8:10 sackcloth. This coarse material was worn as a sign of mourning to indicate that the pleasures of life no longer mattered to the mourner (Gen. 37:34; 2 Sam. 3:31).

baldness on every head. Shaving the head was a sign of mourning. It was prohibited in the covenant (Lev. 21:5; Deut. 14:1), perhaps because it was a pagan practice of bodily disfigurement that disgraced God’s image (Is. 15:2, 3; Ezek. 27:30, 31). Ironically, it was prophesied for Israel and Judah (cf. Is. 3:24; Mic. 1:16).

bitter. A term describing the ultimate consequences of sin (2 Sam. 2:26; Prov. 5:4).