《Unabridged Commentary Critical and Explanatory on Isaiah (Vol. 1)》(Robert Jamieson) Commentator

02 Chapter 2
Verse 1

The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

The word - the revelation. The inscription.

Verse 2

And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.

In the last days - i:e., Messiah's; especially the days yet to come, to which all prophecy hastens, when "the house of the God of Jacob," namely, at Jerusalem, shall be the center to which the converted nations shall flock together (Ezekiel 17:23; Luke 2:31-32; Acts 1:6-7), where 'the kingdom' of Israel is regarded as certain, and the time alone uncertain (Psalms 68:15-16; Psalms 72:8; Psalms 72:11). Same as Micah 4:1. Since the passage in Micah is more connected with the preceding context than it is here, Isaiah seems to have drawn it from Micah, not vice versa.

The mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains - the temple on Mount Moriah: type of the Gospel, beginning at Jerusalem, and, like an object set on the highest hill, made so conspicuous that all nations are attracted to it.

All nations shall flow unto it - as a broad stream (Isaiah 66:12).

Verse 3

And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

Many people (peoples) shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord. If the curse foretold against Israel has been literally fulfilled, so shall the promised blessing be literal. We Gentiles must not, while giving them the curse, deny them their special blessing by spiritualizing it.

He will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths. The Holy Spirit shall be poured out for a general conversion then, and the Jews shall be the instruments whose ministry shall be blessed in effecting it (Jeremiah 50:5; Zechariah 8:21; Zechariah 8:23; Joel 2:28).

For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. Luke 24:47 is an earnest of the future relations of Jerusalem to Christendom, (Romans 11:12; Romans 11:15, "if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles, how more their fullness? ... For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?")

Verse 4

And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. He shall judge among the nations - as a sovereign umpire and governor, settling all controversies (cf. Isaiah 11:4).

And shall rebuke many people - argue so as to convince (Gesenius). (Job 32:12; Hebrew, howkiyach (Hebrew #3198).) Lowth translates, work conviction.

They shall beat their swords into plowshares - in the East resembling a short sword (Isaiah 9:6-7; Zechariah 9:10).

Verse 5

O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.

O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord. The connection is-Since Israel's high destiny is to be a blessing to all nations (Genesis 12:3), let Israel's children walk worthy of it (Ephesians 5:8, "walk as children of light").

Verse 6

Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers.

Therefore , [ kiy (Hebrew #3588)] - rather, For: reasons why there is the more need of the exhortation in Isaiah 2:5.

Thou - transition to Yahweh. Such rapid transitions are natural when the mind is full of a subject.

Hast forsaken thy people ... because they be replenished from the east - rather, filled; namely, with the superstitions of the East, Syria, and Chaldea.

And are soothsayers - forbidden, Deuteronomy 18:10-14.

Like the Philistines - southwest of Palestine in antithesis to "the East." The Philistines delighted in divinations (1 Samuel 6:2). This sin of dealing with familiar spirits reached its height under Manasseh (2 Kings 21:6), and shall be a leading sin of the last days (Revelation 13:13; Revelation 22:15).

And they please themselves in the children of strangers , [saapaq, akin to caapaq (Hebrew #5606)] - they join hands with (Maurer); i:e., enter into alliances, matrimonial and national, with pagan foreigners: forbidden, Exodus 23:32; Nehemiah 13:23, etc. The Hebrew means to have sufficiency (Buxtorf). Instead of making God their all sufficient satisfaction, they please themselves with the corrupt ways of foreign pagan.

Verse 7

Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures; their land is also full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots:

Their land also is full of silver and gold - forbidden to be heaped together, Deuteronomy 17:17. Solomon disobeyed (1 Kings 10:21; 1 Kings 10:27).

Horses ... chariots - forbidden, Deuteronomy 17:16. Solomon disobeyed (1 Kings 10:26). Horses could be used effectively for war in the plains of Egypt; not so in the hilly Judea. God designed there should be as wide as possible a distinction between Israel and the Egyptians. He would have his people wholly dependent on Him, rather than on the ordinary means of warfare (Psalms 20:7). Also, horses were connected with idolatry (2 Kings 23:11): so the transition to "idols" (Isaiah 2:8) is natural.

Verse 8

Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made:

Their land also is full of idols. The repetition thrice (Isaiah 2:7) of "their land is full" implies how the fullness of material wealth tempts to the fullness of idolatry, whether in the grosser form of outward idols, or in the refined form of "covetousness, which is idolatry" (Colossians 3:5; Hosea 8:4). Not so much public idolatry, which was not sanctioned in Uzziah's and Jotham's reign (see 2 Kings 15:4; 2 Kings 15:35) as private.

Verse 9

And the mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself: therefore forgive them not.

The mean man - in rank; not morally base: opposed "to the great man." The former is in Hebrew 'aadaam (Hebrew #120); the latter, 'iysh (Hebrew #376).

Boweth down - namely, to idols. All ranks were idolaters.

Therefore forgive them not - a threat expressed by an imperative. Isaiah so identifies himself with God's will that he prays for that which he knows God purposes. So Revelation 18:6.

Verse 10

Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty.

Enter into the rock - poetical form of expressing that, such were their sins they would be obliged by God's judgments to seek a hiding-place from his wrath (Revelation 6:15-16).

Hide thee in the dust - in "caves of the earth" (Hebrew, dust).

For fear of the Lord - literally, from the face of the terror of the Lord.

Verse 11

The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.

The lofty looks - literally, the, eyes of pride (Psalms 18:27).

Shall be humbled - by calamities.

The Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. God will so vindicate His honour "in that day" of judgments, that none else "shall be exalted" (Zechariah 14:9).

Verse 12

For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low:

For the day of the Lord of hosts (shall be) upon every (one that is) proud. Man has had many days. "The day of the Lord" shall come at last, beginning with judgment-a never-ending day, in which God shall be "all in all" (1 Corinthians 15:28; 2 Peter 3:10).

Every - not merely person, as the English version explains it, but every thing on which the nation prided itself.

Verse 13

And upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan,

And upon all the cedars of Lebanon ... oaks - image for haughty nobles and princes (Amos 2:9; Zechariah 11:1-2 : cf. Revelation 19:18-21).

And upon all the oaks of Bashan - east of Jordan, north of the river Jabbok, famous for fine oaks, pasture, and cattle. Perhaps in "oaks" there is reference to their idolatry (Isaiah 1:29).

Verse 14

And upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up,

And upon all the high mountains ... hills - referring to the "high places" on which sacrifices were unlawfully offered, even in Uzziah's (Azariah's) reign (2 Kings 15:4). Also, places of strength, fastnesses in which they trusted rather than in God. So Isaiah 2:15.

Verse 15

And upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall,

Tower ... wall. Towers were often made on the walls of cities.

Fenced - strongly fortified.

Verse 16

And upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures.

And upon all the ships of Tarshish - Tartessus, in southwest Spain, at the mouth of the Guadalquiver, near Gibraltar. It includes the adjoining region. It was a Phoenician colony: hence, its connection with Palestine and the Bible (2 Chronicles 9:21). The name was also used in a wide sense for the farthest west, as our West Indies (Isaiah 66:19; Psalms 48:7; Psalms 72:10). "Ships of Tanhish" became a phrase for richly-laden and far-voyaging vessels. So our 'East Indiamen.' The judgment shall be on all that minister to man's luxury (cf. Revelation 18:17-19).

And upon all pleasant pictures - ordered to be destroyed (Numbers 33:52), because connected with idolatry. Still to be seen on the walls of Nineveh's palaces. It is remarkable that whereas all other ancient civilized nations-Egypt, Assyria, Greece, Rome-have left monuments in the fine arts, Judea, while rising immeasurably above them in the possession of 'the living oracles,' has left none of the former. The fine arts, as in modern Rome, were so often associated with polytheism, that God required His people in this, as in other respects, to be separate from the nations (Deuteronomy 4:15-18). But the Vulgate translation [sh

Verse 17

And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.

And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down - repeated from Isaiah 2:11, for emphatic confirmation.

Verse 18

And the idols he shall utterly abolish.

And the idols - Hebrew, haa'

Verse 19

And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.

And they shall go into the holes of the rocks. The fulfillment answers exactly to the prophetic threat, Isa And they shall go into the holes of the rocks. The fulfillment answers exactly to the prophetic threat, Isaiah 2:10.

They - the idol worshippers.

And into the caves - abounding in Judea, a hilly country; hiding-places in times of alarm (1 Samuel 13:6).

For fear of the Lord ... when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth - and the heavens also (Hebrews 12:26). Figure for severe and universal judgments.

Verse 20

In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats;

In that day a man shall east his idols ... to the moles - others translate mice. The sense is, under ground, in darkness.

And to the bats - unclean birds (Leviticus 11:19), living, amidst tenantless ruins, which shall result from 'the Lord terribly shaking the earth' (Revelation 11:13).

Verse 21

To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.

No JFB commentary on this verse.

Verse 22

Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?

Cease ye from man The high ones (Isaiah 2:11; Isaiah 2:13) on whom the people trust, shall be 'brought low' (Isaiah 3:2); therefore "cease ye from man" - depend not on man instead of on the Lord (Psalms 146:3-5).

Whose breath is in his nostrils - and so liable to be taken from him at any moment (Psalms 104:29).

Remarks: The kingdom of Christ is come spiritually, but is not yet come visibly. It is as yet only in the stage of the stone smiting the image of the world-power. The time is yet to come, termed here "the last days," wherein it shall become "a great mountain, and shall fill the whole earth." Jerusalem and its temple, which is "the mountain of the Lord's house," shall be the central seat of this glorious kingdom, which shall be exalted above all earthly elevations. Then shall the Lord's house at Jerusalem be "a house of prayer for all nations," which it certainly never yet has been. As to the means whereby this consummation shall be brought about, Isaiah here states that it shall be through "the Word of the Lord going forth from Jerusalem." The present Church, gathered by election from Jews and Gentiles without distinction, is the fruit of the gospel-preaching which has gone forth "among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." And the coming world-wide Church, comprising all kingdoms of the earth as such, shall be the fruit of the "Lord's restoring again the kingdom to Israel."
03 Chapter 3
Verse 1

For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water,

For - continuation of Isaiah 2:22.

Behold, the Lord ( haa-'Adown (H113)), the Lord ( Yahweh (H3068)) of hosts - therefore able to do as He says.

Doth - present for future, so certain is the accomplishment.

Take away from Jerusalem ... the stay and the staff ( mash`een (Hebrew #4937), mash`eenaah (Hebrew #4938)) - the same Hebrew word, the one masculine, the other feminine, an Arabic idiom for all kinds of support. What a change from the previous luxuries! (Isaiah 2:7.) Fulfilled in the siege by Nebuchadnezzar, and afterward by Titus (Jeremiah 37:21; Jeremiah 38:9).

Verse 2

The mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient,

The mighty man, and the man of war - fulfilled under Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kings 24:14).

The prudent. The Hebrew (qsoseem) often means a soothsayer (Deuteronomy 18:10-14): thus it will mean, the diviners, on whom they rely, shall in that day fail. It is found in a good sense, Proverbs 16:10, "A divine sentence (quesem) is in the lips of the king;" from which, passage the Jews interpret it a king: "without" whom Israel long has been (Hosea 3:4).

The ancient - old and experienced (1 Kings 12:6-8).

Verse 3

The captain of fifty, and the honourable man, and the counsellor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator.

The captain of fifty - not only captains of thousands, and centurions of a hundred, but even semi-centurions of fifty, shall fail.

The honourable - literally, of dignified aspect.

The cunning artificer - skillful. Fulfilled 2 Kings 24:14. The mechanic's business will come to a stand-still in the siege and subsequent desolation of the State: artisans are no mean "stay" among a nation's safeguards.

The eloquent orator - rather, as Vulgate, skilled in whispering; i:e., incantation (Psalms 58:5) [ laachash (Hebrew #3908)]. See Isaiah 8:19 below, and note on "prudent" (Isaiah 3:2) above.

Verse 4

And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them.

And I will give children - in ability for governing: antithesis to the "ancient" (see Isaiah 3:12; Ecclesiastes 10:16).

(To be) their princes, and babes shall rule over them - "babes" in warlike might: antithesis to "the mighty" and "man of war."

Verse 5

And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbour: the child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, and the base against the honourable. The people shall be oppressed, every one by another ... the child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient. The anarchy resulting under such imbecile rulers (Isaiah 3:4); unjust exactions mutually; the forms of respect violated (Leviticus 19:32).

The base - low-born. Compare the marks of "the last days" (2 Timothy 3:2), "men shall be lovers of their ownselves ... boasters, proud ... disobedient to parents ... despisers of those that are good ... heady ... highminded."

Verse 6

When a man shall take hold of his brother of the house of his father, saying, Thou hast clothing, be thou our ruler, and let this ruin be under thy hand:

When a man shall take hold of his brother, of the house of his father, (saying), Thou hast clothing, be thou our ruler. Such will be the want of men of wealth and ability, that they will "take hold of" (Isaiah 4:1) the first man whom they meet, having any property, to make him "ruler."

Brother - one having no better, hereditary claim to be ruler than the "man" supplicating him.

Thou hast clothing - which none of us has. Changes of raiment are wealth in the East (2 Kings 5:5).

And (let) this ruin (be) under thy hand - let our ruined affairs be committed to thee to retrieve.

Verse 7

In that day shall he swear, saying, I will not be an healer; for in my house is neither bread nor clothing: make me not a ruler of the people.

In that day shall he swear - literally, lift up; namely, his hand: the gesture used in solemn attestation. Or, his voice - i:e., answer: so the Vulgate.

I will not be an healer - of the body politic, incurably diseased (Isaiah 1:6).

For in my house (is) neither bread nor clothing - so as to relieve the people, and maintain a ruler's dignity. A nation's state must be bad indeed when none among men, naturally ambitious, is willing to accept office.

Verse 8

For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings are against the LORD, to provoke the eyes of his glory.

For Jerusalem is ruined - reason given by the prophet why all shrink from the government.

Because their tongue and their doings (are) against the Lord, to provoke the eyes of his glory - to provoke His "glorious" Majesty before His "eyes" (cf. Isaiah 49:5, which are "purer than to behold evil;" Habakkuk 1:13). The Syriac, and Lowth by a slight change of the Hebrew [ `aanaan (Hebrew #6051), for `eeneey (Hebrew #5869], translate, 'the cloud of His glory,' the Shechinah.

Verse 9

The shew of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves.

The show of their countenance. The Hebrew means, 'that which may be known by their countenances' [ hakaarat (Hebrew #1971)] (Gesenius). Maurer translates, 'their respect for persons:' so the Syriac and Chaldaic. But the parallel word "declare" favours the other view. Kimchi, from the Arabic, translates, their hardness (Job 19:3, margin) or impudence of countenance (Jeremiah 3:3). They have lost not only the substance of virtue, but its colour.

Doth witness against them - literally, corresponds to them: their look answers to their inner character (Hosea 5:5, note).

They declare their sin (Jude 1:13, "foaming out their own shame)" - so far from making it a secret, 'glorying' in it (Philippians 3:19).

They have rewarded evil unto themselves. Compare Proverbs 1:31; Proverbs 8:36; Jeremiah 2:19; Romans 1:27, "receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet."

Verse 10

Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings.

Say ye to the righteous, that (it shall be) well (with him). The faithlessness of many is no proof that all are faithless. Though nothing but croaking of frogs is heard on the surface of the pool, we are not to infer there are no fish beneath (Bengel). See Isaiah 1:19-20.

For they shall eat the fruit of their doings (Proverbs 1:31) - in a good sense (Galatians 5:22; Galatians 6:8). Not salvation by works, but by fruit-bearing faith (Isaiah 45:24; Jeremiah 23:6). At the same time, righteousness shall be its own great reward. There is no arbitrary, but a natural and necessary connection between the character which is rewarded and the reward (Matthew 5:7). The reward grows out of the character as naturally as a fruit is developed from its own kind of tree. The wicked man's work is not dignified, either in the doing or in the judicial and natural result, with the name fruit (Romans 6:21; Galatians 5:19; Galatians 5:22). That honourable term is reserved for the doings of the godly and their blessed results (Revelation 22:11; Revelation 22:14).

Verse 11

Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him.

Woe unto the wicked, (it shall be) ill (with him) - antithesis to "well" (Isaiah 3:10): emphatic ellipsis. The Hebrew is simply "ill!"

For the reward of his hands shall be given him. "Hands," his conduct; hands being the instrument of acts (Ecclesiastes 8:12-13).

Verse 12

As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.

(As for) my people, children (are) their oppressors, and women rule over them - (see Isaiah 3:4.)

Oppressors - literally, exactors; i:e., exacting princes (Isaiah 60:17). They who ought to be protectors are exactors: as unqualified for rule as "children," as effeminate as "women." Perhaps it is also implied that they were under the influence of their harem, the women of their court.

O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err - Hebrew, they which call thee blessed (meashreka); namely, the false prophets, who flatter the people with promises of safety in sin: as the political 'rulers,' are meant in the first clause.

And destroy the way of thy paths (Jeremiah 6:16) - the right way set forth in the law. "Destroy" - Hebrew (Billeehu), swallow up; i:e., cause so utterly to disappear that not a vestige of it is left.

Verse 13

The LORD standeth up to plead, and standeth to judge the people.

The Lord standeth up - no longer sitting in silence.

To plead - "by fire and by His sword," and consuming judgments, so as, however, to leave a remnant. Indignant against a wicked people (Isaiah 66:16; Ezekiel 20:35).

Verse 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.

The Lord will enter into judgment with the ancients - hence, they are spoken of as "taken away" (Isaiah 3:1-2).

For ye have eaten up the vineyard - the Jewish theocracy (Isaiah 5:1-7; Psalms 80:9-13).

Eaten up - Hebrew, (bihhartem), burnt; namely, by 'oppressive exactions' (Isaiah 3:12). Type of the crowning guilt of the farmers in the days of Jesus Christ, which is the ulterior reference here (Matthew 21:34-41).

The spoil of the poor is in your houses - (Matthew 23:14.)

Verse 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 (that) ye beat my people to pieces? - What right have ye to beat? etc (Psalms 94:5; Micah 3:2-3.)

Grind - by exactions, so as to leave them nothing.

The faces of the poor. "Faces," the persons, with the additional idea of it being openly and palpably done. Presence is expressed by 'face.'

Verse 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:

Because the daughters of Zion are haughty. Luxury had become great in Uzziah's prosperous reign (2 Chronicles 26:5; 2 Chronicles 26:15).

And walk with stretched forth necks - necks proudly elevated (Psalms 75:5).

And wanton eyes - Hebrew ( uwmsaqrowt (Hebrew #8265), to deceive), 'deceiving with their eyes.' But Buxtorf and Mercer write it m

Verse 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.

Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab - Hebrew, sipach (Hebrew #5596); cf. Isaiah 5:7, margin; Leviticus 13:2; Leviticus 13:6. Others take it, make bald-namely, by disease, or else by the enemy shaving off the hair, as is done to slaves. The Septuagint, Arabic, Vulgate, Syriac, and Chaldaic translate by terms meaning to humble. To deprive a woman of her hair is to take away "her glory given her for a covering" (1 Corinthians 11:15).

The Lord will discover their secret parts. He will cause them to suffer the greatest indignity that can befall female captives-namely, to be stripped naked, and have their persons exposed (Isaiah 47:3 : cf. with Isaiah 20:4).

Verse 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 bravery - the finery.

Tinkling - (see Isaiah 3:16.)

Cauls - Hebrew, shebisim, net-work for the head. Or else, from an Arabic root, little suns, answering to the

Tires , or neck-ornaments (Hebrew, sah

Verse 19

The chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers,

Chains - Hebrew, han

Verse 20

The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the earrings,

Bonnets - tiaras, or turbans.

Ornaments of the legs - the short stepping chains from one foot to another, to give a measured gait; attached to the "tinkling ornaments" (Isaiah 3:16).

Tablets - rather, houses of the breath, i:e., smelling-boxes (Vulgate). Earrings - rather, amulets suspended from the neck or ears, with magic formulae inscribed; the root means to whisper or conjure (Hebrew, l

Verse 21

The rings, and nose jewels,

Nose jewels. The cartilage between the nostrils was bored to receive them: they usually hung from the left nostril.

Verse 22

The changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping pins,

The changeable suits of apparel. Here begin entire articles of apparel. Those before were single ornaments.

Changeable - from a root, to put off ( machalaatsowt (Hebrew #4254), from chaalats (Hebrew #2502)): not worn commonly; put on and off on special occasions. So dress-clothes (Zechariah 3:4, "change of raiment.")

Mantles - fuller tunics with sleeves, worn over the common one, reaching down to the feet.

Wimples - i:e., mufflers, or hoods. In Ruth 3:15, veils: perhaps here a broad cloak, or shawl, thrown over the head and body.

Crisping pins - chariyTiym (Hebrew #2754), akin to the Arabic kartah, a purse; rather, money bags attached to the girdle (2 Kings 5:23).

Verse 23

The glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the vails.

Glasses - mirrors of polished metal (Exodus 38:8). Hoods ( hats

Verse 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 sweet smell there shall be stink - arising from ulcers (Zechariah 14:12).

Instead of a girdle - to gird up the loose eastern garments when the person walked.

A rent - the Septuagint, Arabic, and Vulgate translate, a rope, an emblem of poverty: the poor have noticing else to gird up their clothes with. But the Hebrew [ niqpaach (Hebrew #5364)] favours the English version (from naaqap (Hebrew #5362), to read or break).

Instead of well-set hair (1 Peter 3:3-4) baldness - (Isaiah 3:17.)

Instead of a stomacher - a broad plaited girdle.

Sackcloth - (2 Samuel 3:31.)

Burning instead of beauty - a sun-burnt countenance, owing to their hoods and veils being stripped off, while they had to work as captives under a scorching sun (Song of Solomon 1:6).

Verse 25

Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the war.

Thy men - of Jerusalem.

Verse 26

And her gates shall lament and mourn; and she being desolate shall sit upon the ground.

Her gates shall lament. The place of concourse personified is represented mourning for the loss of those multitudes which once frequented it.

She being desolate shall sit upon the ground - the very figure under which Judea was represented on medals after the destruction by Titus; a female sitting under a palm-tree in a posture of grief; the motto, Judea capta (Job 2:13; Lamentations 2:10), whereas here, primarily, the destruction by Nebuchadnezzar is alluded to, but ultimately that under the Roman Titus.

Remarks: When God takes away the earthly stays of men, they have nothing to fall back upon for help. Might, valour, and prudence avail only so long as God is not against a nation. These all fail the moment when the Lord wills it. "Jerusalem is ruined and Judah fallen, because their tongue and their doings were against the Lord, to provoke" Him before His "eyes." Herein we have a sample of God's principle of dealing with nations and individuals. Shameless sin brings on shameful punishment (Isaiah 3:9). Evil recoils on the evil-speaker and evil-doer as the only "reward" of his pains.