Глава 31

1–3. Egypt will not help the Jews against Assur. 4–9. And only the Lord Himself will save His people. Isa.31:1–3. If Jewish politicians expected to receive great benefits from an alliance with Egypt, then the Lord would disgrace their calculations and punish both the imaginary defenders of the Jews and the Jews themselves for their distrust of the Lord. Isa.31:1. Woe to those who go to Egypt for help, trust in horses and rely on chariots, because they are many, and on horsemen, because they are very strong, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel and do not resort to the Lord! “They are going to Egypt” - translated from Hebrew: “they are going down.” 38 Egypt, indeed, lay below (south) of Palestine. By “descending” we mean, of course, not only the Jewish ambassadors, but also those who sent them to Egypt. Isa.31:2. But He is wise; and He will bring disaster, and will not revoke His words; He will rise up against the house of the wicked and against the help of the workers of iniquity. “But He is wise.” Jewish diplomats were proud of their wisdom, their political tact. But true wisdom lies only with the Lord. It lies in the fact that the Almighty can always fulfill His decision - with Him, word is inseparable from deed! “The house of the wicked” refers to the then leaders of the Jewish state. “Help for those who do lawlessness” is the help the Jews expected from the Egyptians, who did not have true guidance for life, which was the Law of Moses, and therefore could not help but commit lawlessness. Isa.31:3. And the Egyptians are people, not God; and their horses are flesh and not spirit. And the Lord will stretch out His hand, and the defender will stumble, and the defended will fall, and they will all perish together. Can the Egyptians compete with God? Their horses are also not disembodied spirits that cannot be hit with an arrow or spear. Isaiah 31:4–9. But, on the other hand, no enemy - not even Assur - will be terrible for Jerusalem when the Lord comes to Zion to help the Jews who have repented of their former unbelief. The enemies of the Jews will scatter in terrible panic and the sword of the Lord will strike them. Isa.31:4. For this is what the Lord said to me: like a lion, like a skiman, roaring over his prey, even though many shepherds shout at him, and will not tremble at their cry and will not yield to their multitude, so the Lord of hosts will come down to fight for Mount Zion and for its hill. Isa.31:5. Like birds - chicks, so the Lord of hosts will cover Jerusalem, protect and deliver, spare and save. God alone can protect the Jews from the Assyrians. For this purpose, he will go down to Mount Zion (according to the Russian translation for Mount Zion - inaccurate translation), where the church of the Lord and the king’s palace were located, and to its hill or to other points in Jerusalem where ordinary citizens lived. 39 “Like birds hatchlings” is an inaccurate translation. It is more correct to translate this verse as follows: “like a flying bird, so the Lord will protect and rule over Jerusalem.” 40 The image is borrowed from a bird flying over its nest to protect its chicks remaining there, which are in danger. Isa.31:6. Turn to Him from whom you have fallen so much, sons of Israel! But in order to be worthy of this protection of God, the Jews must fulfill one important condition - to leave idols and turn to the Almighty. Isa.31:7. On that day every man will cast away his silver idols and his gold idols, which your hands have made for you to sin. Isa.31:8. And Assur will not fall by the sword of man, nor will the sword of man consume him; he will escape from the sword, and his young men will be a tribute. Isa.31:9. And out of fear he will run past his fortress; and his princes will be afraid of the banner, says the Lord, whose fire is in Zion and whose furnace is in Jerusalem. “On that day” is a very vague expression. The prophet here does not at all distinguish between individual moments of the future tense and therefore for him the defeat of the Assyrians and the renunciation of the Jews from idolatry seem to be contemporary events, whereas, in fact, even after their deliverance from the Assyrians the Jews were carried away by idolatry. "Discard" . The Jews will see that their hope in these idols was completely in vain (cf. Isa. 2:8, 20). "For sin". Idolatry led the Jews to all kinds of sins and crimes (Hos. 8:11). “He will escape... the sword” – perhaps more correctly from Hebrew. he will flee from the sword (of God). “Young men” - in Hebrew. bachurim. This is what the Jews sometimes called warriors, as people who were especially strong in strength (2 Samuel 6:1). “Tax” – more precisely: “slaves”. “And out of fear he will run past his fortress” - perhaps more correctly from Hebrew. “and his fortress or rock (i.e., the king of Asshur) will disappear in the fear of the Lord.” "Banner". The most natural thing to understand here is the Jewish banner, from which the Assyrians and their princes or leaders will flee in horror. “Fire” is actually a bright and luminous flame that will burn enemies. The “crucible” is a fiery furnace in which the enemies of the Jews will also be burned. Some interpreters, however, see here a designation of a simple oven in which bread was baked and understand this place as an indication of the Lord’s special closeness to Jerusalem, in which He will dwell like a man in his home. The poem, contained in chapter 31, is divided into the following stanzas: 1 stanza – 1–3 art. – (3, 2, 2) Stanza 2 – 4–6 art. – (3, 2, 2) Stanza 3 – 7–9 art. – (2, 2, 2) Also in the Slavic translation from LXX - “Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help.” Note ed. The Slavic translation from the LXX also speaks of the Lord who descended “on Mount Zion and to fight on its mountains.” Note ed. In the Slavic translation, too, “Like soaring birds, the Lord of Hosts will protect this one.” Note ed. You might be interested in: