A Commentary on Isaiah, Part 4: Patterns of Societal Collapse

A Commentary on Isaiah, Part 4: Patterns of Societal Collapse

Isaiah chapter 2 had opened with a promise of hope, which was evidently a vision for some time far off in the future, since it was followed by a much more immediate condemnation and imminent judgment of the people of Israel of Isaiah’s own time. This condemnation was for greater Israel, since it had made references to the cedars of Lebanon, the oaks of Bashan, which were allegories for various of the tribes of ancient Israel, and also to the ships of Tarshish, the ships by which the children of Israel had spread themselves abroad. In this condemnation they were condemned for their sorceries, for their idolatry, for their haughtiness, and because they had pleased themselves in the children of strangers, which is fornication or race-mixing.

Therefore we must understand that since there was a message of hope which had accompanied the condemnation of Israel for their sins, that Yahweh God had never intended to destroy Israel entirely, but rather, His intention was, and is, to punish them for their sins, so that they would ultimately conform to His will and through their conformance, He could fulfill the things which He had promised to their fathers. As we also hope to have illustrated, it is very likely that by the time Isaiah had written these words, the prophet Amos had already completed the course of his prophecy, and in Amos chapter 3 we read: “1 Hear this word that the LORD hath spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying, 2 You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.”

Then where Amos continues, we should understand that the objective of their punishment certainly was their conformance to God: “3 Can two walk together, except they be agreed? 4 Will a lion roar in the forest, when he hath no prey? will a young lion cry out of his den, if he have taken nothing? 5 Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth, where no gin is for him? shall one take up a snare from the earth, and have taken nothing at all? 6 Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it? 7 Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.”

In other words, Yahweh is the lion, and Israel is the prey, Yahweh had taken up the snare, and Israel is the trapped bird, the evil which Amos had prophesied came upon the cities of Israel, and it was all Yahweh’s doing. While the Assyrians were their destroyers, the Assyrians were only a tool in His hand. This is fully and explicitly revealed here in Isaiah chapter 10 where we read “5 O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.”

Where Amos had written “7 Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets”, the words כי אם or ki am (#’s 3588, 518) which are translated as but are better represented in the translation of the New American Standard Bible as unless, and in the Greek as the phrase ἐὰν μη which in Brenton’s translation of the Septuagint is appropriately rendered as without. So Brenton has the clause to read: “7 For the Lord God will do nothing, without revealing instruction to his servants the prophets.” By this we know that Yahweh God has had no other plan for the children of Israel, or for anyone else, except for what we find written in the books of His prophets.

Therefore the scope of the redemption, forgiveness, and eternal life which are in Christ is confined to the terms of the promises to Israel which were made in the books of the prophets. For that reason Paul of Tarsus had also written, in Romans chapter 15, and explained that “8 Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers.” If there is something which was not promised to the fathers, or if it is not found explicitly in the words of the prophets, then no man can ever justly imagine that it was confirmed in Christ. Furthermore, the hope which is expressed in these chapters of Isaiah is also for the same children of Israel who had suffered the condemnation which had been expressed here in Isaiah, and the final 26 chapters of his prophecy will demonstrate that fact quite frequently. However throughout Isaiah, we shall also be informed of where Israel would be in their period of punishment, beginning in that same chapter 10.

Now returning to the prophet Isaiah at the beginning of chapter 3, the focus of his condemnation of Israel which had begun at the opening of chapter 2 narrows to concern the children of Judah and the capital city Jerusalem:

3:1 For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water, 2 The mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient, 3 The captain of fifty, and the honourable man, and the counsellor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator.

The words translated as stay and staff in this passage are from masculine and feminine forms of the same Hebrew word, משען or mishan (# 4937) and משענה or mishanah (# 4938). Strong’s defines the masculine form as a support, or figuratively as a protector or sustenance, and the feminine form also as a support, or figuratively as sustenance, and then as a walking-stick or staff. Gesenius defines both terms similarly, and for that last use of the term he cited Judges chapter 6 (6:21) and 2 Kings chapters 4 (4:31) and 18 (18:21), where it is used in that manner of a staff. [1]

Interestingly, the Septuagint translators represented these words in Greek with the verb ἰσχύω which means to be strong or powerful in the form of masculine and feminine present active participles of the accusative case, where they serve as substantives, or nouns. In turn, in his translation of the Septuagint Brenton had interpreted these as mighty man and mighty woman. In my opinion, while the Septuagint translators chose a manner of translating the Hebrew words literally, rather than idiomatically, they were not necessarily intending to represent people, as Brenton had interpreted the resulting Greek text. However the translators of the more recent New English Translation of the Septuagint had done that same thing, where they have strong man and strong woman. These translations of the Greek render the opening clause of verse 2 to be redundant, where Brenton has “the great and mighty man”.

We prefer the understanding of משען or mishan and משענה or mishanah as it appears in the King James Version, and that is also the understanding of the translators of the New American Standard Bible, as well as the Dead Sea Scrolls Bible. Later in the verse the Greek translators rendered the same masculine form of the Hebrew word משען or mishan with a feminine form of the related noun, ἰσχύς, which is strength or power, where in his translation Brenton has “the strength of bread, and the strength of water”, and in the King James Version we see the word stay on both occasions.

So the support and sustenance would be taken from the nation on account of its sin, and that support included the natural protectors of the society, the mighty man, the man of war, the judge, the prophet, the prudent, the ancient, which are the wise and experienced men, as well as others whom together constitute the pillars of the earth, which is a metaphor for the society. However as we shall see later in this condemnation of Judah, the same elders and leaders of the people had also fostered the developing sinful state into which the nation had fallen, so they are really only suffering the just deserts of their own behavior.

In 1 Samuel chapter 2 we read: “7 The LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up. 8 He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the LORD'S, and he hath set the world upon them.” Similarly, in the 75th Psalm, “2 When I shall receive the congregation I will judge uprightly. 3 The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved: I bear up the pillars of it.” In these passages, the “pillars of the earth” are the men who are the backbone of the society, and Yahweh either lifts them high or brings them low, whereby He exalts the society, or He punishes it for its sin. So in this case, the bread and the water seem also to be allegories for the Word of God and the truths which convey spiritual nourishment to the people. These are what sustain a just society.

These men may be removed by defeat in war, but they may also simply be marginalized in a sinful society, or they may even be cowed into silence. There is an example of the first sort in the Wisdom of Solomon, where in Wisdom chapter 2 the wicked men who would usurp rule in a corrupt society are portrayed as having said: “10 We should oppress the poor righteous man. We should not spare a widow nor respect the long-enduring grayness of an elder. 11 Our strength must be the law of righteousness, for that which is weak is proved to be useless. 12 We should lie in wait for the righteous because he is intractable to us and opposes our works, and he reproaches us for our transgressions of the law, and imprecates upon us for the transgressions of our training. 13 He professes to have knowledge of God and calls himself a child of Yahweh. 14 He was made for us a reproof of our thoughts. He is burdensome for us even to see, 15 because his manner of living is unlike the others and his paths have taken another course.” So wherever the wicked rule, the righteous are marginalized, even when they are not slain. We also see that phenomenon all around us today, where anyone who speaks out against evil is ostracized from this modern society.

But an example of the later sort, of men who are cowed into silence, is described in chapter 12 of the Gospel of John, where he wrote in reference to Christ that: “42 Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: 43 For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.” This similar phenomenon is explained later, in Isaiah chapter 29: “13 Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men: 14 Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.”

Therefore in one way or another, as a punishment from God these protectors of the society are taken out of the way, either because their rulers or elements the people despise and oppress them, or because they themselves fail to act, so that Yahweh may accomplish His Will. But for those who are left, another element of their punishment is blindness. They are blinded by God so that He may punish them. This we read in Isaiah chapter 6: “9 And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. 10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed. 11 Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate, 12 And the LORD have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land.”

Often, when men fall under a state of tyranny, they do not even realize they are governed by tyranny, and this is why: Yahweh has blinded them in preparation for their punishment. That tyranny itself is also a punishment from God, is explained by Paul of Tarsus in Romans chapter 13, citing the Christogenea New Testament: “1 Every soul must be subject to more powerful authorities. Since there is no authority except from Yahweh, then those who are, by Yahweh are they appointed. 2 Consequently, one opposing the authority has opposed the ordinance of Yahweh, and they who are in opposition will themselves receive judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good work, but to evil. Now do you desire to not be fearful of the authority? Practice good, and you will have approval from it; 4 a servant of Yahweh is to you for good. But if you practice evil, be fearful; for not without purpose will he bear the sword, indeed a servant of Yahweh is an avenger with wrath to he who has practiced evil.”

Saying these things, Paul was not advocating for tyranny or even for beneficial worldly governments, but rather, it is a warning that there is no choice but to accept the chastisement from God which comes as a result of the disobedience of the children of Israel. So whether it is mere inability or an abject unwillingness which prevents men from rectifying these patterns of societal collapse, their failure is a circumstance of punishment from God. Righteous men cannot prevent the punishment of the wicked, and blind men are blinded on account of their wickedness, or the wickedness of the nation.

Now returning to Isaiah, the warnings of this punishment upon Judah continue:

4 And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them.

The English language here should not be taken too literally, but it was indeed fulfilled in the immediate history of Judah. The word for children is נערים or narim, a plural form of נער or nar (# 5288) which is literally a boy, and even a new-born child, as it is used in 1 Samuel chapter 4 (4:21) where the daughter-in-law of Eli the high priest had given birth, “And she named the child (nar) Ichabod…” But the term also described a young man, and that is the manner in which it was translated in Genesis chapter 34 (34:19) describing Dinah’s rapist, or in chapter 41 (41:12) where it was used to describe Joseph, at the time when he was thirty years old, which is evident a little later in the chapter (41:46).

A young man who assumes a position of authority, especially as a king, without having any experience or at least a proper education in the function of such a position can indeed be considered a child. But where the text of the King James Version has babes here, the Hebrew word is תעלול or talul (# 8586) which is defined in Strong’s Concordance as “caprice … i.e. vexation”, so in the New American Standard Bible for this passage it is translated as capricious children and in the Septuagint as ἐμπαίκτης, which Brenton had translated literally as mockers.

So young men who were capricious, which is actually impulsive or unpredictable, would rule over Judah as a punishment for sin. From this time, which is near the end of the rule of Uzziah, or Azariah, this king had started his rule long before Isaiah had uttered this prophecy, but he was only sixteen years old at that time when he became king of Judah (2 Kings 14:21). His son Jotham was only twenty-five when he became king (2 Chronicles 27:1). Then his son Ahaz was only twenty (2 Kings 16:2). After Ahaz, Hezekiah was only twenty-five years old when he became king (2 Chronicles 29:1). While Hezekiah was generally a good king, he did make certain serious errors, and his son Manasseh was described as having been very evil.

Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, was only twelve years old when he began to reign (2 Chronicles 33:1), and in spite of his own long rule his son Amon was only twenty-two when he became king. Following him, Josiah was only eight years old when he began to rule Jerusalem and while he was also a good king, the good things which he had done were short-lived. After Josiah, his son Jehoahaz was only twenty-three when he became king, ruled only three months, and was replaced with his brother Eliakim, or Jehoiakim, under whom Jerusalem had fallen subject to the Babylonians.

After Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin his son came to be king, and according to 2 Kings chapter 24 (24:8) he was eighteen years old, but according to 2 Chronicles chapter 36 (36:9) he was only eight years old. However the Septuagint manuscripts are divided and while Brenton has eight in his text, he noted that the Codex Alexandrinus has eighteen. Rahlf’s has eighteen in his text, noting that the Codex Vaticanus has eight. Apparently the passage had not survived in the Dead Sea Scrolls, as very little of any of the books of Kings or Chronicles had done. The difference may never be settled. In the Hexapla of Origen, at 2 Chronicles 36:9 his Hebrew copy has eight years, and he wrote in Greek and Latin that the Septuagint has eight years, but that other examples of Greek texts had eighteen years. [2] However since Jehoiachin ruled only three months, whereafter he was taken into captivity along with his wives, it is certain that he was more likely eighteen, and not eight, when he was made king of Judah. Finally, the last king of Judah, Zedekiah who was the uncle of Jehoiachin (2 Kings 24:17-18), was twenty one years old when he began to reign.

So here it is apparent that from the time of Uzziah forward, all of the kings of Judah had come to the throne as young men, and all of them became king at an age which was younger than that of Joseph was when he stood before pharaoh, and although he was thirty years old, he was nevertheless described by this same term which was translated as children here in the King James Version of this passage, where it is plural. Therefore, from the time of Uzziah all of the kings of Judah took the throne as children, even if they were not literally children. With the exception of Josiah, they were also all generally capricious. But the same caprice, or impulsiveness, had even taken the life of Josiah, as he died in a poorly conceived and unnecessary attack on the pharaoh Necho, at a time when Necho was marching through Palestine towards Carchemish, although Necho had no plan of aggression towards Judah, as it is described in 2 Chronicles chapter 35.

Because men never seem to learn from history, they repeat the same mistakes, and the same patterns of societal collapse repeat themselves. Today, once again we live in a sinful society, any good men who remain are powerless to rectify the wrongs, and children rule over us, at least, in an allegorical manner since they are generally children even if they are eighty years old, and they are certainly capricious. Today’s “leaders” are lifelong politicians who have never accomplished anything of merit, and have only been parasites on the people. They truly reflect the brambles in the parable of the trees in the forest of Judges chapter 9.

However children rule over us today in more ways than one. The people of the nations formerly known as Christendom now worship youth itself as one of their many idols. In a just society, children are disciplined at a young age, and they learn that they must please their parents. The father is the head of the family, and the mother is the center of the household. The elderly are venerated, and not the children. But today, it is evident that parents must please the children, and therefore the children have become the de facto heads of the family and the centers of the typical household. In this situation, children lose all respect for their elders, while the wicked also seek to oppress the righteous, as we have read in the Wisdom of Solomon, as well as where Isaiah continues:

5 And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbour: the child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, and the base against the honourable.

The word for child is the same word נער or nar (# 5288) that appears in verse 4, which may refer to a male child but which is generally also a young man. The younger generations vaunt themselves over, or even rebel against the elder, and there is no longer any respect for the wisdom which may come with age and experience. In a sinful society, children have no reason to “honor thy father and the mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.” This pattern of societal collapse is evident today, and for the last sixty years, throughout all of the Western nations.

Perhaps because the kings themselves were so young, or so immature, they also naturally chose young advisors, as Rehoboam the son of Solomon had done, which is explained in 1 Kings chapter 12 where we read: “6 And king Rehoboam consulted with the old men, that stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, and said, How do ye advise that I may answer this people? 7 And they spake unto him, saying, If thou wilt be a servant unto this people this day, and wilt serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be thy servants for ever. 8 But he forsook the counsel of the old men, which they had given him, and consulted with the young men that were grown up with him, and which stood before him: 9 And he said unto them, What counsel give ye that we may answer this people, who have spoken to me, saying, Make the yoke which thy father did put upon us lighter? 10 And the young men that were grown up with him spake unto him, saying, Thus shalt thou speak unto this people that spake unto thee, saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, but make thou it lighter unto us; thus shalt thou say unto them, My little finger shall be thicker than my father's loins. 11 And now whereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke: my father hath chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.”

In his own act of rebellion, Rehoboam had chosen the counsel of the young men over the elders of his court, and it failed him, in spite of the fact that he was forty-one years old when he began to reign in Judah (1 Kings 14:21), so he was not so much of a young man himself. In that same environment, which is also stated here in verse 5, the base men would behave proudly, or perhaps arrogantly, against men who are worthy of honor. In this negative sense, in Strong’s Concordance the word translated as proudly, רהב or rahab (# 7292) is also defined as to act insolently.

Now we shall read one result of this predicament, and this seems also to indicate to us that these men would know how such behavior would end, or at least, they were witnessing and acknowledging the results of it:

6 When a man shall take hold of his brother of the house of his father, saying, Thou hast clothing, be thou our ruler, and let this ruin be under thy hand: 7 In that day shall he swear, saying, I will not be an healer; for in my house is neither bread nor clothing: make me not a ruler of the people.

The clause which reads “let this ruin be under thy hand” is represented in the Septuagint as saying “and let my meat be under thee”, as Brenton had translated the Greek. But the Dead Sea Scrolls Bible agrees with the Masoretic Text where we read “and let this ruin be under your command.” Perhaps the Septuagint translators had mistaken מטעמה or matamah (# 4303), which is meat, for מכשׁלה or makselah (# 4384), which is ruin. According to the Hexapla of Origen, the Old Latin translation which he employed has ruin, which the later Vulgate also has, and the early Greek translations of both Symmachus the Ebionite and Theodotion have ἀσθένεια, which is a Greek word meaning sickness or disease, and that is consistent with ruin. [3]

Therefore here it is apparent that a man would tell his brother to “let this ruin be under thy hand”, because no man would want to take any responsibility for the collapse of the society. The reference here is to the local rulers of the people, the rulers of the individual clans. The word for ruler in these verses is קצין or qatsin (# 7101) which Strong’s defines as a magistrate or leader. In Joshua chapters 10 and 11 (10:24, 11:6, 11) it is captain, in the context of wartime leaders, although it is ruler or prince in other places in the King James Bible.

Furthermore, a man would not want to step up to risk being a healer, a repairer of the breach between the people and Yahweh their God, if he does not have the resources to do so. But perhaps no man could do this, ostensibly because Yahweh has already doomed the nation to captivity and deprived it of its resources. As we had interpreted bread and water to signify the Word of God and truth, in the opening verse of this chapter, perhaps bread and clothing here are the Word of God and the shelter or defense of the people.

In Isaiah chapter 58, in a promise of future restoration, we read the following: “11 And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. 12 And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.”

But here, with the people having departed from the paths to dwell in, the end is inevitable:

8 For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings are against the LORD, to provoke the eyes of his glory.

The New American Standard Bible seems to have better represented the idiom in the last clause here where it has “to rebel against His glorious presence.” Here in place of this clause at the end of verse 8, the Septuagint has a clause (διότι νῦν ἐταπεινώθη ἡ δόξα αὐτῶν καὶ) which we may translate “on which account now their glory is humbled and”, with the conjunction introducing the text of verse 9. So for that, Brenton placed the clause at the beginning of verse 9 of his translation, where he has “Wherefore now their glory has been brought low, and…” The Hebrew of the Dead Sea Scrolls Bible apparently agrees with the Masoretic Text, where the translation of the clause there is also similar to that of the King James Version.

9 The shew 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 rewarded evil unto themselves.

In spite of the fact that there were indeed wicked men amongst the people, men who were not of Israel and who had been encouraging them to sin, the statement that “the shew of their countenance does witness against them” is made in relation to Jerusalem and Judah, to the people of Judah who were about to face punishment on account of their sins. So the phrase describes the pride or insolence which they had in the face of their sins. In the New American Standard Bible we read: “9 The expression of their faces bears witness against them. And they display their sin like Sodom; They do not even conceal it. Woe to them! For they have brought evil on themselves.” There is a similar reading in the translation of the Dead Sea Scrolls Bible.

Now there are brief messages for both the righteous and the wicked:

10 Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. 11 Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him.

With this it is apparent, that a man is punished according to his own works, just as Christ had also frequently attested in His Gospel and in His Revelation. This we read in Matthew chapter 16: “27 For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.”

Here in the Septuagint, aside from the additional clause in verse 9, there is a quite different reading in verse 10 which evokes language from the Wisdom of Solomon in regard to the treatment of the righteous by the wicked. This is found where we have already cited Wisdom chapter 2, where we read the words attributed to the wicked which said: “12 We should lie in wait for the righteous because he is intractable to us and opposes our works, and he reproaches us for our transgressions of the law, and imprecates upon us for the transgressions of our training.” That also sounds like something rebellious young men would say, the sort which here are portrayed as acting insolently towards their elders, which is found in verse 5 of this chapter.

So here we shall read these verses of the Septuagint, from Brenton’s translation: “9 Wherefore now their glory has been brought low, and the shame of their countenance has withstood them, and they have proclaimed their sin as Sodom, and made it manifest. 10 Woe to their soul, for they have devised an evil counsel against themselves, saying against themselves, Let us bind the just, for he is burdensome to us: therefore shall they eat the fruits of their works. 11 Woe to the transgressor! evils shall happen to him according to the works of his hands.” The readings in the Dead Sea Scrolls Bible once again support the Masoretic Text, and on this variation, which is lengthy, the Hexapla is silent, which may have been on account of the fragmentary nature of the surviving copies.

Now Yahweh once again laments the condition of the people of Judah, and introduces another aspect of the pattern of societal collapse which shall be elaborated upon in subsequent verses:

12 As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.

Where the Masoretic Text, as well as the Dead Sea Scrolls, have children and then a word meaning women or perhaps wives, the Septuagint has exactors and extortioners. In the Hexapla, where only the word meaning women is noted, apparently on account of the fragmentary nature of the text, Theodotion seems to agree with the Septuagint, although rather than having extortioners he has a word which means usurers. However the translation of Symmachus the Ebionite also has women. This is the plausible reading, especially within the context of the later verses of the chapter where women are criticized distinctly.

But first, as we had discussed in relation to chapter 1 of Isaiah, the Word of Yahweh in his prophecy once again echoes the prophecy of Amos, where the children of Israel had been chastised for enriching themselves at the expense of the disadvantaged of their own people:

13 The LORD standeth up to plead, and standeth to judge the people. 14 The LORD will enter into judgment with the ancients of his people, and the princes thereof: for ye have eaten up the vineyard; the spoil of the poor is in your houses. 15 What mean ye that ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor? saith the Lord GOD of hosts.

Here it is evident that the ancients, or elders of the people, as well as the princes, or rulers, are being judged for these sins, and therefore, where children and women rule over them, that is only a result of their own sin. In the progression of societal collapse presented here in Isaiah, it is the men who have failed first, and for that reason the society has fostered these other sins, represented in rebellious children and now in women who had been taken away in feminism, which it described rather explicitly where it continues:

16 Moreover the LORD saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet: 17 Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will discover their secret parts.

Where the King James Version has “stretched forth necks and wanton eyes” the New American Standard Bible has “heads held high and seductive eyes”, and the Dead Sea Scrolls Bible “outstretched necks and roving eyes”. Strong’s defines the word rendered here as wanton, שׂקר or saqar (# 8265) as “a primitive root; to ogle, i.e. blink coquettishly”, which is to blink in a flirtatious manner. So this passage describes women who purposely attract attention to themselves, while walking the streets and looking about as if they are on the prowl for men. Women who do such things are sought out by men who then tend to idolize them, seeking their attention in turn. By this, the women come to rule over men, and therefore by this women ultimately come to dominate the society.

Where women rule over men, not only in government but also in their own households, today we call that feminism, and once again this aspect of societal collapse is ubiquitous in modern times, where women dress wantonly even for casual occasions, and are frequently seen roaming the streets in a manner which purposely attracts the attention of men.

So for that, the women will be punished, and Yahweh “will discover their secret parts”, where the Septuagint has “and the Lord will expose their form in that day”, and the New American Standard Bible has, in an obvious misunderstanding, “And the LORD will make their foreheads bare.” The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible has “lay bare their secret parts”. The verb translated as discover, ערה or arah (# 6168), is primarily defined by Strong’s as to be, or causatively, to make bare. With the appropriate pronouns it is “make yourself naked”, in Lamentations chapter 4 (4:21). The word translated as secret parts, פתה or pothah (# 6596) is defined by Strong’s as having been derived “from an unused root meaning to open; a hole, i.e. hinge or the female pudenda, an interpretation with which Gesenius agrees where he explained that it was used to describe the pudenda muliebria, a Latin term for the female genitalia. [4] The Brown, Driver, Briggs Hebrew Lexicon also agrees with this, defining the term in part as “their secret parts, the cardo femina”, another Latin term which is a euphemism for the genitalia that literally means the “female pivot”. [5] Once again, the punishment is the appropriate reward for the sin. So it continues to speak of such women, and begins to describe their coming punishment:

18 In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like the moon, 19 The chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers, 20 The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the earrings, 21 The rings, and nose jewels, 22 The changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping pins, 23 The glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the vails.

There are several ways to translate at least most of these words and phrases. The word for bravery in verse 18 would have been better translated as beauty. But basically, many of these terms only describe the various bobbling bimbo baubles and shiny jewels with which wanton women adorn themselves because they think that it makes them look more attractive, and would thereby enhance and draw more attention to their physical forms. Even nose jewels have come back into style in the West in recent decades, where in prior centuries they seem to have been worn only by the dark races. (Even in my youth, I only saw nose rings on pigs and niggers.) So that too seems to be a pattern in the collapse of society, when men and women imitate the dark races, and sink to their levels of behavior as the imitations gradually intensify.

One notable difference in translation is where the King James Version has “round tires like the moon”, ornaments which are merely crescent-shaped amulets, and which had a pagan signification in Isaiah’s time. The King James translators seem to have missed the significance of the term. In the New American Standard Bible, as well as in the Septuagint and the Dead Sea Scrolls Bible, the plural form of the Hebrew word שׂהרנ or saharon is crescents here, and in Judges chapter 8 (8:26), where such crescents were worn by the kings of the Midianites. The same Hebrew word also appears where the ornaments are found on their camels earlier in the chapter (8:21).

Now, among the other consequences of their punishment, since their private parts were going to be made bare and they would almost certainly be raped:

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.

For the clause “instead of a girdle a rent”, the Dead Sea Scrolls Bible has “instead of a sash, a rope”, and where we read “stomacher” it has “fine robe”, and rather than “burning” it has “shame”.

All of the fine things with which the women embellished their sin would be lost, and replaced with articles of poverty. Then, for their sins they would lose even their men. So now the prophet is addressing Jerusalem itself:

25 Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the war. 26 And her gates shall lament and mourn; and she being desolate shall sit upon the ground.

In their defeat, the women are humbled and reduced to a state of poverty. Then in the opening verse of Isaiah chapter 4, we see the end of their feminism as they plead with whatever men may yet remain:

4:1 And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.

It may be, that after the judgment of the nation and the defeat and destruction of its warriors, that the ratio of women to men among the survivors is seven-to-one. These women of Judah must have been imbued with a sense of the same feminism which is found throughout our society today, as they must have been independent before the time of their judgment, or if they had husbands, their husbands are now dead, and they are left alone and vulnerable. So now that judgment has come, without the shelter of their former husbands, or that of the society which had afforded them their sin, they are suddenly and desperately in need of a man. Typically, a man taking a wife would make a pledge to support her. But these women are so desperate for a valid and safe place in society, or what is left of their now fallen society, that they are even willing to work to support themselves, so long as they could take his name, whereby they may also have shelter and whatever means of defense which the man may be able to offer.

Where at least some of them may have had a different paramour each night, now they are shamed and want to avoid being raped each night. So their circumstances have compelled their repentance, without which they would not be able to survive at all. But at the end of a sinful society even a repentance which is forced brings renewal and hope:

2 In that day shall the branch of the LORD be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel.

The phrase “the branch of Yahweh” is evidently a descriptive metaphor for the children of Israel, who are one branch, or family, of the wider Adamic tree, or race. The phrase “them that are escaped of Israel” describes the survivors, and not merely any Israelites who may have been able to flee before the oncoming of the armies of their enemies, so it describes “he that is left in Zion” and also “he that remaineth in Jerusalem”.

As Brenton has translated it, the Septuagint has verse 2 to read: “2 And in that day God shall shine gloriously in counsel on the earth, to exalt and glorify the remnant of Israel.”

3 And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem:

The Hebrew word translated as holy is קדש or קדוש or qadowsh (# 6918) which refers to someone or something which has been sanctified or separated for a particular reason. The children of Israel were declared to be a separate people at Mount Sinai, and instructed in the law to remain separate. When the children of Israel had mingled with other nations and races, they made themselves common, or profane, as Paul of Tarsus had written in reference to Esau, because he had committed fornication by taking wives of the Canaanites, in Hebrews chapter 12: “16 Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.” One does not become profane for merely selling his birthright, but marrying outside of one’s race makes one profane. But something which is profane, or common, may be cleansed, so that it may once again be holy, or sacred, in a ritualistic sense, and therefore Yahweh promises to cleanse the survivors of this judgment:

4 When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.

The Septuagint has “sons and daughters of Zion”, where evidently the text of the Dead Sea Scrolls once again supports the reading found in the Masoretic Text. Where the Masoretic Text has burning, the Dead Sea Scrolls evidently have a different Hebrew word which means storm, as a footnote in the Dead Sea Scrolls Bible informs. The Greek Septuagint also has a word which means burning, so it supports the Masoretic Text.

This message of hope seems to be a Messianic prophecy which transcends any application in ancient Palestine. So we read in the final verses of this short chapter:

5 And the LORD will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence. 6 And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain.

The promise of the cloud by day and the fire by night evokes images of the Exodus and the pillar of smoke by day, or pillar of fire by night, which had led the children of Israel out of the captivity of Egypt. The refuge from the heat and from storm and rain is an allegory which indicates that at some point in the future from the time when this was written, Yahweh will protect the children of Israel from all discomfort and from every possible threat. But here in Isaiah, the children of Israel were being warned that they are going into captivity, and that is a captivity from which they have not yet emerged, so it is evident that these words are not yet fulfilled.

The text of these two verses is much shorter in the Dead Sea Scrolls Bible, where we read: “5 The Lord will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over its assembly a cloud by day 6 from the heat, and a refuge and hiding place from storm and rain.” But once again, the Septuagint Greek is in close agreement with the reading of the Masoretic Text, as is the Latin Vulgate. Therefore the Dead Sea Scrolls appear to be wanting in this regard.

Here we shall pause our commentary on Isaiah, and discuss this passage further when we resume our discussion of chapter 5. This second vision of Isaiah began with the opening verse of chapter 2, and it continues through to the end of chapter 5.

Footnotes

1 Gesenius’ Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament, translated by Samuel Prideaux Tregelles, Baker Books, 1979, p. 519.

2 Origenis Hexaplorum, Fridericus Field, AA. M., Volume I, Clarendon Press, 1875, p. 757.

3 ibid., Volume II, p. 436.

4 Gesenius’ Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament, p. 695.

5 The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon, Hendrickson Publishers, 2021, p. 834.