Yeshayah 47:3

3 Thy ervat (nakedness) shall be exposed, yes, thy cherpah (shame, reproach) shall be seen; I will take nakam (vengeance) and I will not be as adam when I meet thee.

Yeshayah 47:3 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 47:3

Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen,
&c.] Not only stripped of their garments, and have nothing to cover their naked bodies, being spoiled of all by the soldiers; but should have nothing to cover those parts which women are most ashamed should be exposed to view, and which is often the case of such who fall into the hands of the conquerors. It is said of the whore of Rome, of mystical Babylon, that the kings of the earth should hate her, and make her desolate and naked, ( Revelation 17:16 ) : I will take vengeance;
for though the Medes and Persians were the instruments, the destruction was of the Lord, who took vengeance of the Chaldeans, for their ill usage of his people; as he will on mystical Babylon, ( Revelation 18:20 ) ( 19:2 ) : and I will not meet thee as a man;
in a humane way, with lenity, tenderness, and compassion, but with inflexible wrath and fury; not with human strength, which is but weakness, but with the strength of the mighty God; as is said of mystical Babylon, strong is the Lord God that judgeth her,
( Revelation 18:8 ) or it may be rendered, "I will not meet a man" F4; or a man shall not meet me, to stop or hinder me, by strength or might, or by prayers and entreaties. So some give the sense, "I will not receive the "intercession of any man for thee"; which is observed by Kimchi. The Targum is, "I will change "thy judgment from the children of men"; which agrees with the first sense.


FOOTNOTES:

F4 (Mda egpa alw) "et non occurram homini", Cocceius; so some in Vatablus; "neque feram obstare quenquam mihi", Junius & Tremellius. So Ben Melech, "I will not receive the request of a man, his supplication for them."

Yeshayah 47:3 In-Context

1 7 Go down, and sit in the aphar, O Betulat Bat Bavel, sit on the ground; there is no kisse, O Bat Kasdim (Chaldeans); for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate.
2 Take the millstones, and grind meal; uncover thy tzammah (hair, tresses) lift up thy shohvel (train, skirt), bare the thigh, pass over the neharot.
3 Thy ervat (nakedness) shall be exposed, yes, thy cherpah (shame, reproach) shall be seen; I will take nakam (vengeance) and I will not be as adam when I meet thee.
4 Go’aleinu, Hashem Tzva’os Shmo, Kadosh Yisroel.
5 Sit thou silent, and get thee into choshech, O Bat Kasdim (Chaldeans); for thou shalt no more be called, Geveret Mamlachot (The Lady of Kingdoms).
The Orthodox Jewish Bible fourth edition, OJB. Copyright 2002,2003,2008,2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International. All rights reserved.