Abstract
Abstract All commentators agree that Isaiah 16:1–5 is about refugees, yet the passage’s implications for forced migration have not yet been investigated. This article argues that it contains a prophetic call by Isaiah, speaking with God’s authority, that Jerusalem should welcome the Moabite refugees who have fled there for safety. Isaiah tells Jerusalem that by welcoming these refugees they are participating in the coming of a Kingdom and a Davidic King who will rule with justice, righteousness, love, and faithfulness.
Highlights
All commentators agree that Isaiah 16:1–5 is about refugees, yet the passage’s implications for forced migration have not yet been investigated
Isaiah tells Jerusalem that by welcoming these refugees they are participating in the coming of a Kingdom and a Davidic King who will rule with justice, righteousness, love, and faithfulness
Most biblical scholarship on forced migration focuses on the experiences of Israel and Judah in exile, not the experiences of non-Israelite refugees fleeing to Israel.[4]
Summary
This article will focus primarily on the text as a literary unity, complemented by an awareness of the broader historical context in which it was composed.[9]. Jones warns that “the attitude that they express toward the nations is not, unequivocally negative as the appellation Oracles against the Nations might suggest; on occasion the tenor of the texts is positive (e.g. Isa 18:7; 19:19–25).”[12] This is especially true of Isaiah 15–16, which, as John Barton points out, is “not an oracle against a foreign nation but a lament for it.”[13] Goldingay cautions against any assumption that these oracles are addressed to the nations of which they speak: “in most cases, as far as we know, they aren’t delivered to the nations to which they refer They are delivered to the Judahites, like the rest of the prophecies.”[14] We must not assume these oracles concerning the nations to be entirely negative, and must be attentive to what the Judahites – the likely intended audience – were expected to learn from them.
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