Isaiah 31

ישעיהו פרק ל״א

Section: נביאים · נביאים אחרונים | Book: Isaiah | Chapter: 31 of 66 | Day: 178 of 742

Date: August 8, 2026

קלאוד על הנ״ך

Chapter 31 continues and intensifies the polemic against the Egyptian alliance that dominated chapter 30. It opens with the fifth in Isaiah’s series of woe-oracles, “Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help” (הוֹי הַיֹּרְדִים מִצְרַיִם לְעֶזְרָה), directed against the Judean leadership that pinned its hopes on Egypt’s cavalry and chariotry against the Assyrian threat. The prophet’s indictment is not primarily military but theological: the fault lies in what the people failed to do, “they did not turn to the Holy One of Israel, they did not seek the Lord” (וְלֹא שָׁעוּ עַל קְדוֹשׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאֶת ה׳ לֹא דָרָשׁוּ). Rashi reads the oracle as addressed originally to Hoshea and the ten tribes who sent emissaries to So king of Egypt, contrasting their misplaced trust with Hezekiah, who trusted in the Lord and rebelled against Assyria (II Kings 18). Radak and Metzudat David extend the reproach to Judah’s own reliance on Egyptian horses in the face of Sennacherib.

The heart of the chapter’s argument lies in the third verse, one of Isaiah’s most compressed theological statements: “Egypt is man and not God, and their horses flesh and not spirit” (וּמִצְרַיִם אָדָם וְלֹא אֵל וְסוּסֵיהֶם בָּשָׂר וְלֹא רוּחַ). The contrast between בָּשָׂר (flesh) and רוּחַ (spirit), between the creaturely and the divine, exposes the folly of trusting created power against the Creator. When the Lord merely stretches out His hand, helper and helped stumble together (וְכָשַׁל עוֹזֵר וְנָפַל עָזֻר) — Rashi’s striking image is of one who holds an object in his palm and lets it fall simply by tilting his hand. Radak adds a note of divine irony (verse 2): God is “also wise” (וְגַם הוּא חָכָם), wiser than the schemers who plotted to escape disaster through Egypt, and His prophetic words He will not retract.

The chapter pivots dramatically from threat to protection in verses 4-5, deploying two vivid animal similes for God’s defense of Zion. First the lion (הָאַרְיֵה) growling over its prey, undismayed by the shepherds who gather against it — so the Lord of Hosts will descend to do battle upon Mount Zion, unafraid of the massed nations. Then, in a tender reversal of scale, the image of birds hovering (כְּצִפֳּרִים עָפוֹת): “so will the Lord of Hosts shield Jerusalem, shielding and saving, passing over and rescuing” (גָּנוֹן וְהִצִּיל פָּסֹחַ וְהִמְלִיט). Radak, citing his father, notes that the lion captures God’s might and the birds His swiftness. The word פָּסֹחַ deliberately evokes the Exodus “passing over,” recasting the deliverance of Jerusalem from Sennacherib as a new act of protective sparing.

Verses 6-7 issue the summons that all the preceding rhetoric has been building toward: “Return to the One against whom the children of Israel have deeply rebelled” (שׁוּבוּ לַאֲשֶׁר הֶעְמִיקוּ סָרָה). Rashi and Metzudat David hear a pointed play — return to the very One from whom you had so deeply plotted to turn away. Radak stresses the urgency: repent before the great sign comes, for repentance that precedes the miracle earns a fuller reward than repentance compelled by witnessing it. When that day arrives, each man will cast away his idols of silver and gold (אֱלִילֵי כַסְפּוֹ וֶאֱלִילֵי זְהָבוֹ), recognizing them as the sinful work of his own hands once he sees that the deliverance came from the Lord alone.

The chapter closes with the promise of Assyria’s fall, sealing the whole argument that no human power decides Judah’s fate. “Assyria shall fall by a sword not of man, and a sword not of human shall devour him” (וְנָפַל אַשּׁוּר בְּחֶרֶב לֹא אִישׁ) — Metzudat David and Radak identify this sword as the angel’s, foreshadowing the destruction of Sennacherib’s camp that Isaiah 37 will narrate. Assyria’s rock will melt with terror and its officers collapse at the sign, declares the Lord “who has a fire in Zion and a furnace in Jerusalem” (אֲשֶׁר אוּר לוֹ בְּצִיּוֹן וְתַנּוּר לוֹ בִּירוּשָׁלָיִם), an image that reaches back to the tofteh of the previous chapter (30:33) and, by one reading Radak records, to the fire of the Temple altar. The chapter thus completes a single sustained argument: the arm of flesh is nothing, the Holy One of Israel is everything, and Jerusalem’s salvation will come not from Egypt’s horses but from the God who guards her like a lion and hovers over her like a bird.

פרק ל״א · Chapter 31

פסוק א׳ · Verse 1

Hebrew:

ה֣וֹי הַיֹּרְדִ֤ים מִצְרַ֙יִם֙ לְעֶזְרָ֔ה עַל־סוּסִ֖ים יִשָּׁעֵ֑נוּ וַיִּבְטְח֨וּ עַל־רֶ֜כֶב כִּ֣י רָ֗ב וְעַ֤ל פָּרָשִׁים֙ כִּֽי־עָצְמ֣וּ מְאֹ֔ד וְלֹ֤א שָׁעוּ֙ עַל־קְד֣וֹשׁ יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל וְאֶת־יְהֹוָ֖ה לֹ֥א דָרָֽשׁוּ׃

English:

Ha!Those who go down to Egypt for helpAnd rely upon horses!They have put their trust in abundance of chariots,In vast numbers of riders,And they have not turned to the Holy One of Israel,They have not sought GOD.

פסוק ב׳ · Verse 2

Hebrew:

וְגַם־ה֤וּא חָכָם֙ וַיָּ֣בֵא רָ֔ע וְאֶת־דְּבָרָ֖יו לֹ֣א הֵסִ֑יר וְקָם֙ עַל־בֵּ֣ית מְרֵעִ֔ים וְעַל־עֶזְרַ֖ת פֹּ֥עֲלֵי אָֽוֶן׃

English:

But [God] too is wise—Bringing on misfortuneAnd not canceling prior pronouncements.[God] shall rise against the house of evildoers,And the alliesaallies Lit. “help.” of the workers of iniquity.

פסוק ג׳ · Verse 3

Hebrew:

וּמִצְרַ֤יִם אָדָם֙ וְֽלֹא־אֵ֔ל וְסוּסֵיהֶ֥ם בָּשָׂ֖ר וְלֹא־ר֑וּחַ וַיהֹוָ֞ה יַטֶּ֣ה יָד֗וֹ וְכָשַׁ֤ל עוֹזֵר֙ וְנָפַ֣ל עָזֻ֔ר וְיַחְדָּ֖ו כֻּלָּ֥ם יִכְלָיֽוּן׃ {ס}        

English:

For the Egyptians are human, not God,And their horses are flesh, not spirit;And when GOD stretches out an arm,The helper shall tripAnd the helped one shall fall,And both shall perish together.

פסוק ד׳ · Verse 4

Hebrew:

כִּ֣י כֹ֣ה אָֽמַר־יְהֹוָ֣ה ׀ אֵלַ֡י כַּאֲשֶׁ֣ר יֶהְגֶּה֩ הָאַרְיֵ֨ה וְהַכְּפִ֜יר עַל־טַרְפּ֗וֹ אֲשֶׁ֨ר יִקָּרֵ֤א עָלָיו֙ מְלֹ֣א רֹעִ֔ים מִקּוֹלָם֙ לֹ֣א יֵחָ֔ת וּמֵהֲמוֹנָ֖ם לֹ֣א יַעֲנֶ֑ה כֵּ֗ן יֵרֵד֙ יְהֹוָ֣ה צְבָא֔וֹת לִצְבֹּ֥א עַל־הַר־צִיּ֖וֹן וְעַל־גִּבְעָתָֽהּ׃

English:

For thus GOD has said to me:As a lion—a great beast—Growls over its preyAnd, when the shepherds gatherIn force against it,Is not dismayed by their criesNor cowed by their noise—So GOD of Hosts will descend to make warAgainst the mount and the hill of Zion.

פסוק ה׳ · Verse 5

Hebrew:

כְּצִפֳּרִ֣ים עָפ֔וֹת כֵּ֗ן יָגֵ֛ן יְהֹוָ֥ה צְבָא֖וֹת עַל־יְרוּשָׁלָ֑͏ִם גָּנ֥וֹן וְהִצִּ֖יל פָּסֹ֥חַ וְהִמְלִֽיט׃

English:

Like the birds that fly, even so will GOD of Hosts shield Jerusalem, shielding and saving, protecting and rescuing.

פסוק ו׳ · Verse 6

Hebrew:

שׁ֗וּבוּ לַאֲשֶׁ֛ר הֶעְמִ֥יקוּ סָרָ֖ה בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃

English:

Return, O children of Israel,bReturn, O children of Israel Emendation yields “Then the children of Israel shall return.” to the One to whom they have been so shamefully false;

פסוק ז׳ · Verse 7

Hebrew:

כִּ֚י בַּיּ֣וֹם ��ַה֔וּא יִמְאָס֗וּן אִ֚ישׁ אֱלִילֵ֣י כַסְפּ֔וֹ וֶאֱלִילֵ֖י זְהָב֑וֹ אֲשֶׁ֨ר עָשׂ֥וּ לָכֶ֛ם יְדֵיכֶ֖ם חֵֽטְא׃

English:

for in that day everyone will reject their idols of silver and idols of gold, which your hands have made for your guilt.

פסוק ח׳ · Verse 8

Hebrew:

וְנָפַ֤ל אַשּׁוּר֙ בְּחֶ֣רֶב לֹא־אִ֔ישׁ וְחֶ֥רֶב לֹא־אָדָ֖ם תֹּאכְלֶ֑נּוּ וְנָ֥ס לוֹ֙ מִפְּנֵי־חֶ֔רֶב וּבַחוּרָ֖יו לָמַ֥ס יִהְיֽוּ׃

English:

Then Assyria shall fall,Not by the sword of mortals;A sword not of humans shall devour him.He shall shrivelcshrivel From root nss; cf. 10.18; in contrast to others “flee.” before the sword,And his young men pine away.dpine away From root mss; cf. 10.18; in contrast to others “become tributary.”

פסוק ט׳ · Verse 9

Hebrew:

וְסַלְעוֹ֙ מִמָּג֣וֹר יַעֲב֔וֹר וְחַתּ֥וּ מִנֵּ֖ס שָׂרָ֑יו נְאֻם־יְהֹוָ֗ה אֲשֶׁר־א֥וּר לוֹ֙ בְּצִיּ֔וֹן וְתַנּ֥וּר ל֖וֹ בִּירוּשָׁלָֽ͏ִם׃ {פ}

English:

His rock shall melt with terror,And his officers shall collapse from weaknessecollapse from weakness Cf. first note at v. 8; meaning of Heb. uncertain.—Declares GOD, who has a fire in Zion,Who has an oven in Jerusalem.fJerusalem Cf. 30.33.

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