Lamentations 4

Lamentations 4 is the fourth chapter of the Book of Lamentations in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible, part of the Ketuvim ("Writings").

Text

The original text was written in Hebrew language. This chapter is divided into 22 verses.

The chapter is acrostic, divided into 22 stanzas or verses. The stanzas consist of triplets of lines, each beginning with the letters of the Hebrew alphabet in regular order (twenty-two in number).

Textual versions

Some early witnesses for the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text, which includes Codex Leningradensis (1008). Fragments containing parts of this chapter were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls including 5Q6 (5QLam^a; 50 CE) with extant verses 5‑8, 11‑16, 19‑22; and 5Q7 (5QLam^b; 30 BCE‑50 CE) with extant verses 17‑20.

There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus (B; $\mathfrak$^B; 4th century), Codex Alexandrinus (A; $\mathfrak$^A; 5th century) and Codex Marchalianus (Q; $\mathfrak$^Q; 6th century).

Verse 1

: ''How is the gold become dim!''
:: ''how is the most fine gold changed!''
: ''the stones of the sanctuary are poured out''
:: ''in the top of every street.''
* "How" (Hebrew, ''Eichah''): the title of the collection repeated here, and in Lamentations 2:1.
* "Gold": the "splendid adornment of the temple" alvin(; ; ); or, the "principal men of Judea" rotius( Lamentations 4:2).Jamieson, Robert; Fausset, Andrew Robert; Brown, David. '' Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary On the Whole Bible''
"Lamentations 4"
1871.
* "The stones of the sanctuary": These precious stones are the "sons of Zion", who are compared to "fine gold" in verse 2 and in (cf. , "your sons, O Zion") to "the stones of a crown." They are called "stones of the sanctuary" in allusion, perhaps, to the precious stones used in the decoration of the temple as noted in and , which are described as "costly" in . However, it was expressed in an earlier lamentation that the young children "fainted for hunger in the top of every street" ( Lamentations 2:19).Exell, Joseph S.; Spence-Jones, Henry Donald Maurice (Editors)
On "Lamentations 4".
In: ''The Pulpit Commentary''. First publication: 1890. The stones can also refer to the gems on the breastplate of the high priest; or, metaphorically, the priests and Levites. The Jerusalem Bible also argues that both the gold and the stones "are the people of Jerusalem".

Verse 2

: ''The precious sons of Zion,''
:: ''comparable to fine gold,''
: ''how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers,''
:: ''the work of the hands of the potter!''
* "The precious sons of Zion": The whole nation was consecrated to God, and formed "a kingdom of priests" ; in this respect, a type of the Christian Church . Barnes, Albert
''Notes on the Bible'' - "Lamentations 4"
James Murphy (ed). London, Blackie & Son, 1884. Reprint, Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1998.
* "earthen pitchers" see ; .
* "The work of the hands of the potter": as earthen vessels with respect to their bodies, "frail, weak, and mortal"; but they are the work of God's hands, particularly as new creatures, and are a piece of his workmanship, and so valuable to him (see ). Gill, John
''Exposition of the Entire Bible''. "Lamentations 4".
Published in 1746-1763.

Verse 3

:''Even the jackals present their breasts''
:''To nurse their young;''
:''But the daughter of my people is cruel,''
:''Like ostriches in the wilderness.''
"Daughter" in the Hebrew text but "daughters" in the Septuagint.

Verse 6

:''For the punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people''
:''is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom,''
:''that was overthrown as in a moment,''
:''and no hands stayed on her.''
*"And no hands stayed on her" (NKJV: "With no hand to help her!"): An alternative ending based on the Septuagint is "no time for a man to wring his hands".

Verses 16–17

In , two initial letters, "Ayin" and " Pe", are transposed. This is found is three instances in the whole book ( Lamentations 2:16–17; 3:46–51; and here). Grotius thinks the reason for the inversion of two of the Hebrew letters, is that the Chaldeans, like the Arabians, used a different order from the Hebrews; in the first Elegy (chapter), Jeremiah speaks as a Hebrew, in the following ones, as one subject to the Chaldeans, but Fausset thinks it is doubtful.Jamieson, Robert; Fausset, Andrew Robert; Brown, David. '' Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary on the Whole Bible''
"Lamentations 1: Introduction"
1871.

See also

*Jacob
* Judah
*Jerusalem
*Zion
*Related Bible parts: Isaiah 30, Lamentations 1, Lamentations 2

Notes

References

Sources

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External links

Jewish

Lamentations 4 Hebrew with Parallel EnglishLamentations 4 Hebrew with Rashi's Commentary

Christian

Lamentations 4 English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate

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