, and upon the hill thereof.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

The lion simile is raw and powerful: the lion has caught its prey and will not be intimidated by any number of shepherds. Applied to God, the image conveys unstoppable determination. The LORD 'comes down' (yered) — the same verb used for the Sinai descent (Exodus 19:11, 18) — to fight on behalf of Mount Zion.

Targum Jonathan (Aramaic, 1st-5th c. CE)anti-anthropomorphism

"So the LORD of hosts will reveal himself to fight upon Mount Zion."

Divine descent for battle becomes revelation for protection. The military theophany is real but the mode of arrival is revelation, not spatial descent.

Isaiah 31:5

כְּצִפֳּרִים עָפוֹת כֵּן יָגֵן יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת עַל־יְרוּשָׁלָ‍ִם גָּנוֹן וְהִצִּיל פָּסֹחַ וְהִמְלִיט׃

Like birds hovering overhead, so the LORD of Hosts will shield Jerusalem — shielding and delivering, passing over and rescuing.

KJV As birds flying, so will the LORD of hosts defend Jerusalem; defending also he will deliver it; and passing over he will preserve it.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

פָּסֹחַ pasoach

"passing over" — to pass over, to spare, to limp, to hover protectively

The verbal root p-s-ch connects directly to the Passover (Pesach) event of Exodus 12. God's protection of Jerusalem is cast as a reenactment of the original Passover deliverance.

Translator Notes

The shift from lion (v. 4) to hovering birds (v. 5) is one of Isaiah's most striking juxtapositions. The same God who growls like a lion over prey now hovers like a mother bird over her nest. The four infinitive absolutes — ganon ('shielding'), hitsil ('delivering'), pasoach ('passing over'), himlit ('rescuing') — pile up to express comprehensive, multi-layered protection. The Passover allusion ties Jerusalem's deliverance to the Exodus.

Dead Sea Scrolls (1QIsaᵃ, 125 BCE)minor

"like birds"

1QIsaiah-a writes כצפרים identically. The remarkable simile — the LORD protects Jerusalem 'like birds hovering' (ke-tsipporim afot) — depicts God as a mother bird defending her nest. This maternal divine imagery is preserved identically in both traditions.

Isaiah 31:6

שׁוּבוּ לַאֲשֶׁר הֶעְמִיקוּ סָרָה בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל׃

Return to the One from whom you have so deeply revolted, O children of Israel.

KJV Turn ye unto him from whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

The call to repentance (shuvu — 'return!') uses the same root as shuvah ('returning') in 30:15. The phrase he'miqu sarah ('deeply revolted') emphasizes the depth and severity of their rebellion — the return must be proportional to the revolt.

Isaiah 31:7

כִּי בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא יִמְאָסוּן אִישׁ אֱלִילֵי כַסְפּוֹ וֶאֱלִילֵי זְהָבוֹ אֲשֶׁר עָשׂוּ לָכֶם יְדֵיכֶם חֵטְא׃

For on that day, each of you will reject your idols of silver and your idols of gold — the sinful things your own hands have made.

KJV 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.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

The repentance of v. 6 takes concrete form: idol rejection. The phrase 'your own hands have made' (asu lakhem yedeikhem) emphasizes the absurdity of worshiping what you yourself manufactured. This echoes 30:22 and anticipates 2:20.

Dead Sea Scrolls (1QIsaᵃ, 125 BCE)minor

"his idols"

1QIsaiah-a writes אליליו with the same consonants. The call to cast away idols 'that your hands made sinfully' is preserved identically. No impact on meaning.

Isaiah 31:8

וְנָפַל אַשּׁוּר בְּחֶרֶב לֹא־אִישׁ וְחֶרֶב לֹא־אָדָם תֹּאכֲלֶנּוּ וְנָס לוֹ מִפְּנֵי חֶרֶב וּבַחוּרָיו לָמַס יִהְיוּ׃

Assyria will fall by a sword not wielded by man; a sword not of mortals will devour him. He will flee before the sword, and his young warriors will be put to forced labor.

KJV 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.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

חֶרֶב לֹא־אִישׁ cherev lo' ish

"a sword not wielded by man" — non-human sword, divine sword, supernatural weapon

The double negation (not of ish, not of adam) excludes every category of human agent. This found historical fulfillment in the angel of the LORD destroying 185,000 Assyrian troops overnight (Isaiah 37:36).

Translator Notes

This is the theological climax of the chapter: Assyria — the mightiest military power on earth — will be destroyed by a weapon no human hand holds. The prophecy found its initial fulfillment in 701 BC when the angel of the LORD struck down 185,000 Assyrian soldiers in a single night (37:36; 2 Kings 19:35). The forced labor (lamas) imposed on Assyria's young men reverses Assyria's own practice of enslaving conquered peoples.

Isaiah 31:9

וְסַלְעוֹ מִמָּגוֹר יַעֲבוֹר וְחַתּוּ מִנֵּס שָׂרָיו נְאֻם יְהוָה אֲשֶׁר אוּר לוֹ בְּצִיּוֹן וְתַנּוּר לוֹ בִּירוּשָׁלָ‍ִם׃

His rock will crumble in terror, and his commanders will panic at the battle standard, declares the LORD, whose fire is in Zion and whose furnace is in Jerusalem.

KJV 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.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

The chapter closes with Assyria's total collapse: even their 'rock' (stronghold, or the king himself) crumbles, and their officers flee in panic. The final image — 'whose fire is in Zion and whose furnace is in Jerusalem' — connects back to the Ariel/altar-hearth imagery of 29:1-2 and the Topheth fire of 30:33. God's fire in Jerusalem is both the sacrificial fire of worship and the consuming fire of judgment against His enemies. Zion is simultaneously altar and fortress.

Chapter 30 Report an error Isaiah index Chapter 32