Isaiah 30:2

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 

Isaiah 30:7

30:7 Egypt is totally incapable of helping. ³ 

For this reason I call her

‘Proud one ⁴  who is silenced.’” ⁵ 

Isaiah 31:1-3

Egypt Will Disappoint

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 

[30:2]  ¹ tn Heb “those who go to descend to Egypt, but [of] my mouth they do not inquire.”

[30:2]  ² tn Heb “to seek protection in the protection of Pharaoh, and to seek refuge in the shade of Egypt.”

[30:7]  ³ tn Heb “As for Egypt, with vanity and emptiness they help.”

[30:7]  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”).

[30:7]  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.

[31:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “Woe [to] those who go down to Egypt for help.”

[31:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “and trust in chariots for they are many.”

[31:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “and in horsemen for they are very strong [or “numerous”].”

[31:1]  ⁹ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[31:2]  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.

[31:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and he does not turn aside [i.e., “retract”] his words”; NIV “does not take back his words.”

[31:2]  ¹² tn Heb “and he will arise against the house of the wicked.”

[31:2]  ¹³ sn That is, Egypt.

[31:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and against the help of the doers of sin.”

[31:3]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “will extend”; KJV, ASV, NASB, NCV “stretch out.”

[31:3]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “together all of them will come to an end.”