Isaiah 31:3

Isa 31:3 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.

Ver. 3. Now the Egyptains are men, and not God.] Poets fain that in the Trojan war one god fought against another.

“ Mulciber in Troiam, pro Troia stabat Apollo. ”

But the Jews could not imagine that these Egyptians, in whom they confided, were fit matches for God, and able to deal with him. "Who would set those briers and thorns against me in battle I would go through them, I would burn them together." {Isa 27:4}

And their horses flesh, and not spirit.] God is Lord of hosts; and as the Rabbis well observe, he hath his cavalry and his infantry, or his horse and his foot; his upper forces and his lower, ready pressed. "The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels," {Psa 68:17} and what can the Egyptian horse do against such worthy warriors?

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.

Isa_31:3

Men, and not God . . . flesh, and not spirit

Spiritual existences the chief forces of the world

It is here evidently implied that a spirit is mightier than a horse.

The ancients attached the idea of immense force to a well-trained war-horse.

I. SPIRIT IS THE ORIGINAL POWER We see power everywhere around us. We see it in the inanimate world, as the effect which one element produces upon another, and in the motion which one body, in a certain relation, produces upon another. We see it, also, in the world of life: in the plant that turns to its use, and transmutes into its own essence, the elements that play about it; in the beast that drags along the farmers harvest-wain, and in the bird that rises on the wing, and chants its victories over that force that binds the earth and links it to the sun. All these powers are manifestly effects, not ultimate causes--are derived, not primal. All true science suggests this, and the Bible declares it. Spirit is the fontal force. It was spirit that gave to the elements the proclivity to act and re-act on each other; and that so poised the masses of the universe that one should gently press its fellow into lines and ratios of motion, and thus conduce to the harmony and well-being of all. And the forces of life too, whether in the fibres of plants or the muscles of flesh, are but the breathings of that Spirit which reneweth the face of the earth. He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing. By His Spirit He hath garnished the heavens; His hand hath formed the crooked serpent.

II. SPIRIT IS THE SUBORDINATING POWER. The horses of the Egyptians were flesh and not spirit. Implying, probably, the fact, that the Egyptian cavalry lacked that intelligence and skill necessary to render the noble animal of service in the field of battle. The value of the steed in the strife is ever in proportion to the skill of the rider. Wisdom is better than weapons of war. Reason is mightier than brute force. What force is there on earth that man cannot subordinate to his will? Man can press every element into his service as well as every living creature. Let us rise to a sense of the greatness of the nature with which God has endowed us. We are spirit; emanations of the Infinite Mind, and members of that spiritual system for which matter, in all its functions and forms, was made. Let us assert our supremacy over the material--use the world as not abusing it. In one sense we can never think too highly of ourselves. what shall it profit a man? &c. (D. Thomas, D. D.)

Spirituality of the Divine nature

In these words we are reminded of an important and infinite disparity between God and man, arising from a great peculiarity in the character of the former, which rendered the Egyptian monarch and his cavalry infinitely inferior to Him in power, and Gall those other qualities which entitle the possessor of them to confidence and trust.

I. The spirituality of the Divine nature is intimately connected with THE POSSESSION OF ALMIGHTY POWER. The vulgar notion which would restrict the exercise of power to what is corporeal, and deny it to that which is spiritual and immaterial, is a mere prejudice, founded on gross inattention or ignorance. If we inquire after the original seat of power, we shall invariably find it in mind, not in body; in spirit, not in flesh. The changes we are able to effect in the state of the objects around us are produced through the instrumentality of the body, which is always previously put in motion by the mind. As we can move certain parts of our bodies at pleasure, and nothing intervenes betwixt the volition and the corresponding movements, so the great original Spirit impresses on the machine of the universe what movements He pleases, and without the intervention of any other cause. He speaks, and it is done; He commands, and it stands fast.

II. His spirituality is closely connected with His INVISIBILITY. The King eternal, immortal, invisible, whom no man hath seen, nor can see.

Whatever is the object of sight must be perceived under some determinate shape or figure; it must be, consequently, bounded by an outline, and occupy a determinate portion of space, and no more; attributes utterly incompatible with the conceptions of an infinite being. He was pleased formerly, indeed, to signalise His presence with His worshippers by visible symbols, by an admixture of clouds and fire, of darkness and splendour; but that these were never intended to exhibit His power, but merely to afford a sensible attestation of His special presence, is evident, from the care He took to prevent His worshippers from entertaining degrading conceptions of His character, by the solemn prohibition of attempting to represent Him by an image or picture.

III. That God is spirit, and not flesh, is a view of His character closely connected with His OMNIPRESENCE. Matter is subjected to a local circumscription; God, as a Spirit, is capable of co-existing with every other order of being.

IV. Because God is spirit and not flesh, He is possessed of INFINITE WISDOM AND INTELLIGENCE. Thought and perception are the attributes of mind, not of matter; of spirit, not of flesh; and, for this reason, the original and great Spirit possesses them in an infinite degree.

V. The spirituality of the Divine nature lays A FOUNDATION FOR THE MOST INTIMATE RELATION BETWEEN THE INTELLIGENT PART OF THE CREATION AND HIMSELF. He is emphatically the Father of spirits.

VI. The spirituality of the Divine nature FITS HIM FOR BECOMING OUR ETERNAL PORTION AND SUPREME GOOD. (Robert Hall, M. A.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Meaning, both the Egyptians and the Israelites.

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

not spirit--not of divine power (Psa 56:4; Psa 146:3, Psa 146:5; Zac 4:6).

he that helpeth--Egypt.

holpen--Judah.

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

Verse 3. He that helpeth (the Egyptians) shall fall and he that is holpen (the Israelites) shall fall down - together.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(3) The Egyptians are men . . .—We hear again the key-note of Isaiah’s teaching. The true strength of a nation lay in its spiritual, not in its material, greatness: in seeking the Holy One of Israel by practising holiness. Without that condition the alliance with Egypt would be fatal both to those that sought for help and those who gave it.

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

3. men, and not God … flesh, and not spirit] In these antitheses Isaiah formulates his religious conception of history. The present crisis has not been brought about by the mere collision of earthly forces (Egypt, Assyria, Judah); faith discerns in it the operation of a spiritual principle, and knows that that principle must be victorious. “Spirit” is the energetic indestructible element in the universe, by which all life is sustained; and that which is distinctive of the teaching of Isaiah and the prophets generally is (1) the identification of this principle with the moral purpose of Jehovah, and (2) the assertion of the supremacy of the spiritual, thus ethically conceived, over the material. That men could not stand against God, or flesh against spirit, Isaiah’s contemporaries did not need to be taught; what separated him from his hearers was the conviction that there is but one Divine Person, and one spiritual power in the universe, viz.: Jehovah and His moral government as revealed in the consciousness of the prophet. Hence he continues:—And Jehovah shall stretch out his hand, and the helper (Egypt) shall stumble and the holpen (Judah) shall fall; and together they shall all of them perish.

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.

Now the Egyptians are men, and not God,.... Be it that they are mighty, they are not mighty, as God is; and indeed they are but frail, feeble, mortal, and mutable men, and therefore not to be trusted in, and depended on; or to be put upon an equality with God, and even to be preferred to him, as they were by the Jews; and of what use and service could they be unto them, seeing God was against them?

and their horses flesh, and not spirit; only flesh, without an immortal soul or spirit, which man has; and therefore a foolish thing in man to trust in them, who must be entirely guided and directed by them; and much less angelic spirits, or like them, which are incorporeal, invisible, and exceedingly mighty and powerful, which excel all creatures in strength, and are called the mighty angels; these are God's cavalry, his horses and chariots; see Psa 68:17, Hab 3:8 and what mighty things have been done by them, even by a single one? Witness the destruction of the Assyrian army, in one night, by one of them; wherefore the Egyptian cavalry was not to be named with them (q):

When the Lord shall stretch out his hand; as soon as he does it, before he strikes, and when he does this in order to it:

both he that helpeth shall fall; or "stumble", take a false step; meaning the Egyptians, sent for and come forth to help the Jews; but, stumbling and falling themselves, would be but poor assistants to them. Aben Ezra interprets this of the king of Assyria destroying the Egyptians, when he came to Jerusalem:

and he that is holpen shall fall down; the Jews, helped by the Egyptians, who should fall, and be destroyed, though not now; yet hereafter by the Chaldeans, as they were:

and they all shall fail together; both the Egyptians and the Jews.

(q) So Ben Melech interprets "spirit" of an angel, as he does the word "God" in the preceding clause.

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

Now the Egyptians are men - They are nothing but people; they have no power but such as other people possess. The idea here is, that the case in reference to which they sought aid was one in which “divine” help was indispensable, and that, therefore, they relied on the aid of the Egyptians in vain.

And their horses flesh, and not spirit - There is need, not merely of “physical” strength, but of wisdom, and intelligence, and it is in vain to look for that in mere brutes.

Both he that helpeth - Egypt, whose aid is sought.

And he that is holpen - Judah, that had sought the aid of Egypt. Neither of them would be able to stand against the wrath of God.

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

Hand. If God neglect to support empires, they fall of themselves.

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).

Are men, and not God; and therefore utterly unable to defend you, either without or against my will.

Their horses flesh; weak and frail, as that word signifies, Psa 78:39; Heb 5:7, and elsewhere.

Not spirit; not like spiritual substances, such as the angels, who are immortal, and invisible by men; whereof we have instances, Exo 12:29,30; Isa 37:36.

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

Flesh - Weak and frail.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

“And Egypt (is) man and not God, and their horses flesh and not spirit, and Jehovah shall stretch out His hand, and the helper shall stumble and the helped fall, and together all of them shall cease (or be destroyed).” This verse repeats the contrast between human and divine aid, and the threatening that the unbelievers and their foreign helpers should be involved in the same destruction. The antithesis of flesh and spirit, like that of God and man, is not metaphysical but rhetorical, and is intended simply to express extreme dissimilitude or inequality. Reliance upon Egypt is again sarcastically represented as reliance upon horses, and as such opposed to confidence in God. As Egypt here means the Egyptians, it is afterwards referred to as a plural. Stumble and fall are here poetical equivalents.

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

Egypt is a man

Here Egypt refers to the soldiers of Egypt. AT: "The soldiers of Egypt are men" (See: Metonymy)

their horses flesh and not spirit

This means that their horses are only horses and not spiritual beings. AT: "their horses are only horses; they are not powerful spirits" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

When Yahweh reaches out with his hand

The term "hand" is often used in reference to God's power and action. AT: "When Yahweh uses his power against them" (See: Metonymy)

both the one who helps will stumble, and the one who is helped will fall

These two phrases mean basically the same thing. Stumbling and falling are metaphors of failing. This can be stated in active form. AT: "these two things will happen: I will destroy Egypt, who helps you, and I will destroy you, whom Egypt helps" (See: Active or Passive and Metaphor and Parallelism)

the one who is helped

This can be stated in active form. AT: "the one who is seeking help" (See: Active or Passive)

translationWords

Egypt

God

horse

flesh

spirit

Yahweh

hand

stumble

perish

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

shall turn His hand For the Holy One, blessed be He, supports everything with His hand, and when He turns it, they will fall, like one who holds something in his hand, and when he inclines his hand, it falls. So is the Midrash Aggadah (Mechilta, Exodus 15:12). Jonathan, however, renders: shall raise the blow of His might.

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.

And not a spirit, that is, not an angel. Comp. ורוחו and His spirit═and His angel (48:16).

His hand. The striking with His hand.

And they all together, Egypt and those that fled thither. The King of Assyria attacked Egypt at the same time that Jerusalem was threatened by him.

יכליון They shall fail. It is the full form, without dropping the third radical, like יחסיון they trust (Ps. 36:8)

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.