Isaiah 25:4 For you have been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat… Among the names applied to God's people there are three which were destined to play an enormous part in the history of religion. In the English version these appear as two: "poor and needy"; but in the original they are three. In Isaiah 25:4: "Thou has been a stronghold to the poor and a stronghold to the needy," "poor" renders a Hebrew word, "dal," literally, "wavering, tottering, infirm," then "slender" or "lean," then "poor" in fortune and estate; "needy" literally renders the Hebrew "'ebhyon," Latin "egenus." In Isaiah 26:6: "The foot of the poor and the steps of the needy," "needy" renders "dal," while poor renders "'ani," a passive form — "forced, afflicted, oppressed," then "wretched," whether under persecution, poverty, loneliness, or exile, and so "tamed, mild, meek." These three words, in their root ideas of "infirmity," "need," and positive "affliction," cover among them every aspect of physical poverty and distress. (Prof. G. A. Smith, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: 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 the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall. |
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