Isaiah 3:23
Verse
Summary
Commentary
- Adam Clarke
- Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
- John Gill
Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
The glasses - The conjunction ו vau, and - And the glasses, is added here by forty-three of Kennicott's and thirty-four of De Rossi's MSS., and one of my own, ancient, as well as by many editions. And the veils. "The transparent garments" - Τα διαφανη Λακωνικα, Sept. A kind of silken dress, transparent, like gauze; worn only by the most elegant women, and such as dressed themselves elegantius quam necesse esset probis, "more elegantly than modest women should." Such garments are worn to the present day; garments that not only show the shape of every part of the body, but the very color of the skin. This is evidently the case in some scores of drawings of Asiatic females now before me. This sort of garments was afterwards in use among the Greeks. Prodicus, in his celebrated fable (Xenoph. Memorab. Socr. lib. ii.) exhibits the personage of Sloth in this dress: Εσθητα δε, εξ ἡς αν μαλιστα ὡρα διαλαμποι: - "Her robe betray'd Through the clear texture every tender limb, Height'ning the charms it only seem'd to shade; And as it flow'd adown so loose and thin, Her stature show'd more tall, more snowy white her skin." They were called multitia and coa (scil, vestimenta) by the Romans, from their being invented, or rather introduced into Greece, by one Pamphila of the island of Cos. This, like other Grecian fashions, was received at Rome, when luxury began to prevail under the emperors. It was sometimes worn even by the men, but looked upon as a mark of extreme effeminacy. See Juvenal, Sat. ii., 65, etc. Publius Syrus, who lived when the fashion was first introduced, has given a humorous satirical description of it in two lines, which by chance have been preserved: - "Aequum est, induere nuptam ventum textilem? Palam prostare nudam in nebula linea?"
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
glasses--mirrors of polished metal (Exo 38:8). But the Septuagint, a transparent, gauze-like, garment. hoods--miters, or diadems (Isa 62:3; Zac 3:5). veils--large enough to cover the head and person. Distinct from the smaller veils ("mufflers") above (Gen 24:65). Token of woman's subjection (Co1 11:10).
John Gill Bible Commentary
The glasses,.... Looking glasses, by which they dressed themselves, see Exo 38:8 and so Kimchi explains the word; but elsewhere (e) he says it signifies thin garments, so called because the flesh is seen through them, being so exceeding thin; which sense is favoured by the Septuagint version, which renders it by garments which the Lacedemonians wore, which were so thin and transparent, that the naked body might be seen through them: and the fine linen; of which several of their garments and ornaments were made, and particularly their veils, with which they veiled themselves, as Jarchi observes: and the hoods; the word is used for a diadem and mitre, Isa 62:3 the Targum renders it "crowns"; and such the Jewish women wore; see Gill on Isa 3:20 and particularly newly married women (f): and the veils; so the word is rendered in Sol 5:7 with which women covered their heads, either through modesty, or as a token of subjection to their husbands, see Gen 24:65 but, according to the Targum and Kimchi, these were thin garments which women wore in summertime; Jarchi says they are the same which the French call "fermelan", and are of gold, which they put about the cloak the woman is covered with; perhaps they were a sort of umbrellas, to keep off the heat of the sun. (e) Ib. (In Sepher Shorash.) rad. (f) Misn. Sota, c. 9. sect. 14.
Isaiah 3:23
A Warning to the Daughters of Zion
22their festive robes, capes, cloaks, and purses;23and their mirrors, linen garments, tiaras, and shawls.
- Scripture
- Sermons
- Commentary
- Adam Clarke
- Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
- John Gill
Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
The glasses - The conjunction ו vau, and - And the glasses, is added here by forty-three of Kennicott's and thirty-four of De Rossi's MSS., and one of my own, ancient, as well as by many editions. And the veils. "The transparent garments" - Τα διαφανη Λακωνικα, Sept. A kind of silken dress, transparent, like gauze; worn only by the most elegant women, and such as dressed themselves elegantius quam necesse esset probis, "more elegantly than modest women should." Such garments are worn to the present day; garments that not only show the shape of every part of the body, but the very color of the skin. This is evidently the case in some scores of drawings of Asiatic females now before me. This sort of garments was afterwards in use among the Greeks. Prodicus, in his celebrated fable (Xenoph. Memorab. Socr. lib. ii.) exhibits the personage of Sloth in this dress: Εσθητα δε, εξ ἡς αν μαλιστα ὡρα διαλαμποι: - "Her robe betray'd Through the clear texture every tender limb, Height'ning the charms it only seem'd to shade; And as it flow'd adown so loose and thin, Her stature show'd more tall, more snowy white her skin." They were called multitia and coa (scil, vestimenta) by the Romans, from their being invented, or rather introduced into Greece, by one Pamphila of the island of Cos. This, like other Grecian fashions, was received at Rome, when luxury began to prevail under the emperors. It was sometimes worn even by the men, but looked upon as a mark of extreme effeminacy. See Juvenal, Sat. ii., 65, etc. Publius Syrus, who lived when the fashion was first introduced, has given a humorous satirical description of it in two lines, which by chance have been preserved: - "Aequum est, induere nuptam ventum textilem? Palam prostare nudam in nebula linea?"
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
glasses--mirrors of polished metal (Exo 38:8). But the Septuagint, a transparent, gauze-like, garment. hoods--miters, or diadems (Isa 62:3; Zac 3:5). veils--large enough to cover the head and person. Distinct from the smaller veils ("mufflers") above (Gen 24:65). Token of woman's subjection (Co1 11:10).
John Gill Bible Commentary
The glasses,.... Looking glasses, by which they dressed themselves, see Exo 38:8 and so Kimchi explains the word; but elsewhere (e) he says it signifies thin garments, so called because the flesh is seen through them, being so exceeding thin; which sense is favoured by the Septuagint version, which renders it by garments which the Lacedemonians wore, which were so thin and transparent, that the naked body might be seen through them: and the fine linen; of which several of their garments and ornaments were made, and particularly their veils, with which they veiled themselves, as Jarchi observes: and the hoods; the word is used for a diadem and mitre, Isa 62:3 the Targum renders it "crowns"; and such the Jewish women wore; see Gill on Isa 3:20 and particularly newly married women (f): and the veils; so the word is rendered in Sol 5:7 with which women covered their heads, either through modesty, or as a token of subjection to their husbands, see Gen 24:65 but, according to the Targum and Kimchi, these were thin garments which women wore in summertime; Jarchi says they are the same which the French call "fermelan", and are of gold, which they put about the cloak the woman is covered with; perhaps they were a sort of umbrellas, to keep off the heat of the sun. (e) Ib. (In Sepher Shorash.) rad. (f) Misn. Sota, c. 9. sect. 14.