Lamentations 4:1

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. ['Aleph (')] HOW IS THE GOLD BECOME DIM - "the gold," the splendid adornment of the temple (Calvin; ; , "The whole house he (Solomon) overlaid with gold ... also the whole altar;" ); or, the principal men of Judea (Grotius; 5: 2). THE STONES OF ... SANCTUARY - the gems on the breastplate of the high priest; or, metaphorically, the priests and Levites. [Beth (b)]...

Here Jeremiah, following the order of the alphabet the fourth time, (206) deplores the ruin of the city, and the destruction of the priesthood and of the kingdom. For they are mistaken who think that the death of Josiah is here lamented; for there are here many things, which we shall see as we proceed, which do not suit that event. There is no doubt but that this mournful song refers to the destruction of the Temple and city; but when Josiah was killed, the enemy had not come to the city, and the stones of the Temple were not then east forth into the streets and the public roads. There are also other things which we shall see, which did not then happen. It follows then that here is described the terrible vengeance of God, which we have had already to consider. He begins by expressing his astonishment, _How obscured is the gold! and the precious gold! for _ כתם, _catam, _is properly the b...

1-12 What 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 dimmed, but its real value can never be changed. The horrors of the siege and destruction of Jerusalem are again described. Beholding the sad consequences of sin in the church of old, let us seriously consider to what the same causes may justly bring down the church now. But, Lord, though we have gone from thee in rebellion, yet turn to us, and turn our hearts to thee, that we may fear thy name. Come to us, bless us with awakening, converting, renewing, confirming grace....

CHAPTER IV _The present deplorable sate of the nation is now contrasted_ _with its ancient prosperity_, 1-12; _and the unhappy change ascribed, in a great degree, to the_ _profligacy of the priests and prophets_, 13-16. _The national calamities are tenderly lamented_, 17-20. _The ruin of the Edomites also, who had insulted the Jews in_ _their distress, is ironically predicted_, 21. See Psalms 137:7, and Obadiah 1:10....

THE STONES OF THE SANCTUARY - Or, the hallowed stones, literally stones of holiness, a metaphor for the people themselves. The actual stones of the temple would not be thus widely thrown about as to be seen everywhere, but the prophet has already affirmed this of the young children dying of hunger (compare Lamentations 2:19)....

THE SUFFERINGS OF JERUSALEM; NO CLASS IS EXEMPT. EDOM'S TRIUMPHING. EXPOSITION LAMENTATIONS 4:1 HOW 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 over it, and the precious stones, consecrated to Jehovah, have been cast out into the open street!" Not that the latter part of this description can have corresponded to literal fact. None of the hallowed jewels would have been treated with such indifference. The e

HOW IS THE GOLD BECOME DIM!.... Or "covered" b; or hid with rust, dust, or dirt; so that it can scarcely be discerned: [HOW] IS THE MOST FINE GOLD CHANGED! this may be literally true of the gold of the temple; and so the Targum calls it "the gold of the house of the sanctuary;'' with which that was overlaid, and many things in it, 1 Kings 6:21; and was sadly sullied and tarnished with the burning of the temple, and the rubbish of it: its brightness was lost, and its colour changed; but though there may be an allusion to that, it is to be figuratively understood of the people of God; for what is here expressed in parabolical phrases, as Aben Ezra observes, is in Lamentations 4:2 explained in proper and literal ones: godly and gracious men, there called the p

CHAPTER 4 THE DEPARTED GLORY AND THE CUP OF SHAME This new lament begins with a description of the former glory of Zion and its present wretchedness; the glory is departed: How is the gold become dim! The most pure gold changed! The stones of the sanctuary are poured forth at the top of every street. The precious sons of Zion, just like fine gold-- How are they now esteemed like earthen pitchers: the work of the potters' hands! Even the jackals draw out the breast, giving suck to their young-- The daughter of my people is become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness. The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth to the roof of his mouth for thirst. The young children ask bread, no man breaketh it unto them. They that did feel delicately are desolate in the streets. They that were brought up in scarlet embrace dung hills. What degradation and shame! The Lord had called Zion to be like...

LAMENTATIONS 4. THE FOURTH LAMENT. This has less literary finish than Lamentations 4:3, and it has also less spiritual value. It lacks much of the saints whom one seems to see in Lamentations 4:1, and we miss the love of worship that appears to be breathed in 2. The keenest pang felt _in_ this fourth chant is in behalf of the suffering king of Judah. If we are right in thinking that it dates from about 60 B.C., then we may say that it was penned by a Sadducee, some strong supporter of the Maccabean, or new David dynasty. Hence we may explain the bitter spite which at the close it flings at the Edomites, or Idumeans, the Herods who displaced the Maccabeans, having got their power by base trafficking with the Romans. In versification the chant is of its own sort. It is in pentameters, as in...

This chapter, like Lamentations 1 and Lamentations 2, is an acrostic: the twenty-two verses commencing successively with the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet. GOLD... MOST FINE GOLD... FINE GOLD. Figure of speech _Anabasis_, which is lost in Authorized Version rendering, which should be "gold... fine gold... pure gold"....