Lamentations 4:1-22

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Lamentations 4:18

They hunt our steps, that we cannot go in our streets ,.... The Chaldeans, from their forts and batteries, as they could see, they watched the people as they came out of their houses, and walked about the streets, and shot their arrows at them; so that they were obliged to keep within doors, and not stir out, which they could not do without great danger: our end is near, for our days are fulfilled; for our end is come ; either the end of their lives, the days, months, and years appointed... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Lamentations 4:19

Our persecutors are swifter than the eagles of the heavens ,.... That fly in the heavens; and which, as they have a quick sight to discern their prey afar off, are very swift to pursue it; they are the swiftest of birds, and are so to a proverb. Apuleius F9 Florida, l. 2. represents the swift pursuit of their prey, and sudden falling upon it, to be like thunder and lightning. Cicero F11 De Divinatione, l. 2. p. 2001. relates of a certain racer, that came to an interpreter of... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Lamentations 4:20

The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the Lord, was taken in their pits ,.... Or "the Messiah", or "the Christ of the Lord" F14 משיח יהוה χριστος κυριος , Sept. "Christus Dominus", V. L. "Christus Domini", Pagninus. ; not Josiah, as the Targum; and so Jarchi and others; for though he was the Lord's anointed, and the life of the people, being the head of them, as every king is, especially a good one; yet he was slain, and not taken, and much less in their pits, and that not... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Lamentations 4:21

Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom ,.... The land of Idumea, and the inhabitants of it, who did indeed rejoice at the destruction of Jerusalem, Obadiah 1:12 ; and here, in an ironic manner, are bid to go on with their mirth, if they could, like the young man in Ecclesiastes 11:9 , as Aben Ezra observes; for it would not last long, their note would soon be changed: that dwellest in the land of Uz ; not the country of Job, which had its name from Uz the son of Nahor, Job 1:1 ;... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Lamentations 4:22

The punishment of thine iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of Zion ,.... In part in the seventy years' captivity in Babylon, and more fully in their present captivity; for, as has been observed, there are some things in the preceding account, which had a further accomplishment in the destruction of Jerusalem, and the distress of the Jews by the Romans. The Targum is, "and after thine iniquity is fulfilled, O congregation of Zion, and thou shalt be delivered by the hands of the Messiah,... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Lamentations 4:1

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... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Lamentations 4:2

The precious sons of Zion - The Jewish priests and Jewish believers. Comparable to fine gold - Who were of the pure standard of holiness; holy, because God who called them is holy; but now esteemed no better than earthen pitchers - vessels of dishonor in comparison of what they once were. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Lamentations 4:3

Even the sea monsters draw out the breast - The whales give suck to their young ones. The word תנין tannin , signifies all large and cruel creatures, whether aquatic or terrestrial; and need not here be restrained to the former sort. My Old MS. Bible translates curiously: Not and the cruel bestis that ben clepid Lamya, and thei nakeden ther tetis, geve ther whelpis souken. Like the ostriches in the wilderness - For her carelessness about her eggs, and her inattention to her young,... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Lamentations 4:4

The tongue of the sucking child - See the note on Lamentations 2:12 ; (note). read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Lamentations 4:5

Embrace dunghills - Lie on straw or rubbish, instead of the costly carpets and sofas on which they formerly stretched themselves. read more

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