Isaiah 31:1-3

Help Not in Egypt but in God

1 Woe to those who go down to 1Egypt for help And 2rely on horses, And trust in chariots because they are many And in horsemen because they are very strong, But they do not 3look to the 4Holy One of Israel, nor seek the LORD!
2 Yet He also is 5wise and will 6bring disaster And does 7not retract His words, But will arise against the house of 8evildoers And against the help of the 9workers of iniquity.
3 Now the Egyptians are 10men and not God, And their 11horses are flesh and not spirit; So the LORD will 12stretch out His hand, And 13he who helps will stumble And he who is helped will fall, And all of them will come to an end together.

Isaiah 31:1-3 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 31

This chapter denounces woe to those that trusted in the Egyptians; assures the Jews of God's care and protection of them; calls them to repentance, and foretells the destruction of the Assyrian army. The sin of those that trusted in Egypt, with the reasons of their trust, and not looking to the Lord, and seeking him, is declared in Isa 31:1 and their folly exposed in so doing; since the Lord is wise, powerful, and unchangeable, and the Egyptians frail and weak; so that the helper and the helped must fall before him, Isa 31:2,3 whereas protection might be expected from the Lord, as is promised, whose power is like that of the lion, and whose tender care is like that of birds to defend their young, Isa 31:4,5 wherefore the Jews are called upon to return to the Lord by repentance, from whom they had revolted; which would be shown by their detestation of idolatry, the sin they had been guilty of, Isa 31:6,7 and the chapter is closed with a prophecy of the ruin of the Assyrian army, and the flight of their king, Isa 31:8,9.

Cross References 13

  • 1. Isaiah 30:2, 7; Isaiah 36:6
  • 2. Deuteronomy 17:16; Psalms 20:7; Psalms 33:17; Isaiah 2:7; Isaiah 30:16
  • 3. Isaiah 9:13; Daniel 9:13; Amos 5:4-8
  • 4. Isaiah 10:17; Isaiah 43:15; Hosea 11:9; Habakkuk 1:12; Habakkuk 3:3
  • 5. Isaiah 28:29; Romans 16:27
  • 6. Isaiah 45:7
  • 7. Numbers 23:19; Jeremiah 44:29
  • 8. Isaiah 1:4; Isaiah 9:17; Isaiah 14:20
  • 9. Isaiah 22:14; Isaiah 32:6
  • 10. Ezekiel 28:9; 2 Thessalonians 2:4
  • 11. Isaiah 36:9
  • 12. Isaiah 9:17; Jeremiah 15:6; Ezekiel 20:33, 34
  • 13. Isaiah 30:5, 7; Matthew 15:14
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