Lamentations 4:2
in Lamentations 4How the precious sons of Zion, once worth their weight in pure gold, are now esteemed as jars of clay, the work of a potter’s hands!
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, How are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter!
KJV
The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter!
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This verse in Lamentations 4
Commentary
8 notes on this verseThe precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold,.... This explains what is meant in Lam 4:1; by gold, fine gold, and stones of the sanctuary; not Josiah and his sons, as some Jewish interpreters; but all the sons of Zion, or children of God; not the inhabitants of Zion literally, but spiritually; see Zec 9:
This site's exposition
How the gold has become tarnished
on Lamentations 4:1-2
Lamentations 4 is an acrostic, twenty-two verses running the Hebrew alphabet from aleph to tav. It opens on a jeweler's grief: “The gems of the temple lie scattered on every street corner”. Then Zion's sons are named as the treasure debased, “once worth their weight in pure gold”.
This site's exposition
precious sons of Zion
The precious sons of Zion are the gold of verse 1, and Albert Barnes reads the Hebrew as sons worth their weight in solid gold. Jars of clay are cheap and break. Jeremiah 19:11 uses the potter's jar for the whole people.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
Here is exposed what was said above in Verse 1. So, "The precious Sons": since, as a kind of saints. And "worth their weight in fine gold." That is, of the best, like to wisdom. As Wisdom 7:9 says: "Because all gold is but a …
Let us implore the tears of Jeremiah; let him consider our death, and lamenting say: "How is the gold become dim, the most fine color is changed, the stones of the sanctuary are scattered at the head of every street." For the gold has become dim, because the life of priests, once bright through the glory of virtues, is now shown to be reprobate through the basest actions. The most fine color is changed, because that habit of holiness has come to the disgrace of contempt through earthly and abject works.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
They were comparable to fine gold. Israel was more rich in them than in treasures of gold and silver. But now they are esteemed as earthen pitchers; they are broken as earthen pitchers, thrown by as vessels in which there is no pleasure.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
The precious sons of Zion - The Jewish priests and Jewish believers. Comparable to fine gold - Who were of the pure standard of holiness; holy, because God who called them is holy; but now esteemed no better than earthen pitchers - vessels of dishonor in comparison of what they once were.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The precious sons of Zion - The whole nation was consecrated to God, and formed “a kingdom of priests” Exo 19:6: in this respect, a type of the Christian Church 1Pe 2:5. Comparable to fine gold - literally, “weighed with” solid gold, and so equal to their weight in it. With this is contrasted the hollow pitcher easily broken, and made of materials of no intrinsic value.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
How can it be that the golden glow has paled. This elegy was pronounced over Yoshiyahu, 1 Who was killed in a battle with Pharaoh Necho. as it is stated in Divrei Hayomim, “Behold it is written in the Book of Lamentations,” 2 II Divrei Hayomim:25.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
12 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בְּנֵ֤י | benei | [the] children of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| צִיּוֹן֙ | tziyon | Zion | H6726 → | 154 times |
| הַיְקָרִ֔ים | haykarim | <the> precious | H3368 → | |
| הַמְסֻלָּאִ֖ים | hamsulaim | who were weighed | H5537 → | |
| בַּפָּ֑ז | bapaz | with <the> pure gold | H6337 → | |
| אֵיכָ֤ה | ʾeikhah | how! | H349 → | 82 times |
| נֶחְשְׁבוּ֙ | nechshevu | they are considered | H2803 → | |
| לְנִבְלֵי־ | lenivlei- | to jars of | H5035 → | |
| חֶ֔רֶשׂ | cheres | earthenware | H2789 → | |
| מַעֲשֵׂ֖ה | maaseh | [the] work of | H4639 → | |
| יְדֵ֥י | yedei | [the] hands of | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| יוֹצֵֽר׃ ס | yotzer | a potter | H3335 → |
בְּנֵ֤י[the] children of
beneiH1121 →4930 times
צִיּוֹן֙Zion
tziyonH6726 →154 times
הַיְקָרִ֔ים<the> precious
haykarimH3368 →
הַמְסֻלָּאִ֖יםwho were weighed
hamsulaimH5537 →
בַּפָּ֑זwith <the> pure gold
bapazH6337 →
אֵיכָ֤הhow!
ʾeikhahH349 →82 times
נֶחְשְׁבוּ֙they are considered
nechshevuH2803 →
לְנִבְלֵי־to jars of
lenivlei-H5035 →
חֶ֔רֶשׂearthenware
cheresH2789 →
מַעֲשֵׂ֖ה[the] work of
maasehH4639 →
יְדֵ֥י[the] hands of
yedeiH3027 →1618 times
יוֹצֵֽר׃ סa potter
yotzerH3335 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
2 Corinthians 4:7Now we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this surpassingly great power is from God and not from us.
it leads to
- 2 Corinthians 3:5–6
Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim that anything comes from us, but our competence comes from God.
- 2 Corinthians 5:1
Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is dismantled, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.
- Ephesians 2:8–9
For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God,
- 1 Corinthians 1:28
He chose the lowly and despised things of the world, and the things that are not, to nullify the things that are,
- Colossians 2:3
in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
- 2 Corinthians 3:5–6
Through
2 Timothy 2:20A large house contains not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay. Some indeed are for honorable use, but others are for common use.
it leads to
- Romans 9:21–23
Does not the potter have the right to make from the same lump of clay one vessel for special occasions and another for common use?
- 1 Timothy 3:15
in case I am delayed, so that you will know how each one must conduct himself in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.
- Romans 9:21–23
Through
Isaiah 30:14It will break in pieces like a potter’s jar, shattered so that no fragment can be found. Not a shard will be found in the dust large enough to scoop the coals from a…
it leads to
- Psalms 2:9
You will break them with an iron scepter; You will shatter them like pottery.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 2:9
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Lamentations
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, Lamentations; Gregory the Dialogist, Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 17; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Lamentations.