(Isa. 3:6)
These verses … reemphasize both the social breakdown of the patriarchal order and the extreme physical poverty of the state. That the man mentioned here should “lay hold of his brother in his father’s house” indicates, first of all, that the father has disappeared and left the family in upheaval, for the son (by custom, the eldest) refuses to fulfill the duty that is his by lineage. The cloak [clothing], or simlah, which is the brother’s so-called claim to power, is not a rich robe but is itself a sign of extreme poverty. In other words, the petitioner is saying, “You have at least some sort of cloak and the provisions necessary for physical sustenance, food and clothing.” Without either physical or social “stays,” it is no wonder that the brother declines a position for which he might otherwise be ambitious.”
(Victor L. Ludlow, Isaiah: Prophet, Seer, and Poet [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1982], 103–104.)