Isa 3:17 | Clarke | e4.org | Verse 17. The Lord will smite -"Will the Lord humble"] ταπεινωσει, Septuagint ; and so Syriac and Chaldee . For sippach they read shaphal . Instead of Yehovah , many MSS. have Adonai . Will discover their secret parts -"Expose their nakedness"] It was the barbarous custom of the conquerors of those times to strip their captives naked, and to make them travel in that condition, exposed to the inclemency of the weather; and the worst of all, to the intolerable heat of the sun. But this to the women was the height of cruelty and indignity; and especially to such as those here described, who had indulged themselves in all manner of delicacies of living, and all the superfluities of ornamental dress; and even whose faces had hardly ever been exposed to the sight of man. This is always mentioned as the hardest part of the lot of captives. Nahum, , denouncing the fate of Nineveh, paints it in very strong colours:- "Behold, I am against thee, saith JEHOVAH, God of hosts: And I will discover thy skirts upon thy face; And I will expose thy nakedness to the nations; And to the kingdoms thy shame. And I will throw ordures upon thee; And I will make thee vile, and set thee as a gazing-stock."

‏ Isaiah 3:17

Verse 17. The Lord will smite-"Will the Lord humble"] ταπεινωσει, Septuagint; and so Syriac and Chaldee. For sippach they read shaphal. Instead of Yehovah, many MSS. have Adonai.

Will discover their secret parts-"Expose their nakedness"] It was the barbarous custom of the conquerors of those times to strip their captives naked, and to make them travel in that condition, exposed to the inclemency of the weather; and the worst of all, to the intolerable heat of the sun. But this to the women was the height of cruelty and indignity; and especially to such as those here described, who had indulged themselves in all manner of delicacies of living, and all the superfluities of ornamental dress; and even whose faces had hardly ever been exposed to the sight of man. This is always mentioned as the hardest part of the lot of captives. Nahum, Na 3:5, 6, denouncing the fate of Nineveh, paints it in very strong colours:-

"Behold, I am against thee, saith JEHOVAH, God of hosts:

And I will discover thy skirts upon thy face;

And I will expose thy nakedness to the nations;

And to the kingdoms thy shame.

And I will throw ordures upon thee;

And I will make thee vile, and set thee as a gazing-stock."