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Isaiah 31:6-7
After the images, the prophet urges a turning back, and anticipates that this change will include throwing away handmade idols.
Meaning in context
After the images, the prophet urges a turning back, and anticipates that this change will include throwing away handmade idols.
Section 4 of 5
Call to return and renounce idols
After the images, the prophet urges a turning back, and anticipates that this change will include throwing away handmade idols.
Movement
Holy judgment and restoration
Artifact
Prophetic vision and servant hope
Biblical Timeline
Kingdom
Isaiah context: 1000 BC - 586 BC
Biblical Timeline
Kingdom
Isaiah context
Kingdom / 1000 BC - 586 BC
Isaiah context is set in the kingdom period, where Israel's monarchy from David and Solomon to exile.
Scripture Text
Thesis
After the images, the prophet urges a turning back, and anticipates that this change will include throwing away handmade idols.
Verse by Verse
A direct call to return The prophet addresses the “children of Israel” and commands them to turn back to “him.” The verse highlights how serious the break has been: they have not merely wandered but “deeply revolted,” implying sustained resistance. The logic is simple and urgent—because the relationship is fractured by their actions, the needed response is a decisive return.
What return will look like Verse 7 begins with “For,” giving a reason or expected result of the return. “In that day” points to a specific, climactic time connected with the surrounding crisis. The response is personal and widespread: “every man” will throw away his silver and gold idols. The idols are described as made by “your own hands,” underlining their human origin and lack of real power. The verse ends by calling these products something made “for a sin,” presenting them as bound up with wrongdoing rather than true security (compare the wider unit’s contrast of human help versus divine protection in Isaiah 31:1).
Literary Context
These lines sit inside Isaiah’s warning against seeking security through foreign alliances and human power, especially in the lead-up to crisis. In Isaiah 31, the prophet contrasts trust in outside help with reliance on the one who can actually defend Jerusalem. After portraying imminent danger and the Lord’s ability to protect, the passage turns from description to direct appeal: return to him. The command is then grounded by a visible outcome—abandoning idols—so the call is not merely inner sentiment but a concrete break with rival loyalties (see Isaiah 31:1 and Isaiah 31:6–7).
Historical Context
Isaiah spoke in Judah during the late eighth century BC, when Assyria dominated the region and smaller kingdoms tried to survive by shifting alliances. Under pressure, leaders in Jerusalem were tempted to seek support from Egypt rather than face Assyria alone, and such political choices often blended with religious compromise. Idols made of precious metals fit the era’s common worship practices and also signaled wealth and status. In this setting, Isaiah’s call to “turn” addresses both public policy and everyday devotion: the community’s safety and identity were being anchored in the wrong places as invasion threats grew.
Theological Significance
Questions
Keep Studying
Isaiah 31:6–7 presents a clear turning point in the chapter: after warning against seeking security through human help, Isaiah directly calls the “children of Israel” to “turn” back to “him” (explicit in v.6). The wording assumes the problem is not a small mistake but a deep, sustained rebellion (“deeply revolted,” explicit in v.6).
The passage also links “return” to a concrete change in loyalties. In a coming “day,” people will throw away their silver and gold idols (explicit in v.7). The idols are emphasized as human-made (“your own hands,” explicit in v.7), and they are connected with wrongdoing (“for a sin,” explicit in v.7).
Two main questions arise from the wording:
Who “him” is. Many readers take it as the LORD (the broader chapter contrasts reliance on human power with reliance on God). Others note that “him” is not named in these two verses and prefer to interpret it strictly from near context: turning away from the foreign alliance and back to the proper object of trust, which still likely implies the LORD.
What “in that day” refers to. Some understand it as the crisis moment when God acts to defend Jerusalem (a near historical event within the Assyrian threat). Others take it more generally as a decisive future moment of judgment and deliverance, without pinning it to one date.
The verses use pronouns and time markers without fully specifying them: “him” is implied rather than named here, and “in that day” can refer either to an immediate historical turning point or to a broader future horizon. The wider chapter helps, but the phrasing still leaves room for more than one reasonable level of specificity.
These verses portray “return” as both relational and practical: a reorientation back to the one Israel has resisted, and a visible renouncing of hand-made objects of worship and trust. They also underline Isaiah’s theme that human-made sources of security (whether political or religious) cannot bear the weight placed on them, and that such substitutes are bound up with sin rather than rescue (see the wider contrast in Isaiah 31:1).