Chapter Thirty-One

1–3. Egypt will not offer help to the Judeans against Assyria. 4–9. And only the Lord Himself will save His people.

Isa 31:1-3. If Judean politicians calculated to gain great advantages from an alliance with Egypt, then the Lord will put their calculations to shame and will punish both the supposed protectors of the Jews and the Jews themselves for their lack of faith in the Lord.

Isaiah 31:1. Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who trust in horses and rely on chariots because they are many, and on horsemen because they are very strong, but they do not look to the Holy One of Israel and do not seek the Lord! “Go down to Egypt” – in the translation from the Hebrew: “go down.” Egypt indeed lay lower (farther south) than Palestine. By those “going down” are meant, of course, not only the Judean ambassadors, but also those who sent them to Egypt.

Isaiah 31:2. But He is wise; and He will bring calamity and will not revoke His words; He will rise against the house of the wicked and against the help of those who work iniquity. “But He is wise.” Judean diplomats were proud of their wisdom, of their political tact. But true wisdom belongs only to the Lord. It consists in that the Most High can always carry out His decision – for Him His word is inseparable from deed! “House of the wicked” – these are the rulers of the Judean state at that time. “Help of those who work iniquity” – the help expected by the Jews from the Egyptians, who did not have the true guidance for life which the law of Moses represented, and therefore could not fail to work iniquities.

Isaiah 31:3. And the Egyptians are men, not God; and their horses are flesh, not spirit. And the Lord will stretch out His hand, and the helper will stumble, and the one being helped will fall, and they will all perish together. Can the Egyptians compete with God? Their horses also are not bodiless spirits, which cannot be struck by an arrow or a spear. Isa 31:4-9. But on the other hand, no enemy – even Assyria – will be dreadful to Jerusalem, when the Lord comes down upon Zion to help the Jews who have repented of their former disbelief. The enemies of the Jews will scatter in terrible panic, and the sword of the Lord will strike them.

Isaiah 31:4. For thus said the Lord to me: as a lion, as a young lion roaring over its prey, though a multitude of shepherds cry out against it, it will not shrink back at their cry and will not yield to their multitude, – so the Lord of hosts will come down to fight over Mount Zion and over his hill. Isaiah 31:5. As birds hovering over, so the Lord of hosts will shield Jerusalem; He will protect and deliver it, He will spare and save it. The Lord alone is able to protect the Jews from the Assyrians. He will come down to Mount Zion (according to the Russian translation, over Mount Zion – an imprecise translation) where the temple of the Lord and the king’s palace were located, and to his hill or to other points of Jerusalem, where ordinary citizens lived. “As birds – of young” – an imprecise translation. It is more correct to translate this verse thus: “as a flying bird, so the Lord will be, protecting and ruling over Jerusalem.” The image is taken from a bird hovering over its nest to protect the young birds in it from the danger threatening them.

Isaiah 31:6. Return to Him from whom you have so greatly fallen away, sons of Israel! But in order to be worthy of this protection of God, the Jews had to fulfill one important condition – to abandon idols and turn to the Most High.

Isaiah 31:7. In that day each man will cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which your hands have made for you as a sin. Isaiah 31:8. And Assyria will fall by no human sword, and no human sword will consume him – he will flee from the sword, and his young men will become tributary. Isaiah 31:9. And in fear he will pass by his stronghold; and his princes will be frightened at the standard, says the Lord, whose fire is on Zion and whose furnace is in Jerusalem. “In that day” – a very indefinite expression. The prophet here does not distinguish separate moments of future time and therefore the defeat of the Assyrians and the renunciation of the Jews of idolatry appear to him as contemporary events, although in reality, even after deliverance from the Assyrians, the Jews were drawn to idolatry. “Will cast away.” The Jews will see that their hope in these idols was completely in vain (cf. Isa 2:8). “As a sin.” Idolatry led the Jews to all kinds of sins and transgressions (Hos 8:11). “He will flee... from the sword” – it is possibly more correct from the Hebrew: he will flee from the sword (of God). “Young men” – in Hebrew, bachurim. This word was sometimes used among the Jews to designate warriors as men especially strong in might (2 Sam 6:1). “As tribute” – more precisely: “as slaves.” “And in fear he will pass by his stronghold” – it is possibly more correct from the Hebrew: “and his stronghold or rock (i.e., the king of Assyria) will disappear in fear before the Lord.” “At the standard.” Most naturally here one understands the standard of Judah, from which the Assyrians and their princes or commanders will flee in terror. “Fire” – properly the bright and shining flame which will burn the enemies. “Furnace” – this is a fiery oven in which the enemies of the Jews will also be burned. Some commentators, however, see here simply the designation of an ordinary oven in which bread was baked and understand this passage as an indication of the special closeness of the Lord to Jerusalem, in which He will dwell as a man in his own house. The poem concluding in chapter 31 is divided into the following stanzas: 1st stanza – verses 1–3 – (3, 2, 2) 2nd stanza – verses 4–6 – (3, 2, 2) 3rd stanza – verses 7–9 – (2, 2, 2) * * * Likewise in the Slavonic translation from the LXX – “Woe to those going down to Egypt for help’s sake.” Editor’s note. Likewise in the Slavonic translation – “The Lord came down to Mount Zion and to the mountains of it to make war.” Editor’s note. Likewise in the Slavonic translation – “As a flying bird, thus the Lord of hosts shall protect.” Editor’s note.