Isaiah 30:16

Isa 30:16 But ye said, No; for we will flee upon horses; therefore shall ye flee: and, We will ride upon the swift; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift.

Ver. 16. But ye said, No.] We will not return or rest. This is a golden rule of life, In silentio et spe fortitudo vestra; but these refractories would have none of it, they knew a better way to work than all that came to. Politicians are like tumblers, that have their heads on the earth and their heels against heaven. Cross-grained they are for the most part to all good.

For we will flee upon horses.] Whereof Egypt was full, and for which it was famous of old, and so is yet, for the Mamelukes’ horses especially.

Therefore shall ye flee.] But in another sense, sc., fusi fugatique ab hoste, with the enemy at your heels.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

30:16 Judah’s reliance on Egypt to supply swift horses (see Ps 33:17) amounted to a rejection of God’s help and threatened to bring about its fall.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

We will trust to escape by our horses.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

flee--not as fugitives, but we will speed our course; namely, against the Assyrians, by the help of cavalry supplied by Egypt (Isa 31:1). This was expressly against the Mosaic law (Deu 17:16; see on Isa 2:7; Hos 14:3).

shall . . . flee--literally, "before your enemies"; their sin and its punishment correspond.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(16) We will flee upon horses.—These were expected as the Egyptian contingent of the forces of Judah. With them and the prestige attaching to their fame, the generals and statesmen reckoned on being able to resist Assyria. Isaiah, with his keen insight into the present temper of Egypt, tells them that the only use of the horses will be for a more rapid retreat, not for the charge of battle.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

16. we will flee] Translate: we will fly (against the enemy). The word, which in the next clause (as in every other instance) means “flee,” is chosen because in Hebr. it resembles in sound the word for “horses.”

upon the swift] (coursers). In ch. Isa_36:8 the Rabshakeh seems to taunt the Judæans with their childish fondness for horsemanship.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But ye said, No, for we will flee upon horses,.... Hither and thither to get help and assistance; go down to Egypt for it on them, or thither for them, as some render it; and then face the enemy, and, if we can not conquer him, will flee from him, and so provide for our safety; this is man's way of salvation, as opposed to God's way; see Hos 1:7 or this may design their fleeing on horses and camels with their riches into Egypt, both for the security of them and their persons, Isa 30:6,

therefore shall ye flee; on horses from the enemy, and be pursued and taken by him; this was fulfilled long after, when the city was taken by the Chaldeans; see Kg2 25:4,

and, We will ride upon the swift; horses or camels, to the swiftness of which they trusted, and doubted not to get off safe, but would find themselves mistaken:

therefore shall they that pursue you be swift; yea, swifter than the horses and camels they rode on, and overtake them, and either put them to death, or carry them captive. The Chaldeans are represented as very swift, Jer 4:13.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

But ye said, No - Ye who proposed an alliance with Egypt.

For we will flee upon horses - The word ‘flee’ (נוּס nûc), usually signifies to flee before or from any person or thing. But here it seems to have the notion of making a rapid motion in general, and not to refer to the fact that they expected to flee “from” their enemy, for it does not seem to have been a part of their expectation. The idea seems to be that by their alliance with Egypt they would secure the means of “rapid motion,” whatever might be the necesity or occasion for it, whether against or from an enemy. The sense is, ‘we will by this alliance secure the assistance of cavalry;’ and, doubtless, the design was to employ it in the attack and discomfiture of their foes. It will be recollected that Moses Deu 17:16 strictly forbade that the future monarch of the Jews should ‘multiply horses to himself, to cause the people to return to Egypt,’ and that consequently the employment of cavalry was against the laws of the nation. For the reasons of this prohibition, see the note at Isa 2:7. The attempt, therefore, in the time of Hezekiah to call in the aid of the cavalry of Egypt, was a violation of both the letter and the spirit of the Jewish institutions (compare Isa 31:1; Hos 14:4).

Therefore shall ye flee - You shall fly before your enemies; you shall be defeated and scattered.

We will ride upon the swift - That is, upon fleet horses or coursers. Arabia was celebrated, and is still, for producing fleet coursers, and the same was formerly true of Egypt (see the note at Isa 2:7).

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Ones, or chariots. (Calmet) --- Egypt was famous for horses, Deuteronomy xvii. 16. (Forcr.[Forerius?]) --- Rebsaces ridicules the Jews for the want of them, 4 Kings xviii. 23. (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

We will flee out of this land from the king of Assyria; which is very probable divers of the richer sort did, having sent their treasures before them, as we read Isa 30:6.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Ye said, No; for we will flee upon horses; rather, we will fly upon horses. The nobles had perhaps a manly eagerness to mount the Egyptian war-horses, and rush upon the enemy at full speed, in the hope of discomfiting them. Isaiah warns them that they will not really fig on the enemy, but flee before him. We will ride upon the swift. "The swift" (kal) seems to be a mere variant for "horse," the parallelism being, as so frequently, "synonymous." Therefore shall they that pursue you be swift. However swift the horses of the Judaeans, their enemies would be as well mounted and would pursue and overtake them.

The peril of the willful.

"We will ride upon the swift; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift." We will there is man"s sin. That is not a fit position for dependent man ever to take. "They that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare." "Go to now, ye that say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain For that ye ought to say, if the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that." From some points of view these strong-willed men may be regarded as the noble-men of earth. They have a purpose in life, which holds in and guides, as with bit and bridle, all the forces of their being. They are the great men in our mills and warehouses; the foremost as statesmen, and in carrying out great social and national enterprises. They seem to have a power of control over all the circumstances surrounding them, and a power of recoil from the greatest disappointments and disasters. Yet this disposition lays men open to peculiar dangers. Strong will is liable to become self-will to refuse the ordinance of God; to refuse the help of God; to refuse to wait for God. It stands up in fancied majesty and says, "I will." "Whatever God may say or do, I will. I will be rich, I will be successful, I will be great." When a man in such a spirit says, "I will," he is on the very pit-edge, and on the pit-edge blindfolded.

I WILFULNESS IS REBELLIOUSNESS. Because man is God"s servant, pledged to carry out his Master"s will, and not his own will. Man is God"s child, and in duty bound to fulfill his Father"s commands. Disobedience is rebellion.

II WILFULNESS IS WEAKNESS. Because man is entirely dependent on the God whose will he refuses, for the means of accomplishing what he determines to do. His willfulness is as weak as a child"s who has no money, no power, but depends entirely on his parents.

III WILFULNESS IS FOOLISHNESS. For it is a setting of ourselves against the Almighty God, as if he would allow us to shift and rearrange his plans. Man"s willfulness may make a noise, and bring him into trouble; but it is only a child"s attempt to hold back the flowing of the great river of God. A little time of vain trying, and then the child is swept away by the flood, which still rolls on.

IV WILFULNESS IS PERIL. It will be a marvel, almost a miracle, if such a man do not "fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. R.T.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

“And ye said, No, for we will flee upon horses; therefore shall ye flee; and upon the swift will we ride; therefore shall your pursuers be swift.” The hope here ascribed to the people is not’ simply that of going swiftly, but of escaping from the dangers threatened.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Prophecies of Isaiah (1846–1847; New York: Scribner, 1870–1878) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

on horses will we flee (נָנוּס) We will ally ourselves with the king of Egypt, and we will bring from there swift steeds in order to flee.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

ננוס. According to the grammarian R. Jonah: we shall lift ourselves up; he compares it with נֵס banner (that is lifted up), and gives thus to ננוס a meaning similar to that of נרכב we will ride, as required by the parallelism. Others taking ננוס in its usual sense, we shall flee, explain the passage thus: You fled without cause, you will therefore be compelled to flee by your pursuers.

קל The swift. An epithet of the horse, as is כר swift of the camel.

Ibn Ezra on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009” (CC BY 4.0); and “Commentary of Ibn Ezra on Isaiah - trans. by M. Friedlander, 1873” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.