Isaiah 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.

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Take	הָבִ֤יאִי ha.vi.'u	H935	to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · verb, hiphil imperative, 2nd person feminine singular
counsel	עֵצָה֙ 'e.Tzah	H6098	advice · noun, common feminine singular absolute
execute	עֲשׂ֣וּ 'a.Su	H6213	to do or make · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
judgment	פְלִילָ֔ה fe.li.Lah	H6415	justice · noun, common feminine singular absolute
make	שִׁ֧יתִי Shi.ti	H7896	to place (in a very wide application) · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person feminine singular
shadow	צִלֵּ֖ךְ tzi.Lekh	H6738	shade · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person feminine singular
night	כַלַּ֛יִל kha.La.yil	H3915	properly · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
midst	בְּת֣וֹךְ be.Tokh	H8432	a bisection · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
noonday	צָהֳרָ֑יִם tzo.ho.Ra.yim	H6672	a light (i.e. window) · noun, common masculine dual absolute
hide	סַתְּרִי֙ sa.te.Ri	H5641	to hide (by covering) · verb, piel imperative, 2nd person feminine singular
outcasts	נִדָּחִ֔ים ni.da.Chim	H5080	to push off · verb, niphal active participle, masculine plural absolute
bewray	תְּגַלִּֽי te.ga.Li	H1540	to denude (especially in a disgraceful sense) · verb, piel jussive, 2nd person feminine singular
wandereth	נֹדֵ֖ד no.Ded	H5074	properly · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

1 Kings 18:4 For it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the LORD, that Obadiah took an hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fe…
Isaiah 32:2 And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a gr…
Judges 9:15 And the bramble said unto the trees, If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then come and put your trust in my shadow: and if not, let fire…
Psalms 82:3-4 Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy.
Isaiah 1:17 Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful,…
Isaiah 25:4 For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when th…
Isaiah 56:8 The Lord GOD which gathereth the outcasts of Israel saith, Yet will I gather others to him, beside those that are gathered unto him.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Isaiah 16:1-5

God has made it to appear that he delights not in the ruin of sinners by telling them what they may do to prevent the ruin; so he does here to Moab. I. He advises them to be just to the house of David, and to pay the tribute they had formerly covenanted to pay to the kings of his line (Isa 16:1): Send you the lamb to the ruler of the land. David made the Moabites tributaries to him, Sa2 8:2. They became his servants, and brought gifts. Afterwards they paid their tribute to the kings of Israel (Kg2 3:4), and paid it in lambs. Now the prophet requires them to pay it to Hezekiah. Let it be raised and levied from all parts of the country, from Selah, a frontier city of Moab on the one side, to t…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Isaiah 16:3

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 bef…

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John Gill on 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…

The Church Fathers

(Verse 3,4) This is a plan, gather a council: place your shadow as if it were night in the middle of the day, hide those who are fleeing, and do not disclose the wanderers. My outcasts will dwell with you: Moab, be their hiding place from the face of the destroyer, for the dust is at an end, the wretched one is consumed, the one who trampled on the earth has ceased. Instead of 'wretched' in Hebrew, 'Sod' is read, which can also be understood as 'destroyer'. It speaks to Moab, so that it may find a plan for salvation, and to the gathered elders, so that it may gather a council of salvation. He said, 'Will I see, and be saved, and earn God's mercy? In the bright light, and the open flight of my people, you should be like night and shadow, accept those fleeing, and do not betray the wanderers.' And immediately he explains why he said this: 'My refugees will dwell with you. For Jerusalem has been devastated, and all of Judaea that borders on Moab, my people will migrate to you. Therefore, be their refuge, and do not fear the attack of the destroyer, for he will pass quickly like dust: and the one who trampled the entire land and subjected it under his feet will be wiped away by a blowing breeze.' Some interpret this place wrongly about the Antichrist, thinking that the Saints at that time will pass to the Arabs because of the proximity of the city of Jerusalem, and now they are being warned not to betray those who are fleeing to them.
— Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Bewray — To reveal or disclose; an old English word equivalent to “betray” (Prov. 27:16; 29:24, R.V., “uttereth;” Isa. 16:3; Matt. 26:73).
Moabites · Prophesies respecting: Desolation and grief — Prophesies respecting: Desolation and grief
Poor · DUTY TO — DUTY TO

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Isaiah 16:3

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Isaiah 16:1-5

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Isaiah 16:3

John Gill on Isaiah 16:3

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Isaiah 16:3

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Isaiah 16:1-5

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Isaiah 16:3

John Gill on Isaiah 16:3

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Isaiah 16:3

Keil & Delitzsch on Isaiah 16:3-5

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Isaiah 16:3-4

Rashi on Isaiah 16:3