Isaiah 31:5

5 Like birds flying about, So will the Lord of hosts defend Jerusalem. Defending, He will also deliver it; Passing over, He will preserve it."

Isaiah 31:5 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 31:5

As birds flying, so will the Lord of hosts defend
Jerusalem
As the preceding metaphor expresses the mighty power of God, this his tenderness and affection, as well as his speed and swiftness in the deliverance of his people. As birds in the air, at a distance, especially the eagle, have their eye upon their nests, and their young ones in them, and when in danger fly to their assistance, and hover over them, and about them, to keep off those that would hurt them, or carry them away; so the Lord, on high, sees his people when in distress, and hastens to help them, and does surround, protect, and defend them: thus the Lord did, when Sennacherib with his army besieged Jerusalem; who boasted, with respect to other nations, that he had "found as a nest the riches of the people", and that "there was none that moved the wing against him", ( Isaiah 10:14 ) to which it is thought the allusion is here: defending also he will deliver [it];
from present distress, the siege of the Assyrian army: [and] passing over he will preserve [it];
passing over the city of Jerusalem to the army of the king of Assyria, that lay encamped against it; and smiting that by an angel with a sudden destruction, preserved the city from the ruin it was threatened with. The allusion is rightly thought to be to the Lord's passing over the houses of the Israelites, when he destroyed the firstborn in Egypt, ( Exodus 12:23 ) where the same word is used as here, and nowhere else.

Isaiah 31:5 In-Context

3 Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; And their horses are flesh, and not spirit. When the Lord stretches out His hand, Both he who helps will fall, And he who is helped will fall down; They all will perish together.

4 For thus the Lord has spoken to me: "As a lion roars, And a young lion over his prey (When a multitude of shepherds is summoned against him, He will not be afraid of their voice Nor be disturbed by their noise), So the Lord of hosts will come down To fight for Mount Zion and for its hill.

5 Like birds flying about, So will the Lord of hosts defend Jerusalem. Defending, He will also deliver it; Passing over, He will preserve it."

6 Return to Him against whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted.

7 For in that day every man shall throw away his idols of silver and his idols of gold--sin, which your own hands have made for yourselves.