Lamentations 4:1-22

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

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Lamentations 4:13-20

We have here, I. The sins they were charged with, for which God brought this destruction upon them, and which served to justify God in it (Lam. 4:13, 14): It is for the sins of her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests. Not that the people were innocent; no, they loved to have it so (Jer. 5:31), and it was to please them that the prophets and priests did as they did; but the fault is chiefly laid upon them, who should have taught them better, should have reproved and admonished them, and... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Lamentations 4:21-22

David's psalms of lamentation commonly conclude with some word of comfort, which is as life from the dead and light shining out of darkness; so does this lamentation here in this chapter. The people of God are now in great distress, their aspects all doleful, their prospects all frightful, and their ill-natured neighbours the Edomites insult over them and do all they can to exasperate their destroyers against them. Such was their violence against their brother Jacob (Obad. 1:10), such their... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Lamentations 4:1

How is the gold become dim !.... Or "covered" F2 יועם "rubigine obducetur", Montanus; "obtectum vel absconditum", Vatablus. So Ben Melech. ; or hid with rust, dust, or dirt; so that it can scarcely be discerned: how is the most fine gold changed ! this may be literally true of the gold of the temple; and so the Targum calls it "the gold of the house of the sanctuary;' with which that was overlaid, and many things in it, 1 Kings 6:21 ; and was sadly sullied and tarnished... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Lamentations 4:2

The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold ,.... This explains what is meant in Lamentations 4:1 ; by gold, fine gold, and stones of the sanctuary; not Josiah and his sons, as some Jewish interpreters; but all the sons of Zion, or children of God; not the inhabitants of Zion literally, but spiritually; see Zechariah 9:13 . Zion is the church; her sons are her spiritual seed and offspring that are born of her, she being the mother of them all, and born in her, by means of the... 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

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