Isaiah 31:5

As birds flying, so will the LORD of hosts defend Jerusalem; defending also he will deliver it; and passing over he will preserve it. AS BIRDS FLYING, SO WILL THE LORD OF HOSTS DEFEND JERUSALEM. As in the image of "the lion" the point of comparison is the fearless might of Yahweh, so in that of the birds it is His solicitous affection (Deuteronomy 32:11; Psalms 91:4; Matthew 23:37). FLYING - or, which defend their young with their wings: to fly is a secondary meaning of the Hebrew [ `uwp (H5774)] (Maurer). But the Septuagint, Chaldaic, Vulgate, Arabic, and Syriac s...

5._As birds that fly. _This is the second comparison, by which the Prophet shews how great care the Lord takes of us, and how earnestly he is bent on making us happy. It is taken from _birds_, which are prompted by astonishing eagerness to preserve their young; for they almost kill themselves with hunger, and shrink from no danger, that they may defend and preserve their young. Moses makes use of the same comparison when, reproaching the people for their ingratitude, he compares the Lord to an eagle “laying her nest, spreading her wings, and fluttering over her young.” (Deuteronomy 32:11.) Christ also remonstrates with Jerusalem, “How often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen gathereth her chickens, and ye would not!” (Matthew 23:37

1-5 God will oppose the help sought from workers of iniquity. Sinners may be convicted of folly by plain and self-evident truths, which they cannot deny, but will not believe. There is no escaping the judgments of God; and evil pursues sinners. The Lord of hosts will come down to fight for Mount Zion. The Lion of the tribe of Judah will appear for the defence of his church. And as birds hovering over their young ones to protect them, with such compassion and affection will the Lord of hosts defend Jerusalem. He will so defend it, as to secure its safety....

Verse Isaiah 31:5. _PASSING OVER_ - "Leaping forward"] The generality of interpreters observe in this place an allusion to the deliverance which God vouchsafed to his people when he destroyed the first-born of the Egyptians, and exempted those of the Israelites sojourning among them by a peculiar interposition. The same word is made use of here which is used upon that occasion, and which gave the name to the feast which was instituted in commemoration of that deliverance, פסח _pesach_. But the difficulty is to reconcile the commonly received meaning of that word with the circumstances of the similitude here used to illustrate the deliverance represented as parallel to the deliverance in Egypt. "As the mother birds hovering over their young, So shall JEHOVAH God of hosts protect Jerusalem;...

AS BIRDS FLYING - This is another comparison indicating substantially the same thing as the former, that Yahweh would protect Jerusalem. The idea here is, that He would do it in the same manner as birds defend their young by hovering over them, securing them under their wings, and leaping forward, if they are suddenly attacked, to defend them. Our Saviour has used a similar figure to indicate his readiness to have defended and saved the same city Matthew 23:27, and it is possible that he may have had this passage in his eye. The phrase ‘birds flying,’ may denote the “rapidity” with which birds fly to defend their young, and hence, the rapidity with which God would come to defend Jerusalem; or it may refer to the fact that birds, when their young are attacked, fly, or flutter around them to defend them; they will not leave them....

EXPOSITION ISAIAH 31:1 A FURTHER WARNING AGAINST SEEKING THE ALLIANCE OF EGYPT. This prophecy seems to be quite independent of the last (Isaiah 30:1). It may have been given earlier or later. The chief point brought out, which had not distinctly appeared previously, is the value set on the horses and chariots of Egypt in the conflict with Assyria. ISAIAH 31:1 WOE TO THEM THAT GO DOWN TO EGYPT FOR HELP (comp. Isaiah 30:1,...

AS BIRDS FLYING, SO WILL THE LORD OF HOSTS DEFEND JERUSALEM,.... As the preceding metaphor expresses the mighty power of God, this his tenderness and affection, as well as his speed and swiftness in the deliverance of his people. As birds in the air, at a distance, especially the eagle, have their eye upon their nests, and their young ones in them, and when in danger fly to their assistance, and hover over them, and about them, to keep off those that would hurt them, or carry them away; so the Lord, on high, sees his people when in distress, and hastens to help them, and does surround, protect, and defend them: thus the Lord did, when Sennacherib with his army besieged Jerusalem; who boasted, with respect to other nations, that he had "found as a nest the riches of the people", and that "there was none that moved the wing against him", Isaiah 10:14 to which it is thought the allusion is...

CHAPTER 31 The Fifth Woe Against Them that Go Down to Egypt 1. _The Egyptian Alliance condemned again (Isaiah 31:1)_ 2. _Jehovah promises to deliver Jerusalem (Isaiah 31:4) _ All looks forward towards the future. It is Jerusalem's glorious future. The Lord will deliver it; He will preserve it (Isaiah 31:5)....

ISAIAH 31. THE FOLLY OF RELIANCE ON EGYPT. JERUSALEM WILL BE PROTECTED, AND ASSYRIA OVERTHROWN. vv. Isaiah 31:6 f. seems to be an interpolation. Isaiah 31:4 f_._ creates serious difficulties. Isaiah 31:4 apparently represents Yahweh as attacking (_mg._) Zion, undismayed by its rulers as a lion is undismayed by the shepherds, whereas Isaiah 31:5, with an abrupt change of metaphor, represents Him as Jerusalem's protector. By drastic measures we can remove the discrepancy; the passage then represented Yahweh either as hostile to Jerusalem or as its protector. Of the two the latter is preferable, but it involves the omission of so shall..

AS BIRDS FLYING. As birds hovering [covering and protecting their nest with their wings], so will, &c. The Figure of speech _Ellipsis_ is to be thus supplied. Reference to Pentateuch (Deuteronomy 32:11). App-92. DEFEND. shield. The verb is found only in Isaiah's utterances (2 Kings 19:34; 2 Kings 20:6. 2Ki 31:5. 2Ki 37:35. 2Ki 38:6. and Zechariah 9:15; Zechariah 12:8. DEFENDING, &C.. shielding. Only used of God. Only here, 2Ki 19:34....