Isaiah 16:3-5

Take counsel, &c.— We have here the second counsel given to the Moabites; wherein, first, is the counsel itself; Isaiah 16:3 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. Isaiah 4:6. Psalms 121:6. Revelation 7:16. There is great emphasis in the word Moab, Isaiah 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 Exodus 15:29 and 2 Chronicles 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. Isaiah 32:1 and Vitringa, who reads the first clause of the fifth verse in the present tense; and the throne is established in grace.