Lamentations 4:6

6 For the iniquity of the daughter of my people Is greater than the ¹sin of Sodom, Which was ²overthrown as in a moment, And no hands were turned toward her.

Lamentations 4:6 Meaning and Commentary

Lamentations 4:6

For the punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my
people
In the long siege of their city, and the evils that attended it, especially the sore famine: is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom;
which was destroyed at once by fire from heaven: or it may be rendered, "the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the sin of Sodom" ^F16; though the men of Sodom were great sinners, the Jews were greater, their sins being more aggravated; to this agrees the Targum, which renders the word "sin", and paraphrases the words following thus,

``and there dwelt not in her prophets to prophesy unto her, and turn her by repentance;''

as the Jews had, and therefore their sin was the greater; both senses are true, and the one is the foundation of the other; but the first seems best to agree with what follows: that was overthrown as in a moment;
by a shower of fire from heaven, which consumed it at once; whereas the destruction of Jerusalem was a lingering one, through a long and tedious siege; the inhabitants were gradually wasted and consumed by famine, pestilence, and sword, and so their punishment greater than Sodom's: and no hand stayed on her;
that is, on Sodom; the hand of God was immediately upon her, and dispatched her at once, but not the hands of men; as the hands of the Chaldeans were upon the Jews, afflicting and distressing them a long time, which made their ease the worse.

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FOOTNOTES:

F16 (tajxm) ----(Nwe ldgyw) "et ingens fuit iniquitas--prae peccato", Montanus; "et major extitit pravitas--prae peccato", Cocceius. So V. L.

Lamentations 4:6 In-Context

4 The tongue of the infant cleaves To the roof of its mouth because of thirst; The little ones ask for bread, But no one breaks it for them.

5 Those who ate delicacies Are desolate in the streets; Those reared in purple Embrace ash pits.

6 For the iniquity of the daughter of my people Is greater than the sin of Sodom, Which was overthrown as in a moment, And no hands were turned toward her.

7 Her consecrated ones were purer than snow, They were whiter than milk; They were more ruddy in body than corals, Their polishing was like lapis lazuli.

8 Their appearance is blacker than soot, They are not recognized in the streets; Their skin is shriveled on their bones, It is withered, it has become like wood.

Cross References

• 1. Genesis 19:24
• 2. Genesis 19:25; Jeremiah 20:16

Footnotes

• [a] Or "punishment for iniquity"
• [b] Or "punishment for sin"
• [c] Or "wrung over her"