What Does Isaiah 31:1 Mean in the King James?
Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the LORD!
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
Egypt is the narrowing place: the verse exposes how a refuge of visible strength can promise safety while leading deeper into constriction.
THE MEANING
The warning speaks wherever you seek rescue by piling up visible force, horses, chariots, numbers, strength, while you do not look toward the Holy One or seek the LORD. Mitzrayim carries the language of narrowing, so the refuge you reach for can tighten life even as it promises help. Numerous supports do not by themselves become the ground of security.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Enough strength, numbers, and equipment can make me secure even if I no longer seek the LORD.
THE ROOT
מִצְרַיִם
Mitsrayim
GROWS FROM
מ־צ־ר
M-Ts-R
A narrow place, strait, or constriction; Mitzrayim carries the dual -ayim: the two narrows.
“Egypt” in this verse is Mitsrayim. Mitzrayim carries the narrow-place sense of מֵצַר (metser) and its dual ending, -ayim: the two narrows. The verse names this constricted place as a source of military help, exposing the irony of seeking rescue through what narrows.
ALSO GROWS
metser: A narrow place or strait
מֵצַר
It lets the name Egypt carry the image of constriction into the verse’s search for help.
metsarim: Straits or distress
מְצָרִים
The same word family names constricted places one longs to be brought out of, sharpening the irony of turning toward them for rescue.
בָּטַח
batach
GROWS FROM
ב־ט־ח
B-T-Ḥ
To feel secure, be confident, or rely on something for safety.
The Hebrew word for trust belongs to the language of felt security. The verse exposes where that security is lodged: in abundant military strength, while the LORD is not sought.
ALSO GROWS
betach: Security, safety, or confidence
בֶּטַח
This branch makes the link between trusting and feeling safe explicit, sharpening the verse’s question of where confidence rests.
mivtach: A refuge or source of confidence
מִבְטָח
The word for refuge comes from the same root, bringing the verse’s choice of where to place reliance into focus.
THE PATTERN
Visible strength becomes false security when reliance on it displaces seeking the LORD.
Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead:THE THREAD
For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.Isaiah 31:1 uses בָּטַח (batach, trust or feel secure); Isaiah 30:15 uses בִּטְחָה (bitḥah, confidence), from the same root בטח (B-T-Ḥ). The shared root reveals the question beneath both verses: where does security rest? Here, strength is found in returning, rest, quietness, and confidence.
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