Yesaya 31:1

Egypt Will Disappoint

31:1 Those who go down to Egypt for help are as good as dead, ¹ 

those who rely on war horses,

and trust in Egypt’s many chariots ² 

and in their many, many horsemen. ³ 

But they do not rely on the Holy One of Israel ⁴ 

and do not seek help from the Lord.

Yesaya 63:3

63:3 “I have stomped grapes in the winepress all by myself;

no one from the nations joined me.

I stomped on them ⁵  in my anger;

I trampled them down in my rage.

Their juice splashed on my garments,

and stained ⁶  all my clothes.

[31:1]  ¹ tn Heb “Woe [to] those who go down to Egypt for help.”

[31:1]  ² tn Heb “and trust in chariots for they are many.”

[31:1]  ³ tn Heb “and in horsemen for they are very strong [or “numerous”].”

[31:1]  ⁴ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[63:3]  ⁵ sn Nations, headed by Edom, are the object of the Lord’s anger (see v. 6). He compares military slaughter to stomping on grapes in a vat.

[63:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “and I stained.” For discussion of the difficult verb form, see HALOT 170 s.v. II גאל. Perhaps the form is mixed, combining the first person forms of the imperfect (note the alef prefix) and perfect (note the תי- ending).