Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 16:3
Take counsel, execute judgment; make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts; betray not him that wandereth.
3. Take counsel, execute judgment ] Or, apply counsel, perform arbitration; i.e. “adopt wise and effectual measures to defend us from our enemies.”
make thy shadow as the night ] Be to us as “the shadow of a great rock in a weary land” (ch. Isa 32:2).
bewray not ] lit. “uncover not.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
3 5. The address of Moab, through its ambassadors, to the court of Judah. Most of the older commentators took a different view of these verses, holding that here the prophet points out to the Moabites the way of national salvation through the practice of righteousness, and exhorts them in particular to shew kindness to any Israelitish refugees who might seek a home in that country. This interpretation appears to be followed by the A.V. (see on Isa 16:4). But such an exhortation is altogether out of keeping with the tone of the prophecy, and would be very ill-timed in the circumstances to which Moab was then reduced. The continuity of thought is far better maintained on the view given above, which is that of most recent scholars.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Take counsel – Hebrew, Bring counsel; or cause it to come ( hab’u, or as it is in the keri ). The Vulgate, renders this in the singular number, and so is the keri, and so many manuscripts J. D. Michaelis, Lowth, Etchhorn, Gesenius, and Noyes, regard Isa 16:3-5 as a supplicatory address of the fugitive Moabites to the Jews to take them under their protection, and as imploring a blessing on the Jewish people if they would do it; and Isa 16:6 as the negative answer of the Jews, or as a refusal to protect them on account of their pride. But most commentators regard it as addressed to the Moabites by the prophet, or by the Jews, calling upon the Moabites to afford such protection to the Jews who might be driven from their homes as to secure their favor, and confirm the alliance between them; and Isa 16:6 as an intimation of the prophet, that the pride of Moab is such that there is no reason to suppose the advice will be followed. It makes no difference in the sense here, whether the verb give counsel be in the singular or the plural number.
If singular, it may be understood as addressed to Moab itself; if plural, to the inhabitants of Moab. Vitringa supposes that this an additional advice given to the Moabites by the prophet, or by a chorus of the Jews, to exercise the offices of kindness and humanity toward the Jews, that thus they might avoid the calamities which were impending. The first counsel was Isa 16:1, to pay the proper tribute to the Jewish nation; this is Isa 16:3-5 to show to those Jews who might be driven from their land kindness and protection, and thus preserve the friendship of the Jewish nation. This is, probably, the correct interpretation, as if he had said, ake counsel; seek advice in your circumstances; be not hasty, rash, impetuous, unwise; do not cast off the friendship of the Jews; do not deal unkindly with those who may seek a refuge in your land, and thus provoke the nation to enmity; but let your land be an asylum, and thus conciliate and secure the friendship of the Jewish nation, and thus mercy shall be reciprocated and shown to you by him who shall occupy the throne of David Isa 16:5. The design is, to induce the Moabites to show kindness to the fugitive Jews who might seek a refuge there, that thus, in turn, the Jews might show them kindness. But the prophet foresaw Isa 16:6 that Moab was so proud that he would neither pay the accustomed tribute to the Jews, nor afford them protection; and, therefore, the judgment is threatened against them which is finally to overthrow them.
Execute judgment – That is, do that which is equitable and right; which you would desire to be done in like circumstances.
Make thy shadow – A shadow or shade, is often in the Scriptures an emblem of protection from the burning heat of the sun, and thence, of these burning, consuming judgments, which are represented by the intense heat of the sun (note, Isa 4:6; compare Isa 25:4; Isa 32:2; Lam 4:20).
As the night – That is, a deep, dense shade, such as the night is, compared with the intense heat of noon. This idea was one that was very striking in the East. Nothing, to travelers crossing the burning deserts, could be more refreshing than the shade of a far-projecting rock, or of a grove, or of the night. Thus Isaiah counsels the Moabites to be to the Jews – to furnish protection to them which may be like the grateful shade furnished to the traveler by the rock in the desert. The figure used here is common in the East. Thus it is said in praise of a nobleman: Like the sun, he warmed in the cold; and when Sirius shone, then was he coolness and shade. In the Sunna it is said: Seven classes of people will the Lord overshadow with his shade, when no shade will be like his; the upright Imam, the youth, etc.
Hide the outcasts – The outcasts of Judah – those of the Jews who may be driven away from their own homes, and who may seek protection in your land. Moab is often represented as a place of refuge to the outcast Hebrews (see the Analysis to Isa 15:1-9.)
Bewray not him that wandereth – Reveal not ( tegaly), do not show them to their pursuer; that is, give them concealment and protection.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 3. Take counsel – “Impart counsel”] The Vulgate renders the verbs in the beginning of this verse in the singular number, So the Keri; and so likewise sixty-one MSS. of Kennicott’s and De Rossi’s have it, and nineteen editions, and the Syriac. The verbs throughout the verse are also in the feminine gender; agreeing with Zion, which I suppose to be understood.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Take counsel; consider seriously among yourselves what course to take to prevent your utter ruin.
Execute judgment; do those things which are just and right, as to all men, so particularly to my people, to whom you have been most unrighteous and unmerciful.
As the night; or, as the shadow of the night, large and dark, as the shadow of the earth is in the night season. The meaning is, Conceal and protect my people in the time of their distress and danger, as this metaphor is explained in the rest of this and in the following verse.
The outcasts; mine outcasts, as it follows, Isa 16:4, those of my people which are driven out of their land.
Bewray not him that wandereth unto their enemies, as thou hast treacherously done in former times.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
3-5. GESENIUS,MAURER, c., regard theseverses as an address of the fugitive Moabites to the Jews forprotection they translate Isa 16:4,”Let mine outcasts of Moab dwell with thee, Judah”;the protection will be refused by the Jews, for the pride ofMoab (Isa 16:6). VITRINGAmakes it an additional advice to Moab, besides paying tribute.Give shelter to the Jewish outcasts who take refuge in thy land(Isa 16:3; Isa 16:4);so “mercy” will be shown thee in turn by whatever king sitson the “throne” of “David” (Isa16:5). Isaiah foresees that Moab will be too proud to paythe tribute, or conciliate Judah by sheltering its outcasts (Isa16:6); therefore judgment shall be executed. However, as Moabjust before is represented as itself an outcast in Idumea, itseems incongruous that it should be called on to shelterJewish outcasts. So that it seems rather to foretell the ruined stateof Moab when its people should beg the Jews for shelter, butbe refused for their pride.
make . . . shadow as . . .night . . . in . . . noondayemblem of a thick shelter from theglaring noonday heat (Isa 4:6;Isa 25:4; Isa 32:2).
bewray . . . wanderethBetraynot the fugitive to his pursuer.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
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 Isa 4:6:
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.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
There they show themselves, on the spot to which their land once reached before it passed into the possession of Israel – there, on its farthest boundary in the direction towards Judah, which was seated above; and taking heart, address the following petitions to Zion, or to the Davidic court, on the other side. “Give counsel, form a decision, make thy shadow like night in the midst of noon; hide the outcasts, do not betray the wanderers. Let mine outcasts tarry in thee, Moab; be a covert to it from before the spoiler.” In their extremity they appeal to Zion for counsel, and the once proud but now thoroughly humbled Moabites place the decision of their fate in the hands of the men of Judah (so according to the Keri), and stand before Zion praying most earnestly for shelter and protection. Their fear of the enemy is so great, that in the light of the noon-day sun they desire to be covered with the protecting shade of Zion as with the blackness of night, that they may not be seen by the foe. The short-sentences correspond to the anxious urgency of the prayer (cf., Isa 33:8). Pelilah (cf., peililyyah , Isa 28:7) is the decision of a judge ( palil ); just as in Isa 15:5 sheilshiyyah is the age and standing of three years. The figure of the shadow is the same as in Isa 30:2-3; Isa 32:2, etc.; noded is the same as in Isa 21:14; niddachai as in Isa 11:12; sether as in Isa 32:2, and other passages; shoded as in Isa 33:1; mipp e ne as in Isa 21:15. The whole is word for word Isaiah’s. There is no necessity to read nidche instead of niddac Mo’ab in Isa 16:4; still less is ay a collective termination, as in Isa 20:4. Nor are the words to be rendered “my outcasts … of Moab,” and the expression to be taken as a syntaxis ornata (cf., Isa 17:6). On the contrary, such an expression is absolutely impossible here, where the speaker is alluding to himself. It is better to abide by the punctuation as we have it, with niddachai ( zakeph ) closing the first clause of Isa 16:4, and Moab ( tebir , which is subordinate to the following tiphchah, and with this to athnach) opening the second as an absolute noun. This is the way in which we have rendered it above: “Moab … be a shield to it … ” (though without taking lamo as equivalent to lo ).
The question then arises, By what means has Zion awakened such reverence and confidence on the part of Moab? This question is answered in Isa 16:4, Isa 16:5: “For the extortioner is at an end, desolation has disappeared, treaders down are away from the land. And a throne is established by grace, and there sits thereon in truth in the tent of David one judging, and zealous for right, and practised in righteousness.” The imperial world-power, which pressed out both marrow and blood ( metz , a noun of the same form as letz , like mtz in Pro 30:33, pressure), and devastated and trod down everything (Isa 29:20; Isa 10:6; Isa 33:1, cf., Isa 16:8), is swept away from the land on this side of the Jordan; Jerusalem is not subject to it now, but has come forth more gloriously out of all her oppressions than ever she did before. And the throne of the kingdom of Judah has not fallen down, but by the manifestation of Jehovah’s grace has been newly established. There no longer sits thereon a king who dishonours Him, and endangers His kingdom; but the tent-roof of the fallen and now re-erected hut of David (Amo 9:11) is spread over a King in whom the truth of the promise of Jehovah is verified, inasmuch as justice and righteousness are realized through all that He does. The Messianic times must therefore have dawned (so the Targum understands it), since grace and truth ( chesed ve’emeth ) and “justice and righteousness” ( m ishpat utzedakah ) are the divino-human signs of those times, and as it were their kindred genii; and who can here fail to recall to mind the words of Isa 9:6 (cf., Isa 33:5-6)? The king depicted here is the same as “the lion out of Judah,” threatened against Moab in Isa 15:9. Only by thus submitting to Him and imploring His grace will it escape the judgment.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
3. Assemble a council. (252) He proceeds with the same subject; for if we wish rightly to understand this passage, we must set before our minds the dreadful ruin of the Moabites. Their crimes are brought to remembrance, that all may see more clearly how deservedly they are punished. When everything was in their power, they freely indulged in licentiousness, and would not listen to any reproofs; but now, when they are deprived of everything, they groan, and seek remedies which are nowhere to be found. The Lord deals with the reprobate in such a manner that, in order to leave them without excuse, he bestows upon them, and places in their hands, everything that they need; but when, through their wicked passion, they have abused and turned everything to a wicked purpose, he deprives them of all aid and support, and utterly destroys them.
Execute judgment. While the Moabites enjoyed prosperity, they cared little about what was good and right; while it was in their power to rule, and to have their kingdom established, in a just manner, they abused their power for the purpose of tyranny. Now that they were stripped of all authority, and were exiles and fugitives, Isaiah ironically advises them to assemble councils and execute judgments, which they had formerly overturned through fraud and injustice. Isaiah has in view that time when all power and authority was taken out of the hands of the Moabites. The upbraiding is similar to that with which the Lord addresses Adam, (Gen 3:22,) Behold, Adam is become as one of us, ridiculing him with the biting taunt, that he was not satisfied with his exalted attainments, and wished to rival God himself.
In like manner, the Moabites, not satisfied with their ornaments and wealth, wretchedly harassed and plundered the Israelites and Jews, and formed wicked plans against them. Having abused the excellent gift of God, they therefore deserved to have this reproof addressed to them, which is equally applicable to all the reprobate, who proudly vaunt in prosperity and barbarously abuse it for harassing the godly. Seeing that they basely pollute those things which the Lord had set apart to their proper use, it is right that they should be deprived of them and reduced to the lowest poverty. We have instances of this every day. How comes it that those who were raised to the highest rank of honor fall down headlong, but because the Lord punishes their tyrannical rule and their crimes? The Lord also ridicules their upbraiding and reproachful language, their wailings, and even their complaints; as when they exclaim, “O that I had the wealth which I once enjoyed! O that I were restored to my former condition!” For then repentance will be too late.
Make thy shadow. The Moabites might, as I have already hinted, have given some relief to the wretched Jews, when they were harassed by the Assyrians; or, at least, if they had had a spark of humanity, they ought to have protected the fugitives; but, on the contrary, they persecuted them, and added to the weight of their afflictions, which were already oppressive. It was highly proper that the Moabites should be the subjects of that cruelty which they had exercised towards others; that, when they had been driven from their dwellings, and were exiles and wanderers, they should nowhere find any solace, any shadow to shelter them from the heat; for why should they enjoy the consolations which they had barbarously refused to others?
As the night in the midst of noon-day. (253) By noon-day is here meant the most scorching heat. This metaphor is frequently employed in Scripture, that the Lord was like a cloud at noon, and like a pillar of fire by night; for he once was so in the wilderness. (Exo 13:21; Num 14:14; Deu 1:33.) This mode of expression, being customary, was retained by the Prophets, though they did not relate the history.
Hide the banished. He means the Jews, whom the Assyrians persecuted and harassed, and whom the Moabites at the same time treated cruelly. It was their duty to shelter and relieve the fugitives, and especially those who fled to them for protection; but seeing that they drove them out, it was proper that they should be driven out in the same manner, and deprived of all assistance and support; for it is a righteous sentence which the Lord pronounces, when he enjoins that the same measure which every one metes shall be measured to him again. (Deu 19:19; Mat 7:2.) Now the Prophet calls on the Moabites to acknowledge their sins, so as to confess that they are justly punished for their cruelty. Yet he rather has the Jews in his eye, in order to inform them that God does not disregard their afflictions, for they are told that he will be their avenger.
(252) Bogus footnote
(253) Bogus footnote
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(3) Make thy shadow as the night . . .The whole verse is addressed, as the context shows, not by the prophet to Moab, but by Moab to the rulers of Judah. The fugitives call on those rulers to plead for them and act as umpires, to be to them as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land (Isa. 32:2), black as night whilst the hot sun glares all around. Some critics, however, hold that the prophet still speaks to the Moabites and calls on them to protect the fugitives from Judah as they had done of old (Rth. 1:2; 1Sa. 22:3), and so to secure a return of like protection (Kay).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Isa 16:3-5. Take counsel, &c. We have here the second counsel given to the Moabites; wherein, first, is the counsel itself; Isa 16:3-4 and the reason of the counsel;middle of the fourth and the fifth verse. The counsel contains a complex of various offices, equity, justice, humanity, to be exercised towards those of the Israelites, whom the Assyrian affliction had driven, or should drive, to their borders and cities, and who should seek refuge among them; which counsel is so given to the Moabites by the prophet, as evidently to upbraid them for the fault of having neglected these offices; the pernicious consequences of which they were sure to feel in the ensuing calamity, if they altered not so bad a practice. Execute judgment is literally,
Make a distinction; and it properly denotes that act of the mind, whereby it discriminates truth from falsehood, right from wrong. It is therefore as much as to say, “Consider not only what becomes you, but what you ought to do in this case; consider what is due to exiles and out-casts, both by the laws of equity and reason, of humanity and brotherly love.” The meaning of the next clause, make thy shadow, &c. is; afford the exiled and afflicted Israelites, who shall fly to you for safety, a safe retreat, defence, and succour against the extreme, the noon-day heat of the sharp persecution which so heavily oppresses them.” The idea is taken from the comfort of a shady situation in those hot countries; and the metaphor is fully explained in what follows. See chap. Isa 4:6. Psa 121:6. Rev 7:16. There is great emphasis in the word Moab, Isa 16:4 whereby the Moabites are reminded of the relationship betwixt them and the Jews, as if the prophet had said, “If neither a regard to utility, humanity, and common equity, can persuade you to perform the offices I have recommended to the exiled Israelites, recollect your common kindred and relationship. They are from Abraham, you from Lot; sprung from one common parent, Terah, the father of the one, the grandfather of the other.” Vitringa is of opinion that the prophet here refers to the distress of the Reubenites, Gadites, and Manassites under Tiglath-pilezer. See 2Ki 15:29 and 2Ch 28:17. The prophet supports his counsel by a reason; the sum of which is, that oppression should cease, the spoilers of the earth be cut off, and the throne of clemency and grace be established, on which a king of righteousness and equity should sit. Primarily, the passage may be referred to Hezekiah, a pious and just king, whose throne, after the chastisement of Sennacherib in Judaea, was established in glory; but chiefly it refers to the Messiah; to Hezekiah as the type, and to Christ in a mystical and more sublime sense. This is the opinion of Vitringa, who thinks that while the prophet was speaking of the advantages of the kingdom of Hezekiah, he was carried forward to a contemplation of the kingdom of Jesus Christ; and, describing the typical kingdom, made use of such phrases as can only be applied to the kingdom of Jesus Christ, in their full extent. See chap. Isa 32:1 and Vitringa, who reads the first clause of the fifth verse in the present tense; and the throne is established in grace.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Isa 16:3 Take counsel, execute judgment; make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts; bewray not him that wandereth.
Ver. 3. Take counsel, execute judgment. ] Or, Make a decree, or deal equally and uprightly; shoew the like kindness to Abraham’s posterity as he once did to your progenitor Lot, whom he rescued; or as Lot did to the angels whom, as strangers, he entertained, fac, inquam, quod suggero, dum subdo.
Make thy shadow as the night in the midst of noonday,
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Take counsel = Bring advice. Some codices, with one early printed edition, Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate, read “Bring thou counsel”.
execute judgment = perform an arbitrator’s duty. Hebrew. pelilah. Occurs only here. Some codices, with seven early printed editions, Aramaean, Septuagint, Syriac and Vulgate, read “execute thou”.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Take: Heb. Bring
execute: Isa 1:17, Psa 82:3, Psa 82:4, Jer 21:12, Jer 22:3, Eze 45:9-12, Dan 4:27, Zec 7:9
make: Isa 9:6, Isa 25:4, Isa 32:2, Jdg 9:15, Jon 4:5-8
hide: Isa 56:8, Oba 1:12-14, Mat 25:35, Heb 13:2
Reciprocal: Deu 23:16 – shall dwell Isa 21:14 – brought Isa 27:13 – the outcasts Isa 30:2 – the shadow Isa 58:7 – bring Jer 7:5 – if ye thoroughly Jer 49:5 – none Jer 49:36 – the outcasts
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Isa 16:3-4. Take counsel, &c. We have here the second counsel given to the Moabites, which contains a complex of various offices, equity, justice, humanity, to be exercised toward those of the Israelites whom the Assyrian affliction had driven, or should drive, to their borders and cities, and who should seek refuge among them: which counsel is so given to the Moabites, by the prophet, as evidently to upbraid them for the fault of having neglected these offices; the pernicious consequences of which they were sure to feel in the ensuing calamities, if they altered not so bad a practice. Dodd, Execute judgment Hebrew, , make a distinction. The expression denotes that act of the mind whereby it discriminates truth from falsehood, right from wrong; as if he had said, Consider what becomes you, what is your duty in this case; what you owe to exiles and outcasts, both by the laws of equity and reason, of humanity and brotherly love. Make thy shadow as the night Or, as the shadow of the night, large and dark, as the shadow of the earth is in the night-season. Afford my exiled and afflicted people, who shall flee to you for safety, a safe retreat, defence, and succour against the extreme, the noon-day heat of the sharp persecution which so heavily oppresses them. The idea is taken from the comfort of a shady situation in those hot countries; and the metaphor is fully explained in what follows. Vitringa is of opinion that the prophet here refers to the distress of the Reubenites, Gadites, and Manassites under Tiglath-pileser. But it is more probable that he refers to the distress which should be caused in Judah by Pekah and Rezin, in the days of Ahaz, (Isa 9:1,) or that by the Assyrians? when Sennacherib came up against the defenced cities of Judah, and took them, Isa 36:1; during which distresses, undoubtedly, many of the Jews sought shelter among the Moabites and other neighbouring nations. For the extortioner is at an end Hebrew, , the presser, wringer, or oppressor hath left off, or, as Bishop Lowth translates it, is no more; that is, shall shortly be destroyed, and my people shall ere long be restored, and then thou wilt not lose the fruit of thy kindness. The bishop renders the next two clauses, The destroyer ceaseth, he that trampled under foot is perished from the land. The present tense is put for the future, as it often is in prophecies. Thus the prophet supports his counsel by a reason, the sum of which is, that oppression should cease, the spoilers of the earth be cut off, and the throne of clemency and grace established, on which a king of righteousness and equity should sit.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
16:3 Take counsel, execute judgment; {c} make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts; discover not him that wandereth.
(c) He shows what Moab would have done, when Israel their neighbour was in affliction, to whom because they would give no shadow or comfort, they are now left comfortless.