Isaiah 32:12

12 Beat your breasts in grief, because the fields that were pleasant are now empty. Cry, because the vines that once had fruit now have no more 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.

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FOOTNOTES:

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

Isaiah 32:12 In-Context

10 You women feel safe now, but after one year you will be afraid. There will be no grape harvest and no summer fruit to gather.

11 Women, you are calm now, but you should shake with fear. Women, you feel safe now, but you should tremble. Take off your nice clothes and put rough cloth around your waist to show your sadness.

12 Beat your breasts in grief, because the fields that were pleasant are now empty. Cry, because the vines that once had fruit now have no more grapes.

13 Cry for the land of my people, in which only thorns and weeds now grow. Cry for the city that once was happy and for all the houses that once were filled with joy.

14 The palace will be empty; people will leave the noisy city. Strong cities and towers will be empty. Wild donkeys will love to live there, and sheep will go there to eat.