Charles Ellicott Commentary Isaiah 47:2

"Take the millstones, and grind meal; remove thy veil, strip off the train, uncover the leg, pass through the rivers." — Isaiah 47:2 (ASV)

Take the millstones. —Always the most servile form of female labour (Exodus 11:5; Job 31:10; Matthew 24:41).

Uncover thy locks. —The picture of suffering is heightened by the fact that the female slave has to wade unveiled and bare-legged to the scene of her labours, her sense of shame outraged. The picture is, of course, to be taken symbolically, not literally.