Bible Commentary

Lamentations 4:1-22

The Pulpit Commentary on Lamentations 4:1-22

The Pulpit Commentary · Joseph S. Exell and contributors · Public domain

THE SUFFERINGS OF JERUSALEM; NO CLASS IS EXEMPT. EDOM'S TRIUMPHING.

EXPOSITION

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commentaryMatthew Henry on Lamentations 4:1-12What a change is here! Sin tarnishes the beauty of the most exalted powers and the most excellent gifts; but that gold, tried in the fire, which Christ bestows, never will be taken from us; its outward appearance may be…Matthew HenrycommentaryDesolate Condition of Jerusalem; Effects of Famine in Jerusalem; Destruction of Jerusalem. (b. c. 588.)DESOLATE CONDITION OF JERUSALEM; EFFECTS OF FAMINE IN JERUSALEM; DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM. (B. C. 588.) The elegy in this chapter begins with a lamentation of the very sad and doleful change which the judgments of God h…Matthew HenrycommentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Lamentations 4:1How is the gold become dim!… the stones of the sanctuary, etc. "Alas for the sad sights of the capture of Jerusalem! The most fine gold has lost its brilliance now that the fire of Nebuzar-adan (2 Kings 25:9) has passed…Joseph S. Exell and contributorscommentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Lamentations 4:1The gold dimmed. Present adversity brings to mind, by force of contrast, the prosperity of bygone days. The Hebrew prophet of sorrow might well recall the golden days of old. "A poet's crown of sorrow is remembering hap…Joseph S. Exell and contributorscommentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Lamentations 4:2The precious sons of Zion; i.e. not merely the nobility, but the people of Judah in general. It is needless (as the literal interpreters of Lamentations 4:1 are compelled to do) to alter b'ne (sons) into bātte (houses)…Joseph S. Exell and contributorscommentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Lamentations 4:2Precious sons...fine gold,…become earthen pitchers. The prophet's appreciation of the proper dignity and value of his nation was naturally very exalted; in proportion were his sorrows and humiliation when his country re…Joseph S. Exell and contributorscommentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Lamentations 4:3The sea monsters; rather, the jackals (tannin, the Aramaic form of the plural for tannim). Cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness. So in Job (Job 39:14-16) it is said of the ostrich that she "leaveth her eggs in th…Joseph S. Exell and contributorscommentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Lamentations 4:3-5The horrors of famine. A more graphic, a more terrible picture than this of the misery of a captured, starved, and desolated city, no pencil could paint. If the circumstances of the famine-stricken population of Jerusal…Joseph S. Exell and contributors