Isaiah 31:3 - Exposition

Now the Egyptians are men, and not God . Judah relied on Pharaoh, as on a sort of God, which indeed he was considered in his own country. Isaiah asserts the contrary in the strongest way: the Egyptians, one and all, are men—mere men; and "there is no help in them" ( Psalms 146:3 ). Their horses flesh, and not spirit . The horses, on which so much reliance was placed, were mere animals, subject to all the weakness of the animal nature, not spirit-horses, with a life and vigor of their own, by which they could be a real tower of strength to those on whose side they ranged themselves. They all shall fail together ; i.e. the helpers and the helped (compare the concluding clauses of verse 2).