Bible Strands
Isaiah 31:5
Like birds hovering overhead, so the LORD of Hosts will protect Jerusalem. He will shield it and deliver it; He will pass over it and preserve it.”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The LORD speaks through the prophet Isaiah to Judah during a military crisis threatening Jerusalem. The oracle follows a description of divine intervention on Mount Zion and immediately precedes a call for national repentance.
The words — עָפ֔וֹת (a.Fot) = flying/hovering and יָגֵ֛ן (ya.Gen) = he will defend anchor the verse’s imagery and action.
The thread — The protective metaphor recurs in Psalms 91:4, where divine refuge is described with wing imagery, and in Deuteronomy 32:11, where God hovers over His people like an eagle. Deliverance from enemies is also noted in Psalms 37:40.
Why it lands — The text demands exclusive reliance on divine protection rather than human alliances. It pairs the promise of preservation with the implicit requirement to cease rebellion against the One who shields.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
As birds flying, so will the Lord of hosts defend Jerusalem; defending also he will deliver it; and passing over he will preserve it.
Cross-references
- Psalms 91:4 He will cover you with His feathers; under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and rampart.
- Psalms 37:40 The LORD helps and delivers them; He rescues and saves them from the wicked, because they take refuge in Him.
- Deuteronomy 32:11 As an eagle stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, He spread His wings to catch them and carried them on His pinions.
- Isaiah 37:35 ‘I will defend this city and save it for My own sake and for the sake of My servant David.’”
- Isaiah 38:6 And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city.
- Exodus 19:4 ‘You have seen for yourselves what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself.
- Psalms 46:5 God is within her; she will not be moved. God will help her when morning dawns.
- Isaiah 10:14 My hand reached as into a nest to seize the wealth of the nations. Like one gathering abandoned eggs, I gathered all the earth. No wing fluttered, no beak opened or chirped.’”
- Exodus 12:27 you are to reply, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when He struck down the Egyptians and spared our homes.’” Then the people bowed down and worshiped.