Isaiah 31:5

5 As birds flying, so will the LORD of the hosts defend Jerusalem; defending, delivering, passing over, and saving it.

Isaiah 31:5 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 31:5

As birds flying, so will the Lord of hosts defend
Jerusalem
As the preceding metaphor expresses the mighty power of God, this his tenderness and affection, as well as his speed and swiftness in the deliverance of his people. As birds in the air, at a distance, especially the eagle, have their eye upon their nests, and their young ones in them, and when in danger fly to their assistance, and hover over them, and about them, to keep off those that would hurt them, or carry them away; so the Lord, on high, sees his people when in distress, and hastens to help them, and does surround, protect, and defend them: thus the Lord did, when Sennacherib with his army besieged Jerusalem; who boasted, with respect to other nations, that he had "found as a nest the riches of the people", and that "there was none that moved the wing against him", ( Isaiah 10:14 ) to which it is thought the allusion is here: defending also he will deliver [it];
from present distress, the siege of the Assyrian army: [and] passing over he will preserve [it];
passing over the city of Jerusalem to the army of the king of Assyria, that lay encamped against it; and smiting that by an angel with a sudden destruction, preserved the city from the ruin it was threatened with. The allusion is rightly thought to be to the Lord's passing over the houses of the Israelites, when he destroyed the firstborn in Egypt, ( Exodus 12:23 ) where the same word is used as here, and nowhere else.

Isaiah 31:5 In-Context

3 Now the Egyptian is a man, and not God, and his horses flesh, and not spirit, so that as the LORD shall stretch out his hand, both he that helps shall fall, and he that is helped shall fall down, and they shall all fail together.

4 For thus has the LORD spoken unto me, Like the lion and the young lion roaring on his prey, even if a multitude of shepherds come forth against him, he will not be afraid of their voices, nor abase himself for the noise of them: so shall the LORD of the hosts come down to fight for Mount Zion and for his hill.

5 As birds flying, so will the LORD of the hosts defend Jerusalem; defending, delivering, passing over, and saving it.

6 Turn ye unto him against whom ye have deeply revolted, O sons of Israel.

7 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 as a sin.