Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Lamentations 4:21

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Lamentations 4:21. Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom — A strong irony.

The cup also shall pass through unto thee — Thou who hast triumphed in our disasters shalt shortly have enough of thy own. They had joined themselves to the Chaldeans, (see Psalms 137:7,) and therefore they should share in the desolations of Babylon.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Corrupt leaders disgraced (4:1-22)

Jerusalem’s former glory is contrasted with her present ruin. The once glorious temple, now defiled and shattered, is symbolic of the once glorious people now shamed and broken. Jerusalem’s dead lie in the streets like pieces of broken pottery (4:1-2). The writer recalls again the scene of horror during the siege. Wild beasts provide food for their young, but in Jerusalem mothers are unable to provide food for their children. Rich nobles die on the streets like beggars (3-5).
Sodom’s punishment was great, but Jerusalem’s is greater; for Sodom was destroyed in a day, but Jerusalem is destroyed amid long and bitter agony (6). Even those of the upper classes, who spent much time and money making themselves look beautiful, are now ugly through disease and starvation (7-8). It would be better to be killed in battle than to starve to death or be forced to eat one’s children (9-10). The Jerusalemites thought that because Yahweh was their God, no enemy could conquer their city, but now Yahweh himself has destroyed it (11-12).
Chiefly to blame for Jerusalem’s downfall are its corrupt leaders, especially the prophets and priests. They, more than anyone else, have been responsible for the injustices that have brought God’s judgment on the city (13). Realizing this, the people now treat their former leaders like lepers and drive them out of the city. When the fugitives try to settle in other places, the local people refuse to receive them (14-16).

The writer recalls how Jerusalem expected to be rescued by Egypt, but no deliverance came. Instead the Babylonians came, making the Jerusalemites prisoners in their own city (17-18; cf. Jeremiah 37:6-10). Those who tried to flee to the mountains were caught, including the king Zedekiah, in whom the people had falsely placed their trust (19-20; cf. Jeremiah 39:3-5).

Edom rejoiced to see its ancient enemy Judah overthrown; but Edom too will be overthrown and, unlike Judah, will not rise again. The destruction of Jerusalem is temporary, but Edom’s destruction will be permanent (21-22; cf. Jeremiah 49:7-13; Psalms 137:7; Obadiah 1:10-14).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

A PROPHETIC REFERENCE TO THE PUNISHMENT OF EDOM

"Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Uz: The cup shall pass through unto thee also; thou shalt be drunken, and shalt make thyself naked. The punishment of thine iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of Zion; he will no more carry thee away into captivity: He will visit thine iniquity, O daughter of Edom; he will uncover thy sins."

The traditional hatred of Edom (the descendants of Esau) against Israel was, in all probability, exhibited by them during Jerusalem's siege and capture by the Chaldeans. Amos 1:11-12 and the Book of Obadiah make strong references to this hatred. We may safely conclude that a disaster of such dimensions as the ruin of Jerusalem and the captivity of her people would not have been overlooked by the Edomites as a wonderful opportunity for them to rejoice over the sorrows of the people they hated.

"Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom" This is sarcasm. It is as though he said, "Go ahead and laugh, O Edom, God will take care of you also, before it's all ended."

"The cup shall pass through unto you also; thou shalt be drunken… and naked" The cup here is the cup of the wrath of God; and the prophet flatly foretells the eventual doom of the Edomites, who are in the Old Testament (especially Isaiah) exhibited as a type of all sinful men. (See our discussion of this in Vol. 1, Major Prophets, (Isaiah), pp. 309-314.)

"O daughter of Zion, he will no more carry thee away into captivity" This is a parenthetical remark included within the prophecy of Edom's doom, given here especially for the comfort of Israel. "Thank God, Israel, your punishment is completed."

"He will visit thine iniquity, O daughter of Edom, he will uncover thy sins" That God did indeed bring judgment and destruction upon Edom was fully accomplished. (See a discussion of the historical fulfillment of this prophecy in Vol. 2, Minor Prophets (Obadiah), p. 347ff.) Edom's doom, in Scripture, is a prophecy of the divine punishment of all sinful men.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

The prophet ends his elegy with the language of Messianic hope. The earthly king had fallen Lamentations 4:20; but Israel cannot really perish. First then Edom, the representative of the Church’s foes, is ironically told to rejoice. Rejoice she did at the capture of Jerusalem Jeremiah 49:7-22; but her punishment is quickly to follow.

Lamentations 4:22

The punishment of thine iniquity is accomplished - literally, Thy iniquity is ended. This is the result of Judah having borne her punishment. And as it is not just to punish twice for the same thing, therefore Jeremiah adds, “He will not send thee again into captivity;” not meaning that under all circumstances Judah would have immunity from exile; - for that would depend upon her future conduct: but that her present guilt being expiated, she would have nothing to fear on its account.

He will discover thy sins - See the margin. As Edom rejoices when the Church is chastised, so is the day of the Church’s triumph that also on which the wicked meet with retribution.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

The Prophet in this verse intimates that the Jews were exposed to the reproaches and taunts of all their enemies, but he immediately moderates their sorrow, by adding a consolation; and it was a sorrow that in itself must have been very bitter; for we know that nothing’ is harder to bear, in a state of misery, than the petulant insults of enemies; these wound us more than all other evils which we may suffer. The Prophet then intimates, that the Jews had been so reduced, that all the ungodly and malevolent were able, with impunity, to exult over them, and to taunt them with their troubles. This is done in the former clause but its it was a prophecy, or rather a denunciation, extremely bitter, he mitigates the atrocity of the evil, when he says that their enemies would have soon in their turn to undergo punishment.

Some explain the whole verse as spoken ironically, as though the Prophet had said tauntingly, — “Go now, ye Idumeans, and rejoice; but your joy shall be evanescent.” ⁽²²¹⁾ But I rather think that he refers to the very summit of extreme misery, because the Jews had been thus exposed to the taunts of their enemies; but he afterwards adds some alleviation, because all their enemies would at length be punished. There is, in Micah 7:8, a similar mode of speaking, though there is no mention made there of Edom; for there the Prophet speaks generally to all those who envied the people, and were their adversaries: he compares the people, according’ to what was usual, to a woman; and we know that in that sex there is much more jealousy than in men; and then, when there is a grudge, they fiercely urge their pleas, that they may have an occasion to speak evil of others. Therefore the Church, after having acknowledged that she had been deservedly chastised, adds, “Rejoice not over me, mine enemy.” But I have already fully explained the Prophet’s meaning, — that the Church calls all her enemies an enemy, or an inimical woman, as though there had been some quarrel or jealousy between women. Hence she says,

“Though I have fallen, yet rejoice thou not, my enemy; though I lie in darkness, yet the Lord will be my light — though then my enemy has rejoiced, yet my eyes shall see when she shall be trodden down.” (Micah 7:8.)

The Prophet no doubt meant there to mitigate the sorrow of the godly, who saw that they were insolently taunted by all their neighbors. He then shews the necessity of a patient endurance for a time; for God would at length stretch out his hand, and render to enemies the reward of their barbarity.

But why in this place mention is made of Edom, rather than of other nations, is not evident. The Jews were, indeed, surrounded on every side with enemies, for they had as many enemies as neighbors. But the Idumeans, above others, had manifested hostility to the chosen people. And the indignity was the greater, because they had descended from the same father, for Isaac was their common father; and they derived their origin from two brothers, Esau and Jacob. As, then, the Idumeans were related to the Jews, their cruelty was less tolerable; for they thus forgot their own race, and raged against their brethren and relatives. Hence it is said in Psalms 137:7,

“Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom, who said, in the day of Jerusalem, Down with it, down with it, to the very foundation.”

The Prophet, then, after having imprecated God’s vengeance on all the ungodly, mentioned especially the Idumeans; and why? because they indulged their cruelty above all others; for they were standard-bearers, as it were, to enemies, and were like falls, by which the fire was more kindled; for this address was no doubt made to the Chaldeans,

“Make bare, make bare; spare not;
let not a stone remain on a stone.” (Psalms 137:7.)

As, then, the Idumeans had behaved most cruelly towards their own relatives, the Prophet complains of them, and asks God to render to them what they deserved.

So now in this place our Prophet says, Be glad and rejoice, thou daughter of Edom, who dwellest in the land of Uz By this clause, as I have already said, Jeremiah intimates that the Jews were exposed to the taunts of their enemies, because the Idumeans could now insult them with security. But he immediately adds, also: here he begins a new subject, and this is intimated by the particle גם gam, To thee also shall pass the cup He employs a common metaphor; for adversity is denoted in Scripture by the word cup; for God, according to his will, gives to drink to each as much as he pleases. As when a master of a family distributes drink to his children and servants; so also God, in a manner, extends his cup to every one whom he chastises; nor does he allow any one either to reject the cup offered, or to throw away the wine, but he constrains him to drink and to exhaust to the very dregs as much as he gives to each to drink. Hence it is for this reason that the Prophet says now that the cup would pass over to the Idumeans; for we know that, shortly after, they were subdued by the Chaldeans, with whom they had before been united. But when they had by their perfidy fallen off from their treaty, they were in their turn punished. As, then, the agreement they had made with the Chaldeans did not continue, the Prophet says, that to them also the cup would pass over.

He adds, Thou shalt be inebriated and made naked God is wont thus to distinguish between his own children and aliens or the reprobate; for he indeed gives a bitter potion to his own children to drink, but it is as much as they are able to drink; but he altogether chokes others, because lie constrains them, as it has been already said, to drink to the very dregs. So, then, the Prophet now compares the extreme miseries which the Idumeans suffered to drunkenness; and to the same purpose are the words which follow, Thou shalt be made naked For he thus intimates, that they would be so confounded with the atrocity of their evils, as to have no care for decency, and to be dead to all shame: as a drunken man, who is overpowered by wine, disregards himself, and falls and exposes himself as Noah did; so also the Prophet says, that so great would be the calamities of Edom, that the people, exposed to every reproach, would afford occasion to all around them for taunts. As when a sot lies down in the mire, casts away his garments, and makes an exposure of himself, it is a spectacle both sad and shameful; so the Prophet says, that the Idumeans would be like the drunken, because they would lie down in their reproach. It follows, —

(221) This is the sense that is commonly taken: Gataker, Lowth, Scott, and Blayney, regard the expression as ironical. — Ed.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 4

The fourth lamentation:

How is the gold become dim! the most fine gold changed! the stones of the sanctuary are poured out in the top of every street. The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter! Even the sea monsters draw out the breast, and they give suck to their young ones ( Lamentations 4:1-3 ):

The mammals in the sea nurse their little ones.

the daughter of my people is become cruel, like the ostriches of the wilderness ( Lamentations 4:3 ).

Now, the ostrich totally forsakes its eggs. It lays its eggs and leaves them; it has nothing to do with the raising of its kids, just has no concern. Doesn't even know the eggs ever hatched and doesn't really care if the egg ever hatched. It just lays its eggs in the sand and that's it, forgets all about them. If they make it, they make it on their own. The mother ostrich has no mothering instincts. But the mammals in the sea nurse the little ones. But the daughter of my people, the young mothers in Jerusalem had become like ostriches in that they weren't concerned with their offspring anymore.

The tongue of the nursing child cleaves to the roof of his mouth for thirst: the young children ask for bread, and no man breaks it unto them. They that did feed delicately ( Lamentations 4:4-5 )

Those that used to dine at Gulliver's

are desolate in the streets: they that were brought up in scarlet embrace dunghills. For the punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom, because at least they were overthrown in a moment [they were destroyed], no hands stayed on her ( Lamentations 4:4-6 ).

Theirs was an instant death. That is much better than death by starvation.

Her Nazarites were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk, they were more ruddy in body than rubies, their polishing was of sapphire ( Lamentations 4:7 ):

The young men who had made their commitments, the Nazarite vows to God, but now,

Their visage is blacker than a coal; they are not known in the streets: their skin is cleaving to their bones ( Lamentations 4:8 );

They're like walking skeletons.

it is withered, it is become like a stick. They that are slain with the sword are really better off than those that are slain with hunger: for these pine away, stricken through for the want of the fruits of the field. The hands of the pitiful women have boiled their own children: and they were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people. The LORD has accomplished his fury, he has poured out his fierce anger, he has kindled a fire in Zion, and it has devoured the foundations thereof. The kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the world, would not have believed that the adversary and the enemy should have entered into the gates of Jerusalem ( Lamentations 4:7-12 ).

It was thought to be impregnable. It sits there on the hill with the walls around it. They thought that the city was impregnable. The inhabitants of the earth would never have believed that Jerusalem could be taken. And yet it is now destroyed.

For the sins of her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests, that have shed the blood of the just in the midst of her, They have wandered as blind men in the streets, they have polluted themselves with blood, so that men could not touch their garments. They cried unto them, Depart ye; it is unclean; depart, depart, don't touch: when they fled away and wondered, they said among the heathen, They shall no more sojourn there. The anger of the LORD hath divided them; he will no more regard them: they respected not the persons of the priests, they favored not the elders. As for us, our eyes as yet failed for our vain help: in our watching we have watched for a nation that could not save us. They hunt our steps, that we cannot go in the streets: our end is near, our days are fulfilled; for our end is come. Our persecutors are swifter than eagles of heaven: they have pursued us on the mountains, they laid wait for us in the wilderness. The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the LORD, was taken in their pits, of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the heathen. Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom [that is their perennial enemy], that dwells in the land of Uz; the cup also shall pass through unto thee: thou shalt be drunken, and shall make thyself naked. The punishment of thine iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of Zion; he will no more carry thee away into captivity: he will visit thine iniquity, O daughter of Edom; he will discover thy sins ( Lamentations 4:13-22 ).

So Edom is rejoicing, but just wait, yours is coming. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

The Edomites, related to the Judahites, were rejoicing over Judah’s destruction (cf. Psalms 137:7; Jeremiah 49:7-22; Ezekiel 25:12-14; Ezekiel 35), but the same fate was sure to overtake them (Deuteronomy 30:7). They would have to drink the cup of Yahweh’s judgment and would lose their self-control and self-respect.

"After the fall of Jerusalem in 587 BC, Nebuchadnezzar allotted the rural areas of Judah to the Edomites as a reward for their political neutrality, and as a recognition of the active help which they had provided for Chaldean military units during the final days of the campaign (cf. Ezekiel 25:12-14; Obadiah 1:11-14)." [Note: Harrison, Jeremiah and . . ., pp. 237-38.]

The land of Uz, Job’s country, was either a part of, near, or another name for Edom (cf. Job 1:1).

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

C. Hope following the siege 4:21-22

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom,.... The land of Idumea, and the inhabitants of it, who did indeed rejoice at the destruction of Jerusalem, Obadiah 1:12; and here, in an ironic manner, are bid to go on with their mirth, if they could, like the young man in

Ecclesiastes 11:9, as Aben Ezra observes; for it would not last long, their note would soon be changed:

that dwellest in the land of Uz; not the country of Job, which had its name from Uz the son of Nahor, Job 1:1; but a country in Idumea, from whence the whole was so called, and that from Uz the son of Dishan, one of the sons of Seir: or else the sense is, that Edom or Idumea, and the inhabitants of it, dwelt upon the borders of Uz; and so agrees very well with the place of Job's residence, which was near the land of Edom. The Targum, according to R. Elias o, is,

"rejoice, O wicked Rome;''

but, in the king of Spain's Bible, it is,

"rejoice and be glad, O Constantine (that is, Constantinople), the city of wicked Edom, which art built in the land of Armenia;''

and Jarchi says that Jeremiah prophesies concerning the destruction of the second temple, which the Romans destroyed; but in other copies, and according to Lyra, his words are, Jeremiah here prophesies concerning the destruction of the Roman empire, because that destroyed the temple; and it is usual with him, and other Rabbins, to interpret Edom of Rome;

the cup also shall pass through unto thee; the cup of God's wrath and vengeance; which, as it had come to the Jews, and was passing from one nation to another, in its turn would come to these Edomites; see

Jeremiah 25:15;

thou shall be drunken, and shall make thyself naked; be overcome by it; as persons with wine, or any strong drink, reel to and fro, and fall; and be utterly destroyed, lie helpless and without strength: "and be made naked" p, as it may be rendered; stripped of their riches and wealth; or they should strip themselves of their clothes, and behave indecently, and expose those parts which ought to be covered, as drunken persons the sense is, they should be exposed, or expose themselves, to shame and contempt. The Septuagint version is, "and thou shalt be drunken, and pour out" q; that is, vomit, as drunken men do; and so Jarchi and Abendana interpret the word of vomiting; and the Targum is,

"and thou shalt be emptied.''

o In Tishbi, p. 227. p ותתערי "nudaberis", V. L. q και αποχεεις, Sept. "et eris vomens", Pagninus, Vatablus.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      21 Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Uz; the cup also shall pass through unto thee: thou shalt be drunken, and shalt make thyself naked.   22 The punishment of thine iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of Zion; he will no more carry thee away into captivity: he will visit thine iniquity, O daughter of Edom; he will discover thy sins.

      David's psalms of lamentation commonly conclude with some word of comfort, which is as life from the dead and light shining out of darkness; so does this lamentation here in this chapter. The people of God are now in great distress, their aspects all doleful, their prospects all frightful, and their ill-natured neighbours the Edomites insult over them and do all they can to exasperate their destroyers against them. Such was their violence against their brother Jacob (Obadiah 1:10), such their spleen at Jerusalem, of which they cried, Rase it, rase it,Psalms 137:7. Now it is here foretold, for the encouragement of God's people,

      I. That an end shall be put to Zion's troubles (Lamentations 4:22; Lamentations 4:22): The punishment of they iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of Zion! not the fulness of that punishment which it deserves, but of that which God has designed and determined to inflict, and which was necessary to answer the end, the glorifying of God's justice and the taking away of their sin. The captivity, which is the punishment of thy iniquity, is accomplished (Isaiah 40:2), and he will no longer keep thee in captivity; so it may be read, as well as, he will no more carry thee into captivity; he will turn again thy captivity and work a glorious release for thee. Note, The troubles of God's people shall be continued no longer than till they have done their work for which they were sent.

      II. That an end shall be put to Edom's triumphs. It is spoken ironically (Lamentations 4:21; Lamentations 4:21): "Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom! go on to insult over Zion in distress, till thou hast filled up the measure of thy iniquity. Do so; rejoice in thy own present exemption from the common fate of thy neighbours." This is like Solomon's upbraiding the young man with his ungoverned mirth (Ecclesiastes 11:9): "Rejoice, O young man! in thy youth; rejoice, if thou canst, when God comes to reckon with thee, and that he will do ere long. The cup of trembling, which it is now Jerusalem's turn to drink deeply of, shall pass through unto thee; it shall go round till it comes to be thy lot to pledge it." Note, This is a good reason why we should not insult over any who are in misery, because we ourselves also are in the body, and we know not how soon their case may be ours. But those who please themselves in the calamities of God's church must expect to have their doom, as aiders and abettors, with those that are instrumental in those calamities. The destruction of the Edomites was foretold by this prophet (Jeremiah 49:7. c.), and the people of God must encourage themselves against their present rudeness and insolence with the prospect of it. 1. It will be a shameful destruction: "The cup that shall pass unto thee shall intoxicate thee" (and that is shame enough to any man) "thou shalt be drunken, quite infatuated, and at thy wits' end, shalt stagger in all thy counsels and stumble in all thy enterprises, and then, as Noah when he was drunk, thou shalt make thyself naked and expose thyself to contempt." Note, Those who ridicule God's people will justly be left to themselves to do that, some time or other, by which they will be made ridiculous. 2. It will be a righteous destruction. God will herein visit thy iniquity and discover thy sins; he will punish them, and, to justify himself therein, he will discover them, and make it to appear that he has just cause thus to proceed against them. Nay, the punishment of the sin shall so exactly answer the sin that it shall itself plainly discover it. Sometimes God does so visit the iniquity that he that runs may read the sin in the punishment. But, sooner or later, sin will be visited and discovered, and all the hidden works of darkness brought to light.