John Calvin Commentary Lamentations 4:21

"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." — Lamentations 4:21 (ASV)

The Prophet in this verse intimates that the Jews were exposed to the reproaches and taunts of all their enemies, but he immediately moderates their sorrow by adding a consolation. It was a sorrow that in itself must have been very bitter, for we know that nothing is harder to bear, in a state of misery, than the petulant insults of enemies; these wound us more than all other evils which we may suffer.

The Prophet then intimates that the Jews had been so reduced that all the ungodly and malevolent were able, with impunity, to exult over them and to taunt them with their troubles. This is done in the former clause. But since it was a prophecy, or rather a denunciation, extremely bitter, he mitigates the atrocity of the evil when he says that their enemies would soon, in their turn, have to undergo punishment.

Some explain the whole verse as spoken ironically, as if the Prophet had said tauntingly, “Go now, you Idumeans, and rejoice; but your joy will be fleeting.” But I rather think that he refers to the very summit of extreme misery, because the Jews had been thus exposed to the taunts of their enemies; but he afterwards adds some alleviation, because all their enemies would eventually be punished.

There is, in Micah 7:8, a similar manner of speaking, though no mention is made there of Edom, for there the Prophet speaks generally to all those who envied the people and were their adversaries. He compares the people, according to what was usual, to a woman; and we know that in women there is much more jealousy than in men. Then, when there is a grudge, they fiercely press their case so that they may have an opportunity to speak evil of others. Therefore the Church, after having acknowledged that she had been deservedly chastised, adds, Rejoice not over me, my enemy. But I have already fully explained the Prophet’s meaning—that the Church calls all her enemies an enemy, or an inimical woman, as if there had been some quarrel or jealousy between women. Hence she says,

Though I have fallen, yet rejoice thou not, my enemy; though I lie in darkness, yet the Lord will be my light—though then my enemy has rejoiced, yet my eyes shall see when she shall be trodden down (Micah 7:8, 10).

The Prophet no doubt meant there to mitigate the sorrow of the godly, who saw that they were insolently taunted by all their neighbors. He then shows the necessity of patient endurance for a time, for God would eventually stretch out His hand and render to enemies the reward of their barbarity.

But why in this place mention is made of Edom, rather than of other nations, is not evident. The Jews were, indeed, surrounded on every side by enemies, for they had as many enemies as neighbors.

But the Idumeans, above others, had manifested hostility to the chosen people. The indignity was the greater because they had descended from the same father, for Isaac was their common father, and they derived their origin from two brothers, Esau and Jacob.

Since, then, the Idumeans were related to the Jews, their cruelty was less tolerable, for they thus forgot their own kinship and raged against their brothers and relatives. Hence it is said in Psalm 137:7,

Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom, who said, in the day of Jerusalem, Down with it, down with it, to the very foundation (Psalms 137:7).

The Prophet, then, after having imprecated God’s vengeance on all the ungodly, especially mentioned the Idumeans. And why? Because they indulged their cruelty above all others, for they were standard-bearers, as it were, to enemies, and were like bellows by which the fire was more kindled; for this address was no doubt made to the Chaldeans,

Make bare, make bare; spare not;
let not a stone remain on a stone (Psalms 137:7).

So, as the Idumeans had behaved most cruelly towards their own relatives, the Prophet complains of them and asks God to render to them what they deserved.

So now in this place our Prophet says, Be glad and rejoice, thou daughter of Edom, who dwellest in the land of Uz. By this clause, as I have already said, Jeremiah intimates that the Jews were exposed to the taunts of their enemies, because the Idumeans could now insult them with impunity.

But he immediately adds, also: here he begins a new subject, and this is intimated by the particle גם gam, To thee also shall pass the cup. He employs a common metaphor, for adversity is denoted in Scripture by the word "cup"; for God, according to His will, gives each to drink as much as He pleases.

As when a master of a family distributes drink to his children and servants, so also God, in a manner, extends His cup to everyone whom He chastises. Nor does He allow anyone either to reject the cup offered or to throw away the wine, but He constrains him to drink and to drain it to the very dregs, as much as He gives each to drink.

Hence, the Prophet now says that the cup would pass over to the Idumeans. For we know that, shortly after, they were subdued by the Chaldeans, with whom they had previously been united. But when they had through their perfidy broken their treaty, they were, in their turn, punished.

Since, then, the agreement they had made with the Chaldeans did not continue, the Prophet says that to them also the cup would pass over.

He adds, Thou shalt be inebriated and made naked. God usually distinguishes in this way between His own children and aliens or the reprobate. For He indeed gives a bitter potion to His own children to drink, but it is as much as they are able to drink; but He altogether chokes others, because He constrains them, as has already been said, to drink to the very dregs.

So, then, the Prophet now compares the extreme miseries which the Idumeans suffered to drunkenness; and to the same purpose are the words which follow, Thou shalt be made naked. For he thus intimates that they would be so confounded by the atrocity of their evils as to have no care for decency and to be dead to all shame. As a drunken man who is overpowered by wine disregards himself, falls, and exposes himself as Noah did, so also the Prophet says that so great would be the calamities of Edom that the people, exposed to every reproach, would provide an occasion for taunts to all around them.

As when a sot lies down in the mire, casts away his garments, and makes an exposure of himself, it is a spectacle both sad and shameful; so the Prophet says that the Idumeans would be like drunkards, because they would lie down in their reproach.