Isaiah 3:24 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Isaiah 3:24
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.
fragrance · noun, common masculine singular absolute
stink
מַ֣קmak
H4716
properly · noun, common masculine singular absolute
girdle
חֲגוֹרָ֤הcha.go.Rah
H2290
a belt (for the waist) · noun, common feminine singular absolute
rent
נִקְפָּה֙nik.Pah
H5364
probably a rope (as encircling) · noun, common feminine singular absolute
set
מַעֲשֶׂ֤הma.'a.Seh
H4639
an action (good or bad) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
hair
מִקְשֶׁה֙mik.Sheh
H4748
something turned (rounded) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
baldness
קָרְחָ֔הka.re.Chah
H7144
baldness · noun, common feminine singular absolute
stomacher
פְּתִיגִ֖ילpe.ti.Gil
H6614
probably a figured mantle forholidays · noun, common masculine singular absolute
girding
מַחֲגֹ֣רֶתma.cha.Go.ret
H4228
a girdle · noun, common feminine singular construct
sackcloth
שָׂ֑קSak
H8242
properly · noun, common masculine singular absolute
burning
כִּיki-
H3587
a brand or scar · noun, common masculine singular absolute
beauty
יֹֽפִיYo.fi
H3308
beauty · noun, common masculine singular 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
Lamentations 2:10 The elders of the daughter of Zion sit upon the ground, and keep silence: they have cast up dust upon their heads; they have girded themselv…
Ezekiel 27:31 And they shall make themselves utterly bald for thee, and gird them with sackcloth, and they shall weep for thee with bitterness of heart an…
Isaiah 15:3 In their streets they shall gird themselves with sackcloth: on the tops of their houses, and in their streets, every one shall howl, weeping…
Isaiah 22:12 And in that day did the Lord GOD of hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth:
Micah 1:16 Make thee bald, and poll thee for thy delicate children; enlarge thy baldness as the eagle; for they are gone into captivity from thee.
1 Peter 3:3 Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel;
Leviticus 26:16 I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause…
Esther 2:12 Now when every maid’s turn was come to go in to king Ahasuerus, after that she had been twelve months, according to the manner of the women,…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Isaiah 3:16–end
The prophet's business was to show all sorts of people what they had contributed to the national guilt and what share they must expect in the national judgments that were coming. Here he reproves and warns the daughters of Zion, tells the ladies of their faults; and Moses, in the law, having denounced God's wrath against the tender and delicate woman (the prophets being a comment upon the law, Deu 28:56), he here tells them how they shall smart by the calamities that are coming upon them. Observe,
I. The sin charged upon the daughters of Zion, Isa 3:16. The prophet expressly vouches God's authority for what he said. lest it should be thought it was unbecoming in him to take notice of such th…
stink--arising from ulcers (Zac 14:12).
girdle--to gird up the loose Eastern garments, when the person walked.
rent--the Septuagint, better, a "rope," an emblem of poverty; the poor have nothing else to gird up their clothes with.
well-set hair-- (Pe1 3:3-4).
baldness-- (Isa 3:17).
stomacher--a broad plaited girdle.
sackcloth-- (Sa2 3:31).
burning--a sunburnt countenance, owing to their hoods and veils being stripped off, while they had to work as captives under a scorching sun (Sol 1:6).
John Gill on Isaiah 3:24
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 ulcers and diseases of the body, Zechariah 14:12 the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions, render it "dust"; or this may refer to the anointing of their hair with ointment of myrrh and other things, which gave an agreeable scent; but instead of this there would be a scab, giving an ill scent, Isaiah 3:17.
and instead of a girdle a rent; such as i…
(Verse 24.) And it will be for a sweet smell, a stench; and for a belt, a cord. The one repenting of sins speaks of the stench: My scars have putrefied and become corrupted from the face of my foolishness (Psalm 38:6). The Apostle commanded to gird the loins with a belt, saying: Stand with your loins girded in truth (Ephesians 6:14). And we read about the sinner: Each one is bound by the cords of their own sins (Proverbs 5:22). Therefore, for the good smell of virtues, the daughters of Zion will have the putrefaction of sins; and for the belt of truth, they will be bound by the cords of lies, which they had on their heads when they prayed for life from the king of Syria with rags and filth. And as for the pectoral band, they translated the cilicium. Concerning the pectoral band, which Symmachus interpreted as a tunic of fine purple, that is, adorned with clavi, they translated it as a girdle of exultation, which Aquila expressed. Theodotion himself used the Hebrew word Phthigil (פתיגיל), which is a type of feminine ornament. The pectoral band covers the chest and occupies the same place in women as the Rationale in the Pontiffs. Regarding this pectoral band, Jeremiah said in a mystical discourse: If the bride can forget her attire, or the virgin her pectoral band, then I will forget you, says the Lord (Jer. II, 32). The Virgin, whom the Apostle wants us to present to Christ (2 Cor. 2), as long as she is not corrupted in Egypt, and her breasts, which are bound with a breastband, are not broken, is joined to her spouse; and even though she daily gives birth to sons of virtue, she never ceases to be a virgin. But if she sometimes spreads her legs to all who pass by, and follows her lovers, and according to the prophecy of Hosea, the Lord will hedge her paths and block her ways, she will return to her former husband, and she will hear: 'Put off the garments of mourning and put on the garments of your glory' (Hosea 2).
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
Baldness — From natural causes was uncommon (2 Kings 2:23; Isa. 3:24). It was included apparently under “scab” and “scurf,” which disqualified for the priesthood (Lev. 21:20). The Egyptians were rarely subject…
Dress — (1.) Materials used. The earliest and simplest an apron of fig-leaves sewed together (Gen. 3:7); then skins of animals (3:21). Elijah’s dress was probably the skin of a sheep (2 Kings 1:8). The…
Girdle — (1.) Heb. hagor, a girdle of any kind worn by soldiers (1 Sam. 18:4; 2 Sam. 20:8; 1 Kings 2:5; 2 Kings 3:21) or women (Isa. 3:24). (2.) Heb. ‘ezor, something “bound,” worn by prophets (2 Kings 1:8;…
Hair — (1.) The Egyptians let the hair of their head and beard grow only when they were in mourning, shaving it off at other times. “So particular were they on this point that to have neglected it was a…
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…
Purse — (1.) Gr. balantion, a bag (Luke 10:4; 22:35, 36). (2.) Gr. zone, properly a girdle (Matt. 10:9; Mark 6:8), a money-belt. As to our Lord’s sending forth his disciples without money in their purses,…
Rent — (Isa. 3:24), probably a rope, as rendered in the LXX. and Vulgate and Revised Version, or as some prefer interpreting the phrase, “girdle and robe are torn [i.e., are ‘a rent’] by the hand of…
Stomacher — (Isa. 3:24), an article of female attire, probably some sort of girdle around the breast.
Baldness · A — A
Beauty · Vanity of — Vanity of
Girdle · Women — Women
John Calvin on Isaiah 3:24
Instead of a sweet smell there shall be stink. It is evident that the country here described abounds in aromatic herbs; and there is no reason to doubt that in pleasant smells, as well as in other matters, they were luxurious. We see that those nations which are farthest removed from the east are not prevented either by distance or by expense from indulging in that kind of luxury. What may be expected to happen in those places where they are abundant? That they will excite lust and promote luxury is beyond all doubt He means, therefore, that ointments and sweet smells were abused by them in a variety of ways; for the sinful desires of men are ingenious in their contrivances, and can never be…
When Jehovah took away all this glory, with which the women of Jerusalem were adorned, they would be turned into wretched-looking prisoners, disfigured by ill-treatment and dirt. - "And instead of balmy scent there will be mouldiness, and instead of the sash a rope, and instead of artistic ringlets a baldness, and instead of the dress-cloak a frock of sackcloth, branding instead of beauty." Mouldiness, or mother (mak, as in Isa 5:24, the dust of things that have moulded away), with which they would be covered, and which they would be obliged to breathe, would take the place of the bosem, i.e., the scent of the balsam shrub (bâsâm), and of sweet-scented pomade in general; and nipâh that of…
In a reversal of fortune, the affluent and proud people of Jerusalem would suffer disgrace. Some of their ornaments (3:18) likely were amulets to keep evil away, but they could not ward off the calamity of judgment. These items of beauty were status symbols and represented financial security.
Rashi on Isaiah 3:24
And it shall come to pass, that, instead of perfume, there will be decay The place where they would perfume themselves will be decayed.
and in the place of a girdle, laceration Heb. נקפה. The place where she girded herself, there will be lacerated, cut with wounds and signs of blows, as (Job: 19:26): “And after my skin is cut to pieces (נִקְּפוּ)”; (infra 10:34) “and the thickets of forest shall be cut down (וְנִקַּף).”
and in the place of the deed, a wound Heb. (מַעֲשֶׂה מִקְשֶׁה). [The place where they would do the deed mentioned above: “walking and raising themselves they walk,” and that is at the height of the head, there will be] מִקְשֶׁה קָרְחָה, a wound that makes the head bald. מִק…
Hair, The · Of women: Well set and ornamented — Of women: Well set and ornamented
Head · Illustrative: (Made bald,) of heavy judgments — Illustrative: (Made bald,) of heavy judgments
Pride · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Sabbath, The · Illustrative: (Girding with,) of heavy afflictions — Illustrative: (Girding with,) of heavy afflictions
Stomacher · An article of dress — An article of dress
Woman · Of distinction: Wore their hair plaited and adorned with gold and pearls — Of distinction: Wore their hair plaited and adorned with gold and pearls
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).
