Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 3:23
The glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the veils.
23. The mirrors (made of polished metal, see ch. Isa 8:1) and the shifts (Jdg 14:12 f.) and the turbans and the overalls (a kind of veil, Son 5:7).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The glasses – There is a great variety of opinion about the expression used here. That ancient Jews had looking-glasses, or mirrors, is manifest from the account in Exo 38:8. These mirrors were made of polished plates of brass. The Vulgate and Chaldee understand this of mirrors. The Septuagint understands by it a thin, transparent covering like gauze, perhaps like silk. The word is derived from the verb to reveal, to make apparent, etc., and applies either to mirrors or to a splendid shining garment. It is probable that their excessive vanity was evinced by carrying small mirrors in their hands – that they might examine and adjust their dress as might be necessary. This is now done by females of Eastern nations. Shaw informs us that, In the Levant, looking-glasses are a part of female dress. The Moorish women in Barabary are so fond of their ornaments, and particularly of their looking-glasses, which they hang upon their breasts, that they will not lay them aside, even when, after the drudgery of the day, they are obliged to go two or three miles with a pitcher or a goat-skin to fetch water. – Burder. In Egypt, the mirror was made of mixed metal, chiefly of copper, and this metal was so highly polished, that in some of the mirrors discovered at Thebes, the luster has been partially restored, though they have been buried in the earth for many centuries. The mirror was nearly round, inserted in a handle of wood, stone, or metal, whose form varied according to the taste of the owner. The picture in the book will give you an idea of the ancient form of the mirror, and will show that they might be easily carried abroad as an ornament in public; compare Wilkinsons Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians, vol. iii., pp. 384-386.
And the fine linen – Anciently, the most delicate and fine garments were made from linen which was obtained chiefly from Egypt; see the note at Luk 16:19.
And the hoods – Or, turbans.
And the veils – This does not differ probably from the veils worn now, except that those worn by Eastern females are large, and made so as to cover the head and the shoulders, so that they may be drawn closely round the body, and effectually conceal the person; compare Gen 24:65.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 23. The glasses] The conjunction vau, and – AND the glasses, is added here by forty-three of Kennicott’s and thirty-four of De Rossi’s MSS., and one of my own, ancient, as well as by many editions.
And the veils. – “The transparent garments.”] , Sept. A kind of silken dress, transparent, like gauze; worn only by the most elegant women, and such as dressed themselves elegantius quam necesse esset probis, “more elegantly than modest women should.” Such garments are worn to the present day; garments that not only show the shape of every part of the body, but the very colour of the skin. This is evidently the case in some scores of drawings of Asiatic females now before me. This sort of garments was afterwards in use among the Greeks. Prodicus, in his celebrated fable (Xenoph. Memorab. Socr. lib. ii.) exhibits the personage of Sloth in this dress: , : –
“Her robe betray’d
Through the clear texture every tender limb,
Height’ning the charms it only seem’d to shade;
And as it flow’d adown so loose and thin,
Her stature show’d more tall, more snowy white her skin.”
They were called multitia and coa (scil, vestimenta) by the Romans, from their being invented, or rather introduced into Greece, by one Pamphila of the island of Cos. This, like other Grecian fashions, was received at Rome, when luxury began to prevail under the emperors. It was sometimes worn even by the men, but looked upon as a mark of extreme effeminacy. See Juvenal, Sat. ii., 65, &c. Publius Syrus, who lived when the fashion was first introduced, has given a humorous satirical description of it in two lines, which by chance have been preserved: –
“AEquum est, induere nuptam ventum textilem?
Palam prostare nudam in nebula linea?”
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The glasses; the looking-glasses, as we call them, though in truth they were not made of glass, but of bright and burnished brass.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
23. glassesmirrors ofpolished metal (Ex 38:8). Butthe Septuagint, a transparent, gauze-like, garment.
hoodsmiters, ordiadems (Isa 62:3; Zec 3:5).
veilslarge enough tocover the head and person. Distinct from the smaller veils(“mufflers”) above (Ge24:65). Token of woman’s subjection (1Co11:10).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
The glasses,…. Looking glasses, by which they dressed themselves, see Ex 38:8 and so Kimchi explains the word; but elsewhere e he says it signifies thin garments, so called because the flesh is seen through them, being so exceeding thin; which sense is favoured by the Septuagint version, which renders it by
, garments which the Lacedemonians wore, which were so thin and transparent, that the naked body might be seen through them:
and the fine linen; of which several of their garments and ornaments were made, and particularly their veils, with which they veiled themselves, as Jarchi observes:
and the hoods; the word is used for a diadem and mitre,
Isa 62:3 the Targum renders it “crowns”; and such the Jewish women wore, [See comments on Isa 3:20] and particularly newly married women f:
and the veils; so the word is rendered in So 5:7 with which women covered their heads, either through modesty, or as a token of subjection to their husbands, see Ge 24:65 but, according to the Targum and Kimchi, these were thin garments which women wore in summertime; Jarchi says they are the same which the French call “fermelan”, and are of gold, which they put about the cloak the woman is covered with; perhaps they were a sort of umbrellas, to keep off the heat of the sun.
e Ib. (In Sepher Shorash.) rad. . f Misn. Sota, c. 9. sect. 14.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(23) The glassesi.e., the polished metal mirrors (as in Exo. 38:3; Job. 37:18; 1Co. 13:12; Jas. 1:23), which the Eastern lady carried in her hand, that she might adjust her toilet. The LXX. rendering, Laconian [Spartan] garments, i.e., indecently transparent, is curious enough to deserve notice, as throwing light on the social life of Alexandria, if not of Israel.
The fine lineni.e., the chemise worn under the tunic next the skin. The Heb. sedn, like the Greek (Mar. 14:51), seems to imply a commerce with India; so our muslin (mosul) and calico (calicut) bear record of their origin. In Sanscrit, sindhu is the term for fine linen.
The hoodsi.e., the turbans which completed the attire, and over which was thrown the vail, or gauze mantle. Jewish women, however, did not veil their faces after the manner of those of Turkey and Arabia. The prophet seems to have carried his eye upward from the feet to the head, as he catalogued with indignant scorn the long list of superfluities. We may compare the warnings of 1Ti. 2:9; 1Pe. 3:3. It is noticeable that stockings and handkerchiefs do not seem to have been used by the women of Judah.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
23. Glasses Mirrors made of polished metal, carried on the person.
Fine linen Inner wear, undergarments.
Hoods Turbans, mitres, diadems. Isa 60:3; Zec 3:5.
Veils Coverings of the face, minus the eyes, dropping to near the feet. Distinct from “mufflers,” or smaller veils. In 1Co 11:10 used as a token of woman’s subjection.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Isa 3:23 The glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the vails.
Ver. 23. See Trapp on “ Isa 3:19 “
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
glasses = mirrors (of polished metal).
fine linen = underclothing.
hoods = turbans.
vails = long flowing vails.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
glasses: Exo 38:8
fine linen: Gen 41:42, 1Ch 15:27, Eze 16:10, Luk 16:19, Rev 19:8, Rev 19:14
veils: Gen 24:65, Rth 3:15, Son 5:7
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
3:23 The mirrors, and the fine linen, and the turbans, and the {s} veils.
(s) In rehearsing all these things particularly he shows the lightness and vanity of such as cannot be content with comely apparel according to their degree.