Psalms 62:9

62:9 Men are nothing but a mere breath;

human beings are unreliable. ¹ 

When they are weighed in the scales,

all of them together are lighter than air. ² 

Psalms 118:8-9

118:8 It is better to take shelter ³  in the Lord

than to trust in people.

118:9 It is better to take shelter in the Lord

than to trust in princes.

Psalms 146:3-4

146:3 Do not trust in princes,

or in human beings, who cannot deliver! ⁴ 

146:4 Their life’s breath departs, they return to the ground;

on that day their plans die. ⁵ 

Isaiah 2:22

2:22 Stop trusting in human beings,

whose life’s breath is in their nostrils.

For why should they be given special consideration?

Isaiah 30:1-7

Egypt Will Prove Unreliable

30:1 “The rebellious ⁶  children are as good as dead,” ⁷  says the Lord,

“those who make plans without consulting me, ⁸ 

who form alliances without consulting my Spirit, ⁹ 

and thereby compound their sin. ¹⁰ 

30:2 They travel down to Egypt

without seeking my will, ¹¹ 

seeking Pharaoh’s protection,

and looking for safety in Egypt’s protective shade. ¹² 

30:3 But Pharaoh’s protection will bring you nothing but shame,

and the safety of Egypt’s protective shade nothing but humiliation.

30:4 Though his ¹³  officials are in Zoan

and his messengers arrive at Hanes, ¹⁴ 

30:5 all will be put to shame ¹⁵ 

because of a nation that cannot help them,

who cannot give them aid or help,

but only shame and disgrace.”

30:6 This is a message ¹⁶  about the animals in the Negev:

Through a land of distress and danger,

inhabited by lionesses and roaring lions, ¹⁷ 

by snakes and darting adders, ¹⁸ 

they transport ¹⁹  their wealth on the backs of donkeys,

their riches on the humps of camels,

to a nation that cannot help them. ²⁰ 

30:7 Egypt is totally incapable of helping. ²¹ 

For this reason I call her

‘Proud one ²²  who is silenced.’” ²³ 

Isaiah 31:1-9

Egypt Will Disappoint

31:1 Those who go down to Egypt for help are as good as dead, ²⁴ 

those who rely on war horses,

and trust in Egypt’s many chariots ²⁵ 

and in their many, many horsemen. ²⁶ 

But they do not rely on the Holy One of Israel ²⁷ 

and do not seek help from the Lord.

31:2 Yet he too is wise ²⁸  and he will bring disaster;

he does not retract his decree. ²⁹ 

He will attack the wicked nation, ³⁰ 

and the nation that helps ³¹  those who commit sin. ³² 

31:3 The Egyptians are mere humans, not God;

their horses are made of flesh, not spirit.

The Lord will strike with ³³  his hand;

the one who helps will stumble

and the one being helped will fall.

Together they will perish. ³⁴ 

The Lord Will Defend Zion

31:4 Indeed, this is what the Lord says to me:

“The Lord will be like a growling lion,

like a young lion growling over its prey. ³⁵ 

Though a whole group of shepherds gathers against it,

it is not afraid of their shouts

or intimidated by their yelling. ³⁶ 

In this same way the Lord who commands armies will descend

to do battle on Mount Zion and on its hill. ³⁷ 

31:5 Just as birds hover over a nest, ³⁸ 

so the Lord who commands armies will protect Jerusalem. ³⁹ 

He will protect and deliver it;

as he passes over ⁴⁰  he will rescue it.

31:6 You Israelites! Return to the one against whom you have so blatantly rebelled! ⁴¹  31:7 For at that time ⁴²  everyone will get rid of ⁴³  the silver and gold idols your hands sinfully made. ⁴⁴ 

31:8 Assyria will fall by a sword, but not one human-made; ⁴⁵ 

a sword not made by humankind will destroy them. ⁴⁶ 

They will run away from this sword ⁴⁷ 

and their young men will be forced to do hard labor.

31:9 They will surrender their stronghold ⁴⁸  because of fear; ⁴⁹ 

their officers will be afraid of the Lord’s battle flag.” ⁵⁰ 

This is what the Lord says –

the one whose fire is in Zion,

whose firepot is in Jerusalem. ⁵¹ 

Isaiah 36:6

36:6 Look, you must be trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed staff. If someone leans on it for support, it punctures his hand and wounds him. That is what Pharaoh king of Egypt does to all who trust in him!

Ezekiel 29:6-7

29:6 Then all those living in Egypt will know that I am the Lord

because they were a reed staff ⁵²  for the house of Israel;

29:7 when they grasped you with their hand, ⁵³  you broke and tore ⁵⁴  their shoulders,

and when they leaned on you, you splintered and caused their legs to be unsteady. ⁵⁵ 

[62:9]  ¹ tn Heb “only a breath [are] the sons of mankind, a lie [are] the sons of man.” The phrases “sons of mankind” and “sons of man” also appear together in Ps 49:2. Because of the parallel line there, where “rich and poor” are mentioned, a number of interpreters and translators treat these expressions as polar opposites, בְּנֵי אָדָם (bÿney ’adam) referring to the lower classes and בְּנֵי אִישׁ (bÿney ’ish) to higher classes. But usage does not support such a view. The rare phrase בְּנֵי אִישׁ (“sons of man”) appears to refer to human beings in general in its other uses (see Pss 4:2; Lam 3:33). It is better to understand the phrases as synonymous expressions.

[62:9]  ² tn The noun הֶבֶל (hevel), translated “a breath” earlier in the verse, appears again here.

[118:8]  ³ tn “Taking shelter” in the Lord is an idiom for seeking his protection. Seeking his protection presupposes and even demonstrates the subject’s loyalty to the Lord. In the psalms those who “take shelter” in the Lord are contrasted with the wicked and equated with those who love, fear, and serve the Lord (Pss 5:11-12; 31:17-20; 34:21-22).

[146:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “in a son of man, to whom there is no deliverance.”

[146:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “his spirit goes out, it returns to his ground; in that day his plans die.” The singular refers to the representative man mentioned in v. 3b.

[30:1]  ⁶ tn Or “stubborn” (NCV); cf. NIV “obstinate.”

[30:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “Woe [to] rebellious children.”

[30:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “making a plan, but not from me.”

[30:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “and pouring out a libation, but not [from] my spirit.” This translation assumes that the verb נָסַךְ (nasakh) means “pour out,” and that the cognate noun מַסֵּכָה (massekhah) means “libation.” In this case “pouring out a libation” alludes to a ceremony that formally ratifies an alliance. Another option is to understand the verb נָסַךְ as a homonym meaning “weave,” and the cognate noun מַסֵּכָה as a homonym meaning “covering.” In this case forming an alliance is likened to weaving a garment.

[30:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “consequently adding sin to sin.”

[30:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “those who go to descend to Egypt, but [of] my mouth they do not inquire.”

[30:2]  ¹² tn Heb “to seek protection in the protection of Pharaoh, and to seek refuge in the shade of Egypt.”

[30:4]  ¹³ sn This probably refers to Judah’s officials and messengers.

[30:4]  ¹⁴ sn Zoan was located in the Egyptian delta in the north; Hanes was located somewhere in southern region of lower Egypt, south of Memphis; the exact location is debated.

[30:5]  ¹⁵ tn The present translation follows the marginal (Qere) reading of the Hebrew text; the consonantal text (Kethib) has “made to stink, decay.”

[30:6]  ¹⁶ tn Traditionally, “burden” (so KJV, ASV); NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “oracle.”

[30:6]  ¹⁷ tc Heb “[a land of] a lioness and a lion, from them.” Some emend מֵהֶם (mehem, “from them”) to מֵהֵם (mehem), an otherwise unattested Hiphil participle from הָמַם (hamam, “move noisily”). Perhaps it would be better to take the initial mem (מ) as enclitic and emend the form to הֹמֶה (homeh), a Qal active participle from הָמָה (hamah, “to make a noise”); cf. J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:542, n. 9.

[30:6]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “flying fiery one.” See the note at 14:29.

[30:6]  ¹⁹ tn Or “carry” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[30:6]  ²⁰ sn This verse describes messengers from Judah transporting wealth to Egypt in order to buy Pharaoh’s protection through a treaty.

[30:7]  ²¹ tn Heb “As for Egypt, with vanity and emptiness they help.”

[30:7]  ²² 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]  ²³ 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]  ²⁴ tn Heb “Woe [to] those who go down to Egypt for help.”

[31:1]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and trust in chariots for they are many.”

[31:1]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and in horsemen for they are very strong [or “numerous”].”

[31:1]  ²⁷ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[31:2]  ²⁸ 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]  ²⁹ tn Heb “and he does not turn aside [i.e., “retract”] his words”; NIV “does not take back his words.”

[31:2]  ³⁰ tn Heb “and he will arise against the house of the wicked.”

[31:2]  ³¹ sn That is, Egypt.

[31:2]  ³² tn Heb “and against the help of the doers of sin.”

[31:3]  ³³ tn Heb “will extend”; KJV, ASV, NASB, NCV “stretch out.”

[31:3]  ³⁴ tn Heb “together all of them will come to an end.”

[31:4]  ³⁵ tn Heb “As a lion growls, a young lion over its prey.” In the Hebrew text the opening comparison is completed later in the verse (“so the Lord will come down…”), after a parenthesis describing how fearless the lion is. The present translation divides the verse into three sentences for English stylistic reasons.

[31:4]  ³⁶ tn Heb “Though there is summoned against it fullness of shepherds, by their voice it is not terrified, and to their noise it does not respond.”

[31:4]  ³⁷ tn Some prefer to translate the phrase לִצְבֹּא עַל (litsbo’ ’al) as “fight against,” but the following context pictures the Lord defending, not attacking, Zion.

[31:5]  ³⁸ tn Heb “just as birds fly.” The words “over a nest” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[31:5]  ³⁹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[31:5]  ⁴⁰ tn The only other occurrence of this verb is in Exod 12:13, 23, 27, where the Lord “passes over” (i.e., “spares”) the Israelite households as he comes to judge their Egyptian oppressors. The noun פֶּסַח (pesakh, “Passover”) is derived from the verb. The use of the verb in Isa 31:5 is probably an intentional echo of the Exodus event. As in the days of Moses the Lord will spare his people as he comes to judge their enemies.

[31:6]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “Return to the one [against] whom the sons of Israel made deep rebellion.” The syntax is awkward here. A preposition is omitted by ellipsis after the verb (see GKC 446 §138.f, n. 2), and there is a shift from direct address (note the second plural imperative “return”) to the third person (note “they made deep”). For other examples of abrupt shifts in person in poetic style, see GKC 462 §144.p.

[31:7]  ⁴² tn Or “in that day” (KJV).

[31:7]  ⁴³ tn Heb “reject” (so NIV); NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT “throw away.”

[31:7]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “the idols of their idols of silver and their idols of gold which your hands made for yourselves [in] sin.” חָטָא (khata’, “sin”) is understood as an adverbial accusative of manner. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:573, n. 4.

[31:8]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “Assyria will fall by a sword, not of a man.”

[31:8]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “and a sword not of humankind will devour him.”

[31:8]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “he will flee for himself from before a sword.”

[31:9]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “rocky cliff” (cf. ASV, NASB “rock”), viewed metaphorically as a place of defense and security.

[31:9]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “His rocky cliff, because of fear, will pass away [i.e., “perish”].”

[31:9]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “and they will be afraid of the flag, his officers.”

[31:9]  ⁵¹ sn The “fire” and “firepot” here symbolize divine judgment, which is heating up like a fire in Jerusalem, waiting to be used against the Assyrians when they attack the city.

[29:6]  ⁵² sn Compare Isa 36:6.

[29:7]  ⁵³ tn The Hebrew consonantal text (Kethib) has “by your hand,” but the marginal reading (Qere) has simply “by the hand.” The LXX reads “with their hand.”

[29:7]  ⁵⁴ tn Or perhaps “dislocated.”

[29:7]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “you caused to stand for them all their hips.” An emendation which switches two letters but is supported by the LXX yields the reading “you caused all their hips to shake.” See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:103. In 2 Kgs 18:21 and Isa 36:6 trusting in the Pharaoh is compared to leaning on a staff. The oracle may reflect Hophra’s attempt to aid Jerusalem (Jer 37:5-8).