Isaiah 31:8

8 “Assyria will fall by no human sword; a sword, not of mortals, will devour them. They will flee before the sword and their young men will be put to forced labor.

Isaiah 31:8 in Other Translations

King James Version (KJV)
8 Then shall the Assyrian fall with the sword, not of a mighty man; and the sword, not of a mean man, shall devour him: but he shall flee from the sword, and his young men shall be discomfited.
English Standard Version (ESV)
8 "And the Assyrian shall fall by a sword, not of man; and a sword, not of man, shall devour him; and he shall flee from the sword, and his young men shall be put to forced labor.
New Living Translation (NLT)
8 “The Assyrians will be destroyed, but not by the swords of men. The sword of God will strike them, and they will panic and flee. The strong young Assyrians will be taken away as captives.
The Message Bible (MSG)
8 "Assyrians will fall dead, killed by a sword-thrust but not by a soldier, laid low by a sword not swung by a mortal. Assyrians will run from that sword, run for their lives, and their prize young men made slaves.
American Standard Version (ASV)
8 And the Assyrian shall fall by the sword, not of man; and the sword, not of men, shall devour him; and he shall flee from the sword, and his young men shall become subject to taskwork.
GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)
8 Then Assyrians will be killed with swords not made by human hands. Swords not made by human hands will destroy them. They will flee from battle, and their young men will be made to do forced labor.
Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
8 Then Assyria will fall, but not by human sword; a sword will devour him, but not one made by man. He will flee from the sword, his young men will be put to forced labor.
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
8 The LORD says, "The Assyrians will be killed with swords. But it will not be men who use them. The swords that kill them will not be used by human beings. The Assyrians will run away from those swords. But their young men will be caught and forced to work hard.

Isaiah 31:8 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 31:8

Then shall the Assyrian fall with the sword, not of a
mighty man
That is, the Assyrian army under Sennacherib their king, which besieged Jerusalem in Hezekiah's time; which, as soon as the people were brought to a sense of their sin, and repentance for it, and cast away their idols as a proof of it, were utterly destroyed; but not in battle, not by the sword of Hezekiah, or any of his valiant generals:

and the sword, not of a mean man, shall devour him;
neither the sword of a general, nor of a private soldier, nor indeed of any man, but of an angel; see ( 2 Kings 19:35 ) :

but he shall flee from the sword;
from the drawn sword of the angel, who very probably appeared in such a form as in ( 1 Chronicles 21:16 ) which Sennacherib king of Assyria seeing, as well as the slaughter made in his army by him, fled from it; in the Hebrew text it is added, "for himself" F25; he fled for his life, for his own personal security; see ( 2 Kings 19:36 ) :

and his young men shall be discomfited;
his choice ones, the flower of his army: or "melt away" F26, through fear; or die by the stroke of the angel upon them: the sense of becoming "tributary" seems to have no foundation.


FOOTNOTES:

F25 (wl) "fugiet sibi", Pagninus, Montanus, Cocceius; "fuga consulet sibi", Junius & Tremellius.
F26 (wyhy oml) "in liquefactionem, erunt", Vatablus; "colliquescent", Piscator.

Isaiah 31:8 In-Context

6 Return, you Israelites, to the One you have so greatly revolted against.
7 For in that day every one of you will reject the idols of silver and gold your sinful hands have made.
8 “Assyria will fall by no human sword; a sword, not of mortals, will devour them. They will flee before the sword and their young men will be put to forced labor.
9 Their stronghold will fall because of terror; at the sight of the battle standard their commanders will panic,” declares the LORD, whose fire is in Zion, whose furnace is in Jerusalem.

Cross References 3

  • 1. S Isaiah 10:12
  • 2. S Exodus 12:12; Isaiah 10:12; Isaiah 14:25; S Isaiah 27:1; Isaiah 33:1; Isaiah 37:7; Jeremiah 25:12; Habakkuk 2:8
  • 3. S Genesis 49:15; S Deuteronomy 20:11
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