John Calvin Commentary Lamentations 5:12

"Princes were hanged up by their hand: The faces of elders were not honored." — Lamentations 5:12 (ASV)

The beginning of the verse may be explained in two ways. All interpret it this way: “The princes have been slain by their hand,” that is, by the hand of their enemies. But I wonder how it never occurred to them that it was far more grievous for them to have been slain by their own hand.

I certainly do not doubt that the Prophet says here that some of the princes had laid violent hands on themselves. For it would be an understated expression to say that the princes were hung by the hand of enemies. But if we read that the princes were hung by their own hand, this would be far more atrocious, as we have previously seen that even women, known for their compassion, devoured their own offspring. So he says now that princes were hung, not by enemies. It was a common thing for the conquered to be slain by their enemies and also hung as a mark of disgrace. But the Prophet, it seems to me, meant to express something more atrocious: that the miserable princes were compelled to lay violent hands on themselves.

He adds that the faces of the aged were not honored, which is also unnatural. For we know that some honor is always shown to old age, and that time of life is commonly regarded with reverence. When, therefore, no respect is shown to the aged, the greatest barbarity must necessarily prevail. It is the same, then, as if the Prophet had said that the people had been so disgracefully treated that their enemies had not even spared the aged. We also now understand why he adds this, for it would have otherwise appeared incredible that the princes hung themselves by their own hand. But he here intimates that there was no escape for them, except to seek death for themselves in despair, because all humanity had disappeared.