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24 And it shall come to pass, | shall be stink; and instead of a that instead of sweet smell, there girdle, a rent; and instead of

The

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calamity and grief. ¶ Instead of sweet
smell. Hebrew bosěm, aroma-
tics, perfumes, spicy fragrance; such
as they used on their garments and
persons. No one ever enters a com-
pany without being well perfumed, and
in addition to various scents and oils,
they are adorned with numerous gar-
lands, made of the most odoriferous
flowers." Roberts.
The persons of

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cessary. This is now done by females of Eastern nations. Shaw informs us that, "In the Levant looking-glasses are a part of female dress. The Moorish women in Barbary are so fond of their ornaments, and particularly of their looking-glasses, which they hang upon their breasts, that they will not lay them aside, even when, after the drudgery of the day, they are obliged to go two or three miles with a pitcher the Assyrian ladies are elegantly clothor a goat-skin to fetch water." Bur-ed and scented with the richest oils der. In Egypt, the mirror was made and perfumes. When a queen was to of mixed metal, chiefly of copper, and be chosen to the king of Persia, inthis metal was so highly polished that stead of Vashti, the virgins collected in some of the mirrors discovered at at Susana, the capital, underwent a Thebes the lustre has been partially purification of twelve months duration, restored, though they have been buried to wit: six months with oil of myrrh, in the earth for many centuries. and six months with sweet odours.' mirror was nearly round, inserted in a The general use of such precious oil handle of wood, stone, or metal, whose and fragrant perfumes among the anform varied according to the taste of cient Romans, particularly among the the owner. The cuts on the following ladies of rank and fashion, may be inpage will give an idea of the ancient ferred from these words of Virgil: form of the mirror, and will show that they might be easily carried abroad as an ornament in public. Comp. Wilkinson's Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians, vol. iii. p. 384-386. A stink. This word properly means ¶ And the fine linen. Anciently the the fetor, or offensive smell which atmost delicate and fine garments were tends the decomposition of a deceasmade from linen which was obtained ed body. It means that the bodies chiefly from Egypt. See Note Luke xvi. which they so carefully adorned, and 19. And the hoods. Or, turbans. which they so assiduously endeavoured And the veils. This does not differ to preserve in beauty by unguents and probably from the veils worn now, ex-perfumes, would die and turn to corcept that those worn by Eastern females are large and made so as to cover the head and the shoulders-so that they may be drawn closely round the body, and effectually conceal the person. Comp. Gen. xxiv. 65.

24. 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

Ambrosiacque comae divinum vertice odorem
Spiravere :-
Aen. 1. 403.
From her head the ambrosial locks
breathed divine fragrance." Paxton.

ruption. And instead of a girdle. Girdles were an indispensable part of an Oriental dress. Their garments were loose and flowing, and it became necessary to gird them up when they ran, or 'danced, or laboured. ¶ A rent. There has been a great variety of opinion about the meaning of this word. The most probable signification is that which is derived from a verb meaning to go around, encompass, and hence that it denotes a cord. Instead of the beautiful girdle with which they girded themselves, there shall be a cord-an emblem of poverty, as the poor had

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well-set hair, baldness; and instead of a stomacher, a girding

2 Micah 1. 16.

nothing else with which to gird up their clothes-a humiliating description of the calamities which were to come upon proud and vain females of the court. And instead of well-set hair. Hair that was curiously braided and adorned. No ladies pay more Lttention to the dressing of the hair taan these [the dancing girls of India]; for as they never wear caps, they take great delight in tnis their natural ornament." Roberts. Miss Pardoe, in "the city of the Sultan," says, that after taking a bath the slaves who attended her spent an hour and a half in dressing and adorning her hair. Comp. 1 Pet. iii. 3. Instead of a stomacher. It is not certainly known what is meant by this, but it probably means some Bort of girdle, or a plaited, or stiffened ornament worn on the breast. "I once saw a dress beautifully plaited and

of sackcloth and burning in stead of beauty.

stiffened for the front, but I do not think it common." Roberts. A girding of sackcloth. This is a coarse cloth that was commonly worn in times of affliction, as emblematic of grief. 2 Sam. iii. 31. 1 Kings xx. 31. xxi. 27. Job xvi. 15. Isa. xxxii. 11. And burning. The word here used does not occur elsewhere. It seems to denote a brand, a mark burnt in, a stigma; perhaps a sun-burnt countenance, indicating exposure in the long and wearisome journey of a captivity over burning sands and beneath a scorching sun. Instead of beauty. Instead of a fair and delicate complexion, cherished and nourished with care. Some of the articles of dress here re ferred to may be illustrated by the following cuts exhibiting several varieties of the costume of an Oriental female.

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SUFA AND TURBAN.

122

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war.

26 And her gates shall la

To what particular time the prophet refers in this chapter is not known, perhaps, however, to the captivity at Babylon. To whatever he refers, it is one of the most striking reproofs of vanity and pride-especially the pride of female ornament, any where to be found. And although he had particular reference to the Jewish females, yet there is no impropriety in regarding it as applicable to all such ornaments wherever they may be found. They indicate the same state of the heart, and they must meet substantially the same rebuke from God. The body, however delicately pampered and adorned, must "The become the prey of corruption. worm shall feed sweetly on it, and the earth-worm shall be its covering." Comp. Isa. xiv. 2. Job xxiv. 20. The single thought that the body must die -that it must lie and moulder in the grave-should check the love of gay adorning, and turn the mind to a far more important matter, the salvation of the soul which cannot die; to "the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price." 1 Pet. iii. 4.*

* On this portion of Isaiah (iii. 16-24), the fol

lowing works may be consulted N. G. Schroe
deri comm. Philo. Crit. de vestitu mulierum He-
braeorum, 1745. 4to. Disserta Philolo. Polycarpi
Lyceri, ad Esa. ii. 16-18 illustrandum, in The
anu. Antiq. Ugolini, Tom. XXIX. pp 438-452;
also Bynaeus, de Calceis Hebrae. ch. viii.
Bau. Antiq. Sacr., Tom. XXIX. p. 756 seq.

The

ment and mourn; and she, being
desolate, shall sit upon the
ground.

4 might. z Lam, 1.4.

7 cleansed, or emptied.

b Lam. 2. 10.

This is an address
25. Thy men.
to Jerusalem itself-by a change not
uncommon in the writings of Isaiah.
In the calamities coming on them,
their strong men should be overcome,
and fall in battle.

26. And her gates. Cities were
surrounded with walls, and were en-
tered through gates opening into the
principal streets. Those gates became
of course the places of chief confluence
and of business; and the expression
here means that in all the places of
confluence, or amidst the assembled
people, there should be lamentation on
account of the slain in battle and the
loss of their mighty men in war. ¶ And
she. Jerusalem is often represented
as a female distinguished for beauty.
It is here represented as a female sit-
ting in a posture of grief. Being
desolate shall sit upon the ground.
To sit on the ground, or in the dust,
was the usual posture of grief and
mourning-denoting great depression
and humiliation. Lam. ii. 10, iii. 28.
Jer. xv. 17. Job iii. 13. Ezra ix. 3-5.
It is a remarkable coincidence that in
the medals which were made by the
Romans to commemorate the captivity
of Judea and Jerusalem, Judea is re-
presented under the figure of a female
sitting in a posture of grief under a
capta-in the form which is exhibited
palm tree, with this inscription:- Judea
in the annexed engraving.

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