Isaiah 31:1 - Exposition

Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help (comp. Isaiah 30:1 , Isaiah 30:2 ; and see also the earlier prophecy, Isaiah 20:2-6 ). The examples of Samaria, Gaza, and Ashdod might well have taught the lesson of distrust of Egypt, without any Divine warnings. But the Jews were infatuated, and relied on Egypt despite her previous failures to give effective aid. And stay on horses . The Assyrian cavalry was very numerous, and very efficient. It is often represented on the monuments. Egyptian cavalry, on the other hand, is not represented at all; and it may be questioned whether, in the early times, the Egyptian war-horses were not entirely employed in the chariot-service. The later dynasties of Egyptian kings, however, employed cavalry, as appears from 2 Chronicles 12:3 ; Herod; 2:162; 'Records of the Past,' vol. 2. pp. 68, 70, 72, etc. And trust in chariots, because they are many . The large number of the chariots maintained by the Pharaohs is abundantly evidenced. Diodorus assigns to Sesostris twenty-seven thousand (1. 54, § 4). This is, no doubt, an exaggeration; but the six hundred of the Pharaoh of the Exodus ( Exodus 14:7 ), and even the one thousand two hundred of Shishak ( 2 Chronicles 12:3 ) are moderate computations, quite in accord with the monuments, and with all that we otherwise know of Egyptian warfare. Egypt exported chariots to the neighboring countries ( 1 Kings 10:29 ), and was at this time the only power which seemed capable of furnishing such a chariot-force as could hope to contend on tolerably even terms with the force of Assyria. They look not unto the Holy One of Israel (comp. Isaiah 30:11 , Isaiah 30:12 ). The trust in the Egyptian alliance was accompanied by a distrust of Jehovah and his power, and a disinclination to look to him for aid.