Isaiah 3:24
in Isaiah 3Instead 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.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet spices there shall be rottenness; and instead of a girdle, a rope; and instead of well set hair, baldness; and instead of a robe, a girding of sackcloth; branding instead of beauty.
KJV
And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle a rent; and instead of well set hair baldness; and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth; and burning instead of beauty.
⋯
This verse in Isaiah 3
Commentary
9 notes on this verse(Verse 24.) And it will be for a sweet smell, a stench; and for a belt, a cord. The one repenting of sins speaks of the stench: My scars have putrefied and become corrupted from the face of my foolishness (Psalm 38:6). The Apostle commanded to gird the loins with a belt, saying: Stand with your loins girded in truth (Ephesians 6:14). And we read about the sinner: Each one is bound by the cords of their own sins (Proverbs 5:22).
This site's exposition
And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell there shall be stink
And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell there shall be stink states the judgment as a formula of exact reversal, five pairs in one verse, sweet smell for stink, a girdle for a rent, well set hair for baldness, a stomacher for sackcloth, and beauty for a mark some read as burning and others as a brand. Each pair takes something named in the catalogue just given and turns it into its opposite, the perfume and ornament of verses eighteen through twenty three answered item for item. The rhetorical shape argues that the judgment fits the specific sin, vanity undone by exactly the means vanity had used.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
A commentator
John ChrysostomHomily on the Gospel of Matthew 89 · Written in the 5th century.
proposed
But shouldest thou enter into a church, thou geest forth, without getting anything but countless leers, and revilings, and curses, not from the beholders only, but also from the prophet. For straightway Isaiah, that hath the fullest voice of all, as soon as he hath seen thee, will cry out, "These things saith the Lord against the princely daughters of Sion; because they walked with a lofty neck, and with winkings of the eyes, and in their walking, trailing their garments, and mincing at the same time with their feet; the Lord shall take off their bravery, and instead of a sweet smell there shall be dust, and instead of a stomacher, thou shalt gird thyself with a cord." These things for thy gorgeous array. For not to them only are these words addressed, but to every woman that doeth like them.
The Medieval Church1 voice
127. And instead of a sweet smell there shall be. Here, the adornments of lasciviousness having been taken away, he exchanges them for the care of misery. And first, as to that which is without, he says: instead of a sweet smell there shall be …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Instead of a stomacher, or a scarf or sash, there shall be a girding of sackcloth, in token of deep humiliation; and burning instead of beauty. Those that had a good complexion, and were proud of it, when they are carried into captivity shall be tanned and sun-burnt; and it is observed that the best faces are soonest injured by the weather.
Girdle - Which were fine and costly, and useful to gird their garments about them. A rent - Torn and tattered garments. Burning - By the heat of the sun, to which they are now commonly exposed, from which they used formerly to guard themselves with the utmost care.
And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell there shall be a stink,....
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Instead of sweet smell “perfume” - A principal part of the delicacy of the Asiatic ladies consists in the use of baths, and of the richest oils and perfumes; an attention to which is in some degree necessary in those hot countries. Frequent mention is made of the rich ointments of the spouse in the Song of Solomon, Son 4:10, Son 4:11: - “How beautiful are thy breasts, my sister, my spouse! How much more excellent than wine; And the odour of thine ointments than all perfumes! Thy lips drop as the honey-comb, my spouse!
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And it shall come to pass - The prophet proceeds to denounce the “judgment” or “punishment” that would come upon them for their pride and vanity. In the calamities that would befall the nation, all their ornaments of pride and vainglory would be stripped off; and instead of them, they would exhibit the marks, and wear the badges of calamity and grief. Instead of sweet smell - Hebrew בשׂם bôs'em, aromatics, perfumes, spicy fragrance; such as they used on their garments and persons. ‘No one ever enters a company without being well perfumed; and in addition to various scents and oils, they are adorned with numerous garlands, made of the most odoriferous flowers.’ - “Roberts.” ‘The persons of the Assyrian ladies are elegantly clothed and scented with the richest oils and perfumes. When a queen was to be chosen to the king of Persia, instead of Vashti, the virgins collected at Susana, the capital, underwent a purification of twelve months’ duration, to wit: “six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with sweet odors.” The general use of such precious oil and fragrant perfumes among the ancient Roamns, particularly among the ladies of rank and fashion, may be inferred from these words of Virgil: Arabrosiaeque comae divinum vertice odorem Spiravere: AEn. i. 403. “From her head the ambrosial locks breathed divine fragrance.” Paxton. A stink - This word properly means the fetor or offensive smell which attends the decomposition of a deceased body. It means that the bodies which they so carefully adorned, and which they so assiduously endeavored to preserve in beauty by unguents and perfumes, would die and turn to corruption. And instead of a girdle - Girdles were an indispensable part of an Oriental dress. […]
The words behind it
19 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהָיָה֩ | vehayah | and it will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| תַ֨חַת | tachat | in place of | H8478 → | 505 times |
| בֹּ֜שֶׂם | bosem | perfume | H1314 → | |
| מַ֣ק | mak | rottenness | H4716 → | |
| יִֽהְיֶ֗ה | yihyeh | it will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| וְתַ֨חַת | vetachat | and in place of | H8478 → | 505 times |
| חֲגוֹרָ֤ה | chagorah | a belt | H2290 → | |
| נִקְפָּה֙ | nikpah | a rope | H5364 → | |
| וְתַ֨חַת | vetachat | and in place of | H8478 → | 505 times |
| מַעֲשֶׂ֤ה | maaseh | a work | H4639 → | 236 times |
| מִקְשֶׁה֙ | miksheh | well-set hair | H4748 → | |
| קָרְחָ֔ה | karechah | baldness | H7144 → | 11 times |
| וְתַ֥חַת | vetachat | and in place of | H8478 → | 505 times |
| פְּתִיגִ֖יל | petigil | a robe | H6614 → | |
| מַחֲגֹ֣רֶת | machagoret | a girding of | H4228 → | |
| שָׂ֑ק | sak | sackcloth | H8242 → | 49 times |
| כִּי־ | ki- | branding | H3587 → | |
| תַ֖חַת | tachat | in place of | H8478 → | 505 times |
| יֹֽפִי׃ | yofi | beauty | H3308 → |
וְהָיָה֩and it will be
vehayahH1961 →3559 times
תַ֨חַתin place of
tachatH8478 →505 times
בֹּ֜שֶׂםperfume
bosemH1314 →
מַ֣קrottenness
makH4716 →
יִֽהְיֶ֗הit will be
yihyehH1961 →3559 times
וְתַ֨חַתand in place of
vetachatH8478 →505 times
חֲגוֹרָ֤הa belt
chagorahH2290 →
נִקְפָּה֙a rope
nikpahH5364 →
וְתַ֨חַתand in place of
vetachatH8478 →505 times
מַעֲשֶׂ֤הa work
maasehH4639 →236 times
מִקְשֶׁה֙well-set hair
mikshehH4748 →
קָרְחָ֔הbaldness
karechahH7144 →11 times
וְתַ֥חַתand in place of
vetachatH8478 →505 times
פְּתִיגִ֖ילa robe
petigilH6614 →
מַחֲגֹ֣רֶתa girding of
machagoretH4228 →
שָׂ֑קsackcloth
sakH8242 →49 times
כִּי־branding
ki-H3587 →
תַ֖חַתin place of
tachatH8478 →505 times
יֹֽפִי׃beauty
yofiH3308 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Micah 1:16Shave yourselves bald and cut off your hair in mourning for your precious children; make yourselves as bald as an eagle, for they will go from you into exile.
it leads to
- Isaiah 22:12
On that day the Lord GOD of Hosts called for weeping and wailing, for shaven heads and the wearing of sackcloth.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 22:12
Through
Ezekiel 27:31They will shave their heads for you and wrap themselves in sackcloth. They will weep over you with anguish of soul and bitter mourning.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 7:18
They will put on sackcloth, and terror will overwhelm them. Shame will cover all their faces, and all their heads will be shaved.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 7:18
Through
Isaiah 22:12On that day the Lord GOD of Hosts called for weeping and wailing, for shaven heads and the wearing of sackcloth.
it leads to
- Amos 8:10
I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation. I will cause everyone to wear sackcloth and every head to be shaved. I will make it like a time of…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Joel 1:13
Put on sackcloth and lament, O priests; wail, O ministers of the altar. Come, spend the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God, because the grain and drink offerings are withheld from the…
- Micah 1:16
Shave yourselves bald and cut off your hair in mourning for your precious children; make yourselves as bald as an eagle, for they will go from you into exile.
- Joel 2:17
Let the priests who minister before the LORD weep between the portico and the altar, saying, “Spare Your people, O LORD, and do not make Your heritage a reproach, an object of scorn among…
- Amos 8:10
Through
Lamentations 2:10The elders of the Daughter of Zion sit on the ground in silence. They have thrown dust on their heads and put on sackcloth. The young women of Jerusalem have bowed their heads to…
it leads to
- Isaiah 3:26
And the gates of Zion will lament and mourn; destitute, she will sit on the ground.
- Job 2:12–13
When they lifted up their eyes from afar, they could barely recognize Job. They began to weep aloud, and each man tore his robe and threw dust in the air over his head.
- Isaiah 3:26
About Isaiah
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Chrysostom, Homily on the Gospel of Matthew 89; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.