Isaiah 3:18

In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of [their] tinkling ornaments [about their feet],.... With which they made a tinkling as they went, Isaiah 3:16 it being about the shoe, and made a

In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like the moon, The bravery - the finery.

Cauls: as for this and the other Hebrew words here following, I judge it unnecessary and improper to trouble the English reader with the differing interpretations given of them by learned men, which the curious may find in my Latin Synopsis. It is agreed by all that they were ornaments used by that people in those times, and made fuel to their lusts. And it is of no concernment to the direction, either of our faith or manners, exactly to understand the nature and differences of them. And therefore I shall take them as they are in our translation. Round tires like the moon; there were in ancient time, and at this day there are, some jewels or other ornaments worn which carry a manifest resemblance to the moon or half moon. Compare ,26.

Isaiah 3:18 In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of [their] tinkling ornaments [about their feet], and [their] cauls, and [their] round tires like the moon,Ver. 18. The Lord will take away the bravery.] All the following bravery; for the prophet as punctually and particularly threateneth all down, as if he had lately seen the ladies’ wardrobes in Jerusalem. And if this vanity of gallantry be so blameworthy in a woman, who is naturally ζωονφιλοκοσμον, addicted to fine attire, how much more in a man, who shall turn lands into laces, and embroider his cloak with woods and parks and lordships, lining it, haply, with obligations and bonds and statutes? Of their tinkling ornaments, &c.] Here and in the following verses we have an inventory of the ladies’ gallantry, such as made the mighty men fall in the war. This was the fruit of their twinkling eyes and tinkling ornaments. Vatablus saith that the Spanish women did wear bells about their heels when they danced. And the round tires like the moon.] Lunata monilia crescent shaped collars - Statius.

(18) Tinkling ornaments.—These were anklets, i.e., rings of metal, with or without bells, which produced the tinkling of Isa 3:16. The “cauls” were probably wreaths, or plaits of gold or silver net-work, worn over the forehead from ear to ear, but have been taken by some scholars as sun-like balls worn like a necklace. Round tires like the moon.—The crescent ornaments which were hung on the necks of the camels of the Midianites in the time of Gideon (Judges 8:21), and are still worn by Arabian women. It is not improbable that they were connected with the worship of Ashtaroth. Among modern Arabian women they are regarded as a charm against the evil eye. (See Note on Jeremiah 44:17-19.)

Verse 18. Ornaments about their feet - "The ornaments of the feet rings"] The late learned Dr. Hunt, professor of Hebrew and Arabic in the University of Oxford, has very well explained the word עכס both verb and noun, in his very ingenious Dissertation on Proverbs 7:22-23. The verb means to skip, to bound, to dance along; and the noun, those ornaments of the feet which the Eastern ladies wore; chains or rings, which made a tinkling sound as they moved nimbly in walking. Eugene Roger, Description de la Terre Sainte, Liv. ii. ch. 2, speaking of the Arabian women, of the first rank in Palestine, says, - "Au lieu de brasselets elles ont de menottes d'argent, qu'elles portent aux poignets et aux pieds; ou sont attachez quantite de petits annelets d'argent, qui font un cliquetis comme d'une cymbale, lorsqu'elles cheminent ou se mouvent quelque peu." See Dr. Hunt's Dissertation; where he produces other testimonies to the same purpose from authors of travels. Hindoo women of ill fame wear loose ornaments one above another on their ankles, which at every motion make a tinkling noise. See WARD. And their cauls - "the net-works"] I am obliged to differ from the learned Schroederus almost at first setting out. He renders the word שביסים shebisim by soliculi, little ornaments, bullae, or studs, in shape representing the sun, and so answering to the following word שהרנים saharonim, lunulae, crescents. He supposes the word to be the same with שמישים shemishim, the י yod in the second syllable making the word diminutive, and the letter מ mem being changed for ב beth, a letter of the same organ. How just and well founded his authorities for the transmutation of these letters in the Arabic language are, I cannot pretend to judge; but as I know of no such instance in Hebrew, it seems to me a very forced etymology. Being dissatisfied with this account of the matter, I applied to my good friend above mentioned, the late Dr. Hunt, who very kindly returned the following answer to my inquiries: - "I have consulted the Arabic Lexicons, as well MS. as printed, but cannot find שביסים shebisim in any of them, nor any thing belonging to it; so that no help is to be had from that language towards clearing up the meaning of this difficult word. But what the Arabic denies, the Syriac perhaps may afford; in which I find the verb שבש shabas, to entangle or interweave, an etymology which is equally favourable to our marginal translation, net-works, with שבץ shabats, to make chequer work, or embroider, (the word by which Kimchi and others have explained שביס shabis;) and has moreover this advantage over it, that the letters ש sin and ס samech are very frequently put for each other, but צ tsaddi and ס samech scarcely ever. Aben Ezra joins שביסים shebisim and עכסים achasim, which immediately precedes it, together; and says that שביס shabis was the ornament of the legs, as עכס eches was of the feet.

18–23. A long and obscure inventory of articles of feminine attire, occurring “in a profusion which it is difficult to represent” (Cheyne). It is reassuring to be reminded by Dillmann that all these things (21 in number) were not necessarily worn at one time. It should also be noted that many of the ornaments specified were used as charms, as is the case with Eastern ornaments to the present day.

In that day - That is, in the time when he would inflict this exemplary punishment on them - probably the calamitous times of the Babylonian captivity.

18, 19. In that day — The day of their coming punishment. Bravery — In Isaiah 4:2 this word means comely. It is applied to different things: in Isaiah 60:7, to the temple; in Isaiah 64:11, to Jerusalem.