Lamentations 4:6 - Exposition

The punishment of the iniquity... the punishment of the sin. This is a possible rendering (see Genesis 4:13 ; Zechariah 14:19 ), but the renderings, "the iniquity," "the sin? are preferable, and yield a finer meaning, viz. that the punishment having been so severe, the guilt must have been in proportion. And no hands stayed on her. To make the picture of sudden destruction more vivid, the poet alludes to the ordinary circumstances of the capture of a city, the "hands" of a fierce soldiery ever "whirling" a destroying sword. Comp. "the swinging of the hand of Jehovah Sabaoth, which he swingeth against it" ( Isaiah 19:16 ).