Isaiah 16:4

4 Let our refugees stay among you. Hide them from our enemies until the terror is past.” When oppression and destruction have ended and enemy raiders have disappeared,

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 The women of Moab are left like homeless birds at the shallow crossings of the Arnon River.
3 “Help us,” they cry. “Defend us against our enemies. Protect us from their relentless attack. Do not betray us now that we have escaped.
4 Let our refugees stay among you. Hide them from our enemies until the terror is past.” When oppression and destruction have ended and enemy raiders have disappeared,
5 then God will establish one of David’s descendants as king. He will rule with mercy and truth. He will always do what is just and be eager to do what is right.
6 We have heard about proud Moab— about its pride and arrogance and rage. But all that boasting has disappeared.
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