Lamentations 5:16

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 5:16

The crown is fallen from our head ,.... Or, "the crown of our head is fallen" F1 נפלה עטרת ראשנו "cecidit corona capitis nostri", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Calvin, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. ; all their honour and glory as a nation were gone; the glory of their kingdom and priesthood, to both which a crown or mitre belonged; the glory of church and state. Aben Ezra interprets it of the temple, the place of the divine Majesty. Sanctius thinks there is an allusion to the... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Lamentations 5:16

The crown is fallen from our head - At feasts, marriages, etc., they used to crown themselves with garlands of flowers; all festivity of this kind was now at an end. Or it may refer to their having lost all sovereignty, being made slaves. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Lamentations 5:16

Verse 16 By the crown of the head he no doubt understands all those ornaments by which that people had been adorned. They had a kingdom and a priesthood, which were like two luminaries or two precious jewels; they had also other things by which the Lord had adorned them. As, then, they were endued with such excellent things, they are said to have borne a crown on their head But a crown was not only taken for a diadem, — it was also a symbol of joy and of honor; for not only kings then wore... 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 5:16

The crown is fallen, etc.; rather, the crown of our head is fallen. The Jewish people is compared to a rich man at a banquet, crowned with a diadem (comp. Isaiah 28:1 ). Jeremiah has a similar phrase in his prophecies ( Jeremiah 13:18 ). It evidently expresses figuratively the prosperity and honour formerly enjoyed by the now vanquished people. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Lamentations 5:16

Discrowned Jerusalem. I. THE PAST HONOUR OF JERUSALEM . The crown has fallen from the head; a crown, therefore, has been upon the head. The lament is not over something striven for and not attained, but over something, as it seems, securely possessed and now irretrievably lost. Notice how Ezekiel is instructed to put the matter ( Ezekiel 16:12 ). In making Jerusalem to know her abominations there is a contrast with former privileges. Jehovah says, "I put a beautiful crown upon... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Lamentations 5:16-17

The degradation of sin. The promise of sin is something very different from this; no flattery is untried, no prospect withheld, which may induce men to rebel against God. But, as with our first parents, as with the dwellers in Jerusalem, so is it in the experience of all men; the promises which sin makes are unfulfilled; the wages of sin are death. I. THE PICTURE OF DEGRADATION . It is highly figurative language which the prophet here employs; but it is not exaggerated, it is... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Lamentations 5:16

Literally, “The crown of our head is fallen,” i. e. what was our chief ornament and dignity is lost; the independence of the nation, and all that gave them rank and honor. 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

Group of Brands