Give counsel! Execute justice! Make your shade like the night in the middle of the noonday! Hide the outcasts! Don’t betray the fugitive!
Parallel Translations
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Give counsel! Execute justice! Make your shade like the night in the middle of the noonday! Hide the outcasts! Don’t betray the fugitive!
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Take counsel, execute judgment; make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts; bewray not him that wandereth.
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'Give counsel, execute justice; make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts; betray not the fugitive.
Cross-references (17)
Passages linked to Isaiah 16:3 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 1 Kings 18:4 for when Jezebel cut off Yahweh’s prophets, Obadiah took one hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.)
- Isaiah 32:2 A man shall be as a hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the storm, as streams of water in a dry place, as the shade of a large rock in a weary land.
- Judges 9:15 “The bramble said to the trees, ‘If in truth you anoint me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade; and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon.’
- Psalms 82:3-4 “Defend the weak, the poor, and the fatherless. Maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy. Deliver them out of the hand of the wicked.”
- Isaiah 1:17 Learn to do well. Seek justice. Relieve the oppressed. Defend the fatherless. Plead for the widow.”
- Isaiah 9:6 For a child is born to us. A son is given to us; and the government will be on his shoulders. His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
- Isaiah 25:4 For you have been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat, when the blast of the dreaded ones is like a storm against the wall.
- Isaiah 56:8 The Lord Yahweh, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, says, “I will yet gather others to him, in addition to his own who are gathered.”
- Jeremiah 21:12 House of David, Yahweh says, ‘Execute justice in the morning, and deliver him who is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my wrath go out like fire, and burn so that no one can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.
- Jeremiah 22:3 Yahweh says: “Execute justice and righteousness, and deliver him who is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor. Do no wrong. Do no violence to the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow. Don’t shed innocent blood in this place.
- Ezekiel 45:9-12 “ ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Let it suffice you, princes of Israel: remove violence and plunder, and execute justice and righteousness; dispossessing my people,” says the Lord Yahweh. “You shall have just balances, a just ephah, and a just bath. The ephah and the bath shall be of one measure, that the bath may contain one tenth of a homer, and the ephah one tenth of a homer. Its measure shall be the same as the homer. The shekel shall be twenty gerahs. Twenty shekels plus twenty-five shekels plus fifteen shekels shall be your mina.
- Daniel 4:27 Therefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable to you, and break off your sins by righteousness, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor. Perhaps there may be a lengthening of your tranquility.”
- Obadiah 1:12-14 But don’t look down on your brother in the day of his disaster, and don’t rejoice over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction. Don’t speak proudly in the day of distress. Don’t enter into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity. Don’t look down on their affliction in the day of their calamity, neither seize their wealth on the day of their calamity. Don’t stand in the crossroads to cut off those of his who escape. Don’t deliver up those of his who remain in the day of distress.
- Jonah 4:5-8 Then Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made himself a booth, and sat under it in the shade, until he might see what would become of the city. Yahweh God prepared a vine, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to deliver him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the vine. But God prepared a worm at dawn the next day, and it chewed on the vine, so that it withered. When the sun arose, God prepared a sultry east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah’s head, so that he fainted, and requested for himself that he might die, and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”
- Zechariah 7:9 “Thus has Yahweh of Armies spoken, saying, ‘Execute true judgment, and show kindness and compassion every man to his brother.
- Matthew 25:35 for I was hungry, and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you took me in.
- Hebrews 13:2 Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for in doing so, some have entertained angels without knowing it.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (15 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain He showeth what Moab should have done, when Israel…
He showeth what Moab should have done, when Israel their neighbor was in affliction, to whom because they would give no shadow nor comfort, they are now left comfortless.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Isa 16:3 Take counsel, execute judgment; make thy shadow…
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.
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Make thy shadow as the night in the midst of noonday,] i.e., Shelter and shade my persecuted people, este illis securum perfugium, et iucundum refrigerium, protect them, refresh them, do all kind offices for them, which your fathers did not, but the contrary. {Deu 23:3-4}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Take counsel; consider seriously among yourselves what course to…
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.
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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.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Take counsel, execute judgment,.... This refers either to what…
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,
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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.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Take counsel - Consider seriously what course to take.…
Take counsel - Consider seriously what course to take. Shadow - Or, as the shadow of the night, large and dark, as the shadow of the earth is in the night-season. Conceal and protect my people in the time of their distress. The out-casts - Those of my people who are driven out of their land. Wandereth - Unto their enemies.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 3. Take counsel - "Impart counsel"] The Vulgate…
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.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Isa 16:3-4. Take counsel, &c. — We have here…
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, עשׂי פלילה, 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, אפס המצ, 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.”
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Take counsel - Hebrew, ‘Bring counsel;’ or cause it…
Take counsel - Hebrew, ‘Bring counsel;’ or cause it to come (הבאו hâbı̂'ı̂û, or as it is in the keri הביאי). 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.
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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 (תגלי tegalı̂y), do not show them to their pursuer; that is, give them concealment and protection.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Night. Seek a retreat in the darkest places; or…
Night. Seek a retreat in the darkest places; or protect Israel when they shall flee before the Assyrians. Their cruelty is thus insinuated, Amos i.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain GESENIUS, MAURER, &c., regard these verses as an address…
GESENIUS, MAURER, &c., regard these verses as an address of the fugitive Moabites to the Jews for protection; 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 of Moab (Isa 16:6). VITRINGA makes it an additional advice to Moab, besides paying tribute. Give shelter to the Jewish outcasts who take refuge in thy land (Isa 16:3-4); so "mercy" will be shown thee in turn by whatever king sits on the "throne" of "David" (Isa 16:5). Isaiah foresees that Moab will be too proud to pay the tribute, or conciliate Judah by sheltering its outcasts (Isa 16:6); therefore judgment shall be executed. However, as Moab just before is represented as itself an outcast in Idumea, it seems incongruous that it should be called on to shelter Jewish outcasts. So that it seems rather to foretell the ruined state of Moab when its people should beg the Jews for shelter, but be refused for their pride.
make . . . shadow as . . . night . . . in . . . noonday--emblem of a thick shelter from the glaring noonday heat (Isa 4:6; Isa 25:4; Isa 32:2).
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bewray . . . wandereth--Betray not the fugitive to his pursuer.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 3. Take counsel, execute judgment] Or, apply counsel, perform…
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).
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bewray not] lit. “uncover not.”
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.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (3) Make thy shadow as the night . .…
(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).
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Take counsel, execute judgment, etc. According to most critics,…
Take counsel, execute judgment, etc. According to most critics, these are the words of the Moabites, or of a Moabite ambassador at Jerusalem, and are a call on Judaea to give shelter to the fugitives from Moab. Some, however, as Dr. Kay, maintain that the words are the prophet"s, addressed to Moab, calling on her to treat kindly fugitives from Judaea. Make thy shadow as the night. (comp. Isa_4:6) In the hot land of Moab the sun is an enemy, and "the shadow of a great rock" a welcome refuge.
Practical righteousness.
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It does not seem certain whether this counsel is addressed to Moab in relation to the people fleeing for shelter from the invasion of Sennacherib, or to Israel in relation to the outcasts from Moab. Whichever it be, the point of the counsel is that they should act kindly, considerately, charitably. Righteousness is like "pure religion and undefiled;" it is doing something visiting the fatherless and widows in their affliction." "He that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous;" "If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them. Absolute righteousness, as before the all-searching God, is not a human possibility; but Scripture uses the term in reference to men. The psalmist says, "Judge me according to mine integrity, and according to my righteousness which is in me." And our Lord pleaded thus, "Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
I RIGHTEOUSNESS MAY BE MERE SENTIMENT. A delusion of excited feeling, as it too often is with persons who take up with "holiness theories." The danger of sentiment is that too often it satisfies, and in the pleasant enjoyment of it a man has no care about giving righteousness its due expression. No fruits ever grew on the tree of sentimentality, and its leaves have no virtue for the healing of the nations.
II RIGHTEOUSNESS MAY BE A PROFESSION. It is assumed in our being Christians. It is the state into which we are called. It is guaranteed in our regeneration. Why, then, may we not be satisfied with this profession? Because such righteousness is, at the best, something belonging to a class, and not to the individual; and the only righteousness worth having is something which the individual has for himself alone.
III RIGHTEOUSNESS MUST BE A PRACTICE. "Even as he Christ is righteous;" and his righteousness was distinctly conduct, and the spirit of conduct. Righteousness is truth, brotherliness, service, charity, self-denial, purity; it is God-likeness, and God is righteous in all his works. It is well for us to have and to cherish right feelings and good resolves, but the question to ask ourselves is this If we have the opportunity, do we give these good resolves, do we find for these good thoughts and feelings practical expression? The message sent to David has often been misunderstood and misused. In connection with building the temple God said, "Thou didst well that it was in thine heart." But we forget that David went as far as he was allowed, in giving practical expression to what was in his heart; he made preparations for what he might not himself accomplish. R.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
This continues the prophecy about the people of Moab. God describes events that will happen in the future as if it is happening in the present. Verses 3 and 4 is probably the message that the Moabite rulers send to the king of Judah. (See: Isaiah 15:1-2)
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provide some shade like night in the middle of the day
The heat of the middle of the day represents the Moabites' suffering from their enemies, and shade represents protection from their enemies. Comparing the shade to night shows that they want strong protection. AT: "protect us completely from our enemies as a large shadow protects people from the hot sun" (See: Metaphor and Simile)
Let them live among you, the refugees from Moab
"Allow the refugees from Moab to live with you." Here "you" refers to the people of Judah.
be a hiding place for them from the destroyer
Providing a hiding place is spoken of as being a hiding place. AT: "give them a place to hide from those who are trying to destroy them" or "hide them from those who want to destroy them" (See: Metaphor)
translationWords
instruct
just
Moab
oppress
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 16:3-4 Do not betray us . . . Hide…
16:3-4 Do not betray us . . . Hide them: Moab’s situation would become so dire that they would beg for asylum in other lands.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.