Isaiah 32:12

12 Beat your breasts as you mourn for the fields, for the vines bearing grapes.

Isaiah 32:12 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 32:12

They shall lament for the teats
Either of the beasts of the field, that should be dried up, and give no milk, through the great drought that should be upon the land; or through the waste of the herbage by the enemy; or else of the women, their breasts and paps, which should afford no milk for their infants, through the famine that should press them sore, which would occasion great lamentation, both in mothers and children; though some think are to be understood of the fields, and are explained by them in the next clause; the fruitful earth being compared to a woman, its fields are like breasts or paps, which yield food and nourishment, but now should not afford any, and therefore there would be cause of lamentation. Jarchi interprets it, "they shall beat upon their breasts" F13 a gesture used in lamentation to express exceeding great grief and sorrow, ( Luke 18:13 ) ( 23:48 ) some, because the word rendered "lament" is of the masculine gender, and so not applicable to women, render the words in connection with the preceding verse ( Isaiah 32:11 ) thus,

``gird sackcloth on your loins, and on your mourning breasts'' F14;
though they may be interpreted indefinitely, "there shall be lamentation for the teats", among all sorts of people, men, women, and children: for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine;
as the fields are when covered with corn and grass, and the vines with clusters of grapes, but now should not be, either through drought, or by being foraged and trampled on by the enemy.
FOOTNOTES:

F13 So it is explained in T. Bab. Moed Katon, fol. 27. 2.
F14 So Castalio.

Isaiah 32:12 In-Context

10 In a little less than a year you overconfident women will tremble, because the grape harvest will fail and no fruit will be brought in [from the fields].
11 Shudder, you pampered women. Tremble, you overconfident women. Take off your clothes, walk around naked, and wear sackcloth around your waists.
12 Beat your breasts as you mourn for the fields, for the vines bearing grapes.
13 Mourn for my people's land where thorns and briars will grow. Mourn for all the happy homes in a joyful city.
14 Palaces will be deserted. Noisy cities will be abandoned. Fortresses and watchtowers will become permanent caves. They will be a delight for wild donkeys and pastures for flocks
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