John Calvin Commentary Lamentations 4:6

"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)

The Prophet says first, that the punishment of his people was heavier than that of Sodom. If anyone prefers the other version, I will not contend, for it is not unsuitable; and from this also a most useful doctrine may be drawn: that we are to judge of the grievousness of our sins by the greatness of our punishment, for God never exceeds what is just when He takes vengeance on the sins of men.

Then His severity shows how grievously men have sinned. Thus, Jeremiah may have reasoned from the effect to the cause, and declared that the people had been more wicked than the Sodomites. Nor is this unreasonable; for if the Jews had not fallen into that great wickedness of which the Sodomites were guilty, yet the Prophets everywhere charged them as men who not only equaled but also surpassed the Sodomites, especially Ezekiel (Ezekiel 16:46–47). Isaiah also called them the people of Gomorrah, and the king’s counselors and judges, the princes of Sodom (Isaiah 1:9–10). This mode of speaking is then common in the Prophets, and the meaning is not unsuitable.

But as he dwells only on the grievousness of their punishment, the other explanation seems more simple; for I do not regard what is plausible, but accept the true meaning. Let us then repeat the Prophet’s words: greater is the punishment of my people, etc. The word עון, oun, means punishment as well as iniquity; this is certain, beyond dispute.

Now חטאת, chethat, also means both sin and punishment. It is therefore applied to expiations; the sacrifice for sin is called חטאת, chethat. As to the words, then, they designate punishment as well as sin, the cause of it. But the reason which follows leads me to consider punishment as intended, for he says that Sodom was overthrown as in a moment. Here, doubtless, we see that the sins of the Jews are not compared to the sins of the Sodomites, but their destruction only. God had overthrown Sodom, as He afterwards overthrew Jerusalem; but the ruin of Sodom was milder, for it perished in a moment. For when God had dreadfully thundered, the Sodomites and their neighboring citizens were immediately destroyed, and we know that the shorter the punishment, the more tolerable it is. As the Prophet here compares the momentary destruction of Sodom with the prolonged ruin of the city and slaughter of the people, we see that what is spoken of is not sin, but on the contrary God’s judgment.

Yet there is no doubt that the Prophet summoned the Jews to God’s tribunal, so that they might know that they deserved such a vengeance, and that they might perceive that they were worse than the Sodomites. For it was not the Prophet’s object to expostulate with God, or to charge Him with having been too rigid in destroying the city of Jerusalem. Since, then, the Prophet does not charge God either with injustice or with cruelty, it is certain that punishment is what is set forth here, in order that the people might know what they deserved.

But the words declare nothing more than that God’s vengeance had been severer towards the Jews than towards the Sodomites. How so? It is evident from this reason: because Sodom was consumed as in a moment; and then it is added, and strokes remained not on her. The word יד, id, as it is well known, means hand, a place, but sometimes, metaphorically, a stroke.

Interpreters vary here, but I will not recite the opinions of all, nor is it necessary. Those who seem to come nearest to the words of the Prophet render them this way: “and hands (or forces) have not encamped against her.” But this is a forced and far-fetched meaning. A better rendering would be, “have not remained.” The verb חול, chul, means sometimes to encamp and sometimes to remain, to settle.

Then the most appropriate meaning would be, that strokes settled not on the Sodomites, while the Jews pined away in their manifold evils.

For they did not immediately perish like the Sodomites; but when God saw them so obstinate in their wickedness, He destroyed some by famine, some by pestilence, and some by the sword. Then the city was not immediately demolished altogether, as it often happens when enemies make a slaughter and kill men, women, and children; but this people were not so destroyed.

Many of them were driven into exile, and some of the common people were left to inhabit the ruined cities, for there was dreadful desolation. The king himself, as has appeared before, was removed to Babylon, but his eyes had previously been pulled out, and his children slain in his presence.

We therefore see that the destruction of the city was like a slow consumption, and that thus strokes remained there, as it were, fixed, which did not happen to Sodom. For Sodom suddenly perished when God thundered against it; but the hand of God did not depart from the Jews, and the strokes or smitings, as I have said, were fixed on them and continued.