Isaiah 3:21

Isa 3:21 The rings, and nose jewels,

Ver. 21. {See Trapp on "Isa 3:19"}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

nose jewels--The cartilage between the nostrils was bored to receive them; they usually hung from the left nostril.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 21. Nose-jewels - "The jewels of the nostril."] נזמי האף nizmey haaph. Schroederus explains this, as many others do, of jewels, or strings of pearl hanging from the forehead, and reaching to the upper part of the nose; than which nothing can be more ridiculous, as such are seldom seen on an Asiatic face. But it appears from many passages of Holy Scripture that the phrase is to be literally and properly understood of nose-jewels, rings set with jewels hanging from the nostrils, as ear-rings from the ears, by holes bored to receive them.

Ezekiel, enumerating the common ornaments of women of the first rank, has not omitted this particular, and is to be understood in the same manner, Eze 16:11-12. See also Ge 24:47: -

"And I decked thee with ornaments;

And I put bracelets upon thine hands,

And a chain on thy neck:

And I put a jewel on thy nose,

And ear-rings on thine ears,

And a splendid crown upon thine head."

And in an elegant proverb of Solomon, Pr 11:22, there is a manifest allusion to this kind of ornament, which shows it to have been used in his time: -

"As a jewel of gold in the snout of a swine;

So is a woman beautiful, but wanting discretion."

This fashion, however strange it may appear to us, was formerly and is still common in many parts of the East, among women of all ranks. Paul Lucas, speaking of a village or clan of wandering people, a little on this side of the Euphrates, says, (2d Voyage du Levant, tom. i., art. 24,) "The women, almost all of them, travel on foot; I saw none handsome among them. They have almost all of them the nose bored; and wear in it a great ring, which makes them still more deformed." But in regard to this custom, better authority cannot be produced than that of Pietro della Valle, in the account which he gives of the lady before mentioned, Signora Maani Gioerida, his own wife. The description of her dress, as to the ornamental parts of it, with which he introduces the mention of this particular, will give us some notion of the taste of the Eastern ladies for finery. "The ornaments of gold and of jewels for the head, for the neck, for the arms, for the legs, and for the feet (for they wear rings even on their toes) are indeed, unlike those of the Turks, carried to great excess, but not of great value: for in Bagdad jewels of high price are either not to be had, or are not used; and they wear such only as are of little value, as turquoises, small rubies, emeralds, carbuncles, garnets, pearls, and the like. My spouse dresses herself with all of them according to their fashion; with exception, however, of certain ugly rings of very large size, set with jewels, which, in truth, very absurdly, it is the custom to wear fastened to one of their nostrils, like buffaloes: an ancient custom, however, in the East, which, as we find in the Holy Scriptures, prevailed among the Hebrew ladies even in the time of Solomon, Pr 11:22. These nose-rings, in complaisance to me, she has left off, but I have not yet been able to prevail with her cousin and her sisters to do the same; so fond are they of an old custom, be it ever so absurd, who have been long habituated to it." Viaggi, Tom. i., Let. 17.

It is the left nostril that is bored and ornamented with rings and jewels. More than one hundred drawings from life of Eastern ladies lie now before me, and scarcely one is without the nose-jewel: both the arms and wrists are covered with bracelets, arm-circles, c., as also their legs and feet the soles of their feet and palms of their hands coloured beautifully red with henna, and their hair plaited and ornamented superbly. These beautiful drawings are a fine comment on this chapter.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(21) The rings, and nose jewels.—The first word points to the signet ring, worn both by men and women of wealth (Exo_35:22; Num_31:50; Est_3:12; Est_8:8; Jer_22:24); the latter to the ornaments worn pendent from the nostrils as by modern Arabian women (Gen_24:22).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

21. rings] seal-rings, worn on the finger.

nose jewels] Gen_24:47.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The rings,.... On their finger, as Aben Ezra observes:

and nose jewels; the same with the jewels on the forehead or nose, Eze 16:12 not that they hung upon the nose, but were fastened upon the forehead, and hung down to the nose, see Gen 24:22; an allusion to this is in Pro 11:22 though Austin says it was a custom of the women of Mauritania to put jewels in their nose; and which is still kept in Persia, Arabia, and other countries, as travellers affirm.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The rings - Usually worn on the fingers.

And nose-jewels - The custom of wearing jewels in the “nose” has generally prevailed in savage tribes, and was common, and is still, in Eastern nations - among the Arabians, Persians, etc. Sir John Chardin says, ‘It is the custom in almost all the East for the women to wear rings in their noses, in the left nostril, which is bored low down in the middle. These rings are of gold, and have commonly two pearls and one ruby between, placed in the ring. I never saw a girl or young woman in Arabia, or in all Persia, who did not wear a ring in this manner in her nostrils.’ - Harmer’s “Obs.,” iv., p. 318. The picture in the book illustrates the usual form of this ornament in the East.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Which were fastened to the head, and hung down upon the forehead to the beginning of the nose; of which see Gen 24:22,47; Jdg 8:24, &c.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

21. Rings — Usually the word denotes signet rings. But here, finger rings, earrings, or rings in general; gems with inscriptions of magic formulas.

Nose jewels — Suspended from the pierced cartilage of the left nostril.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The rings; literally, seal-rings, or signet-rings. Such were known in Egypt from the time of Joseph, (Gen_41:42) and probably earlier. It would seem from the present passage that their use was not confined to men. Nose-jewels. Actual nose-rings are not represented in any of the ancient remains; and the use of them seems to be confined to very barbarous communities. Probably the "nose-jewels" here mentioned were ornaments depending from the forehead and touching the upper part of the nose,

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Nose-jewels - Which were fastened to the head, and hung down upon the forehead to the beginning of the nose.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

“The rings,” strictly signet-rings, but here put for finger-rings or rings in general, “and the nose jewels,” a common and very ancient ornament in eastern countries, so that the version, jewels of the face, is unnecessary, as well as inconsistent with the derivation from a word meaning to perforate.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Prophecies of Isaiah (1846–1847; New York: Scribner, 1870–1878) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

rings

a decoration worn around the finger

nose jewels

a decoration worn in or through the nose

festive robes

a long, loose garment with decorations that was worn over other clothes for everyone to see

mantles

a cloth worn over the shoulders on the outside of the clothes

veils

See how you translated this in Isaiah 3:19.

handbags

a bag to used to carry small things

hand mirrors

a small surface, held in one's hand and used to see oneself

fine linen

a soft cloth worn by rich people

head pieces

a cloth or small hat worn over the hair

wraps

a decorative cloth that a woman would wrap around herself to make her beautiful

translationWords

robe

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

טבעות Rings, for the fingers.

נזמי האף Nose jewels; I have already described them (Gen. 24:22)

Ibn Ezra on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009” (CC BY 4.0); and “Commentary of Ibn Ezra on Isaiah - trans. by M. Friedlander, 1873” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.