Albert Barnes Commentary Lamentations 4
Albert Barnes Commentary
Lamentations 4
Albert Barnes Commentary
Lamentations 4
"How is the gold become dim! [how] is the most pure gold changed! The stones of the sanctuary are poured out at the head of every street." — Lamentations 4:1 (ASV)
The stones of the sanctuary - Or, the hallowed stones, literally stones of holiness, a metaphor for the people themselves. The actual stones of the temple would not be so widely thrown about as to be seen everywhere, but the prophet has already affirmed this of the young children dying of hunger .
"The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, How are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter!" — Lamentations 4:2 (ASV)
The precious sons of Zion - The whole nation was consecrated to God, and formed a kingdom of priests (Exodus 19:6): in this respect, a type of the Christian Church (1 Peter 2:5).
Comparable to fine gold - literally, “weighed with” solid gold, and so equal to their weight in it. With this is contrasted the hollow pitcher easily broken, and made of materials of no intrinsic value.
"Even the jackals 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." — Lamentations 4:3 (ASV)
Sea monsters - Rather, jackals.
Their young ones - “Their” whelps. The term is applied only to the young of dogs, lions, and the like.
"They that did feed delicately are desolate in the streets: They that were brought up in scarlet embrace dunghills." — Lamentations 4:5 (ASV)
They that were brought up in scarlet - literally, “those who were carried upon scarlet;” young children in arms and of the highest birth now lie on the dirt-heaps of the city.
"For the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the sin of Sodom, That was overthrown as in a moment, and no hands were laid upon her." — Lamentations 4:6 (ASV)
Rather, For the iniquity of the daughter of my people was greater than the sin of Sodom. The prophet deduces this conclusion from the greatness of Judah’s misery .
No hands stayed on her—Or, no hands were round about her. Sodom’s sufferings in dying were brief: there were no starving children, no mothers cooking their offspring for food.
Jump to: