Isaiah 16:4

4 Let my outcasts [of] Moab dwell as aliens among you; be a hiding place for them from [the] presence of [the] destroyer." When the oppressor is no more, destruction has stopped, [the] {one who tramples has} disappeared from the land,

Isaiah 16:4 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 16:4

Let mine outcasts dwell with thee
Not whom God had cast out, but who were the Lord's people, and whom he owns as such, though cast out by the enemy, or obliged to flee, and quit their country; let these be sojourners in thy land; let them continue awhile there; let them dwell privately and peaceably: Moab, be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler:
that is, O king of Moab, or kingdom of Moab, as the Targum, hide and protect the Jews that shall flee to thee for shelter, from the face of the spoiler of their land and substance, Sennacherib king of Assyria; and, to encourage them to do these things, it is suggested that they would not be long troublesome to them, and would quickly be in a capacity of requiting them, and of being serviceable to them in like distress: for the extortioner is at an end;
or "the squeezer", or "wringer out" F1; that oppressed them, and wrung their property out of their hands; that milked them out of their substance, and even sucked their blood; meaning the Assyrian monarch, whose time was short, and an end was soon put to all his schemes and oppressions: the spoiler ceaseth:
out of the land, being obliged to depart out of it: the oppressors are consumed out of the land:
the Assyrian army, and its officers, who were all consumed in one night by an angel, ( 2 Kings 19:35 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F1 (Umh) "expressor", Pagninus, Montanus; "emunctor, [vel] emulsor", Vatablus.

Isaiah 16:4 In-Context

2 And this shall be: like a bird fleeing [from] a thrust away nest shall be the daughters of Moab [at the] fords of Arnon.
3 "Bring counsel, make a decision; make your shade like the night in the middle of noonday. Hide [the] outcasts; you must not betray the fugitive.
4 Let my outcasts [of] Moab dwell as aliens among you; be a hiding place for them from [the] presence of [the] destroyer." When the oppressor is no more, destruction has stopped, [the] {one who tramples has} disappeared from the land,
5 then a throne shall be established in steadfast love, and one shall sit on it in faithfulness, in the tent of David, judging and seeking justice and zealous for righteousness.
6 We have heard [of] the pride of Moab--exceedingly proud-- [of] his arrogance, pride, and insolence; {his boasting is not true}.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Literally "one who tramples have," with mismatched singular and plural
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