Isaiah 47:2

Let those that have power use it with temper and moderation, considering that the spoke which is uppermost will be under. All her glory, and all her glorying, are gone. Instead of glory, she has ignominy (

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

Take the millstones, and grind meal “Take the mill, and grind corn” - It was the work of slaves to grind the corn. They used hand-mills: water-mills were not invented till a little before the time of Augustus, (see the Greek epigram of Antipater, which seems to celebrate it as a new invention, Anthol. Cephalae, 653); wind-mills, not until long after. It was not only the work of slaves, but the hardest work; and often inflicted upon them as a severe punishment: - Molendum in pistrino; vapulandum; habendae compedes. Terent. Phorm. 2:1. 19. Hominem pistrino dignum. Id. Heaut. 3:2.

Take the millstones, and grind meal - The design of this is plain. Babylon, that had been regarded as a delicately-trained female, was to be reduced to the lowest condition of poverty and wretchedness - represented here by being compelled to perform the most menial and laborious offices, and submitting to the deepest disgrace and ignominy. There is an allusion here to the custom of grinding in the East. The mills which were there commonly used, and which are also extensively used to this day, consisted of two stones, of which the lower one was convex on the upper side, and the upper one was concave on thee lower side, so that they fitted into each other. The hole for receiving the grain was in the center of the upper stone, and in the process of grinding the lower one was fixed, and the upper one was turned round, usually by two women (see Mat 24:41), with considerable velocity by means of a handle. Watermills were not invented until a little before the time of Augustus Caesar; and windmills long after. The custom of using handmills is the primitive custom everywhere, and they are still in use in some parts of Scotland, and generally in the East. (See Mr. Pennant’s “Tour to the Hebrides,” and the Oriental travelers generally. Grinding was usually performed by the women, though it was often regarded as the work of slaves. It was often inflicted on slaves as a punishment. Molendum in pistrino; vapulandum; habendae compedes. Terent. Phormio ii. 1. 19. In the East it was the usual work of female slaves see (Exo 11:5, in the Septuagint) ‘Women alone are employed to grind their corn.’ (Shaw, “Algiers and Tunis,” p. 297) ‘They are the female slaves that are generally employed in the East at those handmills. It is extremely laborious, and esteemed the lowest employment in the house.’ (Sir John Chardin, Harmer’s Obs. i. 153) Compare Lowth, and Gesen. […]