Bible Commentaries
John Trapp Complete Commentary
Isaiah 3
Isaiah 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,
Ver. 1. For, behold.] This is also part of the former sermon, though made the beginning of another chapter; for of our prophet that is some way true which Petrarch saith of Livy, viz., that he wrote many books, Quos in decades non ipse sed fastidiosa legentium scidit imperitia, which not himself, but others without any great skill divided into decades - sc., chapters.
The Lord - doth take away.] Heb., Is taking away - i.e., He will surely and suddenly do it, and thereby pave a way to the utter ruin of all. For as it was a sign Samson meant to pull down the house when he pulled away the pillars, so that God is about to ruin a state when he plucketh away those that are the shores and props of it.
The stay and the staff.] Validum et validam, (a) so some render it, the Miriams as well as the Moseses. [Micah 6:4] Others, (b) baculum et bacillum, the staff and the little staff: all the supports and stays of the State, both great and small, one with another; cease ye therefore from man. {as Isaiah 2:22}
The whole stay of bread.] Sustenance as well as supporters, Quicquid alimento aut munimento esse poterat.
Isaiah 3:2 The mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient,
Ver. 2. The mighty man, and the man of war.] Such as were David’s mighties; Hannibal; Fabius Maximus, of whom the poet, Hic patria est, murique urbis stant pectore in uno; Scipio Africanus, of whose death when Metellus heard, he ran out into the public forum and cried out, Concurrite cives, urbis vestrae moenia corruerunt; Come forth and consult what is to be done, for your city is undone.
The judge and the prophet.] When God gathereth such by clusters as it were, some evil is at hand; as when men pull up their hedges and fences, it is open tide.
And the prudent.] Heb., The diviner: such as have their eyes in their head, [Ecclesiastes 2:14] their hearts at their right hands, [Ecclesiastes 10:2] that judiciously pondering things past, can prudently order things present, and providently foresee to prevent dangers likely to ensue.
And the ancient.] With whom is wisdom and counsel. [Job 32:4; Job 32:6-7]
Isaiah 3:3 The captain of fifty, and the honourable man, and the counsellor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator.
Ver. 3. The captain of fifty.] One of the least and lowest commanders in war; such also shall fail, and therefore all must needs fall to wreck and ruin. This Epaminondas when he was dying foresaw at Thebes, and therefore counselled his countrymen to make peace upon any terms. (a)
And the honourable.] Heb., The man eminent in countenance; Sept., Yαυμαστον, a man of respect and authority. In the eyes of Augustus Caesar sat such a rare majesty, as a man could hardly endure to behold them without closing of his own.
And the cunning artificer.] Such as was Hiram, whom for honour’s sake Solomon called father; Archimedes, and such others who are of great use to a State, for making of engines and instruments.
And the eloquent orator.] Heb., Skilled in charms. Quintilian describes an orator thus: Vir bonus dicendi peritus, A good man well spoken. Ille regit dictis animos et pectora mulcet, He carrieth the people which way he pleaseth. The Athenians called such δημαγωγους, and set a high price upon them, as they did on Pericles, Demosthenes, Phocion, &c. (b)
Isaiah 3:4 And I will give children [to be] their princes, and babes shall rule over them.
Ver. 4. And I will give children to be their princes.] Si non annis, at animis; If not with years but with life, such as were Ahaz, Manasseh, the four last kings of Judah, the calamity of that kingdom. (a) Princes that are witless, wilful, weak, or wicked, are the people’s woe; [Ecclesiastes 10:16] this childhood of theirs is the maturity of their subjects’ misery. [Job 34:30]
And babes shall rule over them.] Sept., Mockers; some render it foxes, others effeminate persons, but babes is best. Such a one was Rehoboam, and Honorius the Emperor, who when he heard that his city of Rome was taken by Alarichus, grieved most of all for the loss of a certain bird which was there kept for him, and by him called "Rome." Indignum sane, Regem aves praeferre urbibus, saith the historian.
Isaiah 3:5 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.
Ver. 5. And the people shall be oppressed, one by another.] The greater devouring the lesser, as fishes do. How should it be otherwise, when there is either no government, or not that which is good; but all things turned, as here, topsy turvy, without any respect to age, order, or dignity, and
“ Scinditur ineertum studia in contraria vulgus. ” - Virg.
This dissension is the mother of dissolution, saith Nazianzen. This dissipation and perversion of order and manners is the forerunner of utter desolation and subversion.
Isaiah 3:6 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:
Ver. 6. When a man shall take hold of his brother.] This is a further mischief that government shall go a-begging, and scarce one be found that shall hold it worth having. The Venetians have magistrates called Proegadi, because at first men were prayed to take the office, and not many would accept of it; this was the case here. Men are naturally ambitious of ruledom - the bramble thinks it a goodly thing to reign over the trees - but they may soon have enough of it, and be forced to cry out, as he once did of his diadem, O rills pannus! O base rag, not worth taking up at a man’s feet!
Thou hast clothing.] Fit for a prince; some badge of honour, and such apparel as may procure thee respect; for
“ Hunc homines decorant, quem vestimenta decorant. ”
Let this ruin be under thy hand.] That is, by a hypallage, (a) let thy hand be under this ruin, that is, under this desolate and ruined State, to raise it up and repair it.
Isaiah 3:7 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.
Ver. 7. In that day shall he swear, saying.] It is come to pass in some places at this day, Ut ambigant prudentiores, otium, an officium aliquod Reip. sint persecuturi, that wise men doubt whether they had best bear office or not; but true goodness is public spirited, though to private disadvantage.
I will not be an healer,] i.e., A ruler. I will not be a binder up, (a) or a surgeon, for this State is no better than a great spittle; the whole head is sick and the whole heart heavy, &c. I dare not therefore meddle with it, since it is incurable, incorrigible. The Septuagint render it, I will not be thy prince. A king hath his name in Greek from healing, (b) as Plutarch observeth, because he is to be the physician or surgeon of the commonwealth.
In mine house is neither bread nor clothing.] I have not for mine own, much less for you. A prince had need to be well underlaid, that he may not need to pill and poll his subjects, or in judging to gape after gain.
Isaiah 3:8 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.
Ver. 8. For Jerusalem is fallen.] Therefore I will not meddle, since it is a very sad thing to be physician to a dying State, quando conclamatum est, when men are forsaken of their hopes.
Because their tongue and their doings are against the Lord] They set their mouths against heaven, and like so many wolves they howl upwards; they lay the reins on the neck, and let their unruly tongues run riot. And as they talk so they act, doing "wickedly with both hands earnestly," against the author of their being and well being.
To provoke the eyes of his glory.] His eyes run to and fro through the earth; and all the wickedness in the world is committed before his face This they know, and yet go on in sin, as if they did it on purpose to provoke him, and to see what he can do. Oecolampadius noteth, that God’s eyes are here mentioned, because men are easily provoked to anger by a hurt in the eye. And Junius here observeth that God’s eyes are called the eyes of his glory, because as he is glorious in himself, so he is either to be glorified by us, or else he will surely glorify himself upon us, such especially as are obstinate and impudent, as here.
Isaiah 3:9 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.
Ver. 9. The show of their countenance doth witness against them,] q.d., You may see by their very looks what lewd lowlies they are. Their cruelty, pride, envy, hypocrisy, mulieorsity sitteth and showeth itself apparently in their faces and foreheads. Wisdom maketh the face to shine, saith Solomon; et ipse aspectus viri boni delectat. Good men look lovely, saith Seneca, as did that angel of God, John Bradford, quoth Dr Taylor, martyr; not so Cain, when discontented at God, and displeased at his brother; [Genesis 4:6] he scowled and looked like a dog under a door, as we say. The thoughts are oft known by the countenance; and the heart is printed upon the face. Damascen calleth the eyes the exact images of the imaginations? (a) And the Italians have a proverb, that a man with his words close and his countenance loose, may travel undiscovered what he is, or goes about, all the world over. The word here used for "show" or "trial," doth in Hithpael signify to make a man’s self unknown.
And they declare their sin, as Sodom.] They tell it out. {as 14:16} And as the shameless Sodomites said to Lot, Bring them out to us that we may know them. [Genesis 19:5] See the like impudence in Lamech; [Genesis 4:23-24] in Lot’s two daughters. [Genesis 19:36-37] This impudent naming of their incestuous brats, as begotten by their own father, showeth that they declared their sin, as Sodom, where they had lived and learned it.
They hide it not.] So Ezekiel 24:7. Her blood is in the midst of her; she set it upon the top of a rock, as it were a-sunning; she poured it not upon the ground, to cover it with dust. See Jeremiah 2:25.
Woe to their soul.] To their very soul. All wickedness hath a woe hanging at the heels of it, but especially that which is grown impudent, a noon day devil. The Septuagint here have it thus: Woe to their soul, for that they have taken evil counsel; saying, Let us bind the just One, for that he is not for our purpose or profit. Wherein they do insinuate the mystery of Christ’s passion, saith Oecolampadius, and do manifestly tax their own nation. Epiphanius (b) testifieth of the Jews at Tiberias, after the last destruction of Jerusalem, that it was usual with them, when any of their dear friends or kindred were at the point of death, to whisper these words secretly into their ears, Crede in Iesum Nazarenum crucifixum, Believe in Jesus of Nazareth, whom our chieftains crucified, for he it is who shall come to judge thee at the last day. Now if this be true, how great is the obstinace and impudence of that perverse people, who still sin against such strong convictions!
Isaiah 3:10 Say ye to the righteous, that [it shall be] well [with him]: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings.
Ver. 10. Say ye to the righteous.] Tell them so from me, saith God, for their comfort and encouragement. Zuinglius when he had preached terror to the wicked was wont to add, Probe vir, hoc nihil ad te. All this concerneth not thee, O thou godly man. When the dogs in a house are beaten, the children will be apt to fright and cry; so when the wicked are threatened, good men are apt to be troubled. Say therefore to such, and let them know assuredly,
That it shall be well with him.] Heb., That good sc., shall betide him, whatever befalleth others God shall be with the good; [2 Chronicles 19:11] "Yet God is good to Israel, to the pure in heart." [Psalms 73:1 Ecclesiastes 8:12]
For they shall eat the fruit of their doings.] They shall "reap in due time if they faint not"; they shall eat of the fat, and drink of the sweet. [Isaiah 25:6] See Isaiah 65:13, Proverbs 14:14, {See Trapp on "Isaiah 65:13"} {See Trapp on "Proverbs 14:14"}
Isaiah 3:11 Woe unto the wicked! [it shall be] ill [with him]: for the reward of his hands shall be given him.
Ver. 11. Woe to the wicked.] This sentence should ever sound in the wicked man’s ears for a powerful retentive from wickedness, considering the evil consequence thereof, that doleful ουαι ουαι; woe and alas for evermore! And when thou art making, saith one, a covenant with sin, say to thy soul, as Boaz said to his kinsman, "At what time thou buyest it, thou must have Ruth with it." [Ruth 4:4] If thou wilt have the pleasure of sin, the ways of wickedness, thou must also have the vengeance and wrath of God with it, and let thy soul answer as he here doth: No, I may not do it; I shall mar and spoil a better inheritance; I shall inherit a curse, &c. Look, saith Mr Bradford, (a) martyr, to the tag tied to God’s law, the malediction, which is such as cannot but make us to cast our currish tails between our legs, if we believe it.
It shall go ill with him.] Utcunque sibi de rebus praesentibus gratuletur. (b) Though he stroke himself on the head, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imaginations of my heart, to add drunkenness to thirst. [Deuteronomy 29:19] Tell him from me, saith God, Evil, sc., shall betide him; yea, "an evil, an only evil," awaiteth him, [Ezekiel 7:5] let him look for it.
The reward of his hands shall be given him.] He shall reap as he sowed, drink as he brewed. [Galatians 6:7-8]
“ Mox ant poena manet miseros, ant palma beatos;
Quisque sum vitae semina iacta metet. ”
{a} Serm. of Repentance, pp. 57, 58.
Isaiah 3:12 [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.
Ver. 12. As for my people.] Now the "people of my wrath, and of my curse"; Loammi, discovenanted, discarded.
Children are their oppressors.] Rulers he calleth them not, as being too good a name for them, but "oppressors"; and these were boys and women - i.e., such as were no wiser than children, nor had any more command of their passions than weak women, and were therefore unfit for government. Brunhild, the wife of Sigebert, king of Metz, Fridegund, the wife of Chilperic, and Katherine Medicis, wife of Henry II, are said to be the furies of France. (a) What work they made in that kingdom in their generations, by abusing their husbands’ love and authority, histories are full. The like did Jezebel in Israel, Athalia in Judah, and Dame Alice Pierce here in England in King Edward III’s days. This woman being the king’s concubine, and presuming on his favour, whom in his old age she had subdued, grew so insolent, that she imprisoned Sir Peter la Mare, Speaker for the Parliament; intermeddled with courts of justice, and other offices, where she herself would sit to effect her desire, (b) which, though in all who are so exalted, are ever excessive, yet in a woman most immoderate, as having less of discretion, and more of greediness. Heliogabalus in a merriment set up a senate of women; but then their ordinances were correspondent, as what attire each woman should use, how they should take place, when salute, &c. But these in the text, working upon their husbands’ impotencies, who were children, in the sense that Shechem, the son of Humor, is so called [Genesis 34:19] - neque distulit puer, a lad or a boy, because swayed not by right reason - but by blind affection, exacted of the poor people unreasonable tributes and pensions for the maintenance of their pride and luxury. Est haec ingens plaga, saith one; this is a great mischief to a State, such as Greece and Rome sometimes groaned under. Diophantus, the son of Themistocles, once boasted that he ruled all Greece, because he ruled his mother, she ruled his father, and he ruled Greece. Cato also complained, Mulieres regunt nos, nos Senatum, Senatus Romam, Roma orbem; our women, said he, rule us, we rule the senate, the senate the city, and the city the whole world.
O my people, they which lead thee.] (c) Or, Those that bless thee and pronounce thee happy, saying as do thy false prophets, those flatterers, because thou hast with thee the oracles and ordinances of God, the ceremonies and sacrifices, praising thee therefore, and promising thee all happiness, soothing thee up in thy sins, &c. Qui ducunt te, seducunt; who lead and seduce you, false guides they are, and
Destroy the way of thy paths.] Heb., They swallow up - that is, they hide from thee thy duty, and so harden thee in thy sin.
Isaiah 3:13 The LORD standeth up to plead, and standeth to judge the people.
Ver. 13. The Lord standeth up to plead.] Or, To debate, [Job 9:3 Proverbs 25:8-9] to argue the case, and to hear pleas. He is content, for the clearing of his justice and conviction of sinners, to submit his courses unto scanning. See Isaiah 5:3. Iudicate quaeso, Judge, I pray you. {so Jeremiah 2:9} Wherefore I will yet plead with you, and with your children’s children will I plead. But when that is done,
He standeth to judge the people.] And the Lord will enter into judgment. [Isaiah 3:14] Three various words are here made use of for judgment, to show, saith Oecolampadius, that God hath been, is, and shall be Judge, and that in his judgment, nihil relinquetar inexpensum, nothing shall be left unconsidered.
Isaiah 3:14 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.
Ver. 14. The Lord will enter into judgment with the ancients.] With the princes and rulers, each of which shall have cause to cry out,
“ Iudex ante fui, nunc iudicis ante tribunal Sistor. ”
For ye have eaten up the vineyard.] Vos, non caret emphasi, "Ye," even "ye" that should have preserved it, and wrought in it, have depastured and destroyed my vineyard, that is, my Church, {as Isaiah 5:17} or poor men’s possessions, through your extortions and oppressions.
And the spoil of the poor is in your houses.] You are taken επ αυτοφωρω, (a) in the very act of your theft, as Cacus was, and Verres, &c.
Isaiah 3:15 What mean ye [that] ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor? saith the Lord GOD of hosts.
Ver. 15. What mean you, that you beat my people to pieces?] Heb., What to you? all in a word, short and sharp - q.d., What reason had you, what authority to do thus? That was a witty answer that was given once here to the Pope’s exactor, who pleaded that all churches were his, and therefore he might call for what sums he pleased; a nimble disputant replied that all churches were the Pope’s in a sense, viz., Tuitione sed non fruitione; defensione, non dissipatione - i.e., to defend them, but not to destroy them. If God give any man power, it is for "edification, and not for destruction." [2 Corinthians 13:10]
And grind the faces.] Holding their noses to the grindstone, as we say - by hard usage. See on Micah 3:3.
Saith the Lord God.] Dixit Dominator Dominus; he who is higher than the highest, and being Lord of hosts, hath those at hand that are higher than they. [Ecclesiastes 5:8]
Isaiah 3:16 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:
Ver. 16. Moreover the Lord saith.] He hath this other saying to the other sex, for the maintaining of whose pride and luxury their husbands and paramours exercised such cruelty, as before, in the reign of Henry II, King of France, A.D. 1554. Many were burned there for religion, as they said, but indeed to satiate the covetousness, and support the pomp of Diana Valentina, the king’s mistress, to whom he had given all the confiscation of goods made in the kingdom for cause of heresy. (a)
Because the daughters of Zion.] The court ladies.
Are haughty.] Elatae, h. e., superbia inflatae, puffed up with pride, first in heart, and then in habit; for pride will bud. [Ezekiel 7:10]
And walk.] Women should keep the house, saith Paul. [Titus 2:5] Sarah was in the tent, [Genesis 17:9] and these professed to be her daughters, but were nothing like her, Modestia enim a superbia triumphata est.
With stretched forth necks.] Like cranes or swans, that they might show their fair foreheads, whereas nature hath given the submiss and modest visages.
And wanton eyes.] Heb., Lying or deceiving, viz., by their lewd, lascivious looks, twinkling and making signs. Some render it facie cerussata, with their painted faces, and counterfeit visages, whereby, to the reproach of their Maker, they would seem fairer than they are.
Walking and mincing as they go.] Or, Tripping or tabering, with an affected gait, after the manner of dancers. Or ruffling in their silks and taffetas, with which last word the original seems to have affinity. Others derive it from taph, a little child, and render it instar parvulorum ambulant, they take short steps, as little ones do, so nice they are in their gait and garb; elaborata quadam concinnitate gressum modulantes. (b)
Making a tinkling with their feet.] Going as if they were shackled, or as young colts that are to be broken and brought to a pace. Some think they wore bells about their legs, or spangles on their pantofles. Pope Sixtus Quartus was wont to give his harlot, Tyresia, pantofles covered with pearls.
Isaiah 3:17 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.
Ver. 17. Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head.] He will not only pull off their rich pantofles off their feet, but also their lovely locks from off their heads, with scabs and scales, perhaps caused by some foul disease, as the lues venerea or plica polonica. (a)
And will discover their secret parts.] Not having a rag left to cover them with, while stripped of all by the enemy; they are driven away as those Egyptians were, [Isaiah 20:4] naked and barefoot, even with their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt; or as the Albigenses in France at Carcassona had quarter for their lives given them by the Popish bishops and other cruciates (b) that persecuted them, but on this condition, that both men and wmnen should depart the town stark naked in the view of the whole army. (c)
{c Rivet. Jesuit. Vapul.
Isaiah 3:18 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,
Ver. 18. The Lord will take away the bravery.] All the following bravery; for the prophet as punctually and particularly threateneth all down, as if he had lately seen the ladies’ wardrobes in Jerusalem. And if this vanity of gallantry be so blameworthy in a woman, who is naturally ζωον φιλοκοσμον, addicted to fine attire, how much more in a man, who shall turn lands into laces, and embroider his cloak with woods and parks and lordships, lining it, haply, with obligations and bonds and statutes?
Of their tinkling ornaments, &c.] Here and in the following verses we have an inventory of the ladies’ gallantry, such as made the mighty men fall in the war. [Isaiah 3:25-26] This was the fruit of their twinkling eyes and tinkling ornaments. Vatablus saith that the Spanish women did wear bells about their heels when they danced.
And the round tires like the moon.] Lunata monilia crescent shaped collars - Statius.
Isaiah 3:19 The chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers,
Ver. 19. And the chains and the bracelets, &c.] The particulars of all their bravery we can say little unto upon certainty, since we are at this day ignorant of what ornaments and habiliments were then in use; and besides, the names here given unto them are such as the Jews themselves can hardly tell what to make of. It is a sad thing that the gauds and gaities of this age and country are such and so many, as that not six or seven verses, but so many whole chapters might be easily taken up in inventorying them. Lysander, a heathen, will rise up in judgment against many among us; for he would not allow his daughters to wear gorgeous attire, saying it would not make them so comely as common. That is very remarkable that is reported (a) of Mr Foxe the martyrologue, that when a son of his, returning from his travels into foreign parts, came to him in Oxford, attired in a loose, outlandish fashion, Who are you? said his old father, not knowing him. He replied, I am your son. Oh, what enemy of thine, said he, hath taught thee so much vanity? The Hebrew word, beghed, for a garment, comes from baghad, which signifies to deal perfidiously or treacherously, [Isaiah 21:3] perhaps because it is tegumentum et testimonium, not more a covering of man’s shame than a testimony of his first sin in falling from God. So that a man or woman hath no more cause to brag about his fine clothes, or to be proud of them, than a thief of a silk rope, or than one hath of a plaster laid to his filthy Sore.
Isaiah 3:20 The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the earrings,
Ver. 20. {See Trapp on "Isaiah 3:19"}
Isaiah 3:22 The changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping pins,
Ver. 22. {See Trapp on "Isaiah 3:19"}
Isaiah 3:23 The glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the vails.
Ver. 23. {See Trapp on "Isaiah 3:19"}
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.
Ver. 24. And there shall be instead of sweet smell, stink.] Ex illuvie et sordibus captivitatis et carceris. Martial and Marcellinus tell us of a natural stench the Jews have, such as made the Emperor Aurelius, coming among some of them, and annoyed with their ill savour, to cry out, O Marcomanni, O Quadi, O Sarmatae, &c., O Marcomans, Quades, and Sarmatians, at length I have met with those that are more nasty and loathsome than you are. (a) These dainty dames are threatened with dirty doings in captivity and prison, such as should render them odious.
And instead of a girdle, a rent.] Or, Rags; or, a beating. The Vulgate rendereth it a cord.
And instead of well set hair.] Heb., Work of even or smooth setting, or trimming, Tριχολασται, or hair trimmers, were anciently noted for effeminate. Pompey is taxed in history for that he did unico digitulo caput scalpere, scratch his well set hair with his little finger only.
Baldness.] Pro crispanti crine calvitium, et pro fascia pectorali cilicium. Pride is so hateful to God that such as are guilty of it seldom escape his visible vengeance.
And burning instead of beauty.] Burning; that is, sun burning.
Isaiah 3:25 Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the war.
Ver. 25. Thy men shall fall by the sword.] For suffering and favouring the women’s excesses, such as are today naked breasts and shoulders Abhorred filth! Our King Henry VI at such a sight cried, Fie, fie, ladies, in sooth you are to blame, &c.
Isaiah 3:26 And her gates shall lament and mourn; and she [being] desolate shall sit upon the ground.
Ver. 26. And her gates shall lament.] Because unfrequented. [Lamentations 1:4]
And the king desolate.] Swept and wiped of all; not, as once, with her turrified head (a) and stretched forth neck.
Sitteth upon the ground.] As a sad mourner. Money was coined by Vespasian with a woman sitting at the root of a palm tree, and this inscription, Iudaea capta. The Jews captured.
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