Isaiah 32:11 · Bible study
Isaiah 32:11 Commentary: Command to Strip for Mourning
Hebrew · 10 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Exegesis of Isaiah 32:11: why the 'careless women' are told to strip and put on sackcloth, and its meaning for today.
Research Summary
- Meaning: Isaiah summons complacent women to exchange luxury garments for sackcloth as a sign of mourning for judgment about to fall.
- Key words: H7600 shá'anán (at ease/carefree), H0982 bátach (trust/confident), H6584 páshat (strip off), H2296 chágar (gird).
- Main debate: Whether the imperatives function primarily as an exhortation to repentance (Gill) or as a prediction of forced humiliation (Calvin).
- Theological theme: The necessity of lament and humility before God, and the danger of false security rooted in material wealth.
- Best use: Preaching on judgment, repentance, and hope; teaching about cultural symbols of mourning; studying the role of women in prophetic literature.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
Shudder, you ladies of leisure; tremble, you daughters of complacency. Strip yourselves bare and put sackcloth around your waists.
WEB World English Bible 2000
Tremble, you women who are at ease! Be troubled, you careless ones! Strip yourselves, make yourselves naked, and put sackcloth on your waist.
KJV King James Version 1769
Tremble, ye women that are at ease; be troubled, ye careless ones: strip you, and make you bare, and gird sackcloth upon your loins.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
Tremble, ye women that are at ease; be troubled, ye careless ones; strip you, and make you bare, and gird sackcloth upon your loins.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
Tremble ye women, ye easy ones, Be troubled, ye confident ones, Strip and make bare, with a girdle on the loins,
Darby Darby Bible 1890
Tremble, ye women that are at ease; be troubled, ye careless ones; strip you, and make you bare, and gird [sackcloth] on your loins!
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
Be astonished, ye rich women, be troubled, ye confident ones: strip you, and be confounded, gird your loins.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Temblad, oh reposadas; turbaos, oh confiadas: despojaos, desnudaos, ceñid los lomos con saco.
Tremei vós que estais em repouso, e sede perturbadas, vós que estais tão confiantes; despi-vos, e ficai nuas, e vesti vossos lombos com roupa de saco .
Soyez dans l’ effroi, insouciantes!
Erschreckt, ihr stolzen Frauen, zittert, ihr Sicheren! es ist vorhanden Ausziehen, Blößen und Gürten um die Lenden.
Beeft, gij geruste vrouwen; weest beroerd, dochters, die zo zeker zijt; trekt u uit, en ontbloot u, en gordt zakken om uw lendenen.
Abbiate spavento, o donne spensierate! tremate, o troppo fiduciose! Spogliatevi, nudatevi, cingetevi di cilicio i fianchi,
Zatrwożcie się, a ulęknijcie się, bezpieczne! zewleczcie się, i obnażcie się, a przepaszcie biodra wasze.
Содрогнитесь, беззаботные! ужаснитесь, беспечные! сбросьте одежды, обнажитесь и препояшьте чресла.
安逸的婦女啊，要戰兢；無慮的女子啊，要受騷擾。脫去衣服，赤著身體， 腰 束麻布。
Be shaking with fear, you women who are living in comfort; be troubled, you who have no fear of danger: take off your robes and put on clothing of grief.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Isaiah 32:11
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators largely agree that this verse serves as a sharp wake-up call to the complacent women of Jerusalem. Barnes notes that the command to strip and put on sackcloth means they are to exchange their joyful garments for the attire of mourners, signaling the arrival of disaster. Calvin underlines the repetition (tremble…be troubled) as necessary because prosperity makes people deaf to warnings. Gill sees a dual possibility: either an exhortation to repent or a prediction that they will be stripped by invaders. Both readings converge on the same point, the comfortable ease of the wealthy women is about to be shattered. Keil and Delitzsch describe these women as "contented" and "confident" in their false security. Across the supplied sources, stripping symbolizes the removal of luxury and the adoption of the visible, physical posture of grief and humility. The sackcloth on the loins (a detail Clarke notes that the Hebrew text originally contained, preserved in the Septuagint) completes the picture of mourning. The underlying urgency is that complacency before God's coming judgment is not an option.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Low
What is clear: All commentators agree that stripping and sackcloth symbolize the loss of security and the grief of judgment, whether voluntary or forced.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Historical referent of the judgment | The oracle refers to an impending destruction of Jerusalem and its land (vineyards, palaces, city). | Some identify it with Sennacherib's invasion of 701 BC; others (noted in Cambridge Bible) see a later, more complete destruction that could fit the Babylonian exile. |
| Nature of the stripping command | Stripping symbolizes the loss of security and the adoption of mourning, either voluntary (repentance) or forced (captivity). | Gill allows that it may be an exhortation to repent or a prediction of forced stripping; Calvin leans strongly toward the predictive/descriptive reading. |
| Gender focus of the address | Women are singled out, reflecting the prophet's earlier critique of their luxurious dress (Isa 3:16-24). | Keil says women are addressed because they are more impressionable yet still unconvinced; others see it as a rhetorical device to shame the whole nation through its women. |
| Text of 'sackcloth' | The context clearly implies sackcloth as the garment to be worn in mourning. | The Masoretic Hebrew lacks the word 'sackcloth'; it is supplied from the Septuagint and other versions (Clarke, Gill). This does not affect the meaning but shows a textual variant. |
Historical & Cultural Context
The address to the women of Jerusalem in Isaiah 32:11 belongs to a larger prophecy (32:9-20) that the Cambridge Bible describes as having two parts: a judgment oracle (vv.9-14) and a Messianic salvation promise (vv.15-20). The women targeted here, the "carefree" (H7600, shá'anán) and "confident" (H0982, botéchot), are those who feel secure because of their wealth and social position. In 8th-century Judah, wealthy women at court in Jerusalem enjoyed extravagant apparel and leisure, as earlier condemned in Isaiah 3:16-23. The passage comes within the "woe" series of chapters 28-31, which warn of judgment against a people trusting in alliances rather than in God.
Keil and Delitzsch note that the prophet singles out women because they are "by nature more delicate" yet still unmoved by earlier warnings, the men are not exempt, but the women's complacency highlights the depth of the nation's spiritual stupor. The command to strip and put on sackcloth reflects ancient Near Eastern mourning customs: removing luxurious clothing, sometimes exposing part of the body (cf. Isaiah 20:4), and wearing coarse sackcloth (Isaiah 15:3; 22:4-5). Isaiah 3:24 already predicted that finery would give way to sackcloth and baldness. The gesture here is not merely symbolic; for many, the stripping would become literal when enemy armies plundered the city and stripped captives (Deuteronomy 28:48).
Grammatically, the verbs, חִרְדוּ, רְגָזָה, פְּשֹׁטָה, עֹרָה, חֲגוֹרָה, are, according to Clarke, infinitives with a paragogic he used in an imperative sense. The masculine forms include the feminine, as Lange points out. This suggests a general command, but their prophetic function may be both a call to immediate repentance and a declaration of what will inevitably happen. The surrounding context (vv.10, 12-14) describes failed harvests, desolate palaces, and thorns overgrown, concrete signs of a land under judgment. The stripping command, then, is the appropriate human response to a coming catastrophe that only divine intervention can ultimately reverse (v.15).
Textual Notes
The primary textual note from the supplied sources is Adam Clarke's observation that the Hebrew word "sackcloth" (שַׂק, saq) is absent in the Masoretic Text of verse 11. The sense nevertheless requires it, and it is preserved in the Septuagint and the Syriac and Arabic versions, as well as in some Hebrew manuscripts. The imperative forms in the verse (חִרְדוּ, רְגָזָה, פְּשֹׁטָה, עֹרָה, חֲגוֹרָה) are grammatically infinitives absolute with a paragogic ה used to convey an imperative sense (Clarke, Lange). This is a legitimate Hebrew construction, not a scribal error. No significant variants affect the meaning of the verse.
Reception History
Throughout Christian history, Isaiah 32:11 has been read as a vivid call to repent of worldly security. Early church fathers often cited it alongside prophetic summons to sackcloth and ashes, seeing in it a pattern for Lenten discipline. The Reformers Calvin and Matthew Henry emphasized the need for the comfortable to be shocked awake, holding the verse as a mirror to the spiritually complacent of their own day. In more recent centuries, the passage has sometimes been applied to social and economic injustice, with the stripping imagery interpreted as a call to the wealthy to abandon luxury in solidarity with the poor. Across traditions, the verse functions as a warning against trusting in prosperity rather than in God, and as an invitation to the kind of mourning that prepares the heart for grace.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- Complacency blinds. The women's ease and confidence were based on present abundance, not on covenant faithfulness. The prophet's repeated verbs (tremble, be troubled) shatter false peace.
- Genuine mourning is visible. Stripping and sackcloth are public, physical acts that match the seriousness of the situation. Repentance that costs nothing is no repentance.
- Judgment is not the last word. The opening of the address (v.9) expects a hearing, and v.15 promises restoration when the Spirit is poured out. Mourning clears the way for hope.
Five-point outline
- The sin of security. Ease (shá'anán) and trust (bátach) without God become arrogance.
- The prophet's repeated alarm. The verbs escalate: tremble, be troubled, strip, bare, gird. Prophetic shock therapy for hardened hearts.
- Cultural signs of grief. Sackcloth and bodily exposure were the language of mourning in Israel. The call demands the community read the signs of the times.
- The stripping of all props. The wealthy women's finest garments, symbols of status, are to be removed. Judgment strips everything we trust instead of God.
- The hope on the other side. Verses 15-20, with the Spirit poured out and peace established, show that repentance leads to restoration.
Illustration hooks
- A sudden job loss can remove the comfortable identity tied to a salary and title, what then holds you together?
- A routine medical test comes back with bad news, forcing an immediate shift in priorities. The prophet's call is like that shock.
- The church's neglect of the poor parallels the rich women's indifference in Isaiah's day; stripping here may mean voluntarily lowering our standard of living to serve.
Questions your congregation is asking
- "How do I know if I'm 'at ease' in a sinful way rather than simply enjoying God's gifts?"
- "Does God actually want me to be miserable and anxious all the time?"
- "What does repentance look like in my daily routines, not just on Sunday?"
Leading a Discussion
Isaiah's call to the careless women of Jerusalem is a jarring wake-up call in the middle of a section that promises eventual restoration. The command to strip and put on sackcloth confronts us with a core question: Are we comfortable in ways that keep us from hearing God's warning about sin and judgment? This passage invites a group to examine areas of false security and consider what true repentance looks like in ordinary life.
Discussion questions
- Read Isaiah 32:9-14. What clues in the surrounding verses tell you why the prophet addresses the women specifically?
- The Hebrew word for "careless" (bótéchot) can mean "secure" or "confident." In what context is confidence a virtue, and when does it become a danger?
- Why does Isaiah command such a dramatic public display of stripping and sackcloth? What does this say about the seriousness of the situation?
- Compare this passage with Isaiah 3:16-24 and Isaiah 22:12-14. How does Isaiah's message about finery and mourning build over the course of his book?
- Calvin said that prosperity makes people deaf to warnings. Where in your life or community have you seen success dull sensitivity to spiritual things?
- If the stripping command is a metaphor, what would a modern equivalent look like for a person or a church too comfortable with the status quo?
- The passage ends with hope in verses 15-20. How does genuine repentance (mourning over sin) actually prepare us to receive grace rather than simply making us feel guilty?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Deuteronomy 28:48 | therefore you will serve your enemies whom Yahweh sends against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in lack of all things. He will put an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you. |
| Isaiah 2:19 | Men shall go into the caves of the rocks, and into the holes of the earth, from before the terror of Yahweh, and from the glory of his majesty, when he arises to shake the earth mightily. |
| Isaiah 2:21 | to go into the caverns of the rocks, and into the clefts of the ragged rocks, from before the terror of Yahweh, and from the glory of his majesty, when he arises to shake the earth mightily. |
| Isaiah 3:24 | It shall happen that instead of sweet spices, there shall be rottenness; instead of a belt, a rope; instead of well set hair, baldness; instead of a robe, a wearing of sackcloth; and branding instead of beauty. |
| Isaiah 15:3 | In their streets, they clothe themselves in sackcloth. In their streets and on their housetops, everyone wails, weeping abundantly. |
| Isaiah 20:4 | so the king of Assyria will lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Ethiopia, young and old, naked and barefoot, and with buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt. |
| Isaiah 22:4 | Therefore I said, “Look away from me. I will weep bitterly. Don’t labor to comfort me for the destruction of the daughter of my people. |
| Isaiah 22:5 | For it is a day of confusion, and of treading down, and of perplexity from the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, in the valley of vision, a breaking down of the walls, and a crying to the mountains.” |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
10 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke highlights a textual issue: the Hebrew word for sackcloth is missing in some manuscripts but preserved in the Septuagint and other ancient versions. He also notes that the commands to tremble and strip are grammatically infinitives used as imperatives.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes explains that the command to strip off festive clothing and put on sackcloth is a visible sign of a coming disaster. For him the outward change in dress signals an inner reality of mourning, with "gird sackcloth" carrying the same meaning he previously discussed in Isaiah 3:24.
Calvin's Commentaries Reformed 1564
Calvin stresses that prosperity makes people spiritually drowsy, so God must keep repeating warnings to shake them awake. The command to tremble is a prediction: the ease they enjoy will not last. Sackcloth replaces their luxuries because deep loss is coming, and they will finally feel it.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
This commentator highlights the prophet's blessing on the agricultural population as a deliberate contrast to the false refinement and military display of the doomed civilization. The vision of peaceful farming with abundant water and safe pasture represents Messianic hope as a return to simple, secure prosperity.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The Geneva Notes call for complacent women to exchange their ease for shock and grief. Those who are careless must strip off their fine clothes and put on sackcloth, a dramatic sign of repentance and mourning over coming judgment.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill notes the Hebrew word for "careless" means "confident ones" trusting in their wealth. He interprets the stripping and sackcloth either as a call to repentant mourning or as a prediction that enemies will strip them bare and force them into servile labor.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
JFB interprets "strip you" as a direct act of divine judgment: God removes the people's luxurious clothing, leaving them exposed. The cross-reference to Isaiah 2 reinforces that this stripping accompanies the terror of the Lord's coming, when people try to hide.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil-Delitzsch note the precise timeframe: the women's false ease will shatter within a year, when the harvest fails and vines wither. They highlight how the prophet uses masculine imperatives for feminine subjects, a grammatical shift that makes the command to strip and mourn shockingly absolute. Jerusalem's gaiety will end in ruins fit for wild donkeys and flocks.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange highlights that the prophet addresses the proud, carefree women of Jerusalem, announcing that their false ease will give way to sudden desolation. Yet this judgment is only temporary: a future outpouring of the Spirit will bring a complete reversal into lasting peace and true security, founded on righteousness rather than empty luxury.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry warns that the careless ease of wealthy women, whose luxury drives their husbands to neglect the poor, will bring God's judgment in the form of hard times. Yet he also sees a turn toward mercy for the generous, when righteousness brings peace and secure dwelling.