Bible Commentaries
Isaiah 4

The Women of Jerusalem (3:16—4:1)

Yet the fault does not lie only with the leaders in Jerusalem. Their women are every bit as bad and will suffer terribly in the days to come. They will be widowed and humbled until as many as seven will beg a man to marry them to give them a home and protection (3:25—4:1). In the ancient world the lot of a widow was certainly not to be envied. She had no independence of action such as is the case today; she had no life unless attached to a household.

Verses 18-24 give one of the most detailed listings from the ancient Near East of the fine attire worn by wealthy women of court society. It is unfortunate that we cannot be sure about what the terms all mean, except that the prophet’s meaning is perfectly clear. These irresponsible society women will suffer in the coming day, for they, too, have been completely heedless of the purpose of their lives.

Verses 2-6

Jerusalem Purified (4:2-6)

A beautifully written prose passage of God’s future intention of salvation is abruptly inserted in the midst of prophecies of judgment, as though to relieve the tension and to lift the eye from the immediate terror to the future. From what context the disciples of Isaiah or the Isaiah “school” obtained this small piece we have no way of knowing. Nor can we reconstruct the precise reasons for its being inserted at this place.

It serves the purpose, however, of describing the real reasons behind God s punishment. God’s judgment on a people for betrayal and evil is not simply for the sake of punishment alone. As stated in verse 4, it is to wash and cleanse the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the blood and filth of their lives. When that cleansing is completed, then God will make his continued presence known to his people as he did in the days of the wilderness wandering of Israel from Mount Sinai. He will appear over Mount Zion in the form of a cloud by day and a flaming light by night (vs. 5; see Numbers 9:15-23). In the same verse the cloud and flaming fire are also called “glory.” In the traditions of the Jerusalem priesthood the glory of the Lord was a remarkable and vivid symbol of the Lord’s presence in the midst of his people. While the person of God himself can never be seen because he retains his mystery, he nevertheless reveals his “glory” as the sign of his presence. This is a particularly eloquent way of speaking about the known reality of God’s presence, but it prevents materialization of that presence as was done with the gods of polytheism who were mysteriously present in their idols. God preserved his mystery, but in his grace he was present among his people.

The setting of this passage within a context of the prophet’s pronouncements of judgment and suffering upon Israel indicates something of the ground of Israel’s hope. In the midst of history there is suffering and death because of evil and betrayal. Yet because of the knowledge of the ultimate goodness of God life and hope spring up in the wreckage of the human hope of earth Out of death comes life; this is a basic biblical theme, central to the prophets, and, of course, summarized and given new point in the cross of Christ in the New Testament.