Isaiah 3:24. Instead of well set hair baldness, and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth.
1. The women of the East have always paid special attention to dressing the hair. Folds, braids, and tresses in every variety are a source of pride.
See note on 1 Peter 3:3 (#886). On the other hand, baldness is considered a great calamity and is made an occasion for contempt. See note on 2 Kings 2:23 (#328). Thus the change from “well-set hair” to “baldness” would be regarded as a serious misfortune.
2. Pethigil, “stomacher,” is supposed by some to have been a girdle, made of beautiful and costly materials and richly embroidered. Others, from the etymology of the word, and from the contrast between the “stomacher” and the “girding of sackcloth,” suppose it to have been a wide loose flowing mantle characteristic of luxury and wantonness.