“And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.”
In that day, seven women will cling to one man, asking to bear his name and remove their reproach—a poetic image of demographic devastation where death has so depleted the male population that women outnumber men dramatically. The specific request to bear his name and remove reproach suggests that in the culture of Isaiah's time, childlessness and unmarriage constitute shame requiring redemption. The extreme ratio (seven to one) emphasizes the totality of judgment; warfare, famine, and plague have eliminated the majority of men. This verse functions as bridge between the judgment section of chapters 1-3 and the restoration section beginning in verse 2; the judgment is so severe that even married women who provide their own bread and clothing are desperate to marry and bear children to restore their honor. The image captures the devastating human costs of covenant unfaithfulness and God's judgment.
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