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Selected Verse: Lamentations 4:1 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
La 4:1	Strong Concordance	How is the gold [02091] become dim [06004] ! how is the most [02896] fine gold [03800] changed [08132] ! the stones [068] of the sanctuary [06944] are poured out [08210] in the top [07218] of every street [02351].
	King James	How is the gold become dim! how is the most fine gold changed! the stones of the sanctuary are poured out in the top of every street.

Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse

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A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
THE SAD CAPTURE OF JERUSALEM, THE HOPE OF RESTORATION, AND THE RETRIBUTION AWAITING IDUMEA FOR JOINING BABYLON AGAINST JUDEA. (Lam. 4:1-22) gold--the splendid adornment of the temple [CALVIN] (Lam 1:10; Kg1 6:22; Jer 52:19); or, the principal men of Judea [GROTIUS] (Lam 4:2). stones of . . . sanctuary--the gems on the breastplate of the high priest; or, metaphorically, the priests and Levites.

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

THE SAD CAPTURE OF JERUSALEM, THE HOPE OF RESTORATION, AND THE RETRIBUTION AWAITING IDUMEA FOR JOINING BABYLON AGAINST JUDEA. (Lam. 4:1-22)

gold--the splendid adornment of the temple [CALVIN] (Lam 1:10; Kg1 6:22; Jer 52:19); or, the principal men of Judea [GROTIUS] (Lam 4:2).

stones of . . . sanctuary--the gems on the breastplate of the high priest; or, metaphorically, the priests and Levites.

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
The stones of the sanctuary - Or, the hallowed stones, literally stones of holiness, a metaphor for the people themselves. The actual stones of the temple would not be thus widely thrown about as to be seen everywhere, but the prophet has already affirmed this of the young children dying of hunger (compare Lam 2:19).

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
The misery that has come on the inhabitants of Jerusalem is a punishment for their deep guilt. The description given of this misery is divided into two strophes: for, first (Lam 4:1-6), the sad lot of the several classes of the population is set forth; then (Lam 4:7-11) a conclusion is drawn therefrom regarding the greatness of their sin. Lam 4:1-6 The first strophe. Lam 4:1. The lamentation begins with a figurative account of the destruction of all that is precious and glorious in Israel: this is next established by the bringing forth of instances. Lam 4:1-2 Lam 4:1, Lam 4:2 contain, not a complaint regarding the desolation of the sanctuary and of Zion, as Maurer, Kalkschmidt, and Thenius, with the lxx, assume, but, as is unmistakeably declared in Lam 4:2, a lamentation over the fearful change that has taken place in the fate of the citizens of Zion. What is stated in Lam 4:1 regarding the gold and the precious stones must be understood figuratively; and in the case of the "gold that has become dim," we can as little think of the blackening of the gilding in the temple fabric when it was burnt, as think of bricks (Thenius) when "the holy stones" are spoken of. The בּני ציּון (inhabitants of Zion), Lam 4:2, are likened to gold and sacred stones; here Thenius would arbitrarily change בּני into בּתּי (houses, palaces). This change not merely has no critical support, but is objectionable on the simple ground that there is not a single word to be found elsewhere, through all the chapter, concerning the destruction of the temple and the palaces; it is merely the fate of the men, not of the buildings, that is bewailed. "How is gold bedimmed!" יוּעם is the Hophal of עמם, to be dark, Eze 28:3, and to darken, Eze 31:8. The second clause, "how is fine gold changed!" expresses the same thing. שׁנא = שׁנה, according to the Chaldaizing usage, means to change (oneself), Mal 3:6. The growing dim and the changing refer to the colour, the loss of brilliancy; for gold does not alter in substance. B. C. Michaelis and Rosenmller are too specific when they explain that the gold represents populus Judaicus (or the potior populi Hebraei pars), qui (quae) quondam auri instar in sanctuario Dei fulgebat, and when they see in אבּני קדשׁ an allusion to the stones in the breast-plate of the high priest. Gold is generally an emblem of very worthy persons, and "holy stones" are precious stones, intended for a sacred purpose. Both expressions collectively form a figurative description of the people of Israel, as called to be a holy nation and a kingdom of priests. Analogous is the designation of the children of Israel as אבּני נזר, Zac 9:16 (Gerlach). השׁתּפּך, to be poured out (at all the corners of the streets), is a figurative expression, signifying disgraceful treatment, as in Lam 2:11. In Lam 4:2 follows the application of the figure to the sons (i.e., the citizens) of Zion, not merely the chief nobles of Judah (Ewald), or the princes, nor children in the narrowest sense of the word (Gerlach); for in what follows mention is made not only of children (Lam 4:3, Lam 4:4), but also of those who are grown up (Lam 4:5), and princes are not mentioned till Lam 4:7. As being members of the chosen people, all the inhabitants of Jerusalem have been held "dear," and "weighed out with gold," i.e., esteemed as of equal value with gold (cf. Job 28:16, Job 28:19); but now, when Jerusalem is destroyed, they have become regarded as earthenware pots, i.e., treated as if they were utterly worthless, as "a work of the hands of the potter," whereas Israel was a work of the hands of God, Isa 64:7. סלא = סלה, cf. Job 28:16, Job 28:19 to weigh; Pual, be weighed out, as an equivalent. Lam 4:3 This disregard or rejection of the citizens of Zion is evidence in Lam 4:3 and onwards by many examples, beginning with children, ascending to adults (3-5), and ending with princes. The starvation to death of the children (Lam 4:3, Lam 4:4) is mentioned first; and the frightful misery that has befallen Jerusalem is vividly set forth, by a comparison of the way in which wild animals act towards their young with the behaviour of the mothers of Jerusalem towards their children. Even jackals (תּנּין for תּנּים, see on Jer 9:10) give their breasts to their young ones to suck. חלצוּ , extrahunt mammam = they present their breast. As Junius has remarked, the expression is taken a mulieribus lactantibus, quae laxata veste mammam lactanti praebent; hence also we are not, for the sake of this expression, to understand תּנּין as meaning cetus (Bochart and Ngelsbach), regarding which animal Bochart remarks (Hieroz. iii. p. 777, ed. Rosenmller), ceti papillas non esseἐπιφανεῖς, quippe in mammis receptae tanquam in vaginis conduntur. Rosenm@fcller has already rejected this meaning as minus apta for the present passage. From the combination of jackals and ostriches as inhabiting desert places (Isa 13:21.; Job 30:29), we have no hesitation in fixing on "jackals" as the meaning here. "The daughter of my people" (cf. Lam 2:11) here means the inhabitants of Zion or Jerusalem. לאכזר, "has become cruel." The Kethib כי ענים instead of כּיענים (Qeri) may possibly have arisen from a purely accidental separation of the letters of the word in a MS, a reading which was afterwards painfully retained by the scribes. But in many codices noted by Kennicott and De Rossi, as well as in several old editions, the word is found correctly joined, without any marginal note. יענים means ostriches, usually בּת יענה ("daughter of crying," or according to Gesenius, in his Thesaurus, and Ewald, following the Syriac, "the daughter of gluttony"), the female ostrich. The comparison with these animals is to be understood in accordance with Job 39:16 : "she (the female ostrich) treats her young ones harshly, as if they were not her own." This popular belief is founded on the fact that the animal lays her eggs in the ground, - after having done no more than slightly scratching up the soil, - and partly also, when the nest is full, on the surface of the ground; she then leaves them to be hatched, in course of time, by the heat of the sun: the eggs may thus be easily broken, see on Job 39:14-16. Lam 4:4-5 Sucking infants and little children perish from thirst and hunger; cf. Lam 2:11-12. פּרשׂ = פּרס, as in Mic 3:3, to break down into pieces, break bread = divide, Isa 58:7; Jer 16:7. In Lam 4:5 it is not children, but adults, that are spoken of. למעדנּים is variously rendered, since אכל occurs nowhere else in construction with ל. Against the assumption that ל is the Aramaic sign of the object, there stands the fact that אכל is not found thus construed with ל, either in the Lamentations or elsewhere, though in Jer 40:2 ל is so used. Gerlach, accordingly, would take למעדנּים adverbially, as meaning "after their heart's desire," prop. for pleasures (as to this meaning, cf. Pro 29:17; Sa1 15:32), in contrast with אכל לשׂבע, to eat for satisfaction, Exo 16:3; Lev 25:19, etc. But "for pleasure" is not an appropriate antithesis to satisfaction. Hence we prefer, with Thenius, to take אכל ל in the sense of nibbling round something, in which there is contained the notion of selection in the eating; we also take מעדנּים, as in Gen 49:20, to mean dainties. נשׁמּוּ, to be made desolate, as in Lam 1:13, of the destruction of happiness in life; with בּחוּצות, to sit in a troubled or gloomy state of mind on the streets. האמנים, those who (as children) were carried on purple (תּולע for שׁני rof תּו towla`at תּולעת, cochineal, crimson), embrace (i.e., cling to) dung-heaps, seek them as places or rest. Lam 4:6 The greatness of their guilt is seen in this misery. The ו consecutive joined with יגדּל here marks the result, so far as this manifests itself: "thus the offence (guilt) of the daughter of my people has become greater than the sin of Sodom." Most expositors take עון and הטּאת dna here in the sense of punishment; but this meaning has not been established. The words simply mean "offence" and "sin," sometimes including their consequences, but nowhere do they mean unceremonious castigation. But when Thenius is of opinion that the context demands the meaning "punishment" (not "sin"), he has inconsiderately omitted the ו consec., and taken a wrong view of the context. הפך is the usual word employed in connection with the destruction of Sodom; cf. Gen 19:21, Gen 19:25; Deu 29:22, etc. 'ולא חלוּ וגו is translated by Thenius, et non torquebatur in ea manus, i.e., without any one wringing his hands. However, חוּל (to go in a circle) means to writhe with pain, but does not agree with ידים, to wring the hands. In Hos 11:6 חוּל is used of the sword, which "circles" in the cities, i.e., cuts and kills all round in them. In like manner it is here used of the hands that went round in Sodom for the purpose of overthrowing (destroying) the city. Ngelsbach wrongly derives חלוּ from חלה, to become slack, powerless. The words, "no hands went round (were at work) in her," serve to explain the meaning of כּמו רגע, "as in a moment," without any need for the hands of men being engaged in it. By this additional remark, not merely is greater prominence given to the sudden destruction of Sodom by the hand of God; but it is also pointed out how far Jerusalem, in comparison with that judgment of God, suffers a greater punishment for her greater sins: for her destruction by the hand of man brings her more enduring torments. "Sodom's suffering at death was brief; for there were no children dying of hunger, no mothers who boiled their children" (Ngelsbach). Sodom was spared this heartrending misery, inasmuch as it was destroyed by the hand of God in an instant. Lam 4:7-8 The second strophe. - Lam 4:7, Lam 4:8. The picture of the misery that has befallen the princes. נזירים, princes, prop. separati, here non voto (Nazarites) sed dignitate, as Nolde appropriately remarks; see on Gen 49:26. זכך is used, Job 15:15; Job 25:5, of the brightness of the heaven and the stars; here it is used of female beauty. Thenius would refer "pure (or bright) as snow and milk" to the white clothing, "because the Orientals have not milk-white faces." But the second member irrefragably shows that the reference is to bodily form; and for the very reason adduced by Thenius, a comparatively whiter skin than is commonly met with is esteemed more beautiful. So also does Sol 5:10, "My friend is white and red," show the high esteem in which beauty was held (Gerlach). אדם, to be reddish. עצם, "bone," for the body (pars pro toto). פּנינים, not (white) pearls, but (red) corals. "The white and the red are to be understood as mixed, and shading into one another, as our popular poetry speaks of cheeks which 'like milk and purple shine' " (Delitzsch on Job 28:18, Clark's translation). "Sapphire their form" (גּזרה, prop. cut, taille, of the shape of the body). The point of the comparison is not the colour, but the luminosity, of this precious stone. Once on a time the princes glittered so; but (Lam 4:8) now their form is dark as blackness, i.e., every trace of beauty and splendour has vanished. Through hunger and want their appearance is so disfigured, that they are no longer recognised in the streets (חוּצות, in contrast with "at home," in their own neighbourhood). "The skin sticks to the bones," so emaciated are they; cf. Psa 102:4; Job 19:20. צפד, ἅπ. λεγ., to adhere firmly. The skin has become dry (יבשׁ) like wood. Lam 4:9 This pining away with hunger is much more horrible than a speedy death by the sword. שׁהם, "for they" = qui ipsi; יזוּבוּ, prop. flow away, i.e., pine away as those pierced through (מדקּרים, cf. Jer 37:10; Jer 51:4). 'מתּנוּבות שׁ does not mean "of the fruits," but מן is a brief expression for "because there are no fruits," i.e., from want of the produce of the field; cf. בּשׂרי , "my flesh wastes away from oil," i.e., because there is a want of oil, Psa 109:24. There was thus no need for the conjecture מתּלאבות, "from burning glow," from drought, which has been proposed by Ewald in order to obtain the following sense, after supplying כּ: "as if melting away through the drought of the field, emaciated by the glowing heat of the sun." The free rendering of the Vulgate, consumpti a sterilitate terrae, gives no support to the conjecture. Lam 4:10 Still more horrible was the misery of the women. In order to keep themselves from dying of hunger, mothers boiled their children for food to themselves; cf. Lam 2:20. By the predicate "compassionate," applied to hands, the contrast between this conduct and the nature, or the innate love, of mothers to their children, is made particularly prominent. בּרות is a noun = בּרוּת, Psa 69:22. On "the destruction of the daughter of my people," cf. Lam 2:11. Lam 4:11 This fearful state of matters shows that the Lord has fully poured out His wrath upon Jerusalem and His people. כּלּה, to complete, bring to an end. The kindling of the fire in Zion, which consumed the foundations, is not to be limited to the burning of Jerusalem, but is a symbol of the complete destruction of Zion by the wrath of God; cf. Deu 32:32.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]

The misery that has come on the inhabitants of Jerusalem is a punishment for their deep guilt. The description given of this misery is divided into two strophes: for, first (Lam 4:1-6), the sad lot of the several classes of the population is set forth; then (Lam 4:7-11) a conclusion is drawn therefrom regarding the greatness of their sin.

Lam 4:1-6

The first strophe. Lam 4:1. The lamentation begins with a figurative account of the destruction of all that is precious and glorious in Israel: this is next established by the bringing forth of instances.

Lam 4:1-2

Lam 4:1, Lam 4:2 contain, not a complaint regarding the desolation of the sanctuary and of Zion, as Maurer, Kalkschmidt, and Thenius, with the lxx, assume, but, as is unmistakeably declared in Lam 4:2, a lamentation over the fearful change that has taken place in the fate of the citizens of Zion. What is stated in Lam 4:1 regarding the gold and the precious stones must be understood figuratively; and in the case of the "gold that has become dim," we can as little think of the blackening of the gilding in the temple fabric when it was burnt, as think of bricks (Thenius) when "the holy stones" are spoken of. The בּני ציּון (inhabitants of Zion), Lam 4:2, are likened to gold and sacred stones; here Thenius would arbitrarily change בּני into בּתּי (houses, palaces). This change not merely has no critical support, but is objectionable on the simple ground that there is not a single word to be found elsewhere, through all the chapter, concerning the destruction of the temple and the palaces; it is merely the fate of the men, not of the buildings, that is bewailed. "How is gold bedimmed!" יוּעם is the Hophal of עמם, to be dark, Eze 28:3, and to darken, Eze 31:8. The second clause, "how is fine gold changed!" expresses the same thing. שׁנא = שׁנה, according to the Chaldaizing usage, means to change (oneself), Mal 3:6. The growing dim and the changing refer to the colour, the loss of brilliancy; for gold does not alter in substance. B. C. Michaelis and Rosenmller are too specific when they explain that the gold represents populus Judaicus (or the potior populi Hebraei pars), qui (quae) quondam auri instar in sanctuario Dei fulgebat, and when they see in אבּני קדשׁ an allusion to the stones in the breast-plate of the high priest. Gold is generally an emblem of very worthy persons, and "holy stones" are precious stones, intended for a sacred purpose. Both expressions collectively form a figurative description of the people of Israel, as called to be a holy nation and a kingdom of priests. Analogous is the designation of the children of Israel as אבּני נזר, Zac 9:16 (Gerlach). השׁתּפּך, to be poured out (at all the corners of the streets), is a figurative expression, signifying disgraceful treatment, as in Lam 2:11. In Lam 4:2 follows the application of the figure to the sons (i.e., the citizens) of Zion, not merely the chief nobles of Judah (Ewald), or the princes, nor children in the narrowest sense of the word (Gerlach); for in what follows mention is made not only of children (Lam 4:3, Lam 4:4), but also of those who are grown up (Lam 4:5), and princes are not mentioned till Lam 4:7. As being members of the chosen people, all the inhabitants of Jerusalem have been held "dear," and "weighed out with gold," i.e., esteemed as of equal value with gold (cf. Job 28:16, Job 28:19); but now, when Jerusalem is destroyed, they have become regarded as earthenware pots, i.e., treated as if they were utterly worthless, as "a work of the hands of the potter," whereas Israel was a work of the hands of God, Isa 64:7. סלא = סלה, cf. Job 28:16, Job 28:19 to weigh; Pual, be weighed out, as an equivalent.

Lam 4:3

This disregard or rejection of the citizens of Zion is evidence in Lam 4:3 and onwards by many examples, beginning with children, ascending to adults (3-5), and ending with princes. The starvation to death of the children (Lam 4:3, Lam 4:4) is mentioned first; and the frightful misery that has befallen Jerusalem is vividly set forth, by a comparison of the way in which wild animals act towards their young with the behaviour of the mothers of Jerusalem towards their children. Even jackals (תּנּין for תּנּים, see on Jer 9:10) give their breasts to their young ones to suck. חלצוּ , extrahunt mammam = they present their breast. As Junius has remarked, the expression is taken a mulieribus lactantibus, quae laxata veste mammam lactanti praebent; hence also we are not, for the sake of this expression, to understand תּנּין as meaning cetus (Bochart and Ngelsbach), regarding which animal Bochart remarks (Hieroz. iii. p. 777, ed. Rosenmller), ceti papillas non esseἐπιφανεῖς, quippe in mammis receptae tanquam in vaginis conduntur. Rosenm@fcller has already rejected this meaning as minus apta for the present passage. From the combination of jackals and ostriches as inhabiting desert places (Isa 13:21.; Job 30:29), we have no hesitation in fixing on "jackals" as the meaning here. "The daughter of my people" (cf. Lam 2:11) here means the inhabitants of Zion or Jerusalem. לאכזר, "has become cruel." The Kethib כי ענים instead of כּיענים (Qeri) may possibly have arisen from a purely accidental separation of the letters of the word in a MS, a reading which was afterwards painfully retained by the scribes. But in many codices noted by Kennicott and De Rossi, as well as in several old editions, the word is found correctly joined, without any marginal note. יענים means ostriches, usually בּת יענה ("daughter of crying," or according to Gesenius, in his Thesaurus, and Ewald, following the Syriac, "the daughter of gluttony"), the female ostrich. The comparison with these animals is to be understood in accordance with Job 39:16 : "she (the female ostrich) treats her young ones harshly, as if they were not her own." This popular belief is founded on the fact that the animal lays her eggs in the ground, - after having done no more than slightly scratching up the soil, - and partly also, when the nest is full, on the surface of the ground; she then leaves them to be hatched, in course of time, by the heat of the sun: the eggs may thus be easily broken, see on Job 39:14-16.

Lam 4:4-5

Sucking infants and little children perish from thirst and hunger; cf. Lam 2:11-12. פּרשׂ = פּרס, as in Mic 3:3, to break down into pieces, break bread = divide, Isa 58:7; Jer 16:7. In Lam 4:5 it is not children, but adults, that are spoken of. למעדנּים is variously rendered, since אכל occurs nowhere else in construction with ל. Against the assumption that ל is the Aramaic sign of the object, there stands the fact that אכל is not found thus construed with ל, either in the Lamentations or elsewhere, though in Jer 40:2 ל is so used. Gerlach, accordingly, would take למעדנּים adverbially, as meaning "after their heart's desire," prop. for pleasures (as to this meaning, cf. Pro 29:17; Sa1 15:32), in contrast with אכל לשׂבע, to eat for satisfaction, Exo 16:3; Lev 25:19, etc. But "for pleasure" is not an appropriate antithesis to satisfaction. Hence we prefer, with Thenius, to take אכל ל in the sense of nibbling round something, in which there is contained the notion of selection in the eating; we also take מעדנּים, as in Gen 49:20, to mean dainties. נשׁמּוּ, to be made desolate, as in Lam 1:13, of the destruction of happiness in life; with בּחוּצות, to sit in a troubled or gloomy state of mind on the streets. האמנים, those who (as children) were carried on purple (תּולע for שׁני rof תּו towla`at תּולעת, cochineal, crimson), embrace (i.e., cling to) dung-heaps, seek them as places or rest.

Lam 4:6

The greatness of their guilt is seen in this misery. The ו consecutive joined with יגדּל here marks the result, so far as this manifests itself: "thus the offence (guilt) of the daughter of my people has become greater than the sin of Sodom." Most expositors take עון and הטּאת dna here in the sense of punishment; but this meaning has not been established. The words simply mean "offence" and "sin," sometimes including their consequences, but nowhere do they mean unceremonious castigation. But when Thenius is of opinion that the context demands the meaning "punishment" (not "sin"), he has inconsiderately omitted the ו consec., and taken a wrong view of the context. הפך is the usual word employed in connection with the destruction of Sodom; cf. Gen 19:21, Gen 19:25; Deu 29:22, etc. 'ולא חלוּ וגו is translated by Thenius, et non torquebatur in ea manus, i.e., without any one wringing his hands. However, חוּל (to go in a circle) means to writhe with pain, but does not agree with ידים, to wring the hands. In Hos 11:6 חוּל is used of the sword, which "circles" in the cities, i.e., cuts and kills all round in them. In like manner it is here used of the hands that went round in Sodom for the purpose of overthrowing (destroying) the city. Ngelsbach wrongly derives חלוּ from חלה, to become slack, powerless. The words, "no hands went round (were at work) in her," serve to explain the meaning of כּמו רגע, "as in a moment," without any need for the hands of men being engaged in it. By this additional remark, not merely is greater prominence given to the sudden destruction of Sodom by the hand of God; but it is also pointed out how far Jerusalem, in comparison with that judgment of God, suffers a greater punishment for her greater sins: for her destruction by the hand of man brings her more enduring torments. "Sodom's suffering at death was brief; for there were no children dying of hunger, no mothers who boiled their children" (Ngelsbach). Sodom was spared this heartrending misery, inasmuch as it was destroyed by the hand of God in an instant.

Lam 4:7-8

The second strophe. - Lam 4:7, Lam 4:8. The picture of the misery that has befallen the princes. נזירים, princes, prop. separati, here non voto (Nazarites) sed dignitate, as Nolde appropriately remarks; see on Gen 49:26. זכך is used, Job 15:15; Job 25:5, of the brightness of the heaven and the stars; here it is used of female beauty. Thenius would refer "pure (or bright) as snow and milk" to the white clothing, "because the Orientals have not milk-white faces." But the second member irrefragably shows that the reference is to bodily form; and for the very reason adduced by Thenius, a comparatively whiter skin than is commonly met with is esteemed more beautiful. So also does Sol 5:10, "My friend is white and red," show the high esteem in which beauty was held (Gerlach). אדם, to be reddish. עצם, "bone," for the body (pars pro toto). פּנינים, not (white) pearls, but (red) corals. "The white and the red are to be understood as mixed, and shading into one another, as our popular poetry speaks of cheeks which 'like milk and purple shine' " (Delitzsch on Job 28:18, Clark's translation). "Sapphire their form" (גּזרה, prop. cut, taille, of the shape of the body). The point of the comparison is not the colour, but the luminosity, of this precious stone. Once on a time the princes glittered so; but (Lam 4:8) now their form is dark as blackness, i.e., every trace of beauty and splendour has vanished. Through hunger and want their appearance is so disfigured, that they are no longer recognised in the streets (חוּצות, in contrast with "at home," in their own neighbourhood). "The skin sticks to the bones," so emaciated are they; cf. Psa 102:4; Job 19:20. צפד, ἅπ. λεγ., to adhere firmly. The skin has become dry (יבשׁ) like wood.

Lam 4:9

This pining away with hunger is much more horrible than a speedy death by the sword. שׁהם, "for they" = qui ipsi; יזוּבוּ, prop. flow away, i.e., pine away as those pierced through (מדקּרים, cf. Jer 37:10; Jer 51:4). 'מתּנוּבות שׁ does not mean "of the fruits," but מן is a brief expression for "because there are no fruits," i.e., from want of the produce of the field; cf. בּשׂרי , "my flesh wastes away from oil," i.e., because there is a want of oil, Psa 109:24. There was thus no need for the conjecture מתּלאבות, "from burning glow," from drought, which has been proposed by Ewald in order to obtain the following sense, after supplying כּ: "as if melting away through the drought of the field, emaciated by the glowing heat of the sun." The free rendering of the Vulgate, consumpti a sterilitate terrae, gives no support to the conjecture.

Lam 4:10

Still more horrible was the misery of the women. In order to keep themselves from dying of hunger, mothers boiled their children for food to themselves; cf. Lam 2:20. By the predicate "compassionate," applied to hands, the contrast between this conduct and the nature, or the innate love, of mothers to their children, is made particularly prominent. בּרות is a noun = בּרוּת, Psa 69:22. On "the destruction of the daughter of my people," cf. Lam 2:11.

Lam 4:11

This fearful state of matters shows that the Lord has fully poured out His wrath upon Jerusalem and His people. כּלּה, to complete, bring to an end. The kindling of the fire in Zion, which consumed the foundations, is not to be limited to the burning of Jerusalem, but is a symbol of the complete destruction of Zion by the wrath of God; cf. Deu 32:32.

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
The top - Are scattered in the head of every street.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
How is the gold become dim - The prophet contrasts, in various affecting instances, the wretched circumstances of the Jewish nation, with the flourishing state of their affairs in former times. Here they are compared to gold, זהב zahab, native gold from the mine, which, contrary to its nature, is become dim, is tarnished; and even the fine, the sterling gold, כתם kethem, that which was stamped to make it current, is changed or adulterated, so as to be no longer passable. This might be applied to the temple, but particularly to the fallen priests and apostate prophets. The stones of the sanctuary - אבני קדש abney kodesh, the holy stones; the Jewish godly men, who were even then the living stones of which God built his Church.

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² The precious [03368] sons [01121] of Zion [06726], comparable [05537] to fine gold [06337], how are they esteemed [02803] as earthen [02789] pitchers [05035], the work [04639] of the hands [03027] of the potter [03335] !

¹⁹ And the basons [05592], and the firepans [04289], and the bowls [04219], and the caldrons [05518], and the candlesticks [04501], and the spoons [03709], and the cups [04518]; that which was of gold [02091] in gold [02091], and that which was of silver [03701] in silver [03701], took [03947] the captain [07227] of the guard [02876] away [03947].

²² And the whole house [01004] he overlaid [06823] with gold [02091], until he had finished [08552] all the house [01004]: also the whole altar [04196] that was by the oracle [01687] he overlaid [06823] with gold [02091].

¹⁰ The adversary [06862] hath spread out [06566] his hand [03027] upon all her pleasant things [04261]: for she hath seen [07200] that the heathen [01471] entered [0935] into her sanctuary [04720], whom thou didst command [06680] that they should not enter [0935] into thy congregation [06951].

¹⁹ Arise [06965], cry out [07442] in the night [03915]: in the beginning [07218] of the watches [0821] pour out [08210] thine heart [03820] like water [04325] before [05227] the face [06440] of the Lord [0136]: lift up [05375] thy hands [03709] toward him for the life [05315] of thy young children [05768], that faint [05848] for hunger [07458] in the top [07218] of every street [02351].

³² For their vine [01612] is of the vine [01612] of Sodom [05467], and of the fields [07709] of Gomorrah [06017]: their grapes [06025] are grapes [06025] of gall [07219], their clusters [0811] are bitter [04846]:

¹¹ The LORD [03068] hath accomplished [03615] his fury [02534]; he hath poured out [08210] his fierce [02740] anger [0639], and hath kindled [03341] a fire [0784] in Zion [06726], and it hath devoured [0398] the foundations [03247] thereof.

²² Let their table [07979] become a snare [06341] before [06440] them: and that which should have been for their welfare [07965], let it become a trap [04170].

²⁰ Behold [07200], O LORD [03068], and consider [05027] to whom thou hast done [05953] this [03541]. Shall the women [0802] eat [0398] their fruit [06529], and children [05768] of a span long [02949]? shall the priest [03548] and the prophet [05030] be slain [02026] in the sanctuary [04720] of the Lord [0136]?

¹⁰ The hands [03027] of the pitiful [07362] women [0802] have sodden [01310] their own children [03206]: they were their meat [01262] in the destruction [07667] of the daughter [01323] of my people [05971].

²⁴ My knees [01290] are weak [03782] through fasting [06685]; and my flesh [01320] faileth [03584] of fatness [08081].

⁴ Thus the slain [02491] shall fall [05307] in the land [0776] of the Chaldeans [03778], and they that are thrust through [01856] in her streets [02351].

¹⁰ For though ye had smitten [05221] the whole army [02428] of the Chaldeans [03778] that fight [03898] against you, and there remained [07604] but wounded [01856] men [0582] among them, yet should they rise up [06965] every man [0376] in his tent [0168], and burn [08313] this city [05892] with fire [0784].

⁹ They that be slain [02491] with the sword [02719] are better [02896] than they that be slain [02491] with hunger [07458]: for these [01992] pine away [02100], stricken [01856] through for want of the fruits [08570] of the field [07704].

²⁰ My bone [06106] cleaveth [01692] to my skin [05785] and to my flesh [01320], and I am escaped [04422] with the skin [05785] of my teeth [08127].

⁴ My heart [03820] is smitten [05221], and withered [03001] like grass [06212]; so that I forget [07911] to eat [0398] my bread [03899].

⁸ Their visage [08389] is blacker [02821] than a coal [07815]; they are not known [05234] in the streets [02351]: their skin [05785] cleaveth [06821] to their bones [06106]; it is withered [03001], it is become like a stick [06086].

¹⁸ No mention [02142] shall be made of coral [07215], or of pearls [01378]: for the price [04901] of wisdom [02451] is above rubies [06443].

¹⁰ My beloved [01730] is white [06703] and ruddy [0122], the chiefest [01713] among ten thousand [07233].

⁵ Behold even to the moon [03394], and it shineth [0166] not; yea, the stars [03556] are not pure [02141] in his sight [05869].

¹⁵ Behold, he putteth no trust [0539] in his saints [06918]; yea, the heavens [08064] are not clean [02141] in his sight [05869].

²⁶ The blessings [01293] of thy father [01] have prevailed [01396] above the blessings [01293] of my progenitors [02029] unto the utmost bound [08379] of the everlasting [05769] hills [01389]: they shall be on the head [07218] of Joseph [03130], and on the crown of the head [06936] of him that was separate [05139] from his brethren [0251].

⁶ And the sword [02719] shall abide [02342] on his cities [05892], and shall consume [03615] his branches [0905], and devour [0398] them, because of their own counsels [04156].

²² So that the generation [01755] to come [0314] of your children [01121] that shall rise up [06965] after [0310] you, and the stranger [05237] that shall come [0935] from a far [07350] land [0776], shall say [0559], when they see [07200] the plagues [04347] of that land [0776], and the sicknesses [08463] which the LORD [03068] hath laid [02470] upon it;

²⁵ And he overthrew [02015] those [0411] cities [05892], and all the plain [03603], and all the inhabitants [03427] of the cities [05892], and that which grew [06780] upon the ground [0127].

²¹ And he said [0559] unto him, See [02009], I have accepted [05375] thee [06440] concerning this thing [01697] also, that I will not overthrow [02015] this city [05892], for the which [0834] thou hast spoken [01696].

⁶ For the punishment of the iniquity [05771] of the daughter [01323] of my people [05971] is greater [01431] than the punishment [02403] of the sin of Sodom [05467], that was overthrown [02015] as in a moment [07281], and no hands [03027] stayed [02342] on her.

¹³ From above [04791] hath he sent [07971] fire [0784] into my bones [06106], and it prevaileth [07287] against them: he hath spread [06566] a net [07568] for my feet [07272], he hath turned [07725] me back [0268]: he hath made [05414] me desolate [08074] and faint [01739] all the day [03117].

²⁰ Out of Asher [0836] his bread [03899] shall be fat [08082], and he shall yield [05414] royal [04428] dainties [04574].

¹⁹ And the land [0776] shall yield [05414] her fruit [06529], and ye shall eat [0398] your fill [07648], and dwell [03427] therein in safety [0983].

³ And the children [01121] of Israel [03478] said [0559] unto them, Would to God [04310] [05414] we had died [04191] by the hand [03027] of the LORD [03068] in the land [0776] of Egypt [04714], when we sat [03427] by the flesh [01320] pots [05518], and when we did eat [0398] bread [03899] to the full [07648]; for ye have brought us forth [03318] into this wilderness [04057], to kill [04191] this whole assembly [06951] with hunger [07458].

³² Then said [0559] Samuel [08050], Bring ye hither [05066] to me Agag [090] the king [04428] of the Amalekites [06002]. And Agag [090] came [03212] unto him delicately [04574]. And Agag [090] said [0559], Surely [0403] the bitterness [04751] of death [04194] is past [05493].

¹⁷ Correct [03256] thy son [01121], and he shall give thee rest [05117]; yea, he shall give [05414] delight [04574] unto thy soul [05315].

² And the captain [07227] of the guard [02876] took [03947] Jeremiah [03414], and said [0559] unto him, The LORD [03068] thy God [0430] hath pronounced [01696] this evil [07451] upon this place [04725].

⁵ They that did feed [0398] delicately [04574] are desolate [08074] in the streets [02351]: they that were brought up [0539] in scarlet [08438] embrace [02263] dunghills [0830].

⁷ Neither shall men tear [06536] themselves for them in mourning [060], to comfort [05162] them for the dead [04191]; neither shall men give them the cup [03563] of consolation [08575] to drink [08248] for their father [01] or for their mother [0517].

⁷ Is it not to deal [06536] thy bread [03899] to the hungry [07457], and that thou bring [0935] the poor [06041] that are cast out [04788] to thy house [01004]? when thou seest [07200] the naked [06174], that thou cover [03680] him; and that thou hide [05956] not thyself from thine own flesh [01320]?

³ Who also eat [0398] the flesh [07607] of my people [05971], and flay [06584] their skin [05785] from off them; and they break [06476] their bones [06106], and chop them in pieces [06566], as for the pot [05518], and as flesh [01320] within [08432] the caldron [07037].

¹¹ Mine eyes [05869] do fail [03615] with tears [01832], my bowels [04578] are troubled [02560], my liver [03516] is poured [08210] upon the earth [0776], for the destruction [07667] of the daughter [01323] of my people [05971]; because the children [05768] and the sucklings [03243] swoon [05848] in the streets [07339] of the city [07151].
¹² They say [0559] to their mothers [0517], Where is corn [01715] and wine [03196]? when they swooned [05848] as the wounded [02491] in the streets [07339] of the city [05892], when their soul [05315] was poured out [08210] into their mothers [0517]' bosom [02436].

⁴ The tongue [03956] of the sucking child [03243] cleaveth [01692] to the roof of his mouth [02441] for thirst [06772]: the young children [05768] ask [07592] bread [03899], and no man breaketh [06566] it unto them.
⁵ They that did feed [0398] delicately [04574] are desolate [08074] in the streets [02351]: they that were brought up [0539] in scarlet [08438] embrace [02263] dunghills [0830].

¹⁴ Which leaveth [05800] her eggs [01000] in the earth [0776], and warmeth [02552] them in dust [06083],
¹⁵ And forgetteth [07911] that the foot [07272] may crush [02115] them, or that the wild [07704] beast [02416] may break [01758] them.
¹⁶ She is hardened [07188] against her young ones [01121], as though they were not [03808] hers: her labour [03018] is in vain [07385] without fear [06343];

¹⁶ She is hardened [07188] against her young ones [01121], as though they were not [03808] hers: her labour [03018] is in vain [07385] without fear [06343];

²⁹ I am a brother [0251] to dragons [08577], and a companion [07453] to owls [01323] [03284].

²¹ But wild beasts of the desert [06728] shall lie [07257] there; and their houses [01004] shall be full [04390] of doleful creatures [0255]; and owls [01323] [03284] shall dwell [07931] there, and satyrs [08163] shall dance [07540] there.

¹⁰ For the mountains [02022] will I take up [05375] a weeping [01065] and wailing [05092], and for the habitations [04999] of the wilderness [04057] a lamentation [07015], because they are burned up [03341], so that none [0376] can pass [05674] through them; neither can men hear [08085] the voice [06963] of the cattle [04735]; both the fowl [05775] of the heavens [08064] and the beast [0929] are fled [05074]; they are gone [01980].

³ Even the sea monsters [08577] draw out [02502] the breast [07699], they give suck [03243] to their young ones [01482]: the daughter [01323] of my people [05971] is become cruel [0393], like the ostriches [03283] in the wilderness [04057].

¹⁹ The topaz [06357] of Ethiopia [03568] shall not equal [06186] it, neither shall it be valued [05541] with pure [02889] gold [03800].

¹⁶ It cannot be valued [05541] with the gold [03800] of Ophir [0211], with the precious [03368] onyx [07718], or the sapphire [05601].

⁷ And there is none that calleth [07121] upon thy name [08034], that stirreth up [05782] himself to take hold [02388] of thee: for thou hast hid [05641] thy face [06440] from us, and hast consumed [04127] us, because [03027] of our iniquities [05771].

¹⁹ The topaz [06357] of Ethiopia [03568] shall not equal [06186] it, neither shall it be valued [05541] with pure [02889] gold [03800].

¹⁶ It cannot be valued [05541] with the gold [03800] of Ophir [0211], with the precious [03368] onyx [07718], or the sapphire [05601].

⁵ They that did feed [0398] delicately [04574] are desolate [08074] in the streets [02351]: they that were brought up [0539] in scarlet [08438] embrace [02263] dunghills [0830].

¹⁶ And the LORD [03068] their God [0430] shall save [03467] them in that day [03117] as the flock [06629] of his people [05971]: for they shall be as the stones [068] of a crown [05145], lifted up as an ensign [05264] upon his land [0127].

⁶ For I am the LORD [03068], I change [08138] not; therefore ye sons [01121] of Jacob [03290] are not consumed [03615].

⁸ The cedars [0730] in the garden [01588] of God [0430] could not hide [06004] him: the fir trees [01265] were not like [01819] his boughs [05589], and the chesnut trees [06196] were not like his branches [06288]; nor any tree [06086] in the garden [01588] of God [0430] was like [01819] unto him in his beauty [03308].

³ Behold, thou art wiser [02450] than Daniel [01840]; there is no secret [05640] that they can hide [06004] from thee:

¹ How is the gold [02091] become dim [06004] ! how is the most [02896] fine gold [03800] changed [08132] ! the stones [068] of the sanctuary [06944] are poured out [08210] in the top [07218] of every street [02351].
² The precious [03368] sons [01121] of Zion [06726], comparable [05537] to fine gold [06337], how are they esteemed [02803] as earthen [02789] pitchers [05035], the work [04639] of the hands [03027] of the potter [03335] !
³ Even the sea monsters [08577] draw out [02502] the breast [07699], they give suck [03243] to their young ones [01482]: the daughter [01323] of my people [05971] is become cruel [0393], like the ostriches [03283] in the wilderness [04057].
⁴ The tongue [03956] of the sucking child [03243] cleaveth [01692] to the roof of his mouth [02441] for thirst [06772]: the young children [05768] ask [07592] bread [03899], and no man breaketh [06566] it unto them.
⁵ They that did feed [0398] delicately [04574] are desolate [08074] in the streets [02351]: they that were brought up [0539] in scarlet [08438] embrace [02263] dunghills [0830].
⁶ For the punishment of the iniquity [05771] of the daughter [01323] of my people [05971] is greater [01431] than the punishment [02403] of the sin of Sodom [05467], that was overthrown [02015] as in a moment [07281], and no hands [03027] stayed [02342] on her.

⁷ Her Nazarites [05139] were purer [02141] than snow [07950], they were whiter [06705] than milk [02461], they were more ruddy [0119] in body [06106] than rubies [06443], their polishing [01508] was of sapphire [05601]:
⁸ Their visage [08389] is blacker [02821] than a coal [07815]; they are not known [05234] in the streets [02351]: their skin [05785] cleaveth [06821] to their bones [06106]; it is withered [03001], it is become like a stick [06086].
⁹ They that be slain [02491] with the sword [02719] are better [02896] than they that be slain [02491] with hunger [07458]: for these [01992] pine away [02100], stricken [01856] through for want of the fruits [08570] of the field [07704].
¹⁰ The hands [03027] of the pitiful [07362] women [0802] have sodden [01310] their own children [03206]: they were their meat [01262] in the destruction [07667] of the daughter [01323] of my people [05971].
¹¹ The LORD [03068] hath accomplished [03615] his fury [02534]; he hath poured out [08210] his fierce [02740] anger [0639], and hath kindled [03341] a fire [0784] in Zion [06726], and it hath devoured [0398] the foundations [03247] thereof.