And in that day did the Lord GOD of hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth:
Ver. 12. And in that day did the Lord God of hosts call to weeping.] Ponit arma quibus civitates ab hostibus defenduntur, nempe arma poenitentiae. These are the best defensive weapons, which therefore God of his goodness calleth people to, or ere he punisheth them. He calleth them, I say, by his word and by his works, both ordinary and extraordinary, that his justice may be magnified, and every foul mouth stopped.
To weeping and mourning.] The walls of Zion cannot but stand firm if well tempered with the tears of true penitents.
And to baldness.] Forbidden in other cases, Leviticus 19:27,28 ; Lev 21:5 Deuteronomy 14:1 Mic 1:16 called for in the practice of holy repentance, which hath nothing to do with despair. See Ezra 9:3 .