to crumble · verb, piel imperfect, 2nd person masculine plural
people
עַמִּ֔י'a.Mi
H5971
a people (as a congregated unit) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
pieces
דָּכָאdâkâʼ
H1792
to crumble
grind
תִּטְחָ֑נוּtit.Cha.nu
H2912
to grind meal · verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine plural
faces
וּפְנֵ֥יu.fe.Nei
H6440
the face (as the part that turns) · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural construct
poor
עֲנִיִּ֖ים'a.ni.Yim
H6041
depressed · adjective, masculine plural absolute
saith
נְאֻםne.'um-
H5002
an oracle · noun, common masculine singular construct
Lord
אֲדֹנָ֥י'a.do.Nai
H136
the Lord (used as a proper name of God only) · proper noun, a title
GOD
יְהוִ֖הYah.weh
H3069
YHWH · proper noun, a title
hosts
צְבָאֽוֹתtze.va.'ot
H6635
a mass of persons (or figuratively · noun, common feminine plural absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Psalms 94:5 They break in pieces thy people, O LORD, and afflict thine heritage.
Micah 3:2-3 Who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones;
Amos 2:6-7 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they sold the ri…
Amos 8:4-6 Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail,
Exodus 5:14 And the officers of the children of Israel, which Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and demanded, Wherefore have ye not…
Isaiah 58:4 Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to…
Ezekiel 18:2 What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth a…
Jonah 1:6 So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Isaiah 3:9-15
Here God proceeds in his controversy with his people. Observe,
I. The ground of his controversy. It was for sin that God contended with them; if they vex themselves, let them look a little further and they will see that they must thank themselves: Woe unto their souls! For they have rewarded evil unto themselves. Alas for their souls! (so it may be read, in a way of lamentation), for they have procured evil to themselves, Isa 3:9. Note, The condition of sinners is woeful and very deplorable. Note, also, It is the soul that is damaged and endangered by sin. Sinners may prosper in their outward estates, and yet at the same time there may be a woe to their souls. Note, further, Whatever evils b…
What right have ye to beat, &c. (Psa 94:5; Mic 3:2-3).
grind--by exactions, so as to leave them nothing.
faces--persons; with the additional idea of it being openly and palpably done. "Presence," equivalent to "face" (Hebrew).
John Gill on Isaiah 3:15
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 by smiting them on the cheek, as Christ, who became poor for our sakes, was smitten by them; or by bringing them into such low circumstances, by their exorbitant demands, that they had not sufficiency of food to eat; by which means their faces became pale, thin, and meagre:
saith the Lord God of Hosts: who saw all their actions, and was able to pl…
What mean ye that ye beat my people to pieces? He mentions also other particulars, from which it is evident that they ruled in a haughty, cruel and oppressive manner. It was not necessary that the Prophet should describe minutely everything deserving reproof in the princes; for from these few circumstances it is evident with what injustice and cruelty and tyranny they ruled. But to whom shall the poor betake themselves but to the magistrate, who ought to be the father of his country and the protector of the wretched? On this account he employs a vehement interrogation, What? as if he had said, "What effrontery is this! What cruelty and barbarity, to abuse the mean condition of the poor, so a…
The Church Fathers
(Verse 15.) And the Lord said: Because the daughters of Zion are haughty and walk with outstretched necks, glancing wantonly with their eyes, mincing along as they go, tinkling with their feet, the Lord will strike with a scab the heads of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will lay bare their secret parts. In that day the Lord will take away the finery of the anklets, the headbands, and the crescents; the pendants, the bracelets, and the scarves; the headdresses, the armlets, the sashes, the perfume boxes, and the amulets; the signet rings and nose rings; the festal robes, the mantles, the cloaks, and the handbags; the mirrors, the linen garments, the turbans, and the veils. Instead of perfume there will be rottenness; and instead of a belt, a rope; and instead of well-set hair, baldness; and instead of a rich robe, a skirt of sackcloth; and branding instead of beauty. Some believe that the daughters of Zion are truly Jewish women, while others think they are metaphorically referring to the cities of Judea, namely the smaller cities, towns, and villages. This is why in the book of Joshua, the names of the cities are listed according to each tribe, and later on, the villages and castles are described and called daughters. According to another interpretation, women are believed to represent souls. If these souls walk with outstretched necks and conduct themselves in a proud manner, abandoning the strong and masculine virtues and instead adopting the weaknesses of women, they are criticized and lose all the virtues they possessed, which are described as moon-shaped pendants, necklaces, rings, bracelets, headdresses, and other similar adornments. This testimony must be used against the women of the Church who walk with their neck extended, and speak with the gestures of their eyes, and applaud with both hands and feet, and walk with a composed gait, not following the guidance of nature, but buying their teachers from actors.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Agriculture — Tilling the ground (Gen. 2:15; 4:2, 3, 12) and rearing cattle were the chief employments in ancient times. The Egyptians excelled in agriculture. And after the Israelites entered into the possession…
Head-dress — Not in common use among the Hebrews. It is first mentioned in Ex. 28:40 (A.V., “bonnets;” R.V., “head-tires”). It was used especially for purposes of ornament (Job 29:14; Isa. 3:23; 62:3). The Hebrew…
Poor, The · The wicked: Grind the faces of — The wicked: Grind the faces of
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
"Jehovah will proceed to judgment with the elders of His people, and its princes. And ye, ye have eaten up the vineyard; prey of the suffering is in your houses. What mean ye that ye crush my people, and grind the face of the suffering? Thus saith the Lord Jehovah of hosts." The words of God Himself commence with "and ye" (v'attem). The sentence to which this (et vos = at vos) is the antithesis is wanting, just as in Psa 2:6, where the words of God commence with "and I" (va'ani, et ego = ast ego). the tacit clause may easily be supplied, viz., I have set you over my vineyard, but he have consumed the vineyard. The only question is, whether the sentence is to be regarded as suppressed by Jeho…
The Lord cares for the poor. These were the marginalized and oppressed (see 1:17), but God is their protector (see 25:4). God called for his people to share his concern for the poor, but the Israelites were exploiting them to gain wealth (see 3:14).
Rashi on Isaiah 3:15
What to you mean Heb. מַלָּכֶם, like מַה לָכֶם, what do you mean? [lit. What is to you?]
you grind Crush and degrade to disgrace them in their lawsuit.
