Isaiah 3
3
Judgment on Jerusalem and Judah
1#These verses suggest deportation, with resulting social upheaval, and thus may date to sometime after Ahaz submitted as vassal to Assyria. The deportation practiced by Assyria, as later by Babylon, exiled the leading elements of society, such as those named in vv. 2–3; cf. 2 Kgs 24:12, 14–16 for a similar list of those exiled by the Babylonians. Denuding society of its leaders opens the way to near anarchy and a situation in which leadership is seized by or thrust upon those unqualified for it (vv. 5–7). The situation has been provoked by sinfully inept leadership (vv. 4, 8–9, 12). Some suggest that vv. 4 and 12 refer to Ahaz, who may have come to the throne at an early age. Verses 10–11 form a wisdom couplet that was inserted later. The Lord, the Lord of hosts,
will take away from Jerusalem and from Judah
Support and staff—
all support of bread,
all support of water:#Lv 26:26; Ez 4:16.
2Hero and warrior,
judge and prophet, diviner and elder,
3The captain of fifty and the nobleman,
counselor, skilled magician, and expert charmer.
4I will place boys as their princes;
the fickle will govern them,#Eccl 10:16.
5And the people will oppress one another,
yes, each one the neighbor.
The child will be insolent toward the elder,
and the base toward the honorable.#Mi 7:5–6.
6When anyone seizes a brother
in their father’s house, saying,
“You have clothes! Be our ruler,
and take in hand this ruin!”—
7He will cry out in that day:
“I cannot be a healer,#Is 1:6.
when there is neither bread nor clothing in my own house!
You will not make me a ruler of the people!”
8Jerusalem has stumbled, Judah has fallen;
for their speech and deeds affront the Lord,
a provocation in the sight of his majesty.
9Their very look bears witness against them;#Jer 3:3.
they boast of their sin like Sodom,#Is 1:10.
They do not hide it.
Woe to them!
They deal out evil to themselves.
10Happy the just, for it will go well with them,
the fruit of their works they will eat.
11Woe to the wicked! It will go ill with them,
with the work of their hands they will be repaid.
12My people—infants oppress them,
women rule over them!
My people, your leaders deceive you,#Mi 3:5.
they confuse the paths you should follow.
13#The princes and the elders, here accused of despoiling the poor, are the very ones who should be their defenders. Loot: by the Hebrew term (gazela) Isaiah conveys the idea of violent seizure, though 10:1–4 suggests the poor could be plundered by legal means. The Lord rises to accuse,
stands to try his people.
14The Lord enters into judgment
with the people’s elders and princes:
You, you who have devoured the vineyard;
the loot wrested from the poor is in your houses.
15What do you mean by crushing my people,
and grinding down the faces of the poor?
says the Lord, the God of hosts.
The Haughty Women of Zion#3:16–4:1] Here and again in 32:9–14 Isaiah condemns the women of the ruling class for their part in Jerusalem’s plight.
16The Lord said:#Is 32:9–14; Ez 16:50; Am 4:1–3.
Because the daughters of Zion are haughty,
and walk with necks outstretched,
Ogling and mincing as they go,
their anklets tinkling with every step,
17The Lord shall cover the scalps of Zion’s daughters with scabs,
and the Lord shall lay bare their heads.#A shaven head is a mark of social disgrace; cf. Nm 5:18. #Jer 13:26; Ez 16:37.
18#The long list of women’s apparel in these verses suggests luxury and vanity; it contains a number of rare words, and the precise meaning of many of the terms is uncertain. On that day the Lord will do away with the finery of the anklets, sunbursts, and crescents; 19the pendants, bracelets, and veils; 20the headdresses, bangles, cinctures, perfume boxes, and amulets; 21the signet rings, and the nose rings; 22the court dresses, wraps, cloaks, and purses; 23the lace gowns, linen tunics, turbans, and shawls.
24Instead of perfume there will be stench,
instead of a girdle, a rope,
And instead of elaborate coiffure, baldness;
instead of a rich gown, a sackcloth skirt.
Then, instead of beauty, shame.
25Your men will fall by the sword,
and your champions,#Your men…your champions: the second person feminine singular pronoun here shows that the prophet has shifted his attention from the women of Zion to the personified city of Zion. in war;#Hos 14:1.
26Her gates will lament and mourn,
as the city sits desolate on the ground.#Is 47:1; Lam 2:10.
Currently Selected:
Isaiah 3: NABRE
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc
Yeshayah (Isaiah) 3
3
1For look, the Master, יהוה of hosts, is turning aside from Yerushalayim and from Yehuḏah the stock and the store, all the supply of bread and all the supply of water;
2the mighty man and the man of battle, the judge and the prophet, and the diviner and the elder;
3the commander of fifty and the highly respected man, and the counsellor and the skilled craftsman, and the clever enchanter.
4“And I shall make youths their heads, and children shall rule over them.
5And the people shall exert pressure, man on man, man on his neighbour; the young rise up against the older, and the lightly esteemed against the highly esteemed.”
6When a man takes hold of his brother in the house of his father, by the garment, and says, “Come, be a chief over us, and let this ruin be under your hand,”
7he shall swear in that day, saying, “I am not a healer, for in my house is neither bread nor garment; do not make me a chief of the people.”
8For Yerushalayim has stumbled, and Yehuḏah has fallen, because their tongue and their doings are against יהוה, to provoke the eyes of His esteem.
9The look on their faces witnesses against them, and they declare their sin as Seḏom; they do not hide it. Woe to their being! For they have brought evil upon themselves.
10“Say to the righteous it is well, for they eat the fruit of their doings.
11“Woe to the wrong – evil! For the reward of his hand is done to him.
12“My people! Youths exert pressure on them, and women rule over them. O My people! Your leaders lead you astray,#See Isa. 9:16 and swallow the way of your paths.”
13יהוה shall stand up to plead, and is standing to judge the peoples.
14יהוה enters into judgment with the elders of His people and its heads, “It is you who have eaten up the vineyard, the plunder of the poor is in your houses.
15“What do you mean by crushing My people and grinding the faces of the poor?” declares the Master, יהוה of hosts.
16And יהוה says, “Because the daughters of Tsiyon are haughty, and walk with outstretched necks and seductive eyes, walking and mincing as they go, making a jingling with their feet,
17therefore יהוה shall smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Tsiyon, and יהוה expose their nakedness.”
18In that day יהוה takes away the finery of the anklets, and the headbands, and the crescents,
19the pendants, the bracelets and the veils,
20the headdresses, and the leg ornaments, and the sashes, and the perfume bottles, and the amulets,
21the rings, and the nose jewels,
22the costly robes, and the cloaks, and the shawls, and the purses,
23the mirrors, and the fine linen, and the turbans, and the large veils.
24And it shall be: Instead of a sweet fragrance, a smell of decay; and instead of a belt, a rope; and instead of well-set hair, baldness; and instead of a festal robe, a girding of sackcloth; and branding instead of loveliness.
25Your men shall fall by the sword, and your strength in battle.
26And her gates shall lament and mourn, and she, deserted, shall sit on the ground.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Copyright© 1993 – 2015 by the Institute for Scripture Research (ISR). All rights reserved.