Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 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.
24. A description of the degradation of the high-born women of Jerusalem, reduced to beggary and slavery. The verse would appear to connect better with Isa 3:17 than with 18 23.
instead of stink ] R.V. instead of sweet spices (lit. “balsam”) there shall be rottenness. a rent ] Render with R.V. a rope.
well set hair ] artificial curls (Cheyne), lit. “turner’s work.”
baldness ] the result of disease, Isa 3:17, or, possibly, a sign of mourning.
a stomacher ] an obscure word; perhaps mantle.
branding instead of beauty; branding the symbol of slavery.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And it shall come to pass – The prophet proceeds to denounce the judgment or punishment that would come upon them for their pride and vanity. In the calamities that would befall the nation, all their ornaments of pride and vainglory would be stripped off; and instead of them, they would exhibit the marks, and wear the badges of calamity and grief.
Instead of sweet smell – Hebrew bos’em, aromatics, perfumes, spicy fragrance; such as they used on their garments and persons. No one ever enters a company without being well perfumed; and in addition to various scents and oils, they are adorned with numerous garlands, made of the most odoriferous flowers. – Roberts. The persons of the Assyrian ladies are elegantly clothed and scented with the richest oils and perfumes. When a queen was to be chosen to the king of Persia, instead of Vashti, the virgins collected at Susana, the capital, underwent a purification of twelve months duration, to wit: six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with sweet odors. The general use of such precious oil and fragrant perfumes among the ancient Roamns, particularly among the ladies of rank and fashion, may be inferred from these words of Virgil:
Arabrosiaeque comae divinum vertice odorem Spiravere:
AEn. i. 403.
From her head the ambrosial locks breathed divine fragrance.
Paxton.
A stink – This word properly means the fetor or offensive smell which attends the decomposition of a deceased body. It means that the bodies which they so carefully adorned, and which they so assiduously endeavored to preserve in beauty by unguents and perfumes, would die and turn to corruption.
And instead of a girdle – Girdles were an indispensable part of an Oriental dress. Their garments were loose and flowing, and it became necessary to gird them up when they ran, or danced, or labored.
A rent – There has been a great variety of opinion about the meaning of this word. The most probable signification is that which is derived from a verb meaning to go around, encompass; and hence, that it denotes a cord. Instead of the beautiful girdle with which they girded themselves, there shall be a cord – an emblem of poverty, as the poor had nothing else with which to gird up their clothes; a humiliating description of the calamities which were to come upon proud and vain females of the court.
And instead of well-set hair – Hair that was curiously braided and adorned. No ladies pay more attention to the dressing of the hair than these (the dancing girls of India), for as they never wear caps, they take great delight in this their natural ornament. – Roberts. Miss Pardoe, in The City of the Sultan, says, that after taking a bath, the slaves who attended her spent an hour and a half in dressing and adorning her hair; compare 1Pe 3:3.
Instead of a stomacher – It is not certainly known what is meant by this, but it probably means some sort of girdle, or a platted or stiffened ornament worn on the breast. I once saw a dress beautifully plaited and stiffened for the front, but I do not think it common. – Roberts.
A girding of sackcloth – This is a coarse cloth that was commonly worn in times of affliction, as emblematic of grief; 2Sa 3:31; 1Ki 20:31; 1Ki 21:27; Job 16:15; Isa 32:11.
And burning – The word used here does not occur elsewhere. It seems to denote a brand, a mark burnt in, a stigma; perhaps a sun-burned countenance, indicating exposure in the long and wearisome journey of a captivity over burning sands and beneath a scorching sun.
Instead of beauty – Instead of a fair and delicate complexion, cherished and nourished with care. Some of the articles of dress shown in the book exhibit several varieties of the costume of an Oriental female. To what particular time the prophet refers in this chapter is not known, perhaps, however, to the captivity at Babylon. To whatever he refers, it is one of the most striking reproofs of vanity and pride, especially the pride of female ornament, any where to be found. And although he had particular reference to the Jewish females, yet there is no impropriety in regarding it as applicable to all such ornaments wherever they may be found. They indicate the same state of the heart, and they must meet substantially the same rebuke from God. The body, however delicately pampered and adorned, must become the prey of corruption. The worm shall feed sweetly on it, and the earth-worm shall be its covering; compare Isa 14:2; Job 24:20. The single thought that the body must die – that it must lie and moulder in the grave – should check the love of frivolous adorning, and turn the mind to a far more important matter – the salvation of the soul, which cannot die; to the ornament of a weak and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price; 1Pe 3:4.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 24. Instead of sweet smell – “perfume.”] A principal part of the delicacy of the Asiatic ladies consists in the use of baths, and of the richest oils and perfumes; an attention to which is in some degree necessary in those hot countries. Frequent mention is made of the rich ointments of the spouse in the Song of Solomon, Son 4:10-11: –
“How beautiful are thy breasts, my sister, my spouse!
How much more excellent than wine;
And the odour of thine ointments than all perfumes!
Thy lips drop as the honey-comb, my spouse!
Honey and milk are under thy tongue:
And the odour of thy garments is as the odour of Lebanon.”
The preparation for Esther’s being introduced to King Ahasuerus was a course of bathing and perfuming for a whole year; “six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with sweet odours;” Es 2:12. See the notes on this place. See Clarke on Es 2:12. A diseased and loathsome habit of body, instead of a beautiful skin, softened and made agreeable with all that art could devise, and all that nature, so prodigal in those countries of the richest perfumes, could supply, must have been a punishment the most severe and the most mortifying to the delicacy of these haughty daughters of Sion.
Burning instead of beauty – “A sunburnt skin.”] Gaspar Sanctius thinks the words ki thachath an interpolation, because the Vulgate has omitted them. The clause ki thachath yophi seems to me rather to be imperfect at the end. Not to mention that ki, taken as a noun for adustio, burning, is without example, and very improbable. The passage ends abruptly, and seems to want a fuller conclusion.
In agreement with which opinion, of the defect of the Hebrew text in this place, the Septuagint, according to MSS. Pachom. and 1 D. ii., and Marchal., which are of the best authority, express it with the same evident marks of imperfection at the end of the sentence; thus: – The two latter add . This chasm in the text, from the loss probably of three or four words, seems therefore to be of long standing.
Taking ki in its usual sense, as a particle, and supplying lech from the of the Septuagint, it might possibly have been originally somewhat in this form: –
marah raath lech thihyeh yophi thachath ki “Yea, instead of beauty thou shalt have an ill-favoured countenance.”
ki thachath yophi (q. yachath,) “for beauty shall be destroyed.” Syr. chathath or nachath. – Dr. DURELL.
“May it not be cohey, ‘wrinkles instead of beauty?’ as from yaphah is formed yephi, yophi; from marah, meri, c. so from cahah, to be wrinkled, cohey.” – Dr. JUBB. The ki is wanting in one MS., and has been omitted by several of the ancients.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Instead of sweet smell, those perfumes mentioned Isa 3:20,
there shall be stink, from their scabs, mentioned Isa 3:17, or from other ill usages of their enemies.
Instead of a girdle, which were fine and costly, and useful to gird their garments about them,
a rent; either the rending of their garments for grief; or torn and tattered garments, not sufficient to cover their bodies.
Burning, by the heat of the sun, to which they are now commonly exposed, from which they used formerly to guard themselves with great care.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
24. stinkarising from ulcers(Zec 14:12).
girdleto gird up theloose Eastern garments, when the person walked.
rentthe Septuagint,better, a “rope,” an emblem of poverty; the poor havenothing else to gird up their clothes with.
well-set hair (1Pe 3:3;1Pe 3:4).
baldness (Isa3:17).
stomachera broadplaited girdle.
sackcloth (2Sa3:31).
burninga sunburntcountenance, owing to their hoods and veils being stripped off, whilethey had to work as captives under a scorching sun (So1:6).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And it shall come to pass, [that] instead of sweet smell there shall be a stink,…. Instead of “spice”, or in the place where they put spices, carried musk, or had their smelling bottles, of precious and aromatic ointment, balsam, and myrrh, and such like things g, namely, in their bosoms, there should be a “stink” or putrefaction, arising from ulcers and diseases of the body,
Zec 14:12 the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions, render it “dust”; or this may refer to the anointing of their hair with ointment of myrrh and other things, which gave an agreeable scent; but instead of this there would be a scab, giving an ill scent, Isa 3:17
and instead of a girdle a rent; such as is made in times of mourning and distress, or by the enemy. The Septuagint and Arabic versions render it, a “rope”; instead of fine curious girdles, wrought with gold and silver, they should have nothing but a rope about their loins. The Targum is,
“in the place where they bind the girdles, shall be marks of smiting;”
stripes, cuts, see Isa 10:34 as either by blows from the enemy, by whom they should be taken, or by the hand of God, being smitten with sores and ulcers, so that they should not be able to bear girdles upon them; or “holes”, in their clothes or skin:
and instead of well set hair baldness; instead of plaited hair, and curled locks, kept in order, there would be scabs, ulcers, leprosy, or such diseases as would cause the hair to fall off, and leave a baldness. The Septuagint and Arabic versions render it, “instead of the golden ornament of the head, thou shall have baldness for thy works”; and the Syriac version, “instead of gems, incisions”:
and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth; the word for a “stomacher” is only used in this place; according to Kimchi, it signifies a very broad girdle; but Aben Ezra says it was a thin garment embroidered, which was put over all the rest of the clothes; perhaps something like a “mantelet”. The Septuagint version renders it, “instead of the garment worked with purple”; and so the Syriac version, “instead of their hyacinths, or purples”; and the Arabic version, “instead of thy silken garment thou shall be girt with sackcloth”; which was usually done in times of distress and mourning:
[and] burning instead of beauty; either through the scorching beams of the sun, being stripped of their hoods and veils; or rather this is to be understood of carbuncles, and such like hot burning ulcers in their faces, which once were beautiful, and they prided themselves in; though the Hebrew word seems rather to be a preposition than a noun; so Jarchi, whose note is,
“for this is fit to be unto them instead of beauty, with which they have prided themselves,”
or have lifted up themselves; and so in his gloss upon the Talmud h, where this clause, with the context, is cited and paraphrased,
“for all these things shall come unto thee instead of thy beauty;”
and this clause may be read in connection with the following, “because of beauty”, or “instead of beauty, thy men shall fall”, c. and so the Targum,
“this vengeance shall be taken on them, because they have committed fornication in their beauty thy beautiful men shall be killed by the sword.”
The Syriac version is, “because their beauty shall be corrupted”, and those versions which seem to have left out this clause, yet retain something of it in the beginning of the next verse Isa 3:25. The Vulgate Latin version is, “thy most beautiful men also shall fall by the sword”. The Septuagint and Arabic versions begin it thus, “and thy beautiful son, whom thou lovest, shall fall by the sword”.
g Misn. Sabbat, c. 6. sect. 3. h T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 62. 2.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
When Jehovah took away all this glory, with which the women of Jerusalem were adorned, they would be turned into wretched-looking prisoners, disfigured by ill-treatment and dirt. – “And instead of balmy scent there will be mouldiness, and instead of the sash a rope, and instead of artistic ringlets a baldness, and instead of the dress-cloak a frock of sackcloth, branding instead of beauty.” Mouldiness, or mother ( mak , as in Isa 5:24, the dust of things that have moulded away), with which they would be covered, and which they would be obliged to breathe, would take the place of the bosem , i.e., the scent of the balsam shrub ( basam ), and of sweet-scented pomade in general; and nipah that of the beautifully embroidered girdle (Pro 31:24). The meaning of this word is neither “a wound,” as the Targums and Talmud render it, nor “rags,” as given by Knobel, ed. 1 (from nakaph , percutere , perforare ), but the rope thrown over them as prisoners (from kaphah = kavah , Contorquere : lxx, Vulg., Syr.).
(Note: Credner ( Joel, p. 147) renders the word “tatters,” from nakaph , to rub in pieces; but the word has no such meaning, whereas the meaning vulnus , lit., percussio , is admissible (see at Job 19:26), but does not suit the antithesis. Luzzatto connects it with n’kaph , to bind (from which the makkeph derives its name), and understands it as referring to the dressing applied to wounds, to lint into which the girdle was torn. The most plausible derivation is from kaphah , which is really employed in post-biblical usage to signify not only to congeal and wrinkle, but also to thicken ( Sabbath 21 a, l’hakpoth : “Make the wick thicker, that it may burn the brighter”). It is probably radically akin to the Arabic nukbe (explained in Lamachzari as equivalent to the Persian mijan – bend , a girdle), which is apparently used to denote the coarse girdle worn by peasants or by Arab women of the wandering tribes, resembling a rope of goat’s hair, as distinguished from the artistic and costly girdle worn by women of the upper classes in the towns.)
Baldness takes the place of artistic ringlets ( , not , so that it is in apposition: cf., Isa 30:20; Ges. 113; Ewald, 287, b). The reference is not to golden ornaments for the head, as the Sept. rendering gives it, although m iksheh is used elsewhere to signify embossed or carved work in metal or wood; but here we are evidently to understand by the “artificial twists” either curls made with the curling-tongs, or the hair plaited and twisted up in knots, which they would be obliged to cut off in accordance with the mourning customs (Isa 15:2; Isa 22:12), or which would fall off in consequence of grief. A frock of sackcloth ( m achagoreth sak ), i.e., a smock of coarse haircloth worn next to the skin, such as Layard found depicted upon a bas-relief at Kouyunjik, would take the place of the pethigil , i.e., the dress-cloak (either from pathag , to be wide or full, with the substantive termination l , or else composed of pethi , breadth, and gil , festive rejoicing); and branding the place of beauty. Branding ( C i = C evi , from C avah , ), the mark burnt upon the forehead by their conquerors: C i is a substantive,
(Note: It is so understood in b. Sabbath 62 b, with an allusion to the proverb, “The end of beauty is burning” (viz., inflammation). In Arabia, the application of the C ey with a red-hot iron ( m ikwah ) plays a very important part in the medical treatment of both man and beast. You meet with many men who have been burned not only on their legs and arms, but in their faces as well, and, as a rule, the finest horses are disfigured by the C ey . – Wetzstein.)
not a particle, as the Targum and others render it, and as the m akkeph might make it appear. There is something very effective in the inverted order of the words in the last clause of the five. In this five-fold reverse would shame and mourning take the place of proud, voluptuous rejoicing.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
24. Instead of a sweet smell there shall be stink. It is evident that the country here described abounds in aromatic herbs; and there is no reason to doubt that in pleasant smells, as well as in other matters, they were luxurious. We see that those nations which are farthest removed from the east are not prevented either by distance or by expense from indulging in that kind of luxury. What may be expected to happen in those places where they are abundant? That they will excite lust and promote luxury is beyond all doubt He means, therefore, that ointments and sweet smells were abused by them in a variety of ways; for the sinful desires of men are ingenious in their contrivances, and can never be satisfied.
Instead of a girdle a rent. Others have rendered it a falling off; because the Lord will ungird them. He intends to contrast things which are exceedingly opposite to each other; that as the women formerly were most carefully girt and adorned when they walked, they shall henceforth be torn and naked. He likewise contrasts baldness with curls; because they arranged their hair not in a modest but an extravagant fashion. Again, a belt is contrasted with sackcloth. Whether it was a belt, or some other kind of binding, it is certain that the Prophet meant a girdle, which was held in high estimation. Again, burning is contrasted with beauty; because fashionable ladies hardly venture to expose themselves to the sun’s rays, for fear of being sunburned; and he tells us that this will happen to them. In short, both men and women are instructed to make a sober use of the gifts of Goal, both in food and in clothing, and in the whole conduct of life. For the Lord cannot endure extravagance, and absolutely must inflict severe punishment on account of it; for it cannot be restrained by a lighter chastisement.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(24) And it shall come to pass.Now comes the terrible contrast of the day of destruction that is coming on all this refined luxury. Instead of the balmy perfume of the scent-bottles, there shall be the stench of squalor and pestilence; instead of the embroidered girdle (Isa. 11:5), not a rent, but the rope by which they would be dragged in the march of their conquerors; instead of the plaited hair (1Pe. 3:3; 1Ti. 2:9), natural or artificial, the baldness of those who were cropped as slaves were cropped (comp. 1Co. 11:5-6); instead of the stomacher (better, cloak, or mantle), the scanty tunic of the coarsest sackcloth; instead of the elaborate beauty in which they had exulted, the burning, or brand, stamped on their flesh, often in the barbarism of the East on the forehead, to mark them as the slaves of their captors.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
24. It shall come to pass The divine judgment against this luxurious finery is, that in place of sweet smell aromatics, spicy fragrance, and the like, upon the garments of the person, (Roberts says, “No one ever enters a company without being perfumed,”) there shall be stink a stench from dead bodies.
Instead of a girdle An ornament for the waist; used, also, to hold up the gathers of the long outer robe when engaged in active employment.
A rent Better, a rope; either an emblem of poverty or of captivity: in the latter case the proud females being thereby hauled along in the train of conquerors.
Well set hair Hair curiously braided and adorned.
Baldness In this connexion made so by the razor, the hair being shaved off; as conquerors of old time resorted to the last degree of humiliations upon their captives.
Stomacher It is matter of uncertainty what is meant by this. Most concur in its being a plaited or stiffened ornament worn on the breast, or a broad plaited girdle for the breast.
A girding of sackcloth The material only changed. “Sackcloth” was of the coarsest material, and worn only in affliction.
Burning A sunburnt face, from the exposures of captivity and slavery. This, instead of the fair complexion and the well adorned person in a highly civilized and luxurious life.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
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.
Ver. 24. And there shall be instead of sweet smell, stink. ] Ex illuvie et sordibus captivitatis et carceris. Martial and Marcellinus tell us of a natural stench the Jews have, such as made the Emperor Aurelius, coming among some of them, and annoyed with their ill savour, to cry out, O Marcomanni, O Quadi, O Sarmatae, &c., O Marcomans, Quades, and Sarmatians, at length I have met with those that are more nasty and loathsome than you are. a These dainty dames are threatened with dirty doings in captivity and prison, such as should render them odious.
And instead of a girdle, a rent.
And instead of well set hair.
Baldness.
And burning instead of beauty.
a Ammian. lib. ii.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
sweet smell = perfume.
stink = rottenness, or stench.
rent = a rope,
well set hair = richly plaited hair.
stomacher = sash or girdle, often worked in silk and gold. Still worn in Palestine.
girding of sackcloth = girding with a rope.
burning = branding.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Isa 3:24-26
Isa 3:24-26
“And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet spices there shall be rottenness; instead of girdle, a rope; and instead of well-set hair, baldness; and instead of a robe, a girding of sackcloth; branding instead of beauty. Thy men shall fall by the sword, and the mighty in the war. And her gates shall lament and mourn; and she shall be desolate and sit upon the ground.”
The last verse here is a tragic prophecy indeed, fulfilled to the letter in Israel’s subsequent history. Following the destruction of Jerusalem by Vespasian and Titus in 70 A.D., commemorative medals, including a coin with the head of Vespasian on it depicted the captive Judea as a forlorn woman sitting upon the ground and with the legend Judaea Capta.
The contrast between girdle and rope is especially tragic. When Assyria led the northern kingdom into captivity, some 30,000 were herded in long lines to Nineveh with ropes joining the captives by being passed through their ears. These are indeed tragic words for God’s apostate people.
Isa 3:25 to Isa 4:1 FINAL DEGRADATION: With the moral decay Of womanhood comes the weakening of all the fibres of the nation-including its men. When its male leaders become morally weak the nation becomes filled with rebellion, anarchy and conflict. War is a consequence. The male population will be destroyed in war (Cf. Lam 2:21). A great disproportion between the sexes will appear. Instead of the God-intended ratio of one woman for one man, there will be seven or more women for every male.
The significance of Isa 3:26 is that it unconsciously shifts from “the women of Jerusalem,” to Jerusalem itself, indicating that the vainglorious women were a type of Jerusalem in its apostasy.
The great curse of the Hebrew female was to be unmarried and childless. (Cf. Sarah and Abraham, Hannah, etc.). It was the fear of a lack of seed that had led the daughters of Lot to act in the shameful manner described in Gen 19:32 ff. Women to whom Isaiah preached would some day no longer live as normal women-they would have no offspring since their husbands would be slain in the wars. For this reason they would abandon their natural modesty and take the initiative in a bold and shameful way, openly asking a man to marry them. Thus the order instituted in Eden is reversed. No longer is man the head of the wife. He does not seek her, but she him.
And so, womanhood, always the last stronghold of a peoples morality, strength of character, and hope for the future, crumbles and falls into decadent disarray. With it goes the whole nation. God-fearing women have always been the handmaidens of the Lord (Moses mother; Samuels mother; women judges; Ruth; Esther; John the Baptists mother; Jesus mother, etc.). Godfearing women have wrought salvation of whole nations through their faith. But when women go bad, their degradation can cause such an upheavel in society that the very foundations of that society are destroyed.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
instead: Isa 57:9, Pro 7:17
baldness: Isa 22:12, Eze 7:18, Mic 1:16
a girding: Isa 15:3, Isa 32:9-11, Job 16:15, Jer 4:8, Jer 6:26, Jer 48:37, Jer 49:3, Lam 2:10, Eze 27:31, Joe 1:8, Amo 8:10, Rev 11:3
burning: Isa 4:4, Lev 26:16, Deu 28:22, Deu 32:24, Rev 16:9, Rev 18:9
Reciprocal: Lev 13:24 – a hot burning Deu 28:35 – botch 2Sa 14:26 – when he polled Isa 15:2 – all Isa 32:11 – and gird Jer 13:10 – shall Rev 9:8 – hair Rev 16:2 – a noisome
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Disgrace would result from trusting self rather than God. These five exchanges and more took place when God humbled Israel in exile. They all represent the results of divine judgment for self-exaltation.