Lamentations 4
OGCREVIEW OF CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Judged according to form, to what other chapter in Lamentations does chapter 4 most nearly correspond?
Why did Jeremiah compare his people to an ostrich? Lamentations 4:3.
In what respect was the punishment of Zion greater than that of Sodom? Lamentations 4:6.
What is the evidence of the severity of the famine in Jerusalem?
What was the attitude of the poet toward priests and prophets? Lamentations 4:13.
What was the nation to which Zion looked for help in her desperate hour? Lamentations 4:17.
To whom is the poet referring in Lamentations 4:20?
Why is Edom told to rejoice over the fate of Zion? Lamentations 4:21.
What is the contrast between the future of Zion and the future of Edom? Lamentations 4:22.
Lamentations 4:1-10
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
A RUINED KINGDOM
The fourth poem is an alphabetic acrostic like that found in Chapter s 1 and 2 with the exception that the stanzas here have two lines instead of three. Here also the sixteenth and seventeenth letters of the Hebrew alphabet are reversed, but without any interruption in the thought sequence. No satisfactory explanation of this reversal of letters has yet been suggested. The chapter emphasizes the suffering of the people of Jerusalem during and following the Chaldean siege. The poet uses the technique of contrast as he compares the former glory of the kingdom of Judah to the present wretched condition of the land. The poem falls into three parts. (1) The poet first gives an eyewitness account of the horrors which accompanied and followed the siege of Jerusalem (Lamentations 4:1-10). (2) Then the prophet offers an explanation for this overwhelming calamity (Lamentations 4:11-20). (3) Finally, the poet offers a ray of hope for his people, placing in contrast the future of Edom and the future of Israel (Lamentations 4:21-22).
I. A DESCRIPTION OF THE JUDGMENT Lamentations 4:1-10
TRANSLATION
(1) How sad that the gold has become dim, the best gold changed! Holy stones lie scattered at the head of every street. (2) The precious sons of Zion, worth their weight in fine gold, how sad that they are regarded as clay vessels, the work of the potter’s hands. (3) Even the jackals draw out the breast to give suck to their young. The daughter of my people has become cruel like the ostriches in the wilderness. (4) The tongue of the suckling child clings to the roof of his mouth for thirst; young children ask for bread but no man breaks it for them. (5) They who were accustomed to eating delicacies perish in the streets; those who were brought up in purple resort to the dunghill. (6) For the chastisement of the daughter of my people has been greater than the punishment of Sodom which was overturned suddenly, untouched by any hand. (7) Her princes were purer than snow, whiter than milk; they were more ruddy in body than coral, as sapphire was their form. (8) Blacker than soot has their appearance become, they are not recognized on the streets. Their skin hugs their bones having become dry like a stick. (9) Those who were slain by the sword were better off than those who were slain by the famine, for these pine away, stricken through for want of the products of the field. (10) The hands of tenderhearted women have boiled their own children; they became their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
COMMENTS
The poet begins his lament by contrasting the former brightness of Judah with the present dark days. The golden Temple ornamentation which formerly glistened in the sunlight now is blackened and tarnished. The stones of the Temple lie scattered about at the head of every street leading from the Temple area (Lamentations 4:1). The youth of Zion, the most valuable asset of the nation, lie dead and scattered about like broken bits of pottery (Lamentations 4:2). The remaining portion of the poet’s description of the judgment on Jerusalem focuses on the famine which the city experienced while under Babylonian siege. He vividly describes the effects of hunger on four classes of the populace. (1) The children have suffered above all. The tortured and tormented mothers of Judah treat their babies worse than the Wild animals treat their young. Wild and roving jackals (not sea monsters as in KJV) do not forget their offspring. But the famine has made the mothers of Jerusalem cruel like the ostrich (Lamentations 4:3). The ostrich was regarded by the ancients as the symbol of maternal neglect and cruelty (Job 39:13-17). The babes of Jerusalem have no breasts to suckle and hence die from lack of nourishment. Young children ask for bread but no one takes note of their need (Lamentations 4:4). (2) The wealthy also suffer in the famine. What a pitiful sight it must have been to see those who were accustomed to the finest foods and garments perishing in the streets with the poor or scavenging in the city garbage dumps (Lamentations 4:5). The lingering agony of the starving city causes the poet to make a painful comparison. Jerusalem has experienced a more severe fate than ancient Sodom. Sodom’s fall was sudden but Jerusalem’s agony and suffering was prolonged over a period of several months (Lamentations 4:6). (3) The nobles of the land (or perhaps the Nazarites) also suffered greatly from the famine. Once they were the picture of healthrosy cheeks, fair complexion, stately appearance (Lamentations 4:7). But as a result of the pangs of hunger these nobles have been reduced to skin and bones. Their fair skin is now black and leathery. No one can even recognize these once famous personages on the streets of the city (Lamentations 4:8). How much better off were those Who had died suddenly by the sword in battle than those who wasted away day by day (Lamentations 4:9). (4) Most pitiful of all are the women of Judah. Once tender-hearted and loving mothers, these women have been so crazed by hunger that they have forgotten their maternal affection. In order to preserve their own lives they were boiling and eating their own children! (Lamentations 4:10).
Lamentations 4:11-20
II. AN EXPLANATION OF THE JUDGMENT
TRANSLATION
(11) The LORD has given vent to His wrath. He has poured out His fierce anger. He has kindled a fire in Zion, which has consumed her foundations. (12) Neither the kings of the earth nor the inhabitants of the world believed that the adversary and the enemy would enter the gates of Jerusalem. (13) It was because of the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests who shed the blood of innocent persons in the midst of her. (14) They staggered like blind men in the streets. They were polluted with blood so that none could touch their garments. (15) Turn back! Unclean! men cried to them; Turn back! Turn back! Do not touch! When they fled away and wandered, men said among the nations, They shall no more sojourn there. (16) The face of the LORD has scattered them, He will no more regard them. They do not respect priests nor do they favor elders. (17) Our eyes failed continuing to look for our help in vain; in our watching we watched for a nation which could not save. (18) They hunted our steps preventing us from walking in our streets. Our end drew near, our days were filled up because our end had come. (19) More swift were our pursuers than the eagles of the heavens. Upon the hills they chased us, in the wilderness they laid in wait for us. (20) The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the LORD, was captured in their pits, the one of whom we had said, Under his shadow we shall live among the nations.
COMMENTS
In Lamentations 4:11-20 the poet begins to explain the horrendous calamity which has befallen Judah. The ultimate cause of Zion’s downfall was the burning wrath of the Lord (Lamentations 4:11). The leaders of the city, and in fact all the inhabitants of the world, believed that Jerusalem was invulnerable (Lamentations 4:12). The idea that the Lord would not destroy His special abode probably was based upon the miraculous last-minute deliverance of Jerusalem from the armies of the Assyrian Sennacherib in the days of king Hezekiah (Isaiah 37).
In Lamentations 4:13-20 the prophet points out two of the reasons God’s anger was stirred up against the inhabitants of Judah. First he mentions the sins of the prophets and priests (Lamentations 4:13-16). Not only were these leaders guilty of perverting the word of the Lord, they were also guilty of murder, perhaps not directly, but indirectly (Lamentations 4:13). Because of their counsel and encouragement many innocent people had been executed by the government. When Jerusalem came under the Chaldean siege and the city eventually fell these leaders who had confidently predicted divine deliverance were thrown into confusion. They were so defiled by blood that men could not touch them (Lamentations 4:14). Their countrymen treated them as though they were unclean lepers. People who met them in the way applied to them the warning cry which lepers were to use if anyone approached them. Shunned by their own countrymen these discredited religious leaders fled to foreign lands. But even there these priests and prophets were not wanted. They were forced to become vagabonds wandering from one land to another (Lamentations 4:15). It is the face of the Lord i.e., His anger, which has scattered these worthless leaders. Because they are not worthy of their office the Lord no longer regards them as prophets, priests, and elders nor do the people show to these leaders the respect and favor which the dignity of their office would normally evoke (Lamentations 4:16).
The poet points to the stubborn and stupid resistance of the inhabitants of Jerusalem as the second explanation of the severity of Jerusalem’s judgment. Having committed the fundamental error of disobedience to the word of God the people of Judah stumbled on through those last years trusting confidently in false theological premises and human ingenuity. The poet points out four specific ways in which the nation had been deluded and deceived. (1) To the bitter end they had put their trust in foreign allies, particularly Egypt (Lamentations 4:17). On one occasion Pharaoh had made an attempt to come to the aid of Jerusalem but his forces were driven off by the armies of Nebuchadnezzar, Jerusalem’s hope that Pharaoh Hophra could defeat the Babylonians proved vain. The troops of Nebuchadnezzar returned to the siege. (2) The nation had been led to believe that they could successfully resist the might of Babylon. But with each passing day it became ever more obvious that the end had come. Missiles hurled into the city from Chaldean siege towers made any public assembly within the city hazardous. It was stupid to continue to resist (Lamentations 4:18). (3) The inhabitants of Jerusalem also mistakenly thought they could flee the falling city. But flight was in vain. The enemy like eagles swooping down upon the prey pounced upon any who tried to escape the siege (Lamentations 4:19). (4) The inhabitants of Jerusalem were deceived in believing that they could find protection by adhering to Zedekiah the king of Judah. Because the life of a kingdom depends upon having a king, Zedekiah is called by the poet the breath of our nostrils. Zedekiah was the anointed of the Lord and the current representative of the house of David. The people were supremely confident that God would never allow the house of David to be completely overthrown. But Zedekiah was captured by the Chaldeans and deported to Babylon, a blind and broken man (Lamentations 4:20). The people had been misled by their leaders into thinking that Jerusalem was inviolable and the dynasty of David unconquerable. They had placed their trust in man and had persistently refused to heed the word of God. They have no one but themselves to blame for the severity of Jerusalem’s sufferings.
Lamentations 4:21-22
III. AN EXPECTATION REGARDING THE JUDGMENT Lamentations 4:21-22
TRANSLATION
(21) Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, who dwells in the land of Uz! But to You also shall the cup pass. You shall become drunk and make yourself naked. (22) The punishment of your iniquity is complete, O daughter of Zion! He will no more cause you to go into captivity! But your iniquity, O daughter of Edom, He will punish, He will uncover your sins.
COMMENTS
The nations of Edom and Judah were traditional enemies. During the western rebellion against Nebuchadnezzar in 589 B.C. Edom had remained loyal to the Chaldean king. When Jerusalem was going through her death throes Edom had acted in a most hostile and haughty way. Edom’s sin began with indifference. She showed no concern over what was befalling her neighbor. From indifference Edom went on to rejoice over the destruction of the people of God. At some point the Edomites actually entered the weakened and helpless city of Jerusalem. They had reveled and caroused in the Temple mount. They had even helped the Chaldeans capture the poor fugitives who tried to escape the calamity of their nation (Obadiah 1:10-16). Ezekiel mentions that Edom tried to annex some of Judah’s territory at this time (Ezekiel 35:10-12). This ancient enemy, Edom, is ironically urged to rejoice and sing i.e., to enjoy their moment of triumph. But their joy will be short-lived! The cup of divine wrath is about to pass to Edom. Jeremiah had prophesied that Edom along with most of the other nations of Syria-Palestine would have to taste of the cup of God’s wrath through the hand of Nebuchadnezzar (Jeremiah 25:15-28). Edom is reminded that she must drink that dreaded cup till she becomes intoxicated and experiences shame, confusion, sorrow, and destruction. She will be stripped of all her power and glory (Lamentations 4:21).
Judah has been severely punished but her punishment is over. A ray of hope illuminates the darkness of Judah’s present situation. For her a better day is dawning. Once she has returned from exile she will never again be carried away captive as a nation. The deliverance here predicted finds it fulfillment in the Messianic age when God granted salvation to His people, the New Israel, the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Edom’s future, on the other hand, is not so bright. Her sin is about to be punished (Lamentations 4:22), The last remnant of Edom perished during the revolt against Rome in the early years of the Christian era, A.D. 70-71.[442]
[442] Josephus, Jewish Wars IV. 5; v. 6. 1.