H4160 H4160
extortioner, oppressor; one who squeezes resources from others
A noun appearing in Isaiah 16:4, describing an oppressor or extortioner. The root suggests squeezing or pressing, extracting resources by force. Isaiah promises Moab that 'the extortioner has ceased,' offering hope of relief from violent exploitation. The term captures economic or political violence—someone who wrings out what others have. The definite article ('the extortioner') may indicate a specific tyrant or a class of oppressors.
Senses
1. sense 1 — Isaiah 16:4 promises Moabite refugees that oppression will end: 'the extortioner has ceased.' The 'squeezer' (from a root meaning compress or press) wrings wealth or compliance from the vulnerable. Spanish 'opresor' (oppressor) generalizes the violence; the Hebrew focuses on extraction—pressing resources out like juice from grapes. This is economic brutality personified, now promised to end. 1×
AR["الظَّالِمُ"]·ben["-উৎপীড়ক"]·DE["[המץ]"]·EN["the-extortioner"]·FR["[המץ]"]·heb["ה-מץ"]·HI["अत्याचारी"]·ID["-penindas"]·IT["[המץ]"]·jav["ingkang-meres"]·KO["압제자가"]·PT["o-opressor"]·RU["притеснитель"]·ES["el-opresor"]·SW["mkandamizaji"]·TR["zorba"]·urd["ظالم"]
Related Senses
H4421 1. war, battle, armed conflict (319×)H0341 1. enemy, adversary, foe (284×)H3898a 1. Nifal: to fight, wage war (167×)H2026 1. kill, slay (active) (146×)H2451 1. wisdom, discernment (146×)H5483b 1. horse (the animal) (138×)H0006 1. to perish, be destroyed (105×)H7843 1. Hifil: destroy, annihilate (83×)H2491a 1. slain, fatally pierced (74×)H6862c 1. adversary, enemy, foe (69×)H8045 1. destroy, exterminate (69×)G0615 1. kill, put to death (60×)H6571b 1. horseman, cavalryman (52×)H8077a 1. desolation, waste (abstract state) (52×)G4678 1. of wisdom (51×)G4717 1. crucify, fasten to a cross (46×)H2763a 1. utterly destroy (Hifil active) (44×)G0622 1. perish, be destroyed (intransitive) (41×)H0006 2. to destroy, annihilate (Piel) (38×)H8074 1. be desolate, lie waste (36×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† מֵץ n.m. squeezer, i.e. extortioner, oppressor, only הַמֵּץ Is 16:4.