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.
This verse comes from a prophecy Isaiah delivered to Jerusalem about the consequences of national judgment. War had claimed so many men that seven women are competing to share one husband — not for his financial support (they will clothe and feed themselves) — but simply to bear his name and escape the social shame of being unmarried. In ancient Israel, an unmarried, childless woman carried a stigma the Bible simply calls "disgrace." The verse paints a portrait of a society so fractured by its own choices that even its most basic social bonds have collapsed. It is a sobering picture of what life looks like when a community drifts far from God.
Lord, you know the places where I have grasped at borrowed names and hollow belonging just to silence the sting of shame. You offer me your name freely — not as a last resort, but as a gift. Help me to stop reaching for substitutes and find my identity rooted fully in you. Amen.
There's something haunting about desperation that has stripped away all pride. These women aren't asking for provision — they'll handle that themselves. They just want a name. Not love, not security, not even companionship in any meaningful sense. Just enough belonging to escape shame. War had gutted their world, and what remained was a scramble for the bare minimum of dignity — a borrowed identity from a stranger. You might not be bargaining with a man in a ruined city, but the ache underneath this verse is familiar. The willingness to accept almost nothing just to not feel forgotten. We attach ourselves to things, people, and identities that cannot truly carry us — because at least we'd have something to point to. But this passage is a mirror, not just a history lesson. What are you clinging to just to avoid disgrace? And is the name you're borrowing actually giving you life, or only quieting the shame for a little while?
What does this verse reveal about what happens to a community — socially and spiritually — when catastrophic judgment falls? What warning does Isaiah seem to be communicating?
Have you ever sought belonging or identity from something that couldn't truly provide it? What did that pursuit look like, and what did it cost you?
The women in this verse are trying to escape disgrace through a human name. How does the gospel offer a fundamentally different answer to shame — and why is that answer harder to accept than it sounds?
Desperation can drive people to choices that look baffling from the outside. How might understanding the weight of social shame in ancient cultures shift the way you relate to people in your own life who make confusing or self-compromising choices?
Is there an area of your life where you are settling for a borrowed name or a shallow sense of belonging rather than what God actually offers? What would it look like to let that go this week?
Therefore Michal the daughter of Saul had no child unto the day of her death.
2 Samuel 6:23
Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread.
2 Thessalonians 3:12
Thus saith the LORD of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew , saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you.
Zechariah 8:23
And in that day seven women will take hold of one man, saying, "We will eat our own food and wear [and provide] our own clothes; only let us be called by your name; take away our shame [of being unmarried]."
AMP
And seven women shall take hold of one man in that day, saying, “We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothes, only let us be called by your name; take away our reproach.”
ESV
For seven women will take hold of one man in that day, saying, 'We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothes, only let us be called by your name; take away our reproach!'
NASB
In that day seven women will take hold of one man and say, “We will eat our own food and provide our own clothes; only let us be called by your name. Take away our disgrace!”
NIV
And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, “We will eat our own food and wear our own apparel; Only let us be called by your name, To take away our reproach.”
NKJV
In that day so few men will be left that seven women will fight for each man, saying, “Let us all marry you! We will provide our own food and clothing. Only let us take your name so we won’t be mocked as old maids.”
NLT
That will be the day when seven women will gang up on one man, saying, "We'll take care of ourselves, get our own food and clothes. Just give us a child. Make us pregnant so we'll have something to live for!"
MSG