Isaiah 31:4 Komentář

This chapter is an abridgment of the foregoing chapter; the heads of it are much the same. Here is, I. A woe to those who, when the Assyrian army invaded them, trusted to the Egyptians, and not to God, for succour (Isa 31:1-3). II. Assurance given of the care God would take of Jerusalem in that time of danger and distress (Isa 31:4, Isa 31:5). III. A call to repentance and reformation (Isa 31:6, Isa 31:7). IV. A prediction of the fall of the Assyrian army, and the fright which the Assyrian king should thereby be put into (Isa 31:8, Isa 31:9).

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 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 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 and the chapter is closed with a prophecy of the ruin of the Assyrian army, and the flight of their king, Isa 31:8.

For thus hath the Lord spoken unto me,.... The prophet Isaiah, who had heard and received what follows from the Lord, and therefore it might be depended upon; and they are words of grace and mercy, promising preservation and deliverance; and therefore it was a foolish thing to send to Egypt for help: Like as the lion, and the young lion roaring on his prey; or "muttering", or "growling over his prey" (r); for the lion roars when he is hungry, and wants a prey, and not when he has got one; but when he has one, and is tearing it in pieces, and feeding upon it, he makes a lower noise, a growling one, especially when he apprehends anyone near to disturb him: when a multitude of shepherds is called forth against him; or, "a fulness of shepherds" (s); the whole posse of them, all that are in the towns and villages, or fields adjacent: who, when a lion has got a lamb or sheep out of the flock, are alarmed and called together, to deliver it, if possible, out of his hands; one not daring to venture, or being not sufficient to disturb him, or drive him away: or, "when a multitude of shepherds meet him" (t); with the prey in his jaws; or rather "call to him", make a noise, in hopes to frighten him, and cause him to drop his prey, that being all they can do, not daring to go near him; which sense is confirmed by what follows: he will not be afraid of their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them; he will not leave and lose his prey, or flee from it or them, for the yell and confused noise they make; nor move at all the faster for them, not being in the least intimidated by them: so shall the Lord of hosts come down to fight for Mount Zion, and for the hill thereof; that is, he shall come down from heaven by his angel, or in the display of his mighty power, and fight against the Assyrian army, in favour of his people, the inhabitants of Zion or Jerusalem, and deliver them; and there will be no more withstanding him, or putting him off from his purpose, or preventing his good designs and resolutions, than the shepherds are able to divert a lion from his prey. The simile is expressive of the power of God, and of his certain accomplishment of his purposes and promises. (r) "ab" "mussitare." (s) "plenitudo pastorum", Montanus, De Dieu, Cocceius. A collection of them, as Ben Melech. (t) "quando in occursum illius venit", Munster.

(Verses 4, 5.) For thus says the Lord to me: Just as when a lion roars, and a lion cub over its prey, when a multitude of shepherds come against it, it will not be afraid of their voices, nor terrified by their numbers; so the Lord of hosts will come down to fight upon Mount Zion and its hill. Like birds hovering, so the Lord of hosts will protect Jerusalem, protecting and delivering, passing over and saving. In manifestis unam ponimus editionem, maxime ubi nulla diversitas sensuum est. Caesis in Aegypto Israelitis et Aegyptiis, in quorum auxilio confidebant, revertentur (( Al. revertuntur)) in Jerusalem, Cyro regnante, captivi. Et per duas similitudines, Domini, qui se fore adjutorem promiserat, fortitudo monstratur. Sicut leo et catulus leonis esuriens, si cernat ovium gregem, nulla pastorum voce terretur, et multitudinem eorum conscius virium suarum despicit: sic Dominus exercituum praeliabitur, non contra montem Sion et collem ejus, super montem Sion contra adversarios illius. Let us give another comparison: Just as birds defend their offspring by flying over their nests, and whether they see a snake or a human, the birds and others approach their chicks, forgetting their weakness, they fight with their beaks and claws, and with a chattering voice they express their anguish: so the Lord will protect Jerusalem and deliver it by passing over, and He will save it. For 'passing over' in Hebrew is 'Phase', and it is translated as 'ὑπερβαίνων' by the interpreters, apart from the Septuagint. From which it is clear that Pascha, that is, the Lord's Passover, does not signify His passion, but His passage. Moreover, that the Lord acted as the protector in the likeness of birds over Jerusalem, He Himself testifies in the Gospel: 'Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you' (Matt. XXIII, 37): how often have I desired to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing? And in Deuteronomy it is said of the Lord: He spread his wings and took them, and carried them on his shoulders (Deut. XXXII, 11).

695. For thus says the Lord. Here he sets out the consolation, promising liberation by God from their enemies, from whom they could not be liberated by the Egyptians. And concerning this, he does three things. First, he sets out the defense of the Jews under the likeness of a defending lion, saying: you and the Egyptians in whom you trusted in contempt of me will perish: for thus says the Lord, who alone saves; so shall the Lord of hosts come down to fight, as a defender against those who hindered the building of the temple after the return from captivity; or against the Assyrians: and I will be to them as a lioness, as a leopard in the way of the Assyrians (Hos 13:7).

The Jews again reproved for their confidence in Egypt, finely contrasted with their neglect of the power and protection of God, Isa 31:1-3. Deliverance and protection are, notwithstanding, promised, expressed by two similes; the first remarkably lofty and poetical, the latter singularly beautiful and tender, Isa 31:4, Isa 31:5. Exhortation to repentance, joined with the prediction of a more reformed period, Isa 31:6, Isa 31:7. This chapter concludes like the preceding, with a prophecy of the fall of Sennacherib, Isa 31:8, Isa 31:9.

Like as the lion - This comparison is exactly in the spirit and manner, and very nearly approaching to the expression, of Homer. Βη ρ' ιμεν, ὡστε λεων ορεσιτροφος, ὁστ' επιδευης Δηρον εῃ κρειων, κελεται δε ἑ θυμος αγηνωρ, Μηλων πειρησοντα, και ες πυκινον δομον ελθειν· Ειπερ γαρ χ' εὑρῃσι παρ' αυτοψι βωτορας ανδρας Συν κυσι και δουρεσσι φυλασσοντας περι μηλα, Ου ρα τ' απειρητος μεμονε σταθμοιο διεσθαι. Αλλ' ὁγ' αῥ η ἡρπαξε μεταλμενος, ηε και αυτος Εβλητ' εν πρωτοισι θοης απο χειρος ακοντι. Iliad 12:299. As the bold lion, mountain-bred, now long Famished, with courage and with hunger stung Attempts the thronged fold: him nought appals, Though dogs and armed shepherds stand in guard Collected; he nathless undaunted springs O'er the high fence, and rends the trembling prey; Or, rushing onward, in his breast receives The well-aimed spear. Of metaphors, allegories, and comparisons of the Hebrew poets, in which the Divine nature and attributes are represented under images taken from brutes and other low objects; of their effect, their sublimity, and the causes of it; see De Sac. Poes. Heb., Praelect. 16 sub. fin.

THE CHIEF STRENGTH OF THE EGYPTIAN ARMIES LAY IN THEIR CAVALRY. (Isa 31:1-9) and stay on horses, and trust in chariots--In their level and fertile plains horses could easily be used and fed (Exo 14:9; Kg1 10:28). In hilly Palestine horses were not so easily had or available. The Jews were therefore the more eager to get Egyptian chariots as allies against the Assyrian cavalry. In Assyrian sculptures chariots are represented drawn by three horses, and with three men in them (see Isa 36:9; Psa 20:7; Dan 9:13).

(Isa 42:13; Hos 11:10). roaring on--"growling over" his prey. abase himself--be disheartened or frightened.

There is nothing to surprise us in the fact, that the prophet returns again and again to the alliance with Egypt. After his warning had failed to prevent it, he wrestled with it in spirit, set before himself afresh the curse which would be its certain fruit, brought out and unfolded the consolation of believers that lay hidden in the curse, and did not rest till the cursed fruit, that had become a real thing, had been swallowed up by the promise, which was equally real. The situation of this fourth woe is just the same as that of the previous one. The alliance with Egypt is still in progress. "Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help, and rely upon horses, and put their trust in chariots, that there are many of them; and in horsemen, that there is a powerful multitude of them; and do not look up to the Holy One of Israel, and do not inquire for Jehovah! And yet He also is wise; thus then He brings evil, and sets not His words aside; and rises up against the house of miscreants, and against the help of evil-doers. And Egypt is man, and not God; and its horses flesh, and not spirit. And when Jehovah stretches out His hand, the helper stumbles, and he that is helped falls, and they all perish together." The expression "them that go down" (hayyōredı̄m) does not imply that the going down was taking place just then for the first time. It is the participle of qualification, just as God is called הבּרא. לעזרה with Lamed of the object, as in Isa 20:6. The horses, chariots, and horsemen here, as those of Egypt, which Diodorus calls ἱππάσιμος, on account of its soil being so suitable for cavalry (see Lepsius in Herzog's Cyclopaedia). The participle is combined in the finite verb. Instead of ועל־סוּסים, we also find the reading preferred by Norzi, of על without Vav, as in Isa 5:11 (cf., Isa 5:23). The perfects, שׁעוּ לא and דרשׁוּ לא, are used without any definite time, to denote that which was always wanting in them. The circumstantial clause, "whilst He is assuredly also wise," i.e., will bear comparison with their wisdom and that of Egypt, is a touching μείωσις. It was not necessary to think very highly of Jehovah, in order to perceive the reprehensible and destructive character of their apostasy from Him. The fut. consec. ויּבא is used to indicate the inevitable consequence of their despising Him who is also wise. He will not set aside His threatening words, but carry them out. The house of miscreants is Judah (Isa 1:4); and the help (abstr. pro concr., just as Jehovah is frequently called "my help," ‛ezrâthı̄, by the Psalmist) of evil-doers is Egypt, whose help has been sought by Judah. The latter is "man" ('âdâm), and its horses "flesh" (bâsâr); whereas Jehovah is God (El) and spirit (rūăch; see Psychol. p. 85). Hofmann expounds it correctly: "As ruuach has life in itself, it is opposed to the bâsâr, which is only rendered living through the rūăch; and so El is opposed to the corporeal 'âdâm, who needs the spirit in order to live at all." Thus have they preferred the help of the impotent and conditioned, to the help of the almighty and all-conditioning One. Jehovah, who is God and spirit, only requires to stretch out His hand (an anthropomorphism, by the side of which we find the rule for interpreting it); and the helpers, and those who are helped (i.e., according to the terms of the treaty, though not in reality), that is to say, both the source of the help and the object of help, are all cast into one heap together.

And things of this kind would occur. "For thus hath Jehovah spoken to me, As the lion growls, and the young lion over its prey, against which a whole crowd of shepherds is called together; he is not alarmed at their cry, and does not surrender at their noise; so will Jehovah of hosts descend to the campaign against the mountain of Zion, and against their hill." There is no other passage in the book of Isaiah which sounds so Homeric as this (vid., Il. xviii. 161, 162, xii. 299ff.). It has been misunderstood by Knobel, Umbreit, Drechsler, and others, who suppose על לצבּא to refer to Jehovah's purpose to fight for Jerusalem: Jehovah, who would no more allow His city to be taken from Him, than a lion would give up a lamb that it had taken as its prey. But how could Jerusalem be compared to a lamb which a lion holds in its claws as tereph? (Isa 5:29). We may see, even from Isa 29:7, what construction is meant to be put upon על צבא. Those sinners and their protectors would first of all perish; for like a fierce indomitable lion would Jehovah advance against Jerusalem, and take it as His prey, without suffering Himself to be thwarted by the Judaeans and Egyptians, who set themselves in opposition to His army (The Assyrians). The mountain of Zion was the citadel and temple; the hill of Zion the city of Jerusalem (Isa 10:32). They would both be given up to the judgment of Jehovah, without any possibility of escape. The commentators have been misled by the fact, that a simile of a promising character follows immediately afterwards, without anything to connect the one with the other. But this abrupt μετάβασις was intended as a surprise, and was a true picture of the actual fulfilment of the prophecy; for in the moment of the greatest distress, when the actual existence of Jerusalem was in question (cf., Isa 10:33-34), the fate of Ariel took suddenly and miraculously a totally different turn (Isa 29:2). In this sense, a pleasant picture is placed side by side with the terrible one (compare Mic 5:6-7).