2 Take the millstones, and grind meal; remove your veil, strip off the train, uncover the leg, pass through the rivers.
two women grinding at the mill, one will be taken and one will be left.
The Philistines laid hold on him, and put out his eyes; and they brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison-house.
so shall the king of Assyria lead away the captives of Egypt, and the exiles of Ethiopia, young and old, naked and barefoot, and with buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.
Then let my wife grind for another, And let others sleep with her.
There will be two grinding grain together. One will be taken, and the other will be left."
"Behold, I am against you," says Yahweh of Hosts, "and I will lift your skirts over your face. I will show the nations your nakedness, and the kingdoms your shame. I will throw abominable filth on you, and make you vile, and will set you a spectacle.
She said to the servant, "Who is the man who is walking in the field to meet us?" The servant said, "It is my master." She took her veil, and covered herself.
therefore see, I will gather all your lovers, with whom you have taken pleasure, and all those who you have loved, with all those who you have hated; I will even gather them against you on every side, and will uncover your nakedness to them, that they may see all your nakedness. I will judge you, as women who break wedlock and shed blood are judged; and I will bring on you the blood of wrath and jealousy. I will also give you into their hand, and they shall throw down your vaulted place, and break down your lofty places; and they shall strip you of your clothes, and take your beautiful jewels; and they shall leave you naked and bare.
All the nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the time of his own land come: and then many nations and great kings shall make him their bondservant.
Therefore will I also uncover your skirts on your face, and your shame shall appear.
Tremble, you women who are at ease; be troubled, you careless ones; strip yourselves, and make yourselves naked, and gird [sackcloth] on your loins.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Isaiah 47
Commentary on Isaiah 47 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 47
Infinite Wisdom could have ordered things so that Israel might have been released and yet Babylon unhurt; but if they will harden their hearts, and will not let the people go, they must thank themselves that their ruin is made to pave the way to Israel's release. That ruin is here, in this chapter, largely foretold, not to gratify a spirit of revenge in the people of God, who had been used barbarously by them, but to encourage their faith and hope concerning their own deliverance, and to be a type of the downfall of that great enemy of the New-Testament church which, in the Revelation, goes under the name of "Babylon.' In this chapter we have,
Isa 47:1-6
In these verses God by the prophet sends a messenger even to Babylon, like that of Jonah to Nineveh: "The time is at hand when Babylon shall be destroyed.' Fair warning is thus given her, that she may by repentance prevent the ruin and there may be a lengthening of her tranquility. We may observe here,
Isa 47:7-15
Babylon, now doomed to ruin, is here justly upbraided with her pride, luxury, and security, in the day of her prosperity, and the confidence she had in her own wisdom and forecast, and particularly in the prognostications and counsels of the astrologers. These things are mentioned both to justify God in bringing these judgments upon her and to mortify her, and put her to so much the greater shame, under these judgments; for, when God comes forth to take vengeance, glory belongs to him, but confusion to the sinner.