Isaiah 31:2

2 He is wise and can bring about disaster. He doesn't take back his words. He rises against wicked people and against those who help troublemakers.

Isaiah 31:2 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 31:2

Yet he also [is] wise
That is, God, the Holy One of Israel, is, whom they disregarded; and wiser too than the Egyptians, to whom they sought for help, and who were thought to be a wise and political people; and wiser than themselves, who imagined they acted a prudent part, in applying to them; so wise as to know all their schemes, and able to confound them, as well as most certainly and fully to complete his own; and it would have been therefore the highest wisdom to have sought to him, and not to men: and will bring evil;
the evil of punishment or affliction on wicked men, which he has threatened, and which they could in no wise escape, by taking the methods they did: and will not call back his words;
his threatenings delivered by the prophets: these, as he does not repent of, he will not revoke or make void, but fulfil and accomplish; what he has said he will do, and what he has purposed he will bring to pass; and therefore it was a weak and an unwise part they acted, by applying to others, and slighting him: but will arise against the house of evildoers;
not the ten tribes of Israel, as Jarchi and Kimchi interpret it; but rather the people of the Jews, or some particular family among them; it may be the royal family, chiefly concerned in sending the embassy to Egypt, or in advising to it; though it may be the singular is put for the plural, as the Septuagint and Arabic versions render it "the houses"; and so may design all those great families which joined in this affair, and are therefore called "evildoers"; as all such are that put their confidence in the creature, and not in the Lord; and against such he will "arise", in a hostile manner, sooner or later, against whom there is no standing; see ( Job 9:4 ) : and against the help of them that work iniquity;
that is, against the Egyptians, the helpers of the Jews, who were workers of iniquity, and therefore their help and hope in it would be in vain; or else the latter part is descriptive of the Egyptians their helpers, who were a wicked and idolatrous nation, and so not to be sought unto for help, or trusted in, since, God being against them, it would be to no purpose, as he is against all workers of iniquity.

Isaiah 31:2 In-Context

1 How horrible it will be for those who go to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who depend on many chariots, who depend on very strong war horses. They don't look to the Holy One of Israel. They don't seek the LORD.

2 He is wise and can bring about disaster. He doesn't take back his words. He rises against wicked people and against those who help troublemakers.

3 The Egyptians are humans, not gods. Their horses are flesh and blood, not spirit. When the LORD uses his powerful hand, the one who gives help will stumble, and the one who receives help will fall. Both will die together.

4 This is what the LORD said to me: A lion, even a young lion, growls over its prey when a crowd of shepherds is called to fight it. It isn't frightened by their voices or disturbed by the noise they make. So the LORD of Armies will come to fight for Mount Zion and its hill.

5 The LORD of Armies will defend Jerusalem like a hovering bird. He will defend it and rescue it. He will pass over it and protect it.