Isaiah 31:8

Then shall the Assyrian fall with the sword, not of a mighty man; and the sword, not of a mean man, shall devour him: but he shall flee from the sword, and his young men shall be discomfited. THEN SHALL THE ASSYRIAN FALL. Sennacherib is representative of some powerful head of the ungodly in the latter ages. WITH THE SWORD, NOT OF A MIGHTY MAN ... NOT OF A MEAN MAN - but by the unseen sword of God. HE SHALL FLEE. Sennacherib alone fled homewards after his army had been destroyed (Isaiah 37:37). HIS YOUNG MEN - the flower of his army. SHALL BE DISCOMFITED - shall be liable to tribute; i:e., personal service (Deuteronomy 20:11;...

8._Then the Assyrian. _The copulative ו (_vau_) is better translated as an adverb of time: “_Then _the Assyrian shall fall down;” that is, “When you shall have turned to the Lord, and when your life shall testify a sincere repentance, _then _the enemy shall fall down;” for, as the Lord raised up the Assyrian to punish the Jews for their crimes, and especially for idolatry, so he promises that the Assyrians shall be brought down, when they shall have ceased to sin and worship idols. Hence he informs us, that our obstinacy is the reason why the Lord adds evil to evil, and doubles his strokes, and pursues us more and more; for we continually supply fresh materials to inflame his vengeance against us more and more. If therefore we wish that God’s chastisements should be less severe, if we wish that the enemies should fall to the ground and perish, let us endeavor to be reconciled to him by r...

6-9 They have been backsliding children, yet children; let them return, and their backslidings shall be healed, though they have sunk deep into misery, and cannot easily recover. Many make an idol of their silver and gold, and by the love of that are drawn from God; but those who turn to God, will be ready to part with it. Then, when they have cast away their idols, shall the Assyrian fall by the sword of an angel, who strikes more strongly than a mighty man, yet more secretly than a mean man. God can make the stoutest heart to tremble. But if we keep up the fire of holy love and devotion in our hearts and houses, we may depend upon God to protect us and them....

Verse Isaiah 31:8. _THEN SHALL THE ASSYRIAN FALL, C._] Because he was to be discomfited by the angel of the Lord, destroying in his camp, in one night, upwards of _one hundred and eighty thousand_ men and Sennacherib himself fell by the hands of the princes, his own sons. Not _mighty men_, for they were not soldiers; not _mean men_, for they were _princes_....

THEN SHALL THE ASSYRIAN FALL WITH THE SWORD - The sword is often used as an instrument of punishment. It is not meant here literally that the sword would be used, but it is employed to denote that complete destruction would come upon them. NOT OF A MIGHTY MAN - The idea here is, that the army should not fall by the valor of a distinguished warrior, but that it should be done by the direct interposition of God (see Isaiah 37:36). OF A MEAN MAN - Of a man of humble rank. His army shall not be slain by the hand of mortals. BUT HE SHALL FLEE - The Assyrian monarch escaped when his army was destroyed, and fled toward his own land; Isaiah 37:37....

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,...

THEN SHALL THE ASSYRIAN FALL WITH THE SWORD, NOT OF A MIGHTY MAN,.... That is, the Assyrian army under Sennacherib their king, which besieged Jerusalem in Hezekiah's time; which, as soon as the people were brought to a sense of their sin, and repentance for it, and cast away their idols as a proof of it, were utterly destroyed; but not in battle, not by the sword of Hezekiah, or any of his valiant generals: AND THE SWORD, NOT OF A MEAN MAN, SHALL DEVOUR HIM; neither the sword of a general, nor of a private soldier, nor indeed of any man, but of an angel; see 2 Kings 19:35: BUT HE SHALL FLEE FROM THE SWORD; from the drawn sword of the angel, who very probably appeared in such a form as in 1 Chronicles 21:16 which Sennacherib king of Assyria seeing, as wel

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..

MIGHTY MAN. Hebrew. _'ish._ App-14. MEAN MAN. Hebrew. _'adam._ App-14. DISCOMFITED. become tributaries....