Bible Commentaries
Isaiah 3

Verses 1-7

Isa 3:1-7

This chapter carries an extensive denunciation of the apostate and hardened Israel’s reprobate society, regarding that of the rulers and judges of the nation and also that of the vain and artificial women of the nation; and with all this, there is also a formal statement of the ultimate judgment against the whole nation, uttered in the present perfect tense as prophecy certain to be fulfilled.

"Here is a study in disintegration." It is a sad picture of a society which has forsaken its moral values, turned from God to a philosophy of humanism, and adopted the customs, idols, and value-judgments of paganism, inevitably culminating in the bitter predictive prophecy of Isaiah 3:8, "Jerusalem is mined!" The fulfillment of this, no doubt, had already become evident in the great Assyrian invasion that occurred in the times of Isaiah (702 B.C.); "But the real fulfillment waited a century till Nebuchadrezzar’s removal of the ablest citizens, leaving behind an utterly weak and irresponsible regime.”

Isaiah 3:1

"For behold, the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem stay and staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water."

"Doth take away ..." "The present is used here for the future, so certain is the fulfillment." The use of both masculine and feminine forms in staff and stay seems to identify this reference as an idiom meaning "every kind of support, great or small, strong or weak."

Isaiah 3:2-3

"The mighty man, and the man of war; the judge and the prophet, and the diviner and the elder; the captain of fifty and the honorable man, the counselor, and the expert artificer, and the skillful enchanter."

All of these popular supports of the nation were to be taken away as a result of the divine judgment, beginning, even then, to descend upon the apostate people, and destined, finally, to result in the complete overthrow and destruction of the Jewish state, defined in the prophets as "the sinful kingdom," resulting also in the destruction of the city of Jerusalem and the deportation into captivity of its population. Further steps in the decline and judgment of Israel also appear in this chapter.

The enchanters and diviners mentioned here does not indicate that the prophets believed there was any authenticity in the claims of such persons, a question Isaiah skirted altogether in this passage; but all of the prophets invariably held that the consultation or use of such alleged sources of power was sinful. The message here speaks of the extreme state of Israel’s apostasy in that such persons were considered the principal props of the nation. Cheyne pointed out the prophets of Israel asserted that, "The use of such magical powers was an act of rebellion against the God of gods.”

Isaiah 3:4-7

"And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them. And the people shall be oppressed, everyone by another, and everyone by his neighbor: the child shall behave himself proudly against the old man, and the base against the honorable. When a man shall take hold of his brother in the house of his father, saying, Thou hast clothing, be thou our ruler, and let this ruin be under thy hand; in that day shall he lift up his voice, saying, I will not be a healer; for in my house is neither bread nor clothing: ye shall not make me ruler of the people."

The babes and children mentioned in Isaiah 3:4 is a reference to the incompetence, weakness, and ignorance of the people that will be elevated to places of authority as the decline of Israel continues. Isaiah 3:5 speaks of the arrogant rejection of authority and the utter disregard of God’s law concerning respect for the aged. Isaiah 3:6-7 speak of a state of wretchedness in the continued ruin of Israel in which men would be offered high authority for no better reason than their having possession of a coat; but the ruin of the kingdom was so complete that no one wanted to be charged with the responsibility of ruling it.

Isaiah 3:1-4 RUINED GOVERNMENT. Every necessity will be taken away from Jerusalem and Judah. Every stay and staff. Bread and water are essential for physical life, but they would disappear when God stepped forth to judge the land for its sins. Civil and cultural stay and staff (perhaps even more necessary than bread and water) would also be taken away. Every form of authority would disappear:

a. mighty man—hero; man of valor already tested in battle

b. man of war—common soldier; lower in rank than mighty man

c. judge—civil officer who arbitrated civil cases

d. prophet—one who delivered God’s revelation to the people (with the prophet gone would come a “famine of hearing the words of the Lord . . .” Cf. Amos 8:11)

e. diviner—not a legitimate support, but one depended upon, nevertheless, by the people. The entire present order of things, the “Judean way of life” was to be changed radically.

f. captain of fifty—designates a particular officer (Cf. 2 Kings 1:9; Exodus 18:25; 1 Samuel 8:12).

g. honorable men—“favored persons”—those who had the favor of the king, probably occupied positions of responsibility

h. counsellor—one who served the public in counseling

i. expert artificer—one who is wise or skillful with respect to arts (Cf. 2 Kings 24:14 ff; Jeremiah 24:1; Jeremiah 29:2).

j. skillful enchanter—one who whispered or muttered magical formulas; not a legitimate office

In the place of experienced and sagacious adult authorities, God would cause “children” and “babes” (literally: puerilities) to rule over them. Incompetent, inexperienced, childish, brat-like rulers would be substituted for Jerusalem and Judah. A whole line of youthful kings followed Hezekiah. After him, only one was 25 years of age (the legal age of a Jew was 30):

Jehoahaz – 23 yrs. old; 2 Kings 23:31

Amon – 22 yrs. old; 2 Kings 21:19

Zedekaih – 21 yrs. old; 2 Kings 24:18

Jehoiachim – 18 yrs. old; 2 Kings 24:8

Mannasseh – 12 yrs. old; 2 Kings 21:1

Josiah – 8 yrs. old; 2 Kings 22:1

It is the hotheadedness, the over-confidence, and the recklessness of youth that is stressed here. The lack of maturity in judgment and decision would be the ruin of the nation. As an Arabian writer said, “A blow in the face by an axe is easier to take than the rule of a boy.” Young writes: “When respect for age goes, moral anarchy is at hand . . . Respect for old age had been coupled in the law with the fear of God (Leviticus 19:32). When all authority passes, respect for age also passes. One evidence of the degeneration of a government and people is seen in the manner in which the aged are treated.” The N.T. clearly teaches Christians to respect the authority of age (especially of those appointed elders and overseers of the Lord’s church) (Cf. 1 Timothy 3:1-13; 1 Timothy 5:1-24; 2 Timothy 3:2; Titus 3:1 ff; Hebrews 13:7; Hebrews 13:17; 1 Peter 5:5; Ephesians 6:1-4; Colossians 3:20, etc.). The childish vexation of Ahab, king of Israel, because he could not have Naboth’s vineyard, (Cf. 1 Kings 21:1 ff) is a pointed example of what type of rulers would soon come to Judah because of their sin, (Cf. Ecclesiastes 10:5-7; Ecclesiastes 10:16-17).

Isaiah 3:5-7 RESULTING CHAOS. Social chaos is inevitable. Oppression by one another (“everyman did that which was right in his own eyes, for there was no king in Israel” [Judges 17:6, etc.]), is the certain result of such moral anarchy. The spirit of Rehoboam (rebellion) would take precedence over the spirit of Solomon (wise judgment) and the result would be rashness, recklessness and failure. Those who should occupy a place of subserviency arrogate to themselves places of power. Men will seek to appoint rulers on the mere basis of possessing a few garments. The extremely critical condition of Judah appears in this prophecy. Anyone who possesses extra clothing will be accosted and forced to try to rescue the nation from civil economic and international ruin. The one accosted will vehemently refuse the pressure. In the first place he does not consider himself to possess the means necessary to alleviate the existing conditions; and in the second place he considers the circumstances impossible—the ruined nation beyond all help—and he does not want the responsibility. He refuses to be a “healer” because Judah is beyond being “healed.” It is indeed tragic, in nation or church, that conditions can become so calamitous that a righteous man will refuse to undertake the responsibilities of leadership !

Verse 8

Isa 3:8

Isaiah 3:8

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

This is by no stretch of imagination related to any physical destruction of Jerusalem which is alleged to have occurred at any time in the lifetime of Isaiah. No! "The verb tenses which express completed action (as in this verse) are perfects of certainty." Therefore, Isaiah 3:8 is a predictive prophecy of what was appointed by God to be executed upon Judah and Jerusalem about a century after Isaiah died.

Another significant revelation of this verse is the reason or cause for all of the wretchedness and incompetence just mentioned. All of it was due to their "tongue and their doings" being against Jehovah. "After the skeptic has had his fling, he is left stranded in the wasteland he has helped to produce.”

Archer pointed out that the literal translation here is, "Jerusalem is stumbled and fallen; her coming destruction had already been decided upon by God, even though it was not to be consummated till nearly 150 years afterward.”

"To provoke the eyes of his glory ..." "This is an unusual metaphor, meaning `provoking God to look on them with anger.’”

Isaiah 3:9

"The show 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 done evll unto themselves."

"If God is not in the heart, the light of his presence will not be in the countenance.” It will be recalled that when the rich young ruler decided not to follow the Lord, "His countenance fell" (Mark 10:22). It does not require a skilled observer, "to detect at a glance the habitual criminal or sensualist.” The fallen countenances of wicked men are just another example of the manner in which evil men receive "in themselves that recompense of their error which was due" (Romans 1:27).

Isaiah 3:10-12

"Say ye of the righteous, that it shall be well with him; for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. Woe unto the wicked! it shall be with him; for what his hands have done shall be done unto him. As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they that lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths."

We agree with many commentators who see in these verses the principle of future rewards and punishments. Good deeds tend to ripen into happiness; and evil deeds into misery and wretchedness. Of course, this is to be accomplished in a spiritual sense, and not mechanically.

Isaiah 3:12 is not a derogatory put down of women but uses the inability, ignorance, and helplessness of that generation of women as a fitting metaphor for the characteristics of the rulers that were mining Israel and Judah. The same principle refers to the use of children as a metaphor.

Isaiah 3:8-12 THE REASON—THE PEOPLE. In word and in deed—-speaking and acting in rebellion against the Lord. It is not out of ignorance they have sinned! It is deliberate sin. They have done it knowing full well the eyes of the Lord of Glory are upon it—their brazenness is like that of Sodom. They boast of their sin (Cf. Judges 1:8-16; 2 Peter 2:1-22; 2 Timothy 4:3-4; Romans 1:32).

By such blatant disregard of the moral and spiritual government of God, they have earned for themselves the consequences of moral and spiritual anarchy. They have “cut off their noses to spite their faces.” They have done evil to themselves! If man and his universe is to be governed by any moral principles of right and wrong at all, then wrong must be punished. Anyone who deliberately does wrong deserves punishment, he deserves the fruit of his doings.

But God is not unjust or unmerciful to forget the intentions and deeds of the righteous. God is fair! God is merciful! If a man is righteous of heart (wanting to do right) and righteous of deed (doing right—though sometimes sinning ignorantly), God will reward that man with the fruit of his doings, (Cf. Matthew 25:31-46). God’s judgment is not indiscriminate—He judges omnisciently as well as omnipotently.

Those who were supposed to lead the people were oppressing them and leading them into abject slavery, morally and politically. Their rulers were capricious as children and vacillating as women. They lacked the stability that grown men naturally had.

Verses 13-24

Isa 3:13-24

Isaiah 3:13-15

"Jehovah standeth up to contend, and standeth to judge the peoples. Jehovah will enter into judgment with the elders of his people, and the princes thereof: It is ye that have eaten up the vineyard; the spoil of the poor is in your houses; what mean ye that ye crush my people, and grind the face of the poor? saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts."

On these verses, God stresses the fact that he does indeed judge "the peoples," all the nations of men; but he includes here the stern warning that his own people are sorely in need of judgment, that it is the rulers and princes of the chosen nation itself that have eaten up God’s vineyard and oppressed his people. In Isaiah 5, Isaiah will return to this subject; but this statement of the Lord is not less damning than Isaiah 5. The charges against the false leaders are powerful indeed. They crush ... eat-up, and grind God’s people.

Hailey pointed out that God’s warning here to ancient Israel should also prove as a warning to our own generation:

"Micah describes how easy it is for a false prophet to lead the people astray. "If a man walking in a spirit of falsehood do lie, saying I will prophecy unto thee of wine and strong drink, he shall even be the prophet of this people" (Micah 2:11). The same principle can be observed today. Our country is on the verge of political and economic ruin because of unsound leadership. Also, the church has experienced apostasy and spiritual chaos because of the leadership of elders, preachers, and leaders who regard not the Lord’s way, but follow their own.”

Isaiah 3:13-15 RESPONSE OF JEHOVAH. It is not merely with foreign nations they shall have to contend—Almighty God, the Lord of Hosts, arises to contend with this people. The great sin of the time was oppression of the poor by the rich. God is represented as the advocate and helper for the cause of the downtrodden. He enters into judgment with the leaders and elders of Judah and accuses them of having oppressed and defrauded His people (Micah, a contemporary of Isaiah, accuses the rich of “skinning the poor alive!”). Such sin exemplifies precisely the injustice, greed, and irresponsibility of the rich and ruling and is a perfect example of the cruelty which God hates. The rich and ruling had devoured for themselves what did not belong to them—God’s own people (“vineyard”). When the prophets came to warn them to leave the harvest of God’s vineyard to Him, they killed the prophets. And when the Heir (the Son) came, they killed him (Cf. Luke 20:9-18). How brazen could they be—how did they dare to mistreat the precious heritage of the Almighty God?

Isaiah 3:16-17

"Moreover Jehovah said, because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with outstretched necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet; therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and Jehovah will lay bare their secret parts."

Clarkson described the womanly folly of this section as "The latest and saddest symptom of Israel’s decline," adding:

"Corruption may have spread far and done much evil in the community; but there is hope for the city or the church so long as the wives and the mothers, the daughters and the sisters retain their moral and spiritual integrity. When that is gone, all is gone. Purity and worth find their last retreat under the domestic roof; if they be driven thence, they are doomed to die; and with that death any community, church or nation shall soon perish.”

"Outstretched necks and wanton eyes ..." Many translators understand this to mean "shameless and immodest behavior" designed to attract men. Peake rendered "ogling eyes" for "wanton “ eyes.

"And will lay bare their secret parts ..." This was literally the shameful punishment that was given to women convicted of adultery, as described in Nahum 3:5-6 -

"I will uncover thy skirts upon thy face; and I will show the nations thy nakedness, and the kingdoms thy shame. And I will cast abominable filth upon thee, and will make thee vile, and will set thee as a gazing stock."

In Nahum this was described as the punishment God would inflict upon Nineveh; and here the same punishment is promised for apostate Israel.

Isaiah 3:18-23

"In that day the Lord will take away the beauty of their anklets, and the cauls, and the crescents; the pendants, and the bracelets, and the mufflers; the headtires, and the ankle chains, and the sashes, and the perfume-boxes, and the amulets; the rings, and the nose-jewels; the festival robes, and the mantles, and the shawls, and the satchels; the hand-mirrors, and the fine linen, and the turbans, and the veils."

"These twenty-one items of finery make a little kingdom of their own, enough to occupy the whole mind, and utterly vulnerable.” What a catalogue of feminine vanity is represented by a list like this! It carries a reminder of the court of Louis XIV. "Although these particular trivialities may seem remote, all generations of both sexes have their own solemn absurdities which can be all-absorbing.”

The meaning of some of the items treasured by these sophisticated females of Jerusalem is not always certain. The ankle-chains were worn to limit the gracious ladies to short mincing steps. The crescents were ornaments identified with the Midianites and were probably connected with some kind of idolatry. The nose-jewels were of the type worn through the cartilage separating the nostrils as seen in certain African tribes. Veils have always constituted a necessary part of female attire in the Mid-east. The festival garments were the grand costumes worn on designated occasions. Hand-mirrors were made of highly polished metal, usually of brass; and were adorned with an attractive handle. Lowth tells us that the item given in our version (Isaiah 3:23) as "fine linen" is actually "a transparent garment, designed to `betray through its clear texture every tender limb, heightening the charms it only seemed to shade.’” If we knew the full meaning and utility of all these items so treasured by those women called by Peake, "Those West End Ladies," it is likely we should find other aids and encouragements to immorality prevalent in that era.

Isaiah 3:16 THE REASON: Wantonness (i.e., undisciplined; unruly; unchaste; lewd; licentious; extravagant; arrogant recklessness) of the women. “The daughters of Zion” means the women of the covenant nation. The women were haughty and proud and concerned with luxurious adornment of themselves in order to bring attention to themselves. This is immodesty! They copied every fad and fashion of their heathen neighbors. “Outstretched necks” probably means walking with the “nose in the air.” “Mincing steps” means to walk with short little steps so as to affect primness or daintiness. It was all exaggeration in order to draw attention to themselves. Fabulous amounts of money were spent on adornment. Many hours of each day were wasted by these women primping and beautifying themselves. When women are wholly vain and self-centered, the cancer of moral decay has begun to consume a nation or a people. Proper adornment and true beauty in women should never call attention to themselves but should direct the beholder’s attention to God and His Son. When women cultivate beauty only for itself, they are infringing upon and detracting from the glory of God. Such vainglory might be expected in women of the world, but “the daughters of Zion” (which today is the church) must exemplify the beauty of holiness!

Is Isaiah, or the Bible, against all feminine or masculine adornment? Hardly! It is the misuse of adornment against which the Bible speaks. In fact, God has made certain parts of the human body to be alluring and attractive. The Song of Solomon gives a great deal of detail about both natural beauty of the human body and the adornment of it. But the Song does not indicate such beauty and adornment should be used for prideful purposes, rather for God-ordained purposes of love.

When one pauses to consider the disparity between the billions of dollars spent each year by American females (and males) on vain and selfish cosmetics and clothing and the few dollars given each year to the work of the Gospel which transforms men and women into the beauty of holiness, one wonders what God must think!

Isaiah 3:17-24 THE JUDGMENT: They will reap what they sow. Those who delight in immodest exposure will be rewarded with immodest exposure at the hands of vile men. Why are those women who delight in overtly attracting men by their immodesty always so shocked and offended when immodest and vulgar men demonstrate their attractions?! “Laying bare their secret parts” probably means they will be raped by pagan soldiers. Their indulgences will inevitably result in physical afflictions and loss of real beauty. There will be a loss of their luxury when their pagan neighbors, attracted by their exaggerated showiness, will plunder their jewels and finery.

a. anklets: ornamental chains with bangles attached which made a tinkling sound when they “minced” along.

b. cauls: front-bands, head-bands, amulets

c. crescents: some sort of metallic jewelry in the shape of moons

d. pendants: like small pearl earring, or tear-drop shaped earrings.

e. bracelets: decorated bands to fit about the arms (or necks)

f. mufflers: or veils, to muffle the face

g. headtires: diadems, or circlets of gold or silver

h. ankle chains: may have been chains designed to force short steps

i. sashes: wide, gaudy, expensive bands of cloth around the waist

j. perfume boxes: probably like the alabaster boxes of Luke 7:37 etc.

k. amulets: charms, probably inscribed with incantations,

l. rings: finger rings with jewels, etc.

m. nose jewels: nose rings, (Cf. Esther 3:12; Genesis 41:42; Genesis 24:22; Genesis 24:47).

n. festival robes: festal robes, state gowns, holiday dresses

o. mantles: overtunics

p. shawls: cloaks

q. satchels: purses

r. hand-mirrors: small metallic mirrors, highly polished metal

s. fine linen: lingerie, undergarments of expensive cloth

t. turbans: head wrappings, head garments

u. veils: same as mufflers

Isaiah predicts that all this finery will be replaced with ugliness because of their selfish, haughty, unbelieving perversion of it all. Instead of rich sashes, they will wear the ropes of captivity and slavery around their waists; instead of intricately coiffed hair-dos, their hair will either fall out or be cut off by their enemies; instead of rich garments, they will be wearing the sackcloth of mourning; instead of beauty marks, they will wear the ugly scars of the branding-irons, (it was a practice of pagan armies in that day to brand or disfigure slaves—especially by castrating men and using branding-irons on women—to forever mark them as slaves).

Verses 24-26

Isa 3:24-26

Isaiah 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.

Isaiah 3:25 to Isaiah 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. Lamentations 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 Isaiah 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 Genesis 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 people’s 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; Samuel’s mother; women judges; Ruth; Esther; John the Baptist’s 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.