Isaiah 3 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

Isaiah 3

Judgment on Judah and Jerusalem

3:1   For behold, the Lord GOD of hosts
    is taking away from Jerusalem and from Judah
  support and supply,¹
    all support of bread,
    and all support of water;
2   the mighty man and the soldier,
    the judge and the prophet,
    the diviner and the elder,
3   the captain of fifty
    and the man of rank,
  the counselor and the skillful magician
    and the expert in charms.
4   And I will make boys their princes,
    and infants² shall rule over them.
5   And the people will oppress one another,
    every one his fellow
    and every one his neighbor;
  the youth will be insolent to the elder,
    and the despised to the honorable.
6   For a man will take hold of his brother
    in the house of his father, saying:
  “You have a cloak;
    you shall be our leader,
  and this heap of ruins
    shall be under your rule”;
7   in that day he will speak out, saying:
  “I will not be a healer;³
    in my house there is neither bread nor cloak;
  you shall not make me
    leader of the people.”
8   For Jerusalem has stumbled,
    and Judah has fallen,
  because their speech and their deeds are against the LORD,
    defying his glorious presence.⁴
9   For the look on their faces bears witness against them;
    they proclaim their sin like Sodom;
    they do not hide it.
  Woe to them!
    For they have brought evil on themselves.
10   Tell the righteous that it shall be well with them,
    for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds.
11   Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him,
    for what his hands have dealt out shall be done to him.
12   My people—infants are their oppressors,
    and women rule over them.
  O my people, your guides mislead you
    and they have swallowed up⁵ the course of your paths.
13   The LORD has taken his place to contend;
    he stands to judge peoples.
14   The LORD will enter into judgment
    with the elders and princes of his people:
  “It is you who have devoured⁶ the vineyard,
    the spoil of the poor is in your houses.
15   What do you mean by crushing my people,
    by grinding the face of the poor?”
      declares the Lord GOD of hosts.
16   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,
17   therefore the Lord will strike with a scab
    the heads of the daughters of Zion,
    and the LORD will lay bare their secret parts.

18 In that day the Lord will take away the finery of the anklets, the headbands, and the crescents; 19 the pendants, the bracelets, and the scarves; 20 the headdresses, the armlets, the sashes, the perfume boxes, and the amulets; 21 the signet rings and nose rings; 22 the festal robes, the mantles, the cloaks, and the handbags; 23 the mirrors, the linen garments, the turbans, and the veils.

24   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.
25   Your men shall fall by the sword
    and your mighty men in battle.
26   And her gates shall lament and mourn;
    empty, she shall sit on the ground.

Footnotes

[1] 3:1 Hebrew staff
[2] 3:4 Or caprice
[3] 3:7 Hebrew binder of wounds
[4] 3:8 Hebrew the eyes of his glory
[5] 3:12 Or they have confused
[6] 3:14 Or grazed over; compare Exodus 22:5

Commentary

v1: God's judgment upon Judah would take various forms. First there is famine.

v2-3: God would remove great men and leaders. When Nebuchadnezzar defeated Judah, he selectively carried away such people, 2 Kings 24.14. The people would be left leaderless and without direction. There is also the lesson that our faith must be in god, not in men, however great or learned.

v4-5: Leaders replaced by the immature and unqualified, leading to oppression and disrespect.

v6-7: Again the unqualified become rulers, compare Eccl 9.13-15, where the wise ruler is overlooked. Leadership is any sphere is essential; but godly leadership is necessary for God's people. Even the man chosen realised that he was unsuitable.

v8-9: Sin is primarily an offence against God; and that is why Jerusalem staggered, and Judah stumbled; this is God's judgment, not some inevitable consequence apart from Him.

There was no shame, as they hid their sins from God. All the disasters that came upon the people were their own fault; they stood responsible before God.

v10-12: Righteous and wicked distinguished. Those who remained faithful to God would be blessed. But "my people" were largely wicked, and would be badly ruled as a result; they had perhaps rebelled against the wise and godly rulers that God had appointed over them.

v13-15: Accusations brought against the people, but especially against the leaders. The Lord God is the righteous judge, having every right to judge His people. In particular, the leaders had oppressed the poor.

v16-17: The people had been proud, but the Lord would bring them low.

v18-23: See also 2.7, where the people had enjoyed their prosperity and luxury. Here the "women of Zion" had dressed in their finery, on which also their hearts were set; but all this would be taken away.

v24: In the place of finery, there is poverty; stench, a rope, baldness, sackcloth, and branding (as of a slave).

v25: At the same time, many of their men would die in battle.

v26: Fulfilled in the defeat of Jerusalem by Babylon, see Lamentations, esp Lam 1.1, she sits lonely, the princess having been made a slave; the Lord's affliction upon His people, Lam 1.12.