The Haughtiness of Zion

As Isaiah described the Lord’s condemnation of the wicked among His people, he gave us these words, “Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched-forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet—Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will discover their secret parts” (2 Nephi 13:16-17).  He then went on to describe in detail the ornate nature of the women’s apparel and what would be taken away from them in the day of judgment.  Among the list of items are many that are clearly 17^th century or earlier parlance (when the King James Bible was translated) that are very hard to understand today.  I’ve usually skipped over these words assuming that I understood the general message of the verses, but since my daughter asked me what a “crisping pin” was today when we read scriptures—and I had no idea—I thought I would try to gain a little better understanding on what some of these words mean.  So here is my list of what I could find on how we can understand these items that Isaiah mentions:

 

·        Cauls: A cap or hat of net

·        Muffler: A scarf worn around the neck

·        Tablet: Some kind of perfume box

·        Mantle: A large tunic worn by women

·        Wimple: A wrap or veil

·        Crisping-pin: Some kind of bag or purse

·        Stomacher: An article of dress

 All of the items clearly belong in the category of women’s apparel, and the prophet’s message is a warning against letting status symbols and the things of the world take our heart away from the Lord.  It seems clear that his description matches what we see in our society today as those with money flaunt it so others can see.  I even saw a billboard recently advertising for some expensive jewelry with the caption something to the effect of: “Got a promotion? Show the world.”  That’s exactly the kind of attitude the Lord is condemning here.  When the wearing of our clothing acquired a meaning other than what it functionally does for us, perhaps that’s a sign that we have let status become too important for us.  And even though this section condemns the women in far more words than the men, the condemnation—or at least the punishment—a for the men is even harsher: “Thy men shall fall by the sword and thy mighty in the war” (2 Nephi 13:25).  The women will lost their status symbols and other things associated with their beauty and be smitten by the Lord, but the men will simply die.  Surely we could pretty easily replace the items in this list for those more applicable to men, and we could highlight the same pride and haughtiness among many of us still today.  Isaiah’s message to all of us here is to choose to humble ourselves before the Lord—for if we don’t, we will have to anyway when our time comes.