Isaiah 16:3

3 "Give us advice, make a decision; Cast your 1shadow like night at high noon; 2Hide the outcasts, do not betray the fugitive.

Isaiah 16:3 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 16:3

Take counsel, execute judgment
This refers either to what goes before, that they would take the counsel given, and do that which was just and right, by paying tribute to the king of Judah; or to what follows, that they would enter into a consultation, the king of Moab with his nobles, and resolve upon what was right, and do it, by protecting and harbouring the distressed Jews, who would flee unto them from the enemy: make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday;
a time of the greatest heat, to which the Assyrian army, for its force and fury, and the mischief done by it, is compared: and the Moabites they are advised to make a shadow, as large and as strong as the dark night, that is, to protect the Jews in their distress, and to refresh and comfort them under it; see ( Isaiah 4:6 ) ( Isaiah 25:4 Isaiah 25:5 ) : hide the outcasts;
such as were driven out of their land through the fury and persecution of the enemy, receive and conceal, as Rahab did the spies: bewray not him that wandereth;
from his native place, as a bird from its nest, being forced to it; such an one, or as many as may be, in such a case, do not discover them where they are, or betray them, and deliver them up into the hands of their enemy.

Isaiah 16:3 In-Context

1 Send the tribute lamb to the ruler of the land, From Sela by way of the wilderness to the mountain of the daughter of Zion.
2 Then, like fleeing birds or scattered nestlings, The daughters of Moab will be at the fords of the Arnon.
3 "Give us advice, make a decision; Cast your shadow like night at high noon; Hide the outcasts, do not betray the fugitive.
4 "Let the outcasts of Moab stay with you; Be a hiding place to them from the destroyer." For the extortioner has come to an end, destruction has ceased, Oppressors have completely disappeared from the land.
5 A throne will even be established in lovingkindness, And a judge will sit on it in faithfulness in the tent of David; Moreover, he will seek justice And be prompt in righteousness.

Cross References 2

  • 1. Isaiah 25:4; Isaiah 32:2
  • 2. 1 Kings 18:4

Footnotes 3

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