Isaiah 3:26

Isa 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. {Lam 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.

{a} πυργουν κεφαλην. - Nazian.

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.

What the prophet here foretells to the daughter of Zion he sees in Isa 3:26 fulfilled upon her: "Then will her gates lament and mourn, and desolate is she, sits down upon the ground." The gates, where the husbands of the daughters of Zion, who have now fallen in war, sued at one time to gather together in such numbers, are turned into a state of desolation, in which they may, as it were, be heard complaining, and seen to mourn (Isa 14:31; Jer 14:2; Lam 1:4); and the daughter of Zion herself is utterly vacated, thoroughly emptied, completely deprived of all her former population; and in this state of the most mournful widowhood or orphanage, brought down from her lofty seat (Isa 47:1) and princely glory (Jer 13:18), she sits down upon the ground, just as Judaea is represented as doing upon Roman medals that were struck after the destruction of Jerusalem, where she is introduced as a woman thoroughly broken down, and sitting under a palm-tree in an attitude of despair, with a warrior standing in front of her, the inscription upon the medal being Judaea capta, or devicta. The Septuagint rendering is quite in accordance with the sense, viz., καὶ καταλειφθἠση μόνη καὶ εἰς την̀ γῆν ἐδαφισθήση (cf., Luk 19:44), except that תּשׁב is not the second person, but the third, and נקּתה the third pers. pret. niph. for נקּתה - a pausal form which is frequently met with in connection with the smaller distinctive accents, such as silluk and athnach (here it occurs with tiphchah, as, for example, in Amo 3:8). The clause "sits down upon the ground" is appended ἀσυνδἔτως - a frequent construction in cases where one of two verbs defines the other in a manner which is generally expressed adverbially (vid., Ch1 13:2, and the inverted order of the words in Jer 4:5; cf., Isa 12:6): Zion sits upon the earth in a state of utter depopulation.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

gates--The place of concourse personified is represented mourning for the loss of those multitudes which once frequented it.

desolate . . . sit upon . . . ground--the very figure under which Judea was represented on medals after the destruction by Titus: a female sitting under a palm tree in a posture of grief; the motto, Judæa capta (Job 2:13; Lam 2:10, where, as here primarily, the destruction by Nebuchadnezzar is alluded to).

that day--the calamitous period described in previous chapter.

seven--indefinite number among the Jews. So many men would be slain, that there would be very many more women than men; for example, seven women, contrary to their natural bashfulness, would sue to (equivalent to "take hold of," Isa 3:6) one man to marry them.

eat . . . own bread--foregoing the privileges, which the law (Exo 21:10) gives to wives, when a man has more than one.

reproach--of being unwedded and childless; especially felt among the Jews, who were looking for "the seed of the woman," Jesus Christ, described in Isa 4:2; Isa 54:1, Isa 54:4; Luk 1:25.

Next: Isaiah Chapter 4

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 26. Sit upon the ground.] Sitting on the ground was a posture that denoted mourning and deep distress. The prophet Jeremiah (La 2:8) has given it the first place among many indications of sorrow, in the following elegant description of the same state of distress of his country: -

"The elders of the daughter of Sion sit on the ground,

they are silent:

They have cast up dust on their heads; they have girded

themselves with sackcloth;

The virgins of Jerusalem have bowed down their heads to

the ground."

"We find Judea," says Mr. Addison, (on Medals, Dial. ii,) "on several coins of Vespasian and Titus, in a posture that denotes sorrow and captivity. I need not mention her sitting on the ground, because we have already spoken of the aptness of such a posture to represent an extreme affliction. I fancy the Romans might have an eye on the customs of the Jewish nation, as well as those of their country, in the several marks of sorrow they have set on this figure. The psalmist describes the Jews lamenting their captivity in the same pensive posture: 'By the waters of Babylon we sat down and wept, when we remembered thee, O Zion.' But what is more remarkable, we find Judea represented as a woman in sorrow sitting on the ground, in a passage of the prophet, that foretells the very captivity recorded on this medal." Mr. Addison, I presume, refers to this place of Isaiah; and therefore must have understood it as foretelling the destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish nation by the Romans: whereas it seems plainly to relate, in its first and more immediate view at least, to the destruction of the city by Nebuchadnezzar, and the dissolution of the Jewish state under the captivity at Babylon. - L.

Several of the coins mentioned here by Mr. Addison are in my own collection: and to such I have already referred in this work. I shall describe one here. On the obverse a fine head of the emperor Vespasian with this legend, Imperator Julius Caesar Vespasianus Augustus, Pontifex Maximus, Tribunitia Potestate Pater Patriae, Consul VIII.

On the reverse a tall palm tree, emblem of the land of Palestine, the emperor standing on the left, close to the tree, with a trophy behind him; on the right, Judea under the figure of a female captive sitting on the ground, with her head resting on her hand, the elbow on her knee, weeping. Around is this legend, Judea Capta. Senates Consulto. However this prediction may refer proximately to the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, I am fully of opinion that it ultimately refers to the final ruin of the Jewish state by the Romans. And so it has been understood by the general run of the best and most learned interpreters and critics.

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

26. her gates] the places of rendezvous in Eastern cities. lament and mourn] because they are now deserted. Cf. Lam_1:4; Jer_14:2.

and she, emptied, shall sit upon the ground] Cf. ch. Isa_47:1; Lam_2:10; Job_2:13.

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.

And her gates shall lament and mourn,.... These being utterly destroyed; or there being none to pass through them, meaning the gates of the city of Jerusalem:

and she being desolate; clear of inhabitants, quite emptied, and exhausted of men; being laid even with the ground, and her children within her, Luk 19:44.

shall sit upon the ground; being levelled with it, and not one stone cast upon another; alluding to the posture of mourners, Job 2:13. Our countryman, Mr. Gregory (k), thinks that the device of the coin of the emperor Vespasian, in the reverse of it, upon taking Judea, which was a woman sitting on the ground, leaning back, to a palm tree, with this inscription, "Judea Capta", was contrived out of this prophecy; and that he was helped to it by Josephus, the Jew, then in his court. The whole prophecy had its accomplishment, not in the Babylonish captivity, as Jarchi suggests, much less in the times of Ahaz, as Kimchi and Abarbinal suppose, but in the times of Jerusalem's destruction by the Romans.

(k) Notes and Observations, &c, p. 26, 27.

Next: Isaiah Chapter 4

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

And her gates - Cities were surrounded with walls, and were entered through gates opening into the principal streets. Those gates became, of course, the places of chief confluence and of business; and the expression here means, that in all the places of confluence, or amidst the assembled people, there should be lamentation on account of the slain in battle, and the loss of their mighty men in war.

And she - Jerusalem is often represented as a female distinguished for beauty. It is here represented as a female sitting in a posture of grief.

Being desolate, shall sit upon the ground - To sit on the ground, or in the dust, was the usual posture of grief and mourning, denoting great depression and humiliation; Lam 2:10; Lam 3:28; Jer 15:17; Job 3:13; Ezr 9:3-5. It is a remarkable coincidence, that in the medals which were made by the Romans to commemorate the captivity of Judea and Jerusalem, Judea is represented under the figure of a female sitting in a posture of grief, under a palm tree, with this inscription - judea capta. The passage here, however, refers not to the captivity by the Romans, but to the first destruction by Nebuchadnezzar. It is a tender and most affecting image of desolation. During the captivity at Babylon, it was completely fulfilled; and for ages since, Judea might be appropriately represented by a captive female sitting pensively on the ground.

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

Ground. The posture of captives, Lamentations i. 1.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Her gates; the gates of Zion or Jerusalem, which, by a figure very usual in sacred Scripture and all authors, are said to lament, to imply the great desolation of the place, that there should be no people to go out and come in by the gates, or to meet together in the gates, as they used to do. Shall sit upon the ground, like a mournful woman bewailing the loss of her husband and children.

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

26. Her gates — A poetical soliloquizing. The “gates” of Jerusalem were places busy with concourses occupied in imparting news, in trades, and in settling of disputes.

Lament and mourn — The usual daily, commonplace air of the above scenes is to be changed to loud wailings, such as Orientals well know how to make.

Sit upon the ground — This was the posture of grief and mourning; and so Judea is represented in the medals struck on the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans.

The destruction and captivity, however, here looked forward to by the prophet, was probably the first destruction of the city by Nebuchadnezzar.

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

Her gates. The sudden change of person is common in Oriental poetry. Shall lament and mourn. On account of their destruction, which would be very complete. (see Lam_1:4 Lam_2:9 Neh_1:3 Neh_2:13) Conquerors could not do more than break breaches in the walls of a town, but they carefully destroyed the gates. Being desolate; or, emptied plundered of everything, and so far "cleansed" from her abominations. Shall sit upon the ground . In deep grief. (see Job_2:13; and comp. Isa_47:1 Lam_2:10) So in the coin of Vespasian, the captive Judah (Judea capta) sits upon the ground.

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

Gates - The gates of Zion or Jerusalem, which, by a figure, are said to lament, to imply the great desolation of the place; that there would be no people to go out and come in by the gates, as they used to do. Shall sit - Like a mournful woman bewailing the loss of her husband and children.

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

The effect of this slaughter on the community is here described, first by representing the places of chief concourse as vocal with distress, and then by personifying the state or nation as a desolate widow seated on the ground, a sign both of mourning and of degradation. “And her gates (those of Zion or Jerusalem) shall lament and mourn (and), being emptied (or exhausted) she shall sit upon the ground.” The gates are said to mourn, by a rhetorical substitution of the place of action for the agent, or because a place filled with cries seems itself to utter them. She is described not as lying but as sitting on the ground. So on one of Vespasian’s coins a woman is represented in a sitting posture, leaning against a palm tree, with the legend Judaea Capta.

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

shall lament Heb. וְאָנוּ, an expression of lamentations.

her gates The gates of the towns and houses. In all their gates will be lamentation.

and she shall be emptied out Heb. ונקתה, lit., and she shall be cleansed, meaning: and she shall be emptied of everything, like (Amos 4:6): “And behold, I have given you cleanness of teeth (נִקְיוֹן שִׁנַּיִם),” [meaning hunger,] and in the language of the Mishnah; “So-and-so was cleaned out (נקי) of his belongings” (Baba Kamma 41a).

she shall sit on the ground [This denotes figuratively that they will be reduced] from a high station to a low one. (Lam. 2: 10) “...shall sit on the ground and remain silent,” on the Ninth of Av.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

ואנו And they shall lament; comp. באני In my sorrow (Deuter. 26:14); root און to lament, it is a weak verb (ע״ו); the accent is on the ultima. as in וסרו And shall depart (Exod. 8:1).

פתחיה Her gates. Those of Zion, which is mentioned at the beginning of the chapter.

ונקתה And she shall be desolate. Comp. נקיון שנים cleanness of teeth (Am. 4:6).

She will sit. The pronoun refers to Zion.

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.