Yeshayah 3:16

16 Moreover Hashem saith, Because the Banot Tziyon are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and winking [flirtatious] eyes, walking and tripping along as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet [ankle rings];

Yeshayah 3:16 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 3:16

Moreover the Lord saith, because the daughters of Zion are
haughty
The wives or daughters of the rulers, princes, or elders; these were "high", affected to look high and tall, and therefore stretched out their necks, and walked on tiptoes; or "were lifted up" with pride, which is the root and source of all the vanity expressed in their gesture and ornaments. And walk with stretched forth necks
or "throats"; looking high, and above others, and upon them with contempt and disdain; this is a sign of pride; see ( Psalms 75:5 ) : and wanton eyes;
either winking with their eyes to others to follow them to their houses, as Kimchi interprets it; so Jarchi thinks it is expressive of their looks, as we, of wanton looks; and the Septuagint render it, "with winking of eyes"; so the Syriac and Arabic versions, or painting their eyes; so the Targum,

``they walk with their eyes painted,''

as Jezebel painted her face, ( 2 Kings 9:30 ) ( Jeremiah 4:30 ) (arqyo) , in the Talmudic language, is used ^F17 for vermilion, or red lead, with which they painted their eyes, as they did also with (adydu) , ^F18 black lead. Walking and mincing [as] they go:
jumping and dancing as children in the streets; or using the like gesture as those who beat upon a drum; or walking in even paces, in a soft and delicate manner; all which senses Kimchi ^F19 observes in the word. The whole is rendered by the Septuagint, "and in the walk of their feet", or as they walk "together, drawing their coats" upon the ground after them, which makes a noise. The Targum is, "with hair rolled up", bound up and plaited. And making a tinkling with their feet;
having a sort of bells hanging on them, as Kimchi thinks, which made a noise as they went. Of the word here used, and the sense of it, (See Gill on Isaiah 3:18). The Targum renders it, "provoking with their feet"; either the lust of men; or the anger of the Lord, as the Syriac version; the Septuagint and Arabic versions, "playing with the feet".

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FOOTNOTES:

F17 T. Bab. Roshhashanah, fol. 18. 1. Misn. Sabbat. c. 12. sect. 4. Maimon. & Bartenora in ib.
F18 Targum on 2 Kings ix. 30.
F19 Sepher Shorash. rad. (Ppj) .

Yeshayah 3:16 In-Context

14 Hashem will enter into mishpat with the Ziknei Amo (Elders of His People), and the sarim thereof; for ye have eaten up the kerem (vineyard); the plunder of the oni is in your batim (houses).

15 What mean ye that ye crush Ami, and grind the faces of the aniyim? saith Adonoi Hashem Tzva’os.

16 Moreover Hashem saith, Because the Banot Tziyon are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and winking [flirtatious] eyes, walking and tripping along as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet [ankle rings];

17 Therefore Adonoi will strike with a scab the kodkod (top of the head) Banot Tziyon, and Hashem will lay bare their nakedness.

18 In Yom Hahu, Adonoi will take away the fine show of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their headbands, and their crescent necklaces,