Isaiah 4:1 - Meaning and Application

It had already been warned in Isaiah 3:25 that the strong men would fall by the sword in war. That warning came as a punishment for the women who loved show and loose talk. Now Isaiah shows the result of that great slaughter of men.

First, though God in his wise providence has arranged things so that, on average, nearly equal numbers of boys and girls are born, war would make the balance far worse. Through the ruin caused by battle, there would be barely one man left for seven women. There are deaths that come with childbirth, and those are unique to women, who were first in sin. In the same way, there are deaths that belong especially to men, those who die by the sword in the heat of battle, and these may destroy even more lives than childbirth does.

Second, because there would be so few men, marriage would still continue, since the human race must be preserved. But the normal pattern of marriage would be greatly changed. Usually men seek women, but now the women would grab hold of the men. Like Lot’s daughters, they would foolishly fear that there were almost no men left (Genesis 19:31). Since women normally do not want to share a husband, seven women would agree to belong to one man.

By law, a husband was supposed to provide food and clothing for his wife (Exodus 21:10). That duty would be one reason many men would refuse more than one wife. But here the women are willing to provide for themselves. They will eat bread they have earned and wear clothes they have made. They ask the man for only one thing, that he let them be called his wives, so they can avoid the shame of remaining unmarried. They are ready to be wives on almost any terms, even unfair ones. In such troubled times, they may also see a husband as someone who can protect them.

Paul, however, says that in a time of distress the single life is better (1 Corinthians 7:26). It would be good if this verse is also meant as a rebuke to the daughters of Zion. Even under the humbling judgments they were facing (Isaiah 3:18), they were still not humbled. Instead of repenting of their pride and vanity while God was dealing with them, their only concern was to get husbands. The modesty that is the chief beauty of women had been forgotten. For them, the shame of vice mattered less than the shame of remaining unmarried, which is a sad sign of how far virtue had been ruined.