Moab’s request continues here, but where does it end? Revised Standard Version and Bible en français courant consider all of verses 4 and 5 to be part of Moab’s speech. Most versions, however, end the speech after verse 4a and begin a new stanza or paragraph at verse 4b, which we recommend. The explicit request for assistance ends with verse 4a. Verses 4b-5 are a statement of faith by the prophet in the future of Judah under a restored Davidic ruler. New Revised Standard Version and Revised English Bible set verses 4b-5 apart between blank lines, which is helpful. Good News Translation marks them as a parenthetical remark, but this is not recommended. (For more on how to link verses 4b-5 to the context, see the discussion on Isa 16.5 below.)

Let the outcasts of Moab sojourn among you: For outcasts see the previous verse. The Hebrew verb rendered sojourn means “stay for a time.” It implies that those who do this are not natives of the place where they are staying. Translators do not need to make this explicit, so acceptable models for these two lines are “Let the Moabite fugitives stay with you” (New International Version) and “Let our people live in your country” (Contemporary English Version). Instead of the outcasts of Moab, Masoretic Text is literally “my outcasts, Moab” (supported by Hebrew Old Testament Text Project), but all translations consulted render it like Revised Standard Version.

Be a refuge to them from the destroyer: The messengers ask that Judah be a place where the refugees can hide from their enemy. The Hebrew word rendered refuge comes from a root meaning “hide.” The destroyer is the enemy. Destroyer translates the same Hebrew root word as the one rendered “laid waste” in 15.1 (see the comments there). Good News Translation provides a clear model for these two lines: “Protect us [or, them] from those who want to destroy us [or, them].”

When the oppressor is no more, and destruction has ceased, and he who tramples under foot has vanished from the land: These three dependent clauses introduce the main clauses that follow in verse 5. In languages where the main clause must come before any subordinate clauses, it may be necessary to combine verses 4-5; see the last translation example under 16.5 below. Good News Translation provides a helpful model by rendering these three dependent clauses as a separate sentence.

When the oppressor is no more looks forward to a time when the enemy will no longer be in the land of Moab. However, the Hebrew text here could refer to a completed event. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh reflects this by saying “For violence has vanished.” Like Revised Standard Version, most versions indicate a future or potential situation. The Hebrew noun translated oppressor (“violence” in New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) occurs only here in the Old Testament; its precise meaning is suggested primarily from the context. BDB suggests that it comes from a root meaning “press” or “suck” and thus means “oppressor” or “extortioner.” Most translations choose this meaning. It is also supported by the Qumran text. New Jerusalem Bible and Revised English Bible render the noun with the abstract term “oppression.”

And destruction has ceased is a second expectation. The Hebrew noun for destruction is from the same root as the participle rendered destroyer in the fourth line. If destruction needs an agent and an object, translators can make them explicit by saying “the enemy has stopped destroying the land.”

And he who tramples under foot has vanished from the land: He who tramples under foot describes the oppressor, the one causing the destruction. Revised English Bible says “the heel of the aggressor.” This subject probably has a collective sense since the Hebrew verb translated has vanished is plural. The verb literally means “to complete” or “to perfect.” It suggests that those who have attacked Moab will utterly disappear.

Translation examples for this verse are:

• We are refugees from Moab; let us stay with you! Protect us from our enemies!”
When there is no longer any oppression, destruction, or trampling on the land….

• Allow us, refugees from Moab, to stay with you; give us refuge from those who want to destroy us.”
When the oppressor has ceased [his oppression], the destruction is at an end, and the one who tramples on us has been eliminated from the face of the earth….

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .