Isaiah 31:2

2 And indeed, he [is] wise, and he brings disaster, and he does not remove his words, and he will rise against [the] house of evildoers and against [the] help of workers of iniquity.

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 Ah! Those who go down [to] Egypt for help! They rely on horses and trust in chariots because [they are] many, and in horsemen because they are very numerous, and they do not look to the holy one of Israel, and they do not consult Yahweh.

2 And indeed, he [is] wise, and he brings disaster, and he does not remove his words, and he will rise against [the] house of evildoers and against [the] help of workers of iniquity.

3 And the Egyptians [are] human and not God, and their horses [are] flesh and not spirit. And Yahweh stretches out his hand, and [the] helper will stumble, and [the] one being helped will fall, and together all of them will come to an end.

4 For Yahweh said this to me: "As which [a] lion growls and [a] young lion over its prey when {a full group} of shepherds is called against him, it is not terrified by their voice, and to their noise it does not respond, so Yahweh of hosts will come down to fight upon Mount Zion and upon its hill.

5 Like birds flying [overhead], so Yahweh of hosts will protect Jerusalem; he will protect and deliver [it]; he will pass over and rescue [it].