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Isaiah 3:5

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

And the people shall be oppressed, everyone by another, and everyone by his neighbour,.... There being no governors, or such as were unfit for government, no decorum was kept and observed, but a mere anarchy; and so everyone did as he pleased, as when there was no king in Israel; and everyone rushed into the house of his neighbour, and plundered...

Isaiah 3:6

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

When a man shall take hold of his brother of the house of his father,.... One of the same country, kindred, and family; for only one of their brethren, and not a stranger, might rule over them, Deuteronomy 17:15 this taking hold of him may design not so much a literal taking hold of his person, his hand or garment, much less using any forcible...

Isaiah 3:7

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

In that day shall he swear,.... Or "lift up", that is, his hand (e), which was a gesture used in swearing, and therefore is so rendered; the meaning is, that he shall at once immediately give an answer, and for the solemn confirmation of it shall say an oath with it, saying, I will not be a healer, or "a binder"; that is, of wounds, of political...

Isaiah 3:8

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen, e.] This is a reason given why the government of them is refused they were fallen into such a ruinous condition, that there was no probability of recovering them. And the reason of this their fall and ruin is, because their tongue and their doings [are] against the Lord; against the Lord Jesus Christ,...

Isaiah 3:9

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

The shew of their countenance doth witness against them,.... The word translated "shew" is only used in this place. Some derive it from נכר, "to know", in the conjugations Piel and Hiphil; and render it, "the knowledge of their countenance" (f); that is, that which may be known by their countenances; the countenance oftentimes shows what is in the...

Isaiah 3:10

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

Say ye to the righteous, that [it shall be] well [with him],.... The Lord always has some righteous ones, in the worst of times, whom he can and does distinguish, single out, and take care of; and it is his will that they should be comforted by his prophets and ministers, who seem to be the persons to whom these words are directed, lest they...

Isaiah 3:11

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

Woe unto the wicked! [it shall be] ill [with him],.... In time, and to eternity, in times of public calamity, and under all afflictions, and adverse dispensations of Providence; he has no God to go to; all that befalls him is in wrath; at death he is driven away in his wickedness; at judgment he will be bid to depart as cursed, and his portion...

Isaiah 3:12

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

[As for] my people, children [are] their oppressors,.... Or rulers; for נוגש, in the Ethiopic language, signifies a king: or "exactors", as in Isaiah 60:17 princes are so called, because they exact tribute of their subjects, and sometimes in a tyrannical and oppressive manner, and so get the name of oppressors. The sense is the same with Isaiah...

Isaiah 3:13

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

The Lord standeth up to plead,.... His own cause, or the cause of his son against the Jews that rejected him, and the Scribes and Pharisees that led them to an ill opinion of him: and standeth to judge the people. Both expressions show indignation and resentment; he rises up out of his place, and stands up in defence of his cause, and avenges...

Isaiah 3:14

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

The Lord will enter into judgment with the ancients of his people, and the princes thereof,.... Both civil and ecclesiastical; the princes, chief priests, and elders of the people, who set themselves and took counsel together against the Lord and his Christ; would not suffer the people to be gathered to him; sought his life, and at last took it...

Isaiah 3:15

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

What mean ye, [that] ye beat my people to pieces,.... Reduce them to the utmost poverty; so the Targum, "wherefore do ye impoverish my people?'' as they did by exacting tithes of all that they possessed; by requiring large sums for their long prayers; and by various traditions they enjoined them to observe: and grind the faces of the poor? either...

Isaiah 3:16

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

Moreover the Lord saith, because the daughters of Zion are haughty,.... The wives or daughters of the rulers, princes, or elders; these were "high", affected to look high and tall, and therefore stretched out their necks, and walked on tiptoes; or "were lifted up" with pride, which is the root and source of all the vanity expressed in their...

Isaiah 3:17

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion,.... This is opposed to the lifting up of their heads in that haughty manner they did, and to the binding, and plaiting, and curling of their hair, which now will fall off, through the scab or leprosy upon them, or must be obliged to be shaven off. And the...

Isaiah 3:18

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of [their] tinkling ornaments [about their feet],.... With which they made a tinkling as they went, Isaiah 3:16 it being about the shoe, and made a noise; or seeing the word used signifies "stocks", and is so rendered Proverbs 7:22, it may design some sort of attire about the feet, as golden chains,...

Isaiah 3:19

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

The chains,.... According to Kimchi and R. Levi ben Gersom on Judges 8:26 these were drop bottles, or vessels of gold, in which were put stacte or balsam; and the former says here, they were such in which balsam was put, and women hung about their necks; though, he observes, some interpret them of chains, which were made of small stones of...

Isaiah 3:20

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

The bonnets,.... This word is used sometimes for the tire of the heads of men, Ezekiel 24:17 and even for the bonnets of the priests, Exodus 39:28. The Targum renders the word "crowns"; the Jewish women wore golden crowns on their heads, in the form of the city of Jerusalem, with which they might not go out on a sabbath day (b): and the ornaments...

Isaiah 3:21

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

The rings,.... On their finger, as Aben Ezra observes: and nose jewels; the same with the jewels on the forehead or nose, Ezekiel 16:12 not that they hung upon the nose, but were fastened upon the forehead, and hung down to the nose, see Genesis 24:22; an allusion to this is in Proverbs 11:22 though Austin says it was a custom of the women of...

Isaiah 3:22

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

The changeable suits of apparel,.... To put on and off upon occasion; Kimchi says they were beautiful garments, and so they stand opposed to filthy ones, Zechariah 3:3 and the mantles: or "cloaks", as the Targum; Jarchi translates the word by "bedclothes", or coverings for the bed, such as tapestry, rugs, quilts, c. which were worked with purple...

Isaiah 3:23

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

The glasses,.... Looking glasses, by which they dressed themselves, see Exodus 38:8 and so Kimchi explains the word; but elsewhere (e) he says it signifies thin garments, so called because the flesh is seen through them, being so exceeding thin; which sense is favoured by the Septuagint version, which renders it by ταδιαφανη λακωνικα, garments...

Isaiah 3:24

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

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...