1tn Heb “Woe [to] those who go down to Egypt for help.” 2tn Heb “and trust in chariots for they are many.” 3tn Heb “and in horsemen for they are very strong [or “numerous”].” 4sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4. 5sn This statement appears to have a sarcastic tone. The royal advisers who are advocating an alliance with Egypt think they are wise, but the Lord possesses wisdom as well and will thwart their efforts. 6tn Heb “and he does not turn aside [i.e., “retract”] his words”; NIV “does not take back his words.” 7tn Heb “and he will arise against the house of the wicked.” 8sn That is, Egypt. 9tn Heb “and against the help of the doers of sin.” 10tn Heb “will extend”; KJV, ASV, NASB, NCV “stretch out.” 11tn Heb “together all of them will come to an end.” 12tn Heb “As a lion growls, a young lion over its prey.” In the Hebrew text the opening comparison is completed later in the verse (“so the Lord will come down…”), after a parenthesis describing how fearless the lion is. The present translation divides the verse into three sentences for English stylistic reasons. 13tn Heb “Though there is summoned against it fullness of shepherds, by their voice it is not terrified, and to their noise it does not respond.” 14tn Some prefer to translate the phrase לִצְבֹּא עַל (litsbo’ ’al) as “fight against,” but the following context pictures the Lord defending, not attacking, Zion. 15tn Heb “just as birds fly.” The words “over a nest” are supplied in the translation for clarification. 16map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4. 17tn The only other occurrence of this verb is in Exod 12:13, 23, 27, where the Lord “passes over” (i.e., “spares”) the Israelite households as he comes to judge their Egyptian oppressors. The noun פֶּסַח (pesakh, “Passover”) is derived from the verb. The use of the verb in Isa 31:5 is probably an intentional echo of the Exodus event. As in the days of Moses the Lord will spare his people as he comes to judge their enemies. 18tn Heb “Return to the one [against] whom the sons of Israel made deep rebellion.” The syntax is awkward here. A preposition is omitted by ellipsis after the verb (see GKC 446 §138.f, n. 2), and there is a shift from direct address (note the second plural imperative “return”) to the third person (note “they made deep”). For other examples of abrupt shifts in person in poetic style, see GKC 462 §144.p. 19tn Or “in that day” (KJV). 20tn Heb “reject” (so NIV); NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT “throw away.” 21tn Heb “the idols of their idols of silver and their idols of gold which your hands made for yourselves [in] sin.” חָטָא (khata’, “sin”) is understood as an adverbial accusative of manner. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:573, n. 4. 22tn Heb “Assyria will fall by a sword, not of a man.” 23tn Heb “and a sword not of humankind will devour him.” 24tn Heb “he will flee for himself from before a sword.” 25tn Heb “rocky cliff” (cf. ASV, NASB “rock”), viewed metaphorically as a place of defense and security. 26tn Heb “His rocky cliff, because of fear, will pass away [i.e., “perish”].” 27tn Heb “and they will be afraid of the flag, his officers.” 28sn The “fire” and “firepot” here symbolize divine judgment, which is heating up like a fire in Jerusalem, waiting to be used against the Assyrians when they attack the city.
1tn Heb “Woe [to] those who go down to Egypt for help.”
2tn Heb “and trust in chariots for they are many.”
3tn Heb “and in horsemen for they are very strong [or “numerous”].”
4sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
5sn This statement appears to have a sarcastic tone. The royal advisers who are advocating an alliance with Egypt think they are wise, but the Lord possesses wisdom as well and will thwart their efforts.
6tn Heb “and he does not turn aside [i.e., “retract”] his words”; NIV “does not take back his words.”
7tn Heb “and he will arise against the house of the wicked.”
8sn That is, Egypt.
9tn Heb “and against the help of the doers of sin.”
10tn Heb “will extend”; KJV, ASV, NASB, NCV “stretch out.”
11tn Heb “together all of them will come to an end.”
12tn Heb “As a lion growls, a young lion over its prey.” In the Hebrew text the opening comparison is completed later in the verse (“so the Lord will come down…”), after a parenthesis describing how fearless the lion is. The present translation divides the verse into three sentences for English stylistic reasons.
13tn Heb “Though there is summoned against it fullness of shepherds, by their voice it is not terrified, and to their noise it does not respond.”
14tn Some prefer to translate the phrase לִצְבֹּא עַל (litsbo’ ’al) as “fight against,” but the following context pictures the Lord defending, not attacking, Zion.
15tn Heb “just as birds fly.” The words “over a nest” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
16map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
17tn The only other occurrence of this verb is in Exod 12:13, 23, 27, where the Lord “passes over” (i.e., “spares”) the Israelite households as he comes to judge their Egyptian oppressors. The noun פֶּסַח (pesakh, “Passover”) is derived from the verb. The use of the verb in Isa 31:5 is probably an intentional echo of the Exodus event. As in the days of Moses the Lord will spare his people as he comes to judge their enemies.
18tn Heb “Return to the one [against] whom the sons of Israel made deep rebellion.” The syntax is awkward here. A preposition is omitted by ellipsis after the verb (see GKC 446 §138.f, n. 2), and there is a shift from direct address (note the second plural imperative “return”) to the third person (note “they made deep”). For other examples of abrupt shifts in person in poetic style, see GKC 462 §144.p.
19tn Or “in that day” (KJV).
20tn Heb “reject” (so NIV); NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT “throw away.”
21tn Heb “the idols of their idols of silver and their idols of gold which your hands made for yourselves [in] sin.” חָטָא (khata’, “sin”) is understood as an adverbial accusative of manner. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:573, n. 4.
22tn Heb “Assyria will fall by a sword, not of a man.”
23tn Heb “and a sword not of humankind will devour him.”
24tn Heb “he will flee for himself from before a sword.”
25tn Heb “rocky cliff” (cf. ASV, NASB “rock”), viewed metaphorically as a place of defense and security.
26tn Heb “His rocky cliff, because of fear, will pass away [i.e., “perish”].”
27tn Heb “and they will be afraid of the flag, his officers.”
28sn The “fire” and “firepot” here symbolize divine judgment, which is heating up like a fire in Jerusalem, waiting to be used against the Assyrians when they attack the city.