And if thou say in thine heart
Not daring to express it with the mouth; and which,
notwithstanding, God, that knows the heart, was privy to, and
could discern all the secret workings of it; putting such a
question as this: wherefore come these things upon
me?
all these calamities, the invasion and siege of the enemy,
famine, sword, captivity: the answer returned is, for the
greatness of thine iniquity;
the enormous crimes the Jews were guilty of, such as idolatry,
blasphemy which were attended with aggravated circumstances: or,
"for the multitude of thine iniquity" {h}; their sins being so
many, as well as great: are thy skirts discovered, and thy
heels made bare;
being obliged to walk naked and barefoot, their buttocks
uncovered, and their legs and feet naked, without stockings or
shoes, as captives used to be led, to their great shame and
disgrace; see ( Isaiah
20:2-4 ) . The phrases are expressive of captivity, and the
manner of it; the cause of which was the greatness and multitude
of their sins. The Targum is,
``because thy sins are multiplied, thy confusion is revealed, thy shame is seen.''