30:2 They travel down to Egypt
without seeking my will, 1
seeking Pharaoh’s protection,
and looking for safety in Egypt’s protective shade. 2
30:7 Egypt is totally incapable of helping. 3
For this reason I call her
‘Proud one 4 who is silenced.’” 5
31:1 Those who go down to Egypt for help are as good as dead, 6
those who rely on war horses,
and trust in Egypt’s many chariots 7
and in their many, many horsemen. 8
But they do not rely on the Holy One of Israel 9
and do not seek help from the Lord.
31:2 Yet he too is wise 10 and he will bring disaster;
he does not retract his decree. 11
He will attack the wicked nation, 12
and the nation that helps 13 those who commit sin. 14
31:3 The Egyptians are mere humans, not God;
their horses are made of flesh, not spirit.
The Lord will strike with 15 his hand;
the one who helps will stumble
and the one being helped will fall.
Together they will perish. 16
1 tn Heb “those who go to descend to Egypt, but [of] my mouth they do not inquire.”
2 tn Heb “to seek protection in the protection of Pharaoh, and to seek refuge in the shade of Egypt.”
3 tn Heb “As for Egypt, with vanity and emptiness they help.”
4 tn Heb “Rahab” (רַהַב, rahav), which also appears as a name for Egypt in Ps 87:4. The epithet is also used in the OT for a mythical sea monster symbolic of chaos. See the note at 51:9. A number of English versions use the name “Rahab” (e.g., ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV) while others attempt some sort of translation (cf. CEV “a helpless monster”; TEV, NLT “the Harmless Dragon”).
5 tn The MT reads “Rahab, they, sitting.” The translation above assumes an emendation of הֵם שָׁבֶת (hem shavet) to הַמָּשְׁבָּת (hammashbat), a Hophal participle with prefixed definite article, meaning “the one who is made to cease,” i.e., “destroyed,” or “silenced.” See HALOT 444-45 s.v. ישׁב.
6 tn Heb “Woe [to] those who go down to Egypt for help.”
7 tn Heb “and trust in chariots for they are many.”
8 tn Heb “and in horsemen for they are very strong [or “numerous”].”
9 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
10 sn This statement appears to have a sarcastic tone. The royal advisers who are advocating an alliance with Egypt think they are wise, but the Lord possesses wisdom as well and will thwart their efforts.
11 tn Heb “and he does not turn aside [i.e., “retract”] his words”; NIV “does not take back his words.”
12 tn Heb “and he will arise against the house of the wicked.”
13 sn That is, Egypt.
14 tn Heb “and against the help of the doers of sin.”
15 tn Heb “will extend”; KJV, ASV, NASB, NCV “stretch out.”
16 tn Heb “together all of them will come to an end.”