1 Cursed are those who go down to Egypt for help, and who put their faith in horses; looking to war-carriages for salvation, because of their numbers; and to horsemen, because they are very strong; but they are not looking to the Holy One of Israel, or turning their hearts to the Lord;
Some put their faith in carriages and some in horses; but we will be strong in the name of the Lord our God.
As it was recorded in the law of Moses, all this evil has come on us: but we have made no prayer for grace from the Lord our God that we might be turned from our evil doings and come to true wisdom.
Saying, No, for we will go in flight on horses; so you will certainly go in flight: and, We will go on the backs of quick-running beasts; so those who go after you will be quick-footed.
And he is not to get together a great army of horses for himself, or make the people go back to Egypt to get horses for him: because the Lord has said, You will never again go back that way.
For these are the words of the Lord to the children of Israel: Let your hearts be turned to me, so that you may have life: Do not be looking for help to Beth-el, and do not go to Gilgal, or make your way to Beer-sheba: for Gilgal will certainly be taken prisoner, and Beth-el will come to nothing. Go to the Lord for help so that you may have life; for fear that he may come like fire bursting out in the family of Joseph, causing destruction, and there will be no one to put it out in Beth-el. You who make the work of judging a bitter thing, crushing down righteousness to the earth; Go for help to him who makes Orion and the Pleiades, by whom the deep dark is turned into morning, who makes the day black with night; whose voice goes out to the waters of the sea, sending them out over the face of the earth: the Lord is his name;
How then may you put to shame the least of my master's servants? and you have put your hope in Egypt for war-carriages and horsemen:
And you made a place between the two walls for storing the waters of the old pool: but you gave no thought to him who had done this, and were not looking to him by whom it had been purposed long before.
May trouble be theirs! for they have gone far away from me; and destruction, for they have been sinning against me; I was ready to be their saviour, but they said false words against me. And they have not made prayer to me in their hearts, but they make loud cries on their beds; they are cutting themselves for food and wine, they are turned against me. Though I have given training and strength to their arms, they have evil designs against me. They have gone to what is of no value; they are like a false bow; their captains will come to destruction by the sword, and their ruler by my wrath; for this, the land of Egypt will make sport of them.
Take with you words, and come back to the Lord; say to him, Let there be forgiveness for all wrongdoing, so that we may take what is good, and give in payment the fruit of our lips.
At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa, king of Judah, and said to him, Because you have put your faith in the king of Aram and not in the Lord your God, the army of the king of Aram has got away out of your hands.
They are all heated like an oven, and they put an end to their judges; all their kings have been made low; not one among them makes prayer to me.
This is what the Lord has said: Cursed is the man who puts his faith in man, and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart is turned away from the Lord.
For my people have done two evils; they have given up me, the fountain of living waters, and have made for themselves water-holes, cut out from the rock, broken water-holes, of no use for storing water.
And you went to Melech with oil and much perfume, and you sent your representatives far off, and went as low as the underworld.
Ho! uncontrolled children, says the Lord, who give effect to a purpose which is not mine, and who make an agreement, but not by my spirit, increasing their sin: Who make a move to go down into Egypt, without authority from me; who are looking to the strength of Pharaoh for help, and whose hope is in the shade of Egypt. And the strength of Pharaoh will be your shame, and your hope in the shade of Egypt will come to nothing. For his chiefs are at Zoan, and his representatives have come to Hanes. For they have all come with offerings to a people of no use to them, in whom is no help or profit, but only shame and a bad name. The word about the Beasts of the South. Through the land of trouble and grief, the land of the she-lion and the voice of the lion, of the snake and the burning winged snake, they take their wealth on the backs of young asses, and their stores on camels, to a people in whom is no profit. For there is no use or purpose in the help of Egypt: so I have said about her, She is Rahab, who has come to an end.
And corded instruments and wind-instruments and wine are in their feasts: but they give no thought to the work of the Lord, and they are not interested in what his hands are doing.
And their land is full of silver and gold, and there is no end to their stores; their land is full of horses, and there is no end to their carriages.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Isaiah 31
Commentary on Isaiah 31 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 31
Isa 31:1-9. The Chief Strength of the Egyptian Armies Lay in Their Cavalry.
1. and stay on horses, and trust in chariots—In their level and fertile plains horses could easily be used and fed (Ex 14:9; 1Ki 10:28). In hilly Palestine horses were not so easily had or available. The Jews were therefore the more eager to get Egyptian chariots as allies against the Assyrian cavalry. In Assyrian sculptures chariots are represented drawn by three horses, and with three men in them (see Isa 36:9; Ps 20:7; Da 9:13).
2. 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.
3. not spirit—not of divine power (Ps 56:4; 146:3, 5; Zec 4:6).
he that helpeth—Egypt.
holpen—Judah.
4. (Isa 42:13; Ho 11:10).
roaring on—"growling over" his prey.
abase himself—be disheartened or frightened.
5. As in the image of "the lion," the point of comparison is the fearless might of Jehovah; so in that of the birds, it is His solicitous affection (De 32:11; Ps 91:4; Mt 23:37).
flying—Rather, "which defend" their young with their wings; "to fly" is a secondary meaning of the Hebrew word [Maurer]. "Hovering over" to protect their young [G. V. Smith].
passing over—as the destroying angel passing over, so as to spare the blood-marked houses of the Israelites on the first passover (Ex 12:13, 23, 27). He passed, or leaped forward [Lowth], to destroy the enemy and to spare His people.
6. The power and love of Jehovah, just mentioned, are the strongest incentives for returning to Him (Eze 16:62, 63; Ho 6:1).
ye … Israel—The change of person marks that when they return to the Lord, He will address them in more direct terms of communion in the second person; so long as they were revolters, God speaks of them, as more at a distance, in the third person, rather than to them.
7. In the day of trial the idols will be found to render no help and will therefore be cast away. Compare as to the future restoration and conversion of Israel simultaneously with the interposition of Jehovah in its defense, Zec 12:9-14; 13:1, 2.
for a sin—that is, whereby especially you contracted guilt (1Ki 12:30).
8. Assyrian—Sennacherib, representative of some powerful head of the ungodly in the latter ages [Horsley].
sword, not of … mighty … mean man—but by the unseen sword of God.
flee—Sennacherib alone fled homewards after his army had been destroyed (Isa 37:37).
young men—the flower of his army.
discomfited—rather, "shall be subject to slavery"; literally, "shall be liable to tribute," that is, personal service (De 20:11; Jos 9:21) [Maurer]. Or, not so well, "shall melt away" [Rosenmuller].
9. Rather, "shall pass beyond his strongholds"; he Shall not stop to take refuge in it through fear (Jud 20:47; Jer 48:28) [Gesenius].
ensign—the banner of Jehovah protecting the Jews [Maurer].
fire … furnace—"light" and "fire," namely, of Jehovah's altar at Jerusalem (Isa 29:1). Perhaps "furnace," as distinguished from "fire," may mean that His dwelling-place (His hearth) was at Jerusalem (compare Isa 4:5); or else the fiery furnace awaiting all the enemies who should attack Jerusalem.