哀歌 4:3-9 JCB

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Lamentations 4:1-12

The elegy in this chapter begins with a lamentation of the very sad and doleful change which the judgments of God had made in Jerusalem. The city that was formerly as gold, as the most fine gold, so rich and splendid, the perfection of beauty and the joy of the whole earth, has become dim, and is changed, has lost its lustre, lost its value, is not what it was; it has become dross. Alas! what an alteration is here! I. The temple was laid waste, which was the glory of Jerusalem and its... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Lamentations 4:3

Even the sea monsters draw out the breast ,.... Which some interpret of dragons; others of seals, or sea calves; but it is best to understand it of whales, as the word is rendered in Genesis 1:21 ; and elsewhere: and Bochart F4 Hierozoic. l. 1. c. 7. p. 46. has proved, out of various writers, that these have breasts and milk; but that their breasts, or however their paps, are not manifest, but are hid as in cases, and must be drawn out: and so Jarchi observes that they draw their... read more

John Gill

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

The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth to the roof of his mouth for thirst ,.... Through want of the milk of the breast, which is both food and drink unto it: the young children ask bread ; of their parents as usual, not knowing how the case was, that there was a famine in the city; these are such as were more grown, were weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts, and lived on other food, and were capable of asking for it: and no man breaketh it unto them : distributes... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Lamentations 4:5

They that did feed delicately are desolate in the streets ,.... That were brought up in the king's palace, or in the houses of noblemen; or, however, born of parents rich and wealthy, and had been used to good living, and had fared sumptuously and deliciously every day, were now wandering about in the streets in the most forlorn and distressed condition, seeking for food of any sort, but could find none to satisfy their hunger; and so, as the Vulgate Latin version renders it, perished in the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Lamentations 4:6

For the punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people ,.... In the long siege of their city, and the evils that attended it, especially the sore famine: is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom ; which was destroyed at once by fire from heaven: or it may be rendered, "the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the sin of Sodom" F16 מחטאת ----Nwe ldgyw "et ingens fuit iniquitas--prae peccato", Montanus; "et major extitit pravitas--prae peccato",... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Lamentations 4:7

Her Nazarites were purer than snow ,.... Such who separated themselves by a vow to the Lord, and abstained from drinking wine and strong drink, and by a moderate diet, and often washing themselves, as well as taking great care of their hair, appeared very neat and comely, like snow, without any spot or blemish. Some think such as were separated from others in dignity, very honourable persons, the sons of nobles, are meant, since the word has the signification of a "crown", and interpret it,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Lamentations 4:8

Their visage is blacker than a coal ,.... Or, "darker than blackness"; or, "dark through blackness" F25 חשך משחור "obscurior ipsa nigredine", Tigurine version; "magis quam nigredo vel carbo", Vatablus; "prae caligines", Calvin; "ex nigredine", Piscator. ; by reason of the famine, and because of grief and trouble for themselves and their friends, which changed their complexions, countenances, and skins; they that looked before as pure as snow, as white as milk, as clear as pearls,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Lamentations 4:9

They that be slain with the sword are better than they that be slain with hunger ,.... Not that they are better with respect to their state after death, but with respect to their manner of dying. They that were slain by the sword of the Chaldeans, as many were, either upon the walls, or in sallies out against the enemy, these felt less pain, and had less terror of mind in dying, than those did who perished by famine; they died a lingering death, as it were by inches, and were in... 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

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Lamentations 4:1-12

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Lamentations 4:3

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

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Lamentations 4:5

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Lamentations 4:6

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Lamentations 4:7

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Lamentations 4:8

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Lamentations 4:9

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

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

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