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.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(8) Not of a mighty man . . .—The Hebrew has no adjectives, but the nouns are those which are commonly opposed to each other in this way, as in Isaiah 2:9, like the Latin vir and homo. The thought expressed is, of course, that the whole work would be of God, and not of man. The “sword” was that of the Divine judgment (Deuteronomy 32:41), perhaps, as in 1Chronicles 21:16, of the destroying angel of the pestilence.

Benson Commentary

Isaiah 31:8-9. Then shall the Assyrian, &c. — When you have cast away your idols, and seriously sought unto God for help; both which things were performed by Hezekiah; fall by the sword, not of a mighty man, &c. — Not of any man, mean or mighty, but of an angel. But he shall flee from the sword — From, or for fear of, that plague, which so strangely and suddenly destroyed his army. And his young men — Hebrew, בחוריו, his choice young men, his guards, and valiant commanders, and soldiers, shall be discomfited — Hebrew, למס יהיו, shall be for melting, or shall melt away; a great part of them being destroyed by the angel, and the hearts of the rest melting for fear. And he shall pass to his stronghold — Sennacherib shall flee away with all speed from Jerusalem, to his strong city of Nineveh. Or, as it is in the margin, which see. And his princes shall be afraid of the ensign — Of the Lord’s ensign, which he hath lifted up against them. Or, as וחתו מנס, may be properly rendered, shall be struck with consternation at his flight. Saith the Lord, whose fire is in Zion — That is, either, 1st, whose fire is continually burning upon the altar in Zion; a sign that his presence and residence are there. Or, rather, 2d, who is, and will appear to be, in Zion like a fire, to defend his people, and to consume their enemies. Thus God promises that he would be, unto Jerusalem, a wall of fire round about, Zechariah 2:5. See also Zechariah 12:6.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

31:6-9 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.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

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.

From the sword - Margin, 'For fear of.' The Hebrew is 'From the face of the sword;' and the sense is, that he would flee in consequence of the destruction of his host, here represented as destroyed by the sword of Yahweh.

And his young men - The flower and strength of his army.

Shall be discomfited - Margin, 'For melting;' or 'tribute,' or 'tributary.' Septuagint, Εἰς ἥττημα Eis hēttēma - 'For destruction.' The Hebrew word (מס mas), derived probably from מסס mâsas, "to melt away, to dissolve") is most usually employed to denote a levy, fine, or tax - so called, says Taylor, because it wastes or exhausts the substance and strength of a people. The word is often used to denote that people become tributary, or vassals, as in Genesis 49:15; Deuteronomy 20:11; compare Joshua 16:10; 2 Samuel 20:24; 1 Kings 4:6; 1 Kings 5:13; Esther 10:1. Probably it does not here mean that the strength of the Assyrian army would become literally tributary to the Jews, but that they would be as if they had been placed under a levy to them; their vigor and strength would melt away; as property and numbers do under taxation and tribute.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

8. Assyrian—Sennacherib, representative of some powerful head of the ungodly in the latter ages [Horsley].

sword, not of … mighty … mean man—but by the unseen sword of God.

flee—Sennacherib alone fled homewards after his army had been destroyed (Isa 37:37).

young men—the flower of his army.

discomfited—rather, "shall be subject to slavery"; literally, "shall be liable to tribute," that is, personal service (De 20:11; Jos 9:21) [Maurer]. Or, not so well, "shall melt away" [Rosenmuller].

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Then; when you have cast away your idols, and seriously sought to me for help; both which things were performed by Hezekiah.

With the sword, not of a mighty man; and the sword, not of a mean man; by the sword, not of any man, either mean or mighty, but of an angel.

From the sword; from, or for fear of, that plague which so strangely and suddenly destroyed his army.

His young men, Heb. his choice young men; his guards and valiant commanders and soldiers.

Shall be discomfited, Heb. shall melt away, a great part of them being destroyed by the angel; and the hearts of the rest melting for fear.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

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 well as the slaughter made in his army by him, fled from it; in the Hebrew text it is added, "for himself" (y); he fled for his life, for his own personal security; see 2 Kings 19:36,

and his young men shall be discomfited; his choice ones, the flower of his army: or "melt away" (z), through fear; or die by the stroke of the angel upon them: the sense of becoming "tributary" seems to have no foundation.

(y) "fugiet sibi", Pagninus, Montanus, Cocceius; "fuga consulet sibi", Junius & Tremellius. (z) "in liquefactionem, erunt", Vatablus; "colliquescent", Piscator.

Geneva Study Bible

{h} Then shall the Assyrian fall with the sword, not of man; and the sword, not of men, shall devour him: but he shall flee from the sword, and his young men shall be made vessels.

(h) When your repentance appears.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

8. not of a mighty man … mean man] R.V. not of man … men (see on ch. Isaiah 2:9). Lit. “of a Not-man … Not-mortal,” i.e. a superhuman sword.

shall be discomfited] R.V. shall become tributary, “be subjected to bond-service,” as 1 Kings 9:21 f., &c.

8, 9. The discomfiture of the Assyrians will be accomplished by Jehovah Himself. The connexion with what precedes is not very close.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 8. - Then shall the Assyrian fall with the sword, not of a mighty man; rather, and Assyria shall fall by the sword of one who is not a man Assyria's destruction will not be by the visible swords of human enemies, but by the invisible sword of God (comp. 2 Kings 19:35). And the sword, not of a mean man, shall devour him; rather, and the sword of one who is not a mortal shall detour him - an instance of "synonymous parallelism." He shall flee; more literally, betake himself to flight. His young men shall be discomfited; rather, as in the margin, shall be for tribute. They shall become the vassals of a foreign power. Isaiah 31:8

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The second motive is, that Israel will not be rescued by men, but by Jehovah alone; so that even He from whom they have now so deeply fallen will prove Himself the only true ground of confidence. "And Asshur falls by a sword not of a man, and a sword not of a man will devour him; and he flees before a sword, and his young men become tributary. And his rock, for fear will it pass away, and his princes be frightened away by the flags: the saying of Jehovah, who has His fire in Zion, and His furnace in Jerusalem." The lxx and Jerome render this falsely φεύξεται οὐκ (לא) ἀπὸ προσώπου μαχαίρας. לו is an ethical dative, and the prophet intentionally writes "before a sword" without any article, to suggest the idea of the unbounded, infinite, awful (cf., Isaiah 28:2, beyâd; Psalter, vol. i. p. 15). A sword is drawn without any human intervention, and before this Asshur falls, or at least so many of the Assyrians as are unable to save themselves by flight. The power of Asshur is for ever broken; even its young men will henceforth become tributary, or perform feudal service. By "his rock" most commentators understand the rock upon which the fugitive would gladly have taken refuge, but did not dare (Rosenmller, Gesenius, Knobel, etc.); others, again, the military force of Asshur, as its supposed invincible refuge (Saad., etc.); others, the apparently indestructible might of Asshur generally (Vulgate, Rashi, Hitzig). But the presence of "his princes" in the parallel clause makes it most natural to refer "his rock" to the king; and this reference is established with certainty by what Isaiah 32:2 affirms of the king and princes of Judah. Luther also renders it thus: und jr Fels wird fur furcht wegzihen (and their rock will withdraw for fear). Sennacherib really did hurry back to Assyria after the catastrophe in a most rapid flight. Minnēs are the standards of Asshur, which the commanders of the army fly away from in terror, without attempting to rally those that were scattered. Thus speaks Jehovah, and this is what He decrees who has His 'ūr and tannūr in Jerusalem. We cannot suppose that the allusion here is to the fire and hearth of the sacrifices; for tannūr does not mean a hearth, but a furnace (from nūr, to burn). The reference is to the light of the divine presence, which was outwardly a devouring fire for the enemies of Jerusalem, an unapproachable red-hot furnace (ignis et caminus qui devorat peccatores et ligna, faenum stipulamque consumit: Jerome).