Isaiah 31:4

"For thus saith Jehovah unto me, As the Lion and the young lion growling over his prey, if a multitude of shepherds be called forth against him, will not be dismayed at their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them: so will Jehovah of hosts come down to fight upon mount Zion, and upon the hill thereof."

Many scholars have had trouble in deciding whether this verse is a threat to Jerusalem, or a promise of deliverance. "The words in the Hebrew here always mean to fight against";[8] and, since mount Zion is the object here, a great deal of perplexity has resulted; but Hailey explained it perfectly:

"The shepherds making the loud noise do not represent Assyria ... but represent the politicians of Judah and the Egyptians. The picture is clear: the lion is Jehovah, his prey is Jerusalem; and the loud but ineffectual shepherds are the politicians and the Egyptians."[9]

Zechariah also spoke of "false shepherds" who misled the flock of God; but some scholars have even resorted to "emending" (that means presumptuously changing) the text in order to remove the prospect of God's fighting Jerusalem,! which is a "No, No" indeed for some scholars. However that part of Jerusalem which God is here represented as "fighting against" certainly deserved it. Peake commented on such efforts to pervert the text through emendation, thus: "If we keep the text as it stands (which, of course, we should do), the meaning seems to be that Jehovah will rest Jerusalem from its present rulers."[10] Yes! That is exactly what Jehovah did when he defeated the false shepherds who were advising Hezekiah to accept that alliance with Egypt. That defeat of the false shepherds led to the discarding of the idols in Isaiah 31:7, below.