Lamentations 4:21

A PROPHETIC REFERENCE TO THE PUNISHMENT OF EDOM

"Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Uz:

The cup shall pass through unto thee also; thou shalt be drunken, and shalt make thyself naked.

The punishment of thine iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of Zion; he will no more carry thee away into captivity:

He will visit thine iniquity, O daughter of Edom; he will uncover thy sins."

The traditional hatred of Edom (the descendants of Esau) against Israel was, in all probability, exhibited by them during Jerusalem's siege and capture by the Chaldeans. Amos 1:11-12 and the Book of Obadiah make strong references to this hatred. We may safely conclude that a disaster of such dimensions as the ruin of Jerusalem and the captivity of her people would not have been overlooked by the Edomites as a wonderful opportunity for them to rejoice over the sorrows of the people they hated.

"Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom" (Lamentations 4:21a). This is sarcasm. It is as though he said, "Go ahead and laugh, O Edom, God will take care of you also, before it's all ended."

"The cup shall pass through unto you also; thou shalt be drunken ... and naked" (Lamentations 4:21b). The cup here is the cup of the wrath of God; and the prophet flatly foretells the eventual doom of the Edomites, who are in the Old Testament (especially Isaiah) exhibited as a type of all sinful men. (See our discussion of this in Vol. 1, Major Prophets, (Isaiah), pp. 309-314.)

"O daughter of Zion, he will no more carry thee away into captivity" (Lamentations 4:22a). This is a parenthetical remark included within the prophecy of Edom's doom, given here especially for the comfort of Israel. "Thank God, Israel, your punishment is completed."

"He will visit thine iniquity, O daughter of Edom, he will uncover thy sins" (22b). That God did indeed bring judgment and destruction upon Edom was fully accomplished. (See a discussion of the historical fulfillment of this prophecy in Vol. 2, Minor Prophets (Obadiah), p. 347ff.) Edom's doom, in Scripture, is a prophecy of the divine punishment of all sinful men.