TRV
Translation
King James Version
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,
Complete Jewish Bible
On that day Adonai will take away their finery - their anklets, medallions and crescents,
Berean Standard Bible
In that day the Lord will take away their finery: their anklets and headbands and crescents;
American Standard Version
In that day the Lord will take away the beauty of their anklets, and the cauls, and the crescents;
World English Bible Messianic
In that day the Lord will take away the beauty of their anklets, the headbands, the crescent necklaces,
Geneva Bible (1599)
In that day shall the Lord take away the ornament of the slippers, and the calles, and the round tyres,
Young's Literal Translation
In that day doth the Lord turn aside The beauty of the tinkling ornaments, And of the embroidered works, And of the round tires like moons,
Study This Verse
Commentary on Isaiah 3 verses 16–26
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.
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.
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.
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.
The prophet's business was to show all sorts of people what they had contributed to the national guilt and what share they must expect in the national judgments that were coming. Here he reproves and warns the daughters of Zion, tells the ladies of their faults; and Moses, in the law, having denounced God's wrath against the tender and delicate woman (the prophets being a comment upon the law, Deu 28:56), he here tells them how they shall smart by the calamities that are coming upon them. Observe,
I. The sin charged upon the daughters of Zion, Isa 3:16. The prophet expressly vouches God's authority for what he said. lest it should be thought it was unbecoming in him to take notice of such things, and should be resented by the ladies: The Lord saith it. "Whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, let them know that God takes notice of, and is much displeased with, the folly and vanity of proud women, and his law takes cognizance even of their dress." Two things that here stand indicted for - haughtiness and wantonness, directly contrary to that modesty, shamefacedness, and sobriety, with which women ought to adorn themselves, Ti1 2:9. They discovered the disposition of their mind by their gait and gesture, and the lightness of their carriage. They are haughty, for they walk with stretched-forth necks, that they may seem tall, or, as thinking nobody good enough to speak to them or to receive a look or a smile from them. Their eyes are wanton, deceiving (so the word is); with their amorous glances they draw men into their snares. They affect a formal starched way of going, that people may look at them, and admire them, and know they have been at the dancing-school, and have learned the minuet-step. They go mincing, or nicely tripping, not willing to set so much as the sole of their foot to the ground, for tenderness and delicacy. They make a tinkling with their feet, having, as some think, chains, or little bells, upon their shoes, that made a noise: they go as if they were fettered (so some read it), like a horse tramelled, that he may learn to pace. Thus Agag came delicately, Sa1 15:32. Such a nice affected mien is not only a force upon that which is natural, and ridiculous before men, men of sense; but as it is an evidence of a vain mind, it is offensive to God. And two things aggravated it here: 1. That these were the daughters of Zion, the holy mountain, who should have behaved with the gravity that becomes women professing godliness. 2. That it should seem, by the connexion, they were the wives and daughters of the princes who spoiled and oppressed the poor (Isa 3:14, Isa 3:15) that they might maintain the pride and luxury of their families.
II. The punishments threatened for this sin; and they answer the sin as face answers to face in a glass, Isa 3:17, Isa 3:18. 1. They walked with stretched-forth necks, but God will smite with a scab the crown of their head, which shall lower their crests, and make them ashamed to show their heads, being obliged by it to cut off their hair. Note, Loathsome diseases are often sent as the just punishment of pride, and are sometimes the immediate effect of lewdness, the flesh and the body being consumed by it. 2. They cared not what they laid out in furnishing themselves with great variety of fine clothes; but God will reduce them to such poverty and distress that they shall not have clothes sufficient to cover their nakedness, but their uncomeliness shall be exposed through their rags. 3. They were extremely fond and proud of their ornaments; but God will strip them of those ornaments, when their houses shall be plundered, their treasures rifled, and they themselves led into captivity. The prophet here specifies many of the ornaments which they used as particularly as if he had been the keeper of their wardrobe or had attended them in their dressing-room. It is not at all material to enquire what sort of ornaments these respectively were and whether the translations rightly express the original words; perhaps 100 years hence the names of some of the ornaments that are now in use in our own land will be as little understood as some of those here mentioned now are. Fashions alter, and so do the names of them; and yet the mention of them is not in vain, but is designed to expose the folly of the daughters of Zion; for, (1.) Many of these things, we may suppose, were very odd and ridiculous, and, if they had not been in fashion, would have been hooted at. They were fitter to be toys for children to play with than ornaments for grown people to go to Mount Zion in. (2.) Those things that were decent and convenient, as the linen, the hoods, and the veils, needed not be provided in such abundance and variety. It is necessary to have apparel and proper that all should have it according to their rank; but what occasion was there for so many changeable suits of apparel (Isa 3:22), that they might not be seen two days together in the same suit? "They must have (as the homily against excess of apparel speaks) one gown for the day, another for the night - one long, another short - one for the working day, another for the holy-day - one of this colour, another of that colour - one of cloth, another of silk or damask - one dress afore dinner, another after - one of the Spanish fashion, another Turkey - and never content with sufficient." All this, as it is an evidence of pride and vain curiosity, so must needs spend a great deal in gratifying a base lust that ought to be laid out in works of piety and charity; and it is well if poor tenants be not racked, or poor creditors defrauded to support it. (3.) The enumeration of these things intimates what care they were in about them, how much their hearts were upon them, what an exact account they kept of them, how nice and critical they were about them, how insatiable their desire was of them, and how much of their comfort was bound up in them. A maid could forget none of these ornaments, though they were ever so many (Jer 2:32), but they would report them as readily, and talk of them with as much pleasure, as if they had been things of the greatest moment. The prophet did not speak of these things as in themselves sinful (they might lawfully be had and used), but as things which they were proud of and should therefore be deprived of.
III. They were very nice and curious about their clothes; but God would make those bodies of theirs, which were at such expense to beautify and make easy, a reproach and burden to them (Isa 3:24): Instead of sweet smell (those tablets, or boxes, of perfume, houses of the soul or breath, as they are called, Isa 3:20, margin) there shall be stink, garments grown filthy with being long worn, or from some loathsome disease or plasters for the cure of it. Instead of a rich embroidered girdle used to make the clothes sit tight, there shall be a rent, a rending of the clothes for grief, or old rotten clothes rent into rags. Instead of well-set hair, curiously plaited and powdered, there shall be baldness, the hair being plucked off or shaven, as was usual in times of great affliction (Isa 15:2; Jer 16:6), or in great servitude, Eze 29:18. Instead of a stomacher, or a scarf or sash, there shall be a girding of sackcloth, in token of deep humiliation; and burning instead of beauty. Those that had a good complexion, and were proud of it, when they are carried into captivity shall be tanned and sun-burnt; and it is observed that the best faces are soonest injured by the weather. From all this let us learn, 1. Not to be nice and curious about our apparel, not to affect that which is gay and costly, nor to be proud of it. 2. Not to be secure in the enjoyment of any of the delights of sense, because we know not how soon we may be stripped of them, nor what straits we may be reduced to.
IV. They designed by these ornaments to charm the gentlemen, and win their affections (Pro 7:16, Pro 7:17), but there shall be none to be charmed by them (Isa 3:25): Thy men shall fall by the sword, and the mighty in the war, The fire shall consume them, and then the maidens shall not be given in marriage; as it is, Psa 78:63. When the sword comes with commission the mighty commonly fall first by it, because they are most forward to venture. And, when Zion's guards are cut off, no marvel that Zion's gates lament and mourn (Isa 3:26), the enemies having made themselves masters of them; and the city itself, being desolate, being emptied or swept, shall sit upon the ground like a disconsolate widow. If sin be harboured within the walls, lamentation and mourning are near the gates.
Matthew Henry (1662–1714) — Commentary on the Whole Bible. This section covers verses 16–26. Public domain.
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John ChrysostomAD 407
Homily on the Gospel of Matthew 89
But shouldest thou enter into a church, thou geest forth, without getting anything but countless leers, and revilings, and curses, not from the beholders only, but also from the prophet. For straightway Isaiah, that hath the fullest voice of all, as soon as he hath seen thee, will cry out, "These things saith the Lord against the princely daughters of Sion; because they walked with a lofty neck, and with winkings of the eyes, and in their walking, trailing their garments, and mincing at the same time with their feet; the Lord shall take off their bravery, and instead of a sweet smell there shall be dust, and instead of a stomacher, thou shalt gird thyself with a cord." These things for thy gorgeous array. For not to them only are these words addressed, but to every woman that doeth like them.
JeromeAD 420
Commentary on Isaiah
(Verse 18-21.) And necklaces, and torcs, and pendants, and bracelets, and headbands, and diadems, and girdles, and brooches, and perfume vials, and earrings, and rings and gems hanging from the forehead. It describes the necklaces of women, and through these the insignia of cities: or, according to the anagoge, the various ornaments of virtues. Women have tiny bulla-shaped pendants that resemble the moon, which we transfer to the ornaments of the Church, which is illuminated by the sun of justice. Also, the necklaces that hang down to the chest signify understanding and the principal (ruling) faculty of the mind in the heart. And the necklaces indicate all ornaments in one word: and the good works of the bracelets, which Rebecca received in her marriage (Gen. XXIV): and the miters, the ornaments of the head, to distinguish judgment of each person: and the foot-straps, with which our step is adorned, so that we may hear: Your foot shall not stumble (Ps. XC); and: He shall keep my feet from sliding (Ps. LV); and the little walls, which are woven of gold and silver threads, signify sense and the words of the Scriptures: and the sweet-smelling ointments, so that we may be a good odor of Christ (II Cor. II, 15); and the earrings, so that we may not hear the judgment of blood, but the words of the Lord saying: He who has ears to hear, let him hear (Luke VIII, 18); and the rings, with which we are signed for the Lord's army, which God the Father has signed. Where it is said to the prince of Tyre, 'You are the seal of likeness' (Ezek. 28:12). Also, the prodigal son received a ring, a robe, and jewels hanging on his forehead, which decorate our faces (Luke 15). And concerning the ornament of his head, we also read in the psalm: 'Like precious oil upon the head, which runs down upon the beard, the beard of Aaron' (Ps. 133:1). Although the Septuagint, Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion interpret all of these things in different ways, we have woven together what we could from the Hebrew and their translations, and we do not wish to dwell any longer on each one, lest the explanation be trivial and cause annoyance to the discerning reader.
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.
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SUMMARY
Isaiah 3:18 presents a stark prophetic declaration within a broader oracle of divine judgment against Judah and Jerusalem, specifically targeting the pride and ostentation of the "daughters of Zion." The verse foretells a definitive future "day" when the Lord will decisively strip away the elaborate and costly adornments—including their tinkling anklets, decorative hairnets, and crescent-shaped necklaces—that symbolize the societal status, self-sufficiency, and spiritual corruption of the elite women. This act of divine removal signifies a profound humiliation and the dismantling of their worldly glory, serving as a powerful metaphor for the impending national desolation and the severe consequences of a people who have forsaken God for superficiality and pride.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Isaiah masterfully employs powerful Symbolism throughout this passage. The elaborate and costly garments and ornaments of the "daughters of Zion" are far more than mere fashion items; they profoundly symbolize the nation's spiritual pride, its misplaced self-sufficiency, and its deep moral decay. Their haughty walk and ostentatious display serve as a vivid representation of the broader societal arrogance and pervasive rejection of God's righteous ways. The divine act of the Lord "taking away" these items is a potent symbolic act of judgment, representing the complete stripping away of Judah's glory, prestige, and its illusory sense of security. Furthermore, there is a profound element of Irony at play. What the women considered their "bravery" or splendor—the very source of their pride, beauty, and social standing—will paradoxically become the precise instruments of their humiliation and shame. Their desire to attract attention through their finery will result in a direct divine intervention that brings about their ultimate disgrace and public exposure.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Isaiah 3:18 powerfully illustrates God's unwavering opposition to human pride and vanity, especially when it manifests as a misplaced confidence in worldly possessions and external appearances rather than in Him. This impending judgment is not merely about fashion choices but profoundly about the posture of the heart—a heart that has become self-absorbed, spiritually barren, and overtly rebellious against divine authority. The stripping away of these symbols of status serves as a divine object lesson, vividly revealing the transient and ephemeral nature of all earthly glory and the ultimate emptiness of a life lived apart from a humble and dependent relationship with God. It underscores the timeless biblical principle that true beauty, honor, and lasting security are internal, rooted deeply in righteousness, humility, and unwavering faith, not in external adornments or fleeting social standing.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Isaiah 3:18 serves as a timeless and convicting mirror for contemporary society, compelling us to critically examine the true sources of our confidence, identity, and perceived worth. In an age often profoundly shaped by consumerism, the pervasive influence of social media, and the relentless cultivation of outward image, this verse stands as a stark reminder that true security, lasting beauty, and genuine fulfillment are not found in what we possess, what we wear, or how others perceive us, but fundamentally in our relationship with God and the Christ-like character we diligently cultivate. It calls us to a profound and active humility, recognizing that all earthly glories are inherently fleeting and can be stripped away in an instant. Our primary focus, therefore, should be on cultivating an inner beauty of spirit, marked by righteousness, compassion, integrity, and a humble walk with God, rather than on external displays that often serve to mask a deeper spiritual emptiness. This passage invites us to rigorously re-evaluate our priorities, to discern what truly holds eternal value, and to align our hearts and lives with God's unchanging and eternal perspective, lest we, like the haughty daughters of Zion, find our "bravery" tragically turned to shame.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
What is the significance of the specific ornaments mentioned in Isaiah 3:18?
Answer: The specific ornaments listed—"tinkling ornaments" (anklets), "cauls" (hairnets), and "round tires like the moon" (crescent-shaped pendants)—are highly symbolic and deeply significant. They represent the extravagant wealth, elevated social status, and self-indulgent pride of the elite women of Jerusalem, collectively referred to as the "daughters of Zion" in Isaiah 3:16. These items were not merely fashion accessories but were integral to their public display of haughtiness and their perceived "bravery" or splendor. The "round tires like the moon" (Hebrew: sahărôn) carry a particularly potent significance, potentially alluding to pagan lunar worship common in the ancient Near East, suggesting that their adornments were not only symbols of vanity but possibly of idolatry or syncretism, further condemning their spiritual state before God. God's deliberate act of stripping them away signifies a complete and humiliating reversal of their fortunes, turning their perceived glory into profound shame and their high status into utter desolation, as a direct and just consequence of their spiritual rebellion and pride.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Isaiah 3:18, with its piercing prophecy of stripping away worldly glory and human adornments in judgment, finds its ultimate fulfillment and profound reversal in the person and redemptive work of Jesus Christ. The "daughters of Zion" boasted in their external "bravery" and ostentatious adornments, which were ultimately and justly taken away in divine judgment. In stark and glorious contrast, Christ, though possessing all divine glory and majesty as God, "made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness" (Philippians 2:7). He willingly divested Himself of His heavenly splendor and divine prerogatives to enter a world steeped in sin and suffering, not to accumulate earthly adornments or status, but to bear the shame, humiliation, and righteous judgment that humanity justly deserved. His true "bravery" was not found in outward show or material possessions, but in His perfect obedience, His unwavering love, and His sacrificial death on the cross, where He was stripped naked, publicly humiliated, and made a spectacle. Yet, through this very act of profound self-abasement, He secured eternal glory and true, imperishable beauty for all who believe in Him. Unlike the fleeting and perishable ornaments of Isaiah's day, the righteousness and salvation offered by Christ are an imperishable "garment of salvation" and a "robe of righteousness" (Isaiah 61:10), providing a true and lasting adornment that can never be taken away. In Christ alone, we discover our true worth and identity, not in what we wear or possess, but in being eternally clothed with His perfect life and atoning death, thereby becoming "beautiful in holiness" (Psalm 29:2).