Lamentations 5:12 NLT,NIV,ESV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Lamentations 5:1-16

Isa. any afflicted? let him pray; and let him in prayer pour out his complaint to God, and make known before him his trouble. The people of God do so here; being overwhelmed with grief, they give vent to their sorrows at the footstool of the throne of grace, and so give themselves ease. They complain not of evils feared, but of evils felt: ?Remember what has come upon us, Lam. 5:1. What was of old threatened against us, and was long in the coming, has now at length come upon us, and we are... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Lamentations 5:12

Princes are hanged up by their hand ,.... According to some, as Aben Ezra observes, by the hand of the servants before mentioned; however, by the hand of the Chaldeans or Babylonians; see Jeremiah 52:10 . Some understand it of their own hands, as if they laid violent hands upon themselves, not being able to bear the hardships and disgrace they were subjected to but I should rather think this is to be understood of hanging them, not by the neck, but by the hand, could any instance be given... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Lamentations 5:12

Princes are hanged up by their hand - It is very probable that this was a species of punishment. They were suspended from hooks in the wall by their hands till they died through torture and exhaustion. The body of Saul was fastened to the wall of Bethshan, probably in the same way; but his head had already been taken off. They were hung in this way that they might be devoured by the fowls of the air. It was a custom with the Persians after they had slain, strangled, or beheaded their... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Lamentations 5:12

Verse 12 The beginning of the verse may be explained in two ways. All render thus, “The princes have been slain by their hand,” that is, of their enemies. But I wonder how it never occurred to them, that it was far more grievous, that they were slain by their own hand. I certainly do not doubt but that the Prophet says here, that some of the princes had laid violent hands on themselves. For it would be a frigid expression, that the princes were hung by the hand of enemies; but if we read, that... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Lamentations 5:1-18

INSULT UPON INSULT HAS BEEN HEAPED UPON JERUSALEM . read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Lamentations 5:12

Princes are hanged up by their hand; i.e. by the hand of the enemy. Impalement after death was a common punishment with the Assyrians and Babylonians. Thus Sennacherib says that, after capturing rebellious Ekron, he hung the bodies of the chief men on stakes all round the city ('Records of the Past,' 1.38). Benomi gives a picture of such an impalement from one of the plates in Botta's great work. read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Lamentations 5:12

After the princes had been put to death their bodies were hung up by the hand to expose them to public contumely. Old age, again, no more availed to shield men from shameful treatment than the high rank of the princes. Such treatment of conquered enemies was not uncommon in ancient warfare. read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Lamentations 5:12-16

Lamentations 5:12-16. Princes are hanged up by their hand By the hand of their enemies. They took the young men to grind To grind at the mill was the common employment of slaves, Exodus 11:5. The children fell under the wood They made children turn the handle of the mill till they fell down through weariness: so some explain it with relation to the former part of the verse. But the expression may be understood of making them carry such heavy burdens of wood that they fainted under the... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Lamentations 5:1-22

A prayer for mercy (5:1-22)This poem was apparently written in Judah some time after the fall of Jerusalem. Only the people of no use to Babylon were left in the land, and this poem reflects the hardships they faced (cf. Jeremiah 52:16).In a plea to God for mercy, the people remind him of their present shame (5:1). Death has broken up their families, and the invaders have taken over their houses and lands (2-3). They live and work like slaves in their own country, and have to buy water from... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Lamentations 5:12

faces. Put by Figure of speech Synecdoche (of the Part), App-6 , for the whole person. read more