Isaiah 16:5

5 1then a throne will be established in steadfast love, and on it will sit in faithfulness in the tent of David one who judges and seeks justice and is swift to do righteousness."

Isaiah 16:5 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 16:5

And in mercy shall the throne be established
That is, the throne of Hezekiah, and his government over Judah, which was more firmly settled and established after the overthrow of the Assyrian army, through the mercy of God vouchsafed to him, and on account of the mercy he exercised among his subjects, see ( Proverbs 20:28 ) . Hezekiah was a type of Christ, and his throne typical of his, and the ultimate view of the prophecy may be to the stability of the kingdom of Christ; so the Targum,

``then the Christ of Israel, his throne shall be established in goodness:''
and he shall sit upon it in truth;
which does not so much intend the reality of his sitting there, as his continuance, signified by sitting, and the constancy and stability of his reign, or his governing with faith fulness and truth; in the tabernacle of David;
or "tent"; meaning his palace, or house in Jerusalem, alluding to his having been a shepherd before he was a king, or referring to the unsettled state of David's house; this was typical of the church of God, where Christ sits and reigns as King, see ( Amos 9:11 ) ; the Targum is,
``in the city of David;''
Jerusalem, as Aben Ezra: judging and seeking judgment;
acting the part of a righteous, faithful, and diligent Judge; seeking to do justice to the poor and needy, and searching into the cause that comes before him, to find out, and take the right side of it: and hasting righteousness;
not delaying justice, protracting a cause, deferring the sentence, and the execution of it, but dispatching the whole as speedily as may be; all which characters, though they may be found in Hezekiah, yet are much more eminently in Christ.

Isaiah 16:5 In-Context

3 "Give counsel; grant justice; make your shade like night at the height of noon; shelter the outcasts; do not reveal the fugitive;
4 let the outcasts of Moab sojourn among you; be a shelter to them from the destroyer. When the oppressor is no more, and destruction has ceased, and he who tramples underfoot has vanished from the land,
5 then a throne will be established in steadfast love, and on it will sit in faithfulness in the tent of David one who judges and seeks justice and is swift to do righteousness."
6 We have heard of the pride of Moab-- how proud he is!-- of his arrogance, his pride, and his insolence; in his idle boasting he is not right.
7 Therefore let Moab wail for Moab, let everyone wail. Mourn, utterly stricken, for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth.

Cross References 1

  • 1. Isaiah 32:1, 2; Daniel 7:14, 27; Micah 4:7; Luke 1:33
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.