Around two years ago, I stopped at a gas station in Skokie and attendant noticed my green scarf and complimented me on my “muffler.” That stopped me in my tracks. For years, I grew up with learning the Biblical and Book of Mormon passages about the Daughters of Zion. I’d never heard of a scarf being called a muffler before, and while I tried my best to void the excesses of accessories and worshiping fashion more than God, that caught me off guard. The attendant was from another country and meant it as a compliment. My green scarf is pretty, and I thanked him, but then I couldn’t stop thinking about it since then.
This blog post tries to examine possible examples of the section of Isaiah 3:16-24. All interpretations are by the author alone and are not meant as revelatory directions in Church doctrine. They are, however, meant to allow for thoughts and potential discussions on the matter whether or not I see or hear any of the outcome of it. Biblical scripture references are taken from the KJV, Gospel Library app associated with LDS content as of 22 Nov 2013.
Here is the original content:
16 ¶Moreover the Lord saith, Because the adaughters of Zion arebhaughty, and cwalk with stretched forth necks and dwanton eyes, walking and emincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet:
17 Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will adiscover their secret parts.
18 In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of theirtinkling ornaments about their feet, and their acauls, and theirbround tires like the moon,
19 The chains, and the bracelets, and the amufflers,
20 The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the earrings,
21 The rings, and nose jewels,
22 The achangeable suits of bapparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping pins,
23 The aglasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the veils.
24 And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle aa rent; and instead of well set hair bbaldness; and instead of ca stomacher a girding of sackcloth; and dburning instead of ebeauty.
Time to examine:
v. 16– haughty– meaning vain; stretched forth necks- above others, wanton eyes- being slutty, looking for someone who’s got a hot body versus a great soul. Walking and mincing as they go– high heels are a possible culprit here. Have you ever heard heels on concrete? They are called “clackers” in the movie, The Devil Wears Prada put out by Disney. It sounds like chopping knives (mincing) on a wood block when you have a bunch of them together. tinkling with their feet-not sure, but I don’t wear heels enough to know. Maybe shoes will have sound effects of some sort. Or bells or otherwise. TBD.
v. 17– When it mentions the scab, I’m not sure why, but I’ve always considered dandruff for it. Discover secret parts may be that women aren’t guarding their virginity. It’s open to whomever. Not sure of a good explanation for it, though I could also see the scab being head tattoos.
v.18- bravery in this case isn’t actually bravery. These women do not want to be different from the world, but to fit in still following the commandments but right up to the line. It’s using clothing for pride versus for comfort, protection, etc. Looking pretty doesn’t have to be prideful, but any effort to look better than someone else is prideful. Trying to be the best that you can be is fine, but beyond that is not.
ornaments of the feet– Would that be a pedicure? There’s a huge difference between being neat and comely (clean and modest) and basing one’s social stature on the paint of their nails in relation to the rest of their outfit and how well they accessorize between all of it.
Some of these things I had to look up because I’m not used to the language, like muffler, as mentioned before. Here come the pics from the research:
caul: Although there is a definition dealing with membranes covering a newborn’s head during childbirth, there is also another definition according to Dictionary.com:
caul back hair net
or
birdcage hair net
Although I see bird cages done much more often than the back hair net, it seems to fit the initial description of the hair piece as it covers the front of the head in a membrane-like manner as worn by women.
round tires like the moon– This one has always puzzled me a little. Isaiah was a prophet. I think of tires and I think of
white wall chrome hubcaps
but I’m not sure if that is what is meant. When looking up the definition, it mentions something about headdresses, although that is an archaic definition of the term. But, for the people who wrote the KJV, they weren’t using 21st century English. They were trying to translate the text correctly, but there is serious doubt that vulcanized rubber was thought of in Shakespeare’s time. Not saying that the prophet couldn’t be talking about car culture, but then I looked it up. Definitions regard tire as an abbreviation for attire, and a more ancient meaning of the term meant headdress. So, I thought of two options for it. One is
A tiara, encrusted with star-like jewels whether real or fake. Seems to follow a theme regarding how the daughters of Zion embody the Church and their crown should be more purity than in regards to fashion.
Your over-the-top fascinator hat complete with a round tire. Still amazed that it didn’t fall off.
While stylish, fascinators don’t seem to be made for working, like for getting one’s hands dirty or moving too much in lieu of mussing up one’s hair. It’s like, you have to have a lot of money to be able to wear something that keeps you from performing manual labor. The money, while not necessarily a part of pride, is often linked with it. The love of money is the root of all evil, not using money for good like helping out disaster victims or such. Still to be determined on this one.
v. 19- chains: Easy picture.
Examples of different kinds of jewelry chains.
bracelets? Again, easy-
Refined charm bracelet
Another bracelet
mufflers:
scarves otherwise known as mufflers
v. 20 bonnets :
newsboy cap
The bonnet could refer to nearly any women’s hat. These are a few I picked out. I was worked in Evanston once, and saw a woman rushing for a train who was willing to drop at least $32 for a trendy newspaper boy cap hat in the right color at a store in a short amount of time. It seemed strange to me that she would do that, but I’m not a hat person. I want to keep my head warm, but practical is more important than trendy or expensive.
ornaments of the legs– Tattoos?
ankle tattoos
headbands- While they come in many varieties, this is what came to mind for me lately:
headband
Any headband will do for this definition, and as with all other accessories mentioned here, there are plenty for choosing. Entire stores have religious-like worship of the scarf (Hermes) or the electronic gadget (Apple) or rings (Kay, Jared, Tiffany, etc.)
I don’t think that anyone will dispute what these are called: (tablets)
tablet with attached back stand and keyboard
earrings
Sample pictures of earrings.
v. 21 rings:
The traditional engagement ring was not diamond until the DeBeers company advertised it that way. Rings are traditional ornamentation, but they are more bourgeoisie than lower classes and working people.
fashion or statement ring
nose jewels:
Example of a nose jewel
A different interpretation:
Katy Perry nose jewel
v. 22
changeable suits of apparel
a wrap dress many ways
mantles (cloaks or capes)
modern cloak or cape look (mantle)
wimple
The next may be a slightly more modern take on the concept, but behold a potential crisping pin:
hair straightener/ crisping pin
Not to be outdone, another take with similar effects:
crisping pin 2-hair curler
v. 23- glasses (meaning transparent garments)
One of the least objectionable (rated PG-13 or lower) pictures I could find. Yes, you can see their underwear. I hope that is the farthest extent of it.
Underwear is underneath, not meant to be seen whenever possible. Showing more skin is not attractive of the kinds of attention that any woman with confidence wants.
Fine linen is a little dicier a topic. Although not typically immodest, it is expensive for clothing. Case study, Banana Republic suit:
fine linen and cotton suit
On sale for around $60, retailing normally for $120 for one piece of clothing to be worn one day, or perhaps multiple days if washing, pressing and starching are allowed. Otherwise, dry cleaners. I do not have objections to the fabric, but mainly to the expense of it. It is hard to find long-wearing modest clothes at an inexpensive price in America.
I’ll admit that hoods can be on almost any piece of clothing these days and
and are common. Here is one example of them:
- coat with fur-lined hood
Veils could have a few different meanings- there’s the traditional wedding veil, or there are a few other potential veils, meaning clothing that thinly covers the form. One example potentially are skinny jeans or leggings, like:
- thin veiling leggings
Often worn underneath an over shirt, they leave nothing to be implied. You know one’s exact form. It is immodest to wear them as outer clothing.
Instead of Bath and Body Works scents, wide belts, hair spray, or SPANX, there will be self-conscious, torn, chemically bald, women who are covered in clothes of repentance (sack cloth). Burning (embarrassment or burning from diseases that come as part of where the behavior leads) instead of what was once considered beautiful.
