The glasses (גִּלָּיוֹן), and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the
vails. (Isa 3:23)
23. The glasses. These is a
great variety of opinion about the expression used here. That the ancient Jews
had looking-glasses, or mirrors, is
manifest from the account in Ex. 38:8. These mirrors were made of polished plates of brass. The Vulgate and
Chaldee understand this of mirrors.
The LXX. understand by it a thin,
transparent covering like gauze, perhaps like silk. The word is derived
from the verb to reveal, to make apparent,
&c., and applies either to mirrors or to a splendid shining garment. It is
probable that their excessive vanity was evinced by carrying small mirrors in
their hands—that they might examine and adjust their dress as might be
necessary. This is now done by females of Eastern nations. Shaw informs us
that, ‘In the Levant, looking-glasses are a part of female dress. The Moorish
women in Barbary are so fond of their ornaments, and particularly of their
looking-glasses, which they hang upon their breasts, that they will not lay
them aside, even when, after the drudgery of the day, they are obliged to go
two or three miles with a pitcher or a goat-skin to fetch water.’—Burder. In Egypt, the mirror was made of
mixed metal, chiefly of copper, and this metal was so highly polished, that in
some of the mirrors discovered at Thebes, the lustre has been partially
restored, though they have been buried in the earth for many centuries. The
mirror was nearly round, inserted in a handle of wood, stone, or metal, whose
form varied according to the taste of the owner. The following cut will give an
idea of the ancient form of the mirror, and will show that they might be easily
carried abroad as an ornament in public; comp. Wilkinson’s Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians, vol. iii., pp.
384–386. (Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament: Isaiah,
2 vols. [London: Blackie & Sons, 1851], 1:109)
Here is the image
accompanying the above commentary:
<image>
The text that follows
this image reads:
Ancient Metal Mirrors.—From Wilkinson’s Egyptians.
1, 3. In Mr. Salt’s collection.
2. In the possession of Dr. Hogg.
4. In the museum of Aluwick Castle.
5. From a painting at Thebes. (Ibid., 1:109)
Commenting on the
use of גִּלָּיוֹן in Isa 8:1 (the only other instance in the Old Testament it
appears), Gary V. Smith notes that:
In 3:23 this large surface is a “mirror,” but here it must refer to a
polished surface of stone or metal that will clearly reveal the message that
Isaiah will write. (Gary
V. Smith, Isaiah 1–39 [The New
American Commentary; Nashville: B & H Publishing Group, 2007], 221)
Ibid., n. 289
reads:
גִּלָּיוֹ is from the root גָּלָה,
“to reveal,” so “mirror” (3:9) is a fitting translation for a metal object that
reveals how you look. The Aramaic Targum translates this as a “tablet,” while
the Old Greek speaks of “papyrus,” which was the common material used to write
a message in Egypt.
