Isaiah 3:14-26
Isa 3:14
The LORD will enter into judgment with the ancients of
his people, and the princes thereof: for ye have eaten up the vineyard; the
spoil of the poor is in your houses.
In verse 13 we saw that God himself is the prosecutor and
judge. Here we have the fact that
the LORD himself will enter into the judgment of the elders and the princes or
political leaders. He will not send
someone as his agent but will do it himself.
This means God will judge both the religious and the political.
In chapter five God refers to Israel as his vineyard.
The word “eaten” carries with it the meaning of “consume” as something
which is consumed in a fire. The
“spoil” speaks about the wealthy stealing from the poor as a conqueror takes the
plunder from a battle victory.
Isa 3:15
What mean ye that ye beat my people to pieces, and
grind the faces of the poor? saith the Lord GOD of hosts.
“What mean ye” means “what authority or who gave you the
authority” to beat the people, that is, to crush them underneath the feet of
your greed and brutality. Grinding
them was placing the people into such bad circumstances because they were being
plundered by the wealthy to the point they were being starved for a need for
food. That is how exacting the
greedy wealthy were. Isaiah was not
asking the question but the Lord was asking them directly.
Isa 3:16
Moreover the LORD saith, Because the daughters of Zion
are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and
mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet:
Then the LORD speaks about the women that many of them
were no better than the men they were married to.
First it states they were haughty which means they were filled with
pride. Stretching forth their necks
was a pagan ritual. In Hindu
temples girls were trained for service in idolatrous temples and when they
danced, they would stretch out their necks and it would also representing a high
look as they looked down on the poor people.
An high look, and a proud heart,
and the plowing of the wicked,
is sin. (Proverbs 21:4)
They also rolled their eyes as they
continued in their dancing. Walking
and mincing meant they were taking short steps and jumping in their strides.
The tinkling with their feet means they were wearing anklet jewelry like
the ancient Egyptian women did.
They literally had to hop and bring their feet together to make the anklets hit
each other and make a tinkling sound.
In other words, the Israelite women were imitating the false religions
which were also taken up by the men.
Isa 3:17
Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of
the head of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will discover their secret
parts.
The LORD will deal with these prideful women by striking
them with a scab which would be a leprous scab and that would force them to
shave their heads and they will no longer be able to stick them out in pride.
For if the woman be not covered,
let her also be shorn: but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven,
let her be covered. (1 Corinthians 11:6)
Then they will have the nice clothing removed and they will be dressed in
rags to the point their nakedness will be shown.
The word “discover” means to “expose.”
Isa 3:18
In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of
their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls,
and their round tires like the moon,
The day will be the Babylonian invasion which will begin
in 605 B.C. Those ankle bracelets
the women wore will be taken from them by the invaders as part of the plunder.
The cauls were some type of head ornament but is most likely a cap for
the head as the word “caul” comes from the French for “small cap.”
The round tires were moon-shaped ornaments that were hung around the
neck. They were used on the necks
of camels.
Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, Rise thou,
and fall upon us: for as the man is,
so is his strength. And Gideon arose, and slew Zebah and Zalmunna, and
took away the ornaments that were
on their camels' necks. (Judges 8:21)
Isa 3:19
The chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers,
The chains were probably pendants or ear drops.
The bracelets were made of gold wire which were woven.
The mufflers were the thin vails.
They were so named by the Hebrews because of their fluttering action in
the wind.
Isa 3:20
The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the
headbands, and the tablets, and the earrings,
The bonnets were not like those the women wore in the 19th
century but were like the turbans which the men wore but were made of finer
materials and were not as heavy as the men’s turbans.
Then the women could put gold and other jewelry were added according to
taste of the wearer. The ornaments
of the legs were step chains which the women wore to the ankles of the feet
which limited their steps to short and mincing steps.
The headbands were placed on the hair or some type of girdle on the hair
to hold it in place. The tablets
are believed to be bottles of perfume which are attached to the necklace or the
girdle. The earrings are thought to
be charms or amulets with engraved serpents on them which are worn from the
ears.
Isa 3:21
The rings, and nose jewels,
And I put a jewel
on thy forehead, and earrings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thine
head. (Ezekiel 16:12) The nose
jewels were something which hung from the forehead down to the nose.
The rings were worn on the fingers like today’s rings.
Isa 3:22
The changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the
wimples, and the crisping pins,
The changeable suits of apparel were those costly
garments which were used on festive occasions.
The mantles are thought to be cloaks with ample folds in them and worn
outside of other garments. The
wimples were wide upper garments.
The crisping pins were purses of gold which looked like a cone that was
inverted.
Isa 3:23
The glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the
vails.
The glasses were small metallic mirrors where the women
adored themselves. The fine linen
was some kind of shirt which were inner garments or tunics.
The hoods were some kind of covering for the head and the difference
between them and the bonnet is lost in antiquity.
The vails were worn on the head and the tail went down the back and
normally the women wore them at home.
It was made of very light material.
Isa 3:24
And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet
smell there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle a rent; and instead of well
set hair baldness; and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth; and
burning instead of beauty.
Instead of there being a sweet smell in the house owing
to various oils, there will now be stink in the house which emanates from
disease sores like the leprosy they will be struck with.
The girdle was designed to keep the hair in place and also to keep the
shape of the torso. Now they will
become useless as they will be rent or torn and will have no strength to hold
anything in place. The women of the
Middle East were always concerned about how their hair looked and would always
do something to keep it looking nice but now their hair will be gone and there
will be baldness which means they are under judgment.
The stomacher was a wide loose flowing mantle which was characteristic of
luxury and immorality but now they will have to wear one made of sackcloth which
means they will be humbled under the time of judgment.
Instead of beauty they will suffer the humiliation of being branded as a
slave or disfigured by burning.
Isa 3:25
Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the
war.
The defense of the city and the country will be futile as
it will cause the deaths of many of the army and all those mighty men which the
people put their trust in will be destroyed.
There will be no defense left for the city as the Babylonians will come
in and will be relentless.
Isa 3:26
And her gates shall lament and mourn; and she being
desolate shall sit upon the ground.