KING JAMES VERSION
LAMENTATIONS, CHAPTER 4
1 Zion bewails
her pitiful estate. 13 She confesses her sins. 21 Edom is threatened. 22 Zion is comforted.
Lam 4:1 HOW is the gold become dim! how is the most fine gold changed! the stones of the sanctuary are poured out in the top of every street.
Lam 4:2 The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter!
Lam 4:3 Even the sea monsters draw out the breast, they give suck to their young ones: the daughter of my people is become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness.*
[*Note: ‘The sea monsters’: refers to large sea creatures,
like whales or other marine creatures, which also show care for their young;
- ‘ostriches in the wilderness’: an image associated with the ostrich's
rumoured lack of care for its eggs (see also Job 39:13-17). This reinforces the
contrast between natural maternal instinct and the unnatural behaviour induced
by the crisis.]
Lam 4:4 The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth to the roof of his mouth for thirst: the young children ask bread, and no man breaketh it unto them.
Lam 4:5 They that did feed delicately are desolate in the streets: they that were brought up in scarlet embrace dunghills.
Lam 4:6 For the punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom, that was overthrown as in a moment, and no hands stayed on her.
Lam 4:7 Her Nazarites were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk, they were more ruddy in body than rubies, their polishing was of sapphire:*
[*Note: Her Nazarites: refers to people who had taken the
Nazarite vow, a special form of seclusion before God (see Deuteronomy 6:1-21).]
Lam 4:8 Their visage is blacker than a coal; they are not known in the streets: their skin cleaveth to their bones; it is withered, it is become like a stick.*
[*Note: ‘Blacker than coal’: Their faces are noticeably changed
by starvation and disease. – ‘Not recognised’:
They are so changed that they are not recognised. – ‘Skin stuck to bones’: emaciated from starvation – ‘withered, like a stick’: their bodies are thin
and lifeless. It is a picture of total humiliation and physical decline during
the siege of Jerusalem.]
Lam 4:9 They that be slain with the sword are better than they that be slain with hunger: for these pine away, stricken through for want of the fruits of the field.*
[*Note: Death by sword is better because it is quick and less
painful compared to death by starvation. - ‘Pierced by lack of the fruits of
the field’: The lack of food is described as a torment that feels like being
pierced, adding to the unbearable suffering.]
Lam 4:10 The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children: they were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people.*
[*Note: ‘The hands of the pitiful women’: The phrase emphasises
the moral and emotional devastation, where even the most compassionate were
forced to extreme actions – KJV, The word ‘sodden’
means ‘Cooked’ so they cooked their own children for food: Refers to an act of
desperation caused by extreme hunger and the horrors of the siege, a
prophetically foretold tragedy (see Deuteronomy 28:53).]
Lam 4:11 The LORD hath accomplished his fury; he hath poured out his fierce anger, and hath kindled a fire in Zion, and it hath devoured the foundations thereof.
Lam 4:12 The kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the world, would not have believed that the adversary and the enemy should have entered into the gates of Jerusalem.
Lam 4:13 ¶ For the sins of her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests, that have shed the blood of the just in the midst of her,
Lam 4:14 They have wandered as blind men in the streets, they have polluted themselves with blood, so that men could not touch their garments.*
[*Note: ‘Men could not touch their garments’: The garments are
symbolically unclean because of the blood, making them ceremonially unclean
according to the law (see Leviticus 15:19-24).]
Lam 4:15 They cried unto them, Depart ye; it is unclean; depart, depart, touch not: when they fled away and wandered, they said among the heathen, They shall no more sojourn there.*
[*Note: ‘Depart ye; it is
unclean’: The people are considered ritually and morally unclean, meaning that
they are no longer welcome in the community. This may reflect their sinfulness
or illness (e.g. leprosy, see Leviticus 13:45-46).]
Lam 4:16 The anger of the LORD hath divided them; he will no more regard them: they respected not the persons of the priests, they favoured not the elders.
Lam 4:17 As for us, our eyes as yet failed for our vain help: in our watching we have watched for a nation that could not save us.
Lam 4:18 They hunt our steps, that we cannot go in our streets: our end is near, our days are fulfilled; for our end is come.
Lam 4:19 Our persecutors are swifter than the eagles of the heaven: they pursued us upon the mountains, they laid wait for us in the wilderness.
Lam 4:20 The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the Lord, was taken in their pits, of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the heathen.
Lam 4:21 ¶ Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Uz; the cup also shall pass through unto thee: thou shalt be drunken, and shalt make thyself naked.*
[*Note: ‘Daughter of Edom’: Refers to the people of Edom, often
enemies of Israel, and here represented as a personified daughter. - ‘Dwelling
in the land of Uz’: Uz was an area associated with Edom, and perhaps also Job
(see Job 1:1).]
Lam 4:22 ¶ 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 discover thy sins.