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The daughters of Zion are harshly punished in the next passage of the book of Isaiah. The punishment is first mentioned in Isaiah 3:18, "the Lord will afflict with scabs the heads of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will lay bare their secret parts." Skin diseases were viewed as unclean and impure, thus further emphasizing the horror of this punishment.
The translation of this passage, specifically the reference to "their secret parts" has been widely disputed. The word translated as "secret parts" does not occur elsewhere in the Old Testament; however, it is common in post-Biblical Hebrew. The Vulgate translates this term as "forehead", thus indicating that the women are unable to hide their affliction. Compston agrees with this translation; however, most recent sources, including the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible translate this term as "secret parts".
Isaiah 3:24 continues the saga of the punishment of the women of Jerusalem. In this passage, the women are afflicted with baldness and stripped of their perfumes and fine clothing. Their captors shall brand them as slaves. The women have been reduced to poverty and humiliation. They are unable to care for themselves and are desperate for male protection, even if in name only. They agree to forfeit what few rights remain to them, food and shelter, if only they can be married. The women seek the protection of a man, and the control of a man within their war torn society. Even the use of the term "daughters" throughout this passage clearly implies their status as incapable of caring for themselves. This passage, Isaiah 3:25-4:1 has been alternately grouped with and considered separate from 3:16-3:24. It has been suggested that Isaiah is no longer addressing the daughters of Zion, but rather the city of Jerusalem as a woman. This possibility does not rule out the connection of this passage to 3:16-24. Isaiah 3:25-4:1 may refer to the city as a woman, but it describes the fate of her daughters. The pitiable state of these women, after having lost their lives of comfort and luxury, is the result of two factors, one divine and the other human. The women have lost their husbands in war, but it is a war that occurred as a result of divine anger. They have not only lost their husbands, and thus their social standing, but also their only remaining desirable characteristic, their beauty. They are reduced to begging for the name and protection of a man, one of the few remaining in the war-ravaged city, placing themselves in a position lower than that of concubine. Go To Page: 1 2
The copyright of the article Daughters of Zion: An Analysis of Isaiah 3:16-4:1 Part Five in Church History is owned by Michelle Powell-Smith. Permission to republish Daughters of Zion: An Analysis of Isaiah 3:16-4:1 Part Five in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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