Isa 3:16-17 | NETfull | STEP | The Lord says, “The women of Zion are proud. They walk with their heads high and flirt with their eyes. They skip along and the jewelry on their ankles jingles.

Isaiah 3:16-17

Washing Away Impurity

16 The Lord says,
“The women ^{▼▼ Heb “daughters” (so KJV, NAB, NRSV).} of Zion are proud.
They walk with their heads high ^{▼▼ Heb “with an outstretched neck.” They proudly hold their heads high so that others can see the jewelry around their necks.}
and flirt with their eyes.
They skip along ^{▼▼ Heb “walking and skipping, they walk.”}
and the jewelry on their ankles jingles. ^{▼▼ Heb “and with their feet they jingle.”}
17 So ^{▼▼ In the Hebrew text vv. 16–17 and one long sentence, “Because the daughters of Zion are proud and walk…, the sovereign master will afflict….” In v. 17 the Lord refers to himself in the third person.} the sovereign master ^{▼▼ The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here and in v. 18 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).} will afflict the foreheads of Zion’s women ^{▼▼ Heb “the daughters of Zion.”} with skin diseases, ^{▼▼ Or “a scab” (KJV, ASV); NIV, NCV, CEV “sores.”}
the Lord will make the front of their heads bald.” ^{▼▼ The precise meaning of this line is unclear because of the presence of the rare word פֹּת (pot). Since the verb in the line means “lay bare, make naked,” some take פֹּת as a reference to the genitals (cf. KJV, ASV, NRSV, CEV). (In 1 Kgs 7:50 a noun פֹּת appears, with the apparent meaning “socket.”) J. N. Oswalt (Isaiah [NICOT], 1:139, n. 2), basing his argument on alleged Akkadian evidence and the parallelism of the verse, takes פֹּת as “forehead.”}