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1. Disasters awaiting the Jews: a) lack of means of subsistence. 2–7. b) lack of good rulers. 8–15. Vices of the people. 16–25. Vices of Jewish women. Isa.3:1. Behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, will take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the staff and the reed, all the bread and all the water, Explaining what the humiliation of Judea will consist of, the prophet briefly speaks about the impoverishment of the wealth of the Jews and describes in detail the anarchy that will occur because no one wants to engage in public affairs, upset by the management of inexperienced rulers. “Staff and cane” are symbolic designations of any support of the state - and strong-willed and intelligent people and natural resources. “Reinforcement with bread” means grain supplies and streams of water, without which people will begin to suffer from hunger and thirst. Isa.3:2. brave leader and warrior, judge and prophet, and seer and elder, “Prophet” is obviously false, as can be seen from the nearby synonymous expression: seer (kosem pagan soothsayer). "The Elder". This is not only an elder, but also an elder, a respected leader (cf. v. 14). Isa.3:3. a Pentecostal and a nobleman and a counselor, and a wise artist and skilled in words. The Prophet lists various representatives of the civil and military administration of the kingdom of Judah (a commander of fifty in the army, a nobleman or senator, a councilor or minister). He immediately mentions the wise artist. Some interpreters mean architects here (Jer. 24:1); others translate this expression with the term: spellcasters. These latter were also of great importance in the direction of state policy under the wicked kings. “Skilled in words” - from Hebrew. skilled in fortune telling. Isa.3:4. And I will give them boys to be rulers, and the children will rule over them. In the near future, this prophecy could relate to the accession of Manasseh, who ascended the throne at the age of 12 (2 Kings 21:1). Isa.3:5. And among the people one will be oppressed by another, and each by his neighbor; the young man will brazenly exalt himself over the old man, and the commoner over the nobleman. Due to the weakness of the rulers, various illegalities will begin in the state. Isa.3:6. Then a man will take hold of his brother, in his father's family, and say: You have clothes, be our leader, and let these ruins be under your hand. Isa.3:7. And he will say with an oath: I cannot heal the wounds of society; and in my house there is neither bread nor clothing; do not make me the leader of the people. No one will want to take on the burden of public service. “Grabs” – will compel. "In my father's family". It is more correct, in accordance with the grammatical meaning of the Hebrew expression, to relate these words to the following expression: “you have clothes.” All this can be translated as follows: “you have clothes” (that is, some special, magnificent, which were appropriated to kings) in your father’s house; come and be our leader, take these ruins in your hands (literally: this rocking, threatening destruction is a symbol of a seriously ill, weak state body). “I can’t heal”, or more precisely: I don’t want to be a doctor (chobesch). This word was successfully chosen by the prophet as having the meaning of both a doctor who heals wounds (cf. Is. 1:6) and a ruler (cf. Job 34:17). “And not in my house.” Eastern sheikhs are obliged to receive their needy subjects in their homes and therefore must have supplies of food and clothing. Isa.3:8. Thus Jerusalem was destroyed, and Judah fell, because their language and their deeds were against the Lord, offensive to the eyes of His glory. Isa.3:9. The expression on their faces testifies against them, and they openly talk about their sin, like the Sodomites, they do not hide it: woe to their soul! for they bring evil upon themselves. The prophet bitterly reproaches the wicked Jews for their open wickedness. In particular, he denounces the wicked Jewish rulers, who led the people to the brink of destruction and for this they should expect a speedy judgment from God. The Jews do things that are offensive to the eyes of the glory of the Most High. The eyes of the Lord, pure and holy, cannot look at the vile deeds of the Jews. “Facial expressions” is more correct from Hebrew. their forehead, forehead. And we have a proverb: it is written on his forehead that he is a worthless or stupid person. Isa.3:10. Tell the righteous that it is good for him, for he will eat the fruits of his deeds; Isa.3:11. But woe to the wicked, for he will have retribution for the works of his hands. In the Old Testament, the idea is almost everywhere that a person’s fate corresponds to his behavior (cf. Proverbs 1:31; Deut. 28 and other places). Isa.3:12. The oppressors of My people are children, and women rule over them. My people! your leaders lead you astray and spoil the way of your paths. “Children” – more precisely: capricious, self-willed people... “Women rule” is an allusion to Ahaz, who ascended the throne as a very young man and, characterized by weakness of character, could succumb to the influence of women (his mother or his sisters). “Thy leaders” are predominantly false prophets (cf. Micah 3:5). “The path of the paths” - that is, the true path that should be followed. They spoiled him, that is, they rejected him, took him away from him. Isa.3:13. The Lord has risen in judgment and stands to judge the nations. Isa.3:14. The Lord enters into judgment with the elders of His people and with the princes thereof: you have laid waste the vineyard; the spoils of the poor are in your houses; Isa.3:15. Why do you oppress My people and oppress the poor? says the Lord, the Lord of hosts. The Lord, who has to judge the Jewish people as a whole, will show special severity in His attitude towards the leaders of this people. “They devastated the vineyard,” that is, they took advantage of all the fruits of God’s vineyard themselves, instead of, like watchmen assigned to the vineyard, saving these grapes for the owner (cf. Luke 20:16). The figurative expression of verse 14 is revealed in v. 15. Isaiah 3:16–25. The women of Jerusalem, with their luxury and shamelessness, aroused the wrath of God against themselves. The Lord will take away all their jewelry and put a mark of shame on them. In the absence of a sufficient number of men, most of whom will die in the war, many of them will remain unmarried. Isa.3:16. And the Lord said: Because the daughters of Zion are haughty and walk with their necks raised and their eyes deceiving, and they walk with a majestic step and rattle the chains on their feet, “Daughters of Zion”, that is, residents of Jerusalem, walk with their necks raised, that is, stretched back with pride. They want to attract the attention of men by any means possible. “Chains on the legs” - anklets with gold chains, with which women, when walking, made some kind of jingle. The Prophet Isaiah, like other prophets, were not absolute opponents of such spending that goes to decorate life. They heralded the coming of such times when Israel would express its joy in songs and feasts, and Jerusalem would be adorned with all beauty. But they denied luxury, which is associated with oblivion of the highest interests of life. Isa.3:17. The Lord will bare the crown of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will expose their shame; “Exposure of the crown” is scab, a type of skin disease associated with hair loss. “It will expose the shame” - the Russian translation obviously adheres to the opinion here that the word phat means the female sexual parts, but the ancient translators did not attach such a meaning to this word. Blessed Jerome translates this word with the expression: hair. The parallelism with the first part of the verse forces us to accept precisely the latter meaning of this Hebrew word. There will be no repetition here with the previous hemistich: in the first hemistich we are talking about a hair disease (scab), and in the second - about the forced cutting of hair from the forehead, which is exposed as a result. The shamefulness of this shearing is indicated in the ancient Babylonian laws of King Hammurabi, which for dishonoring a priestess punishes the criminal by shaving his forehead (ed. Scheil, 1902, 127). Isa.3:18. on that day the Lord will take away the beautiful chains on the legs and the stars and the moons, “Beautiful chains” - more precisely, rings made of precious metals, worn by women on their ankles. “Stars” – more precisely “suns” (image of the sun). “Lunochki” are medallions depicting the moon, which also served as amulets. Isa.3:19. earrings, and necklaces, and fans, withered wrists, and belts, and vessels with perfume, and magic pendants, “Earrings” – more precisely from Hebrew. drops. This was the name given to diamonds that were worn on the ears and resembled elongated drops of water. “Withered” – headbands. “Wrists” - more precisely, a gold chain for tying the legs to make steps smaller and to make a ringing sound. (cf. Gen. 24:47). “Spirit vessels” were often made of pure gold. “Magic pendants” are amulets with inscriptions that protect against various misfortunes. By going into all these details of the women's toilet, the prophet wants to say that the Jews actually had no time left to do anything else except the toilet... Isa.3:20. rings and nose rings, Arab women still wear rings, attached to the nose with special devices and lowered onto the lips. Isa.3:21. outerwear and underwear, and scarves, and wallets, “Outerwear” is festive, expensive clothing. “Lower” – capes of various types. “Scarves” are actually the outer cloaks worn in the east over all clothes. Isa.3:22. light thin capes and bandages and bedspreads. “Light” - it is more correct to read this word separately and see here an indication of the polished metal mirrors that women constantly carried with them. 4 “Thin epanchi” - shirts made from the thinnest linen, which were worn under a tunic. Isa.3:23. And instead of incense there will be a stench, and instead of a belt there will be a rope, and instead of curled hair there will be baldness, and instead of a wide cap there will be narrow sackcloth, instead of beauty there will be a brand. “Wide epancha” – wide clothing with sleeves. “Sackcloth” is actually a bag or narrow clothing made from the coarsest fabric. The “brand” was usually placed on animals as a sign of their belonging to a famous person. From this we can conclude that Jewish women will also be sold into slavery and, through branding, their beauty will be spoiled. Isa.3:24. Your men will fall by the sword, and your braves in war. Isa.3:25. And the gates of the capital will sigh and weep, and it will sit desolate on the earth. Since many Jews would fall in the war, there would be no one to gather at the city gates, at which the court was usually held and the bazaar was held. The speech of the prophet, contained in chapter 3, with the exception of verses 10-11, which are an exclamation very similar to the pious outpourings of the psalms, is recognized by the best critics as the original work of Isaiah. They say, however, that the prophet Isaiah is not characterized by the details that he reports about the adornment of women, but this expression, in fact, does not have sufficient basis. This speech was probably composed in recent years or shortly after the death of Jotham, perhaps just before Ahaz’s accession to the throne of the kingdom of Judah. Oppressed by external enemies (2 Kings 15:37), Jerusalem within is given over to anarchy. Young Ahaz has not yet taken control of the government and many are obviously afraid of his accession, wanting to have a more capable ruler over them. However, there are no hunters to take on the difficult task of governing the kingdom of Judah. This speech, according to Condamin, can be conveniently divided into the following stanzas: Art. 1–7 – 1st stanza – 3, 3, 2, 2 Art. 8–15 – 2nd stanza – 3, 3, 2, 2 Art. 16–23 – 1st stanza – 3, 2, 3 Art. 24–26 – 2nd stanza – 3, 2, 3 It should be noted that Condamin divides the 19th verse into two, as is done in Heb. Masoretic Bible, which is why he got not 25 verses in the 3rd chapter, but 26. In the Slavic translation from LXX - And light Lakonian, and fine linen, and sinets, and scarlets. Note ed. You might be interested in: