Ésaïe 47:2

2 Prends les meules, et mouds de la farine; Ote ton voile, relève les pans de ta robe, Découvre tes jambes, traverse les fleuves!

Ésaïe 47:2 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 47:2

Take the millstones, and grind meal
Foretelling that the Chaldeans should be taken captives, and used as such, and sent to prison houses, where they should turn the mill, and grind corn into meal; a very servile work, and which used to be done by captives and slaves, even by female ones, ( Exodus 11:5 ) ( 12:29 ) ( Judges 16:21 ) . The Targum is,

``go into servitude;''
of which this was a sign: uncover thy locks:
the attire and dress of the head, by which the locks were bound up and kept together; but being taken off, would hang loose, and be dishevelled, as in captives and mourners. The Targum is,
``uncover the glory of thy kingdom:''
make bare the leg;
or the shoulder, as the Vulgate Latin version, to be scourged by the Persians: uncover the thigh, pass over the rivers:
they are bid to tuck up their clothes so high, that they might pass over the rivers which lay between them and Persia, whither they were carried captives. The Targum is,
``thy princes are broken, the people of their army are scattered, they pass away as the waters of the river.''

Ésaïe 47:2 In-Context

1 Descends, et assieds-toi dans la poussière, Vierge, fille de Babylone! Assieds-toi à terre, sans trône, Fille des Chaldéens! On ne t'appellera plus délicate et voluptueuse.
2 Prends les meules, et mouds de la farine; Ote ton voile, relève les pans de ta robe, Découvre tes jambes, traverse les fleuves!
3 Ta nudité sera découverte, Et ta honte sera vue. J'exercerai ma vengeance, Je n'épargnerai personne. -
4 Notre rédempteur, c'est celui qui s'appelle l'Eternel des armées, C'est le Saint d'Israël. -
5 Assieds-toi en silence, et va dans les ténèbres, Fille des Chaldéens! On ne t'appellera plus la souveraine des royaumes.
The Louis Segond 1910 is in the public domain.