In ancient Israel, adornments such as anklets were worn by women, but the Bible warns against excessive pride in such ornaments. According to Isaiah 3:16-26, the daughters of Zion were condemned for their arrogance and vain display of jewelry, including anklets. Ezekiel 13:18 also mentions the use of magical charms and ornaments, warning against their idolatrous connotations. In 2 Kings 23:24, King Josiah's reforms included the removal of such idolatrous objects, highlighting the Bible's concern with the spiritual implications of adornment. The prophet Isaiah specifically criticized the anklets in Isaiah 3:18-20, emphasizing the need for humility and simplicity.
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The LORD also says: “Because the daughters of Zion are haughty— walking with heads held high and wanton eyes, prancing and skipping as they go, jingling the bracelets on their ankles— the Lord will bring sores on the heads of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will make their foreheads bare. ” In that day the Lord will take away their finery: their anklets and headbands and crescents; their pendants, bracelets, and veils; their headdresses, ankle chains, and sashes; their perfume bottles and charms; their signet rings and nose rings; their festive robes, capes, cloaks, and purses; and their mirrors, linen garments, tiaras, and shawls. Instead of fragrance there will be a stench; instead of a belt, a rope; instead of styled hair, baldness; instead of fine clothing, sackcloth; instead of beauty, shame. Your men will fall by the sword, and your warriors in battle. And the gates of Zion will lament and mourn; destitute, she will sit on the ground.
In that day the Lord will take away their finery: their anklets and headbands and crescents; their pendants, bracelets, and veils; their headdresses, ankle chains, and sashes; their perfume bottles and charms;
and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: Woe to the women who sew magic charms on their wrists and make veils for the heads of people of every height, in order to ensnare their souls. Will you ensnare the souls of My people but preserve your own?
In that day the Lord will take away their finery: their anklets and headbands and crescents;
Furthermore, Josiah removed the mediums and spiritists, the household gods and idols, and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem. He did this to carry out the words of the law written in the book that Hilkiah the priest had found in the house of the LORD.
Likewise, I want the women to adorn themselves with respectable apparel, with modesty, and with self-control, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes,
Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness arrayed, and with your feet fitted with the readiness of the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: See, I am against the magic charms with which you ensnare souls like birds, and I will tear them from your arms. So I will free the souls you have ensnared like birds.
For You have abandoned Your people, the house of Jacob, because they are filled with influences from the east; they are soothsayers like the Philistines; they strike hands with the children of foreigners.