Isaiah 16:4

4 let the outcasts of Moab settle among you; be a refuge to them from the destroyer." When the oppressor is no more, and destruction has ceased, and marauders have vanished 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 Like fluttering birds, like scattered nestlings, so are the daughters of Moab at the fords of the Arnon.
3 "Give counsel, grant justice; make your shade like night at the height of noon; hide the outcasts, do not betray the fugitive;
4 let the outcasts of Moab settle among you; be a refuge to them from the destroyer." When the oppressor is no more, and destruction has ceased, and marauders have vanished from the land,
5 then a throne shall be established in steadfast love in the tent of David, and on it shall sit in faithfulness a ruler who seeks justice and is swift to do what is right.
6 We have heard of the pride of Moab —how proud he is!— of his arrogance, his pride, and his insolence; his boasts are false.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.