Lamentations 4:12

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. THE KINGS ... AND ALL THE INHABITANTS OF THE WORLD, WOULD NOT HAVE BELIEVED THAT THE ADVERSARY ... SHOULD HAVE ENTERED INTO THE GATES OF JERUSALEM. Jerusalem was so fortified that all thought it impregnable. It therefore could only have been the hand of God, not the force of man, which overthrew it. [Mem (m)]...

He confirms the same thing; for when a thing incredible happens, either we are extremely stupid, or we must be moved and affected. The Prophet, then, now says that the destruction of the city of Jerusalem had been incredible, because God had defended it by his power; it was also so fortified that no one believed that it could be taken, and the grandeur of the city was known everywhere. He then says that Jerusalem had been taken and overthrown, which no one of the heathens, neither their kings nor their people, had thought possible. It then follows that the city had been destroyed by God’s hand rather than by the power of enemies. Nebuchadnezzar had indeed brought a strong army, but the city was so well fortified that they thought that all attempts would be in vain. That the city, then, was taken and demolished, could not have been ascribed to human forces, but to a power hidden from the...

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....

Verse 12. _THE KINGS OF THE EARTH_] Jerusalem was so well fortified, both by nature and art, that it appeared as a miracle that it should be taken at all....

Though Jerusalem had been several times captured 1 Kings 14:26; 2 Kings 14:13; 2 Kings 23:33, yet it had been so strongly fortified by Uzziah and his successors as to have been made virtually impregnable. Its present capture by Nebuchadnezzar had cost him a year and a half’s siege....

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

THE KINGS OF THE EARTH, AND ALL THE INHABITANTS OF THE WORLD,.... Not only the neighbouring nations, and the kings of them, but even such in all parts of the world that knew anything of Jerusalem: WOULD NOT HAVE BELIEVED THAT THE ADVERSARY AND THE ENEMY WOULD HAVE ENTERED INTO THE GATES OF JERUSALEM; when it was besieging, they did not believe it would be taken; and when they heard it was, it was incredible to them; it being so strongly fortified by art and nature, with mountains and hills, with walls and bulwarks, and had such a vast number of people in it; and, especially, was the city of the great God, who had so often and so signally preserved and saved it: the "adversary" and "enemy" are the same, and design the Chaldeans. The Targum distinguishes them, and makes Nebuchadnezzar the ungodly to be the adversary; and Nebuzaradan the enemy, who entered to slay the people of the house o...

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...

_all the inhabitants of the world_ an ordinary form of Eastern hyperbole, suggesting to their minds only the same notion as our _every body_, the obvious limitations being given by the sense in each case. The preaching of Isaiah, supported as it was by the overthrow of Sennacherib (2 Kings 19:34 f.), led to the belief, in spite of Jeremiah's warnings, that Jerusalem could not be absolutely overthrown, a belief which the writer here evidently had shared. This circumstance of itself throws doubt upon Jeremiah's authorship of this book. Jerusalem's fortifications, in fact, had been much strengthened by Uzziah (2 Chronicles 26:9), Jotham (_ib_. 2 Chronicles 27:3), and Manasseh (_ib_....