3:16 The Lord says,
“The women 6 of Zion are proud.
They walk with their heads high 7
and flirt with their eyes.
They skip along 8
and the jewelry on their ankles jingles. 9
3:17 So 10 the sovereign master 11 will afflict the foreheads of Zion’s women 12 with skin diseases, 13
the Lord will make the front of their heads bald.” 14
3:18 15 At that time 16 the sovereign master will remove their beautiful ankle jewelry, 17 neck ornaments, crescent shaped ornaments, 3:19 earrings, bracelets, veils, 3:20 headdresses, ankle ornaments, sashes, sachets, 18 amulets, 3:21 rings, nose rings, 3:22 festive dresses, robes, shawls, purses, 3:23 garments, vests, head coverings, and gowns. 19
3:24 A putrid stench will replace the smell of spices, 20
a rope will replace a belt,
baldness will replace braided locks of hair,
a sackcloth garment will replace a fine robe,
and a prisoner’s brand will replace beauty.
3:25 Your 21 men will fall by the sword,
your strong men will die in battle. 22
3:26 Her gates will mourn and lament;
deprived of her people, she will sit on the ground. 23
ה (He)
4:5 Those who once feasted on delicacies 24
are now starving to death 25 in the streets.
Those who grew up 26 wearing expensive clothes 27
are now dying 28 amid garbage. 29
ו (Vav)
4:6 The punishment 30 of my people 31
exceeded that of 32 of Sodom,
which was overthrown in a moment
with no one to help her. 33
ז (Zayin)
4:7 Her consecrated ones 34 were brighter than snow,
whiter than milk;
their bodies more ruddy than corals,
their hair 35 like lapis lazuli. 36
ח (Khet)
4:8 Now their appearance 37 is darker than soot;
they are not recognized in the streets.
Their skin has shriveled on their bones;
it is dried up, like tree bark.
1 tc The LXX adds σφόδρα (sfodra, “very”) to bring the description into line with v. 54.
2 tn Heb “delicateness and tenderness.”
3 tn Heb includes “that which comes out from between her feet.”
4 tn Heb “her sons that she will bear.”
5 tn Heb includes “in her need for everything.”
5 tn Heb “daughters” (so KJV, NAB, NRSV).
6 tn Heb “with an outstretched neck.” They proudly hold their heads high so that others can see the jewelry around their necks.
7 tn Heb “walking and skipping, they walk.”
8 tn Heb “and with their feet they jingle.”
7 tn In the Hebrew text vv. 16-17 and one long sentence, “Because the daughters of Zion are proud and walk…, the sovereign master will afflict….” In v. 17 the Lord refers to himself in the third person.
8 tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here and in v. 18 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).
9 tn Heb “the daughters of Zion.”
10 tn Or “a scab” (KJV, ASV); NIV, NCV, CEV “sores.”
11 tn The precise meaning of this line is unclear because of the presence of the rare word פֹּת (pot). Since the verb in the line means “lay bare, make naked,” some take פֹּת as a reference to the genitals (cf. KJV, ASV, NRSV, CEV). (In 1 Kgs 7:50 a noun פֹּת appears, with the apparent meaning “socket.”) J. N. Oswalt (Isaiah [NICOT], 1:139, n. 2), basing his argument on alleged Akkadian evidence and the parallelism of the verse, takes פֹּת as “forehead.”
9 sn The translation assumes that the direct quotation ends with v. 17. The introductory formula “in that day” and the shift from a poetic to prosaic style indicate that a new speech unit begins in v. 18.
10 tn Or “in that day” (KJV).
11 tn Or “the beauty of [their] ankle jewelry.”
11 tn Heb “houses of breath.” HALOT 124 s.v. בַּיִת defines them as “scent-bottles”; cf. NAB, NRSV “perfume boxes.”
13 tn The precise meaning of many of the words in this list is uncertain.
15 tn Heb “and it will be in place of spices there will be a stench.” The nouns for “spices” and “stench” are right next to each other in the MT for emphatic contrast. The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
17 tn The pronoun is feminine singular, suggesting personified Zion, as representative of its women, is the addressee. The reference to “her gates’ in v. 26 makes this identification almost certain.
18 tn Heb “your strength in battle.” The verb in the first clause provides the verbal idea for the second clause.
19 tn Heb “she will be empty, on the ground she will sit.” Jerusalem is personified as a destitute woman who sits mourning the empty city.
21 tn Heb “eaters of delicacies.” An alternate English gloss would be “connoisseurs of fine foods.”
22 tn Heb “are desolate.”
23 tn Heb “were reared.”
24 tn Heb “in purple.” The term תוֹלָע (tola’, “purple”) is a figurative description of expensive clothing: it is a metonymy of association: the color of the dyed clothes (= purple) stands for the clothes themselves.
25 tn Heb “embrace garbage.” One may also translate “rummage through” (cf. NCV “pick through trash piles”; TEV “pawing through refuse”; NLT “search the garbage pits.”
26 tn The Hebrew word אַשְׁפַּתּוֹת (’ashpatot) can also mean “ash heaps.” Though not used as a combination elsewhere, to “embrace ash heaps” might also envision a state of mourning or even dead bodies lying on the ash heaps.
23 tn The noun עֲוֹן (’avon) has a basic two-fold range of meanings: (1) basic meaning: “iniquity, sin” and (2) metonymical cause for effect meaning: “punishment for iniquity.”
24 tn Heb “the daughter of my people.”
25 tn Heb “the sin of.” The noun חַטָּאת (khatta’t) often means “sin, rebellion,” but here it probably functions in a metonymical (cause for effect) sense: “punishment for sin” (e.g., Zech 14:19). The context focuses on the severity of the punishment of Jerusalem rather than the depths of its degradation and depravity that led to the judgment.
26 tn Heb “without a hand turned.” The preposition ב (bet) after the verb חוּל (khul) in Hos 11:6 is adversative “the sword will turn against [Assyria’s] cities.” Other contexts with חוּל (khul) plus ב (bet) are not comparable (ב [bet] often being locative). However, it is not certain that hands must be adversarial as the sword clearly is in Hos 11:6. The present translation pictures the suddenness of Sodom’s overthrow as an easier fate than the protracted military campaign and subsequent exile and poverty of Judah’s survivor’s.
25 tn Heb “Nazirites” (so KJV). The Nazirites were consecrated under a vow to refrain from wine, contact with the dead, and from cutting their hair. In Gen 49:26 and Deut 33:16 Joseph, who was not a Nazirite, is called the “Nazir” of his brothers. From context, many translate this as “prince” (e.g., NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT), though the nuance is uncertain. If it is valid, then princes might be understood in this context as well.
26 tn The noun גִּזְרָה (gizrah) is used primarily in Ezekiel 41-42 (seven of its nine uses), where it refers to a separated area of the temple complex described in Ezekiel’s vision. It is not used of people other than here. Probably based on the reference to a precious stone BDB 160 s.v. 1 postulated that it refers to the cutting or polishing of precious stones, but this is conjecture. The English versions handle this variously. D. R. Hillers suggests beards, hair, or eyebrows based on other ancient Near Eastern comparisons between lapis lazuli and the body (Lamentations [AB], 81).
27 tn Heb “lapis lazuli.” Lapis lazuli is a dark blue semi-precious stone.
27 tn Heb “their outline” or “their form.” The Hebrew noun תֹּאַר (to’ar, “outline, form”) is related to the Phoenician noun תֹּאַר (to’ar, “something gazed at”), and Aramaic verb תָּאַר (ta’ar, “to gaze at”). It is used in reference to the form of a woman (Gen 29:17; Deut 21:11; 1 Sam 25:3; Esth 2:7) and of a man (Gen 39:11; Judg 8:18; 1 Sam 16:18; 28:14; 1 Kgs 1:6; 1 Chr 17:17; Isa 52:14; 53:2). Here it is used in a metonymical sense: “appearance.”