Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of Isaiah
Chapter 31: Men, and Not God; Flesh, and Not Spirit
Chapter 31 presses home the warning of the last: woe to those who 'go down to Egypt for help' and trust in horses and chariots 'because they are many,' while they 'look not unto the Holy One of Israel.' In one unforgettable line Isaiah exposes the folly of it all: 'the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit.' Yet the same God who will not be replaced by Egypt promises to defend His own city like a lion that will not be scared off its prey, and like birds hovering over the nest, and He calls His people, 'Turn ye unto him from whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted.'
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of Isaiah chapter 31, part of the section of woes (chapters 28-33). For each section you will find the KJV text, the Hebrew words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. This short chapter contrasts the weakness of Egypt with the power of God, who defends His people and calls them to turn back to Him. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Setting the Stage
Trusting Horses
They go down to Egypt and trust in chariots and horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel.
Flesh, Not Spirit
"The Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit." Helper and helped fall together.
Like a Lion, Like Birds
The LORD comes down to fight for Zion, fierce as a lion, tender as birds hovering over the nest.
Turn Ye Unto Him
He calls His people to turn back and cast away their idols, and the Assyrian falls by no human sword.
Men, and Not God (Isaiah 31:1-3)
Isaiah cries woe over those who run to Egypt's cavalry for safety while ignoring God, and reduces the whole misplaced trust to one devastating truth: Egypt is only human, and its horses only flesh.
Their Horses Flesh, and Not Spirit
"Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the LORD! Yet he also is wise, and will bring evil, and will not call back his words: but will arise against the house of the evildoers, and against the help of them that work iniquity. Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit. When the LORD shall stretch out his hand, both he that helpeth shall fall, and he that is holpen shall fall down, and they all shall fail together."
Hebrew Study
"stay on horses," shaan (שָׁעַן). To lean the whole weight upon something, as on a staff. They leaned on Egypt's cavalry as their support. The word exposes the issue: it is not that they had horses, but that they leaned on them instead of on God.
"flesh, and not spirit," basar velo ruach (בָּשָׂר וְלֹא רוּחַ). The great divide of the verse. Egypt and her horses are basar, flesh, mortal and weak; God is ruach, Spirit, living and almighty. To trust flesh against the God who is Spirit is to bet everything on what must fail.
Explanation
The woe falls again on those who "go down to Egypt for help." Their confidence is in numbers and muscle, they "trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong", but their eyes are in the wrong place: "they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the LORD." Isaiah reminds them that God too "is wise", they are not the only clever ones, and He "will not call back his words" but will act against both the evildoers and "the help" they trusted. Then comes the line that pierces the whole delusion: "Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit." It is so obvious once said, and so easily forgotten. When God "shall stretch out his hand," the helper and the helped collapse together, "they all shall fail together." Flesh cannot stand against the God who is Spirit.
Gospel Focus
"The Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit." Here is one of the clearest statements in Scripture of the folly of trusting the arm of flesh. Everything we are tempted to lean on instead of God, human power, money, armies, technology, our own strength, is finally "flesh, and not spirit," and it will "fail together" when God stretches out His hand. "Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm... Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD" (Jeremiah 17:5, 7). "Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God. They are brought down and fallen: but we are risen, and stand upright" (Psalm 20:7-8). The question is not whether you have resources but where you lean. It is not wrong to have "horses"; it is deadly to trust them. Before you run to your Egypt, remember what it is made of, flesh, and not spirit. Look to the Holy One of Israel, and lean your whole weight on the God who is Spirit and cannot fail.
Like a Lion, Like Birds Flying (Isaiah 31:4-9)
Against the weakness of Egypt, God pledges to defend His own city with the fearless strength of a lion and the sheltering tenderness of a mother bird, and He calls His people to turn back, throw away their idols, and watch the Assyrian fall by no human sword.
The LORD Shall Defend Jerusalem
"For thus hath the LORD spoken unto me, Like as the lion and the young lion roaring on his prey, when a multitude of shepherds is called forth against him, he will not be afraid of their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them: so shall the LORD of hosts come down to fight for mount Zion, and for the hill thereof. As birds flying, so will the LORD of hosts defend Jerusalem; defending also he will deliver it; and passing over he will preserve it. Turn ye unto him from whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted. For in that day every man shall cast away his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which your own hands have made unto you for a sin. 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. And he shall pass over to his strong hold for fear, and his princes shall be afraid of the ensign, saith the LORD, whose fire is in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem."
Hebrew Study
"As birds flying," ke-tsipporim afoth (כְּצִפֳּרִים עָפוֹת). The picture of a mother bird hovering over her nest, wings spread to shield her young. Set beside the lion, it gives both sides of God's protection: fierce and unafraid toward the enemy, gentle and covering toward His own.
"passing over he will preserve it," pasoach (פָּסֹחַ). The verb is the root of "Passover" (Exodus 12). As God once "passed over" the blood-marked houses in Egypt to spare them, so He will pass over Jerusalem to protect it, a deliberate echo of the night He saved His people.
Explanation
Now God turns from Egypt's weakness to His own strength, and gives two pictures of how He defends His people. First, He is like a lion over its prey that "will not be afraid" of a whole crowd of shepherds shouting at it, "so shall the LORD of hosts come down to fight for mount Zion." No mob of enemies can frighten Him off. Second, and tenderly, He is "as birds flying," a mother bird hovering with outstretched wings, "so will the LORD of hosts defend Jerusalem; defending also he will deliver it; and passing over he will preserve it." Fierce toward the foe, gentle toward His children. On the basis of such a Defender, the call goes out: "Turn ye unto him from whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted," and the sign of true turning is that "every man shall cast away his idols of silver, and his idols of gold." Then God promises the deliverance He alone can give: "the Assyrian shall fall with the sword, not of a mighty man", not by human power at all, but by God, "whose fire is in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem."
Gospel Focus
See the two sides of God's care held together in one breath: a lion and a hovering bird. He is mighty enough that no army can drive Him from His people, and tender enough to cover them like a mother shielding her young. Jesus wept the same bird-image over Jerusalem: "how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!" (Matthew 23:37). The God who fights like a lion is the God who shelters like a bird, and "passing over he will preserve it," the very language of Passover, points to the deliverance that came in Christ our Passover, "sacrificed for us" (1 Corinthians 5:7). And notice the call that this protection presses home: "Turn ye unto him." The proof of real returning is what we do with our idols, "cast away his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which your own hands have made." Repentance always throws away what the heart had made into a god. Finally, the Assyrian falls "with the sword, not of a mighty man", God needs no human help to save, and He did exactly this when the angel struck Sennacherib's army in a night (Isaiah 37:36). The Defender who is a lion and a bird, and who saves without the arm of flesh, is the one worth turning to. Cast away your idols and hide under His wings.
Chapter 31 in Review
Isaiah 31 is a short, sharp contrast between the weakness of Egypt and the power of God. Judah kept running "down to Egypt for help," trusting horses and chariots "because they are many," while they "look not unto the Holy One of Israel." Isaiah punctures the whole scheme with one line: "the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit", and when God stretches out His hand, helper and helped "fail together." Against that fragile trust He sets Himself as Defender in two images: a lion that will not be scared off its prey, and birds hovering to shield the nest, fierce toward the enemy, tender toward His own, "passing over" Jerusalem to preserve it. On the strength of such a God He calls, "Turn ye unto him," with the sure sign of return being idols thrown away, and He promises that the Assyrian will fall "with the sword, not of a mighty man," by God alone.
For the Apostolic reader the chapter drives home a single, searching question: where do you lean? Everything the world offers as security is "flesh, and not spirit," and it will fail when God acts. Only the Holy One of Israel, the God who is Spirit, cannot fail. And this mighty God is also gentle, gathering His people under His wings as a bird shields her young, the very picture Jesus used weeping over Jerusalem, and the deliverance He gives is by His own hand, without the arm of flesh, foreshadowing our Passover, Christ, who saved us when we could not save ourselves. So turn to Him from whom we have revolted, cast away the idols our own hands have made, and take shelter under the wings of the Lion who fights for Zion.
- Trusting the arm of flesh is folly: "the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit" (31:1, 3; Jeremiah 17:5, 7; Psalm 20:7-8).
- What we lean on instead of God will "fail together" when He stretches out His hand (31:3).
- God defends His people as both a fearless lion and a sheltering bird, fierce toward the foe, tender toward His own (31:4-5; Matthew 23:37).
- "Passing over he will preserve it" echoes Passover and points to Christ our Passover (31:5; 1 Corinthians 5:7).
- True turning to God casts away idols, and He delivers "with the sword, not of a mighty man," by His own hand (31:6-8; Isaiah 37:36).
Questions for Reflection
- What is your "Egypt", the flesh-and-not-spirit thing you lean on for security instead of God?
- How does seeing God as both a lion and a sheltering bird change the way you trust Him in danger?
- The sign of returning is casting away idols. What has your own hand made that God is calling you to throw away?
- Do you truly believe God can deliver "with the sword, not of a mighty man", without the human help you keep reaching for?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). The Hebrew terms are standard and can be checked in any Hebrew lexicon. The chapter continues chapter 30's warning against Judah's alliance with Egypt against Assyria. "Passing over" (verse 5) uses the root of "Passover" (Exodus 12); the promise that the Assyrian would fall "not of a mighty man" (verse 8) was fulfilled when the angel of the LORD struck Sennacherib's army (Isaiah 37:36). Jesus takes up the sheltering-bird image in Matthew 23:37. If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- The folly of trusting Egypt's flesh instead of the God who is Spirit: Isaiah 31:1-3; Jeremiah 17:5, 7; Psalm 20:7-8.
- God the Defender, lion and bird; the call to turn and cast away idols: Isaiah 31:4-9; Matthew 23:37; 1 Corinthians 5:7; Isaiah 37:36.