“Their horses
Are swifter
Than leopards.
They are more menacing
Than evening wolves.
Their horsemen
Come from far away.
They fly
Like an eagle,
Swift to devour.”
The Chaldean horses and riders were extraordinary. Their horses were quicker than leopards and more menacing than wild wolves at sunset. The cavalry horsemen came from distant places. They seemed to fly on their horses like fast eagles ready to devour their prey.
“The Jerusalem princes
Are within it
Like a roaring lion
Tearing its prey.
They have devoured
Human lives.
They have taken
Treasures.
They have taken
Precious things.
They have made
Many widows
Within it.”
The princes within the city of Jerusalem were like roaring lions tearing into their prey. They devoured human lives. They stole treasure and precious things. They killed people, so that there many more widows in Jerusalem.
“Can the prey be taken from the mighty?
Can the captives of a tyrant be rescued?
But thus says Yahweh.
‘Even the captives of the mighty
Shall be taken.
The prey of the tyrant
Shall be rescued.
I will contend with those
Who contend with you.
I will save your children.
I will make your oppressors
Eat their own flesh.
They shall be drunk
With their own blood
As with wine.
Then all flesh shall know
That I am Yahweh!
Your Savior!
Your Redeemer!
The Mighty One of Jacob!’”
Second Isaiah has Yahweh proclaim that the mighty ones and the tyrants will lose their prey and their captured ones. He was going to take on those who had caused problems for the Israelites. He was going to save their children. In colorful language, he explained what he was going to do to these oppressors. They would eat their own flesh and drink their own blood as if they were drunkards drinking wine. Everyone would then know the great Yahweh with his many titles. He was clearly the savior, the redeemer, and the mighty one of Jacob.
“Thus Yahweh said to me.
‘As a lion
Or a young lion
Growls over its prey,
They are not terrified
By the shouting,
When a band of shepherds
Is called out against it.
They are not daunted at their noise.
Thus Yahweh of hosts
Will come down To fight
Upon Mount Zion,
Upon its hill.
Like birds hovering overhead,
So Yahweh of hosts
Will protect Jerusalem.
He will deliver it.
He will spare it.
He will rescue it.’”
Yahweh, via Isaiah, issues an oracle about protecting Mount Zion, Jerusalem. Just like growling lions standing over their prey are not scared by the shouting noise of the shepherds, so too Yahweh will come down to the holy hill of Mount Zion in Jerusalem. He will be like a bird hovering overhead. He will protect, deliver, spare, and rescue Jerusalem. There is no question about that.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 