Lamentations 4:22
in Lamentations 4O Daughter of Zion, your punishment is complete; He will not prolong your exile. But He will punish your iniquity, O Daughter of Edom; He will expose your sins.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
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.
KJV
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.
⋯
This verse in Lamentations 4
Commentary
11 notes on this verseThe punishment of thine iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of Zion,.... In part in the seventy years' captivity in Babylon, and more fully in their present captivity; for, as has been observed, there are some things in the preceding account, which had a further accomplishment in the destruction of Jerusalem, and the distress of the Jews by the Romans.
This site's exposition
The LORD’s anointed, the breath of our life
on Lamentations 4:20-22
Verse 20 names the political center of the loss: “The LORD’s anointed, the breath of our life, was captured in their pits”, King Zedekiah. Verse 21 tells Edom to rejoice, yet “the cup will pass to you as well”, the charge Obadiah takes up at length.
This site's exposition
your punishment is complete
The last letter, tav, brings two verdicts. Matthew Henry sets Zion's complete punishment beside Isaiah 40:2, where the warfare of Jerusalem is over. God covers sin when He forgives (Psalm 32:1), so to expose the sins of Edom is to punish them, as Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Here the Jews are consoled. And first, as to their liberation. As said: "The punishment of your iniquity, O daughter of Zion": as purged by punishment. Then: "he will keep you in exile no longer." That is, for past sins, providing you do not repeat …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
5 They that did feed delicately are desolate in the streets: they that were brought up in scarlet embrace dunghills. 6 For the punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom, that was overthrown as in a moment, and no hands stayed on her.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
): 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 ( Isa. xl.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation
Captivity - Not for thy past sins. Thy sins - By the punishment of them.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
The punishment of thine iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of Zion - On the contrary: Rejoice, O Jerusalem, for thy captivity will soon end; thy sufferings are nearly completed; thou shalt soon return to thy own land: but he will visit thy iniquity, O Edom; he will discover thy sins. When sin is pardoned it is said to be covered: here, God says he will not cover the sins of Edom - he will not pardon them; they shall drink the cup of wrath. The promise in this last verse may refer to Jerusalem under the Gospel.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The Romans carried them away subsequently. The full accomplishment of this prophecy must therefore refer to the Jews' final restoration. discover--By the severity of His punishments on thee, God shall let men see how great was thy sin (Jer 49:10). God "covers" sin when He forgives it (Ps 32:1, 5).
EVERY SABBATH we are insisting upon it that both the Law and the Gospel have a voice to universal manhood: the Law in its condemnation of every subject under its sway, and the Gospel in its gracious invitation and command to every creature under heaven.
EVERY SABBATH we are insisting upon it that both the Law and the Gospel have a voice to universal manhood: the Law in its condemnation of every subject under its sway, and the Gospel in its gracious invitation and command to every creature under heaven. Yet, at the same time, we must never forget that both the Law and the Gospel have a special voice to certain characters, that the law has ten-fold thunders for peculiar sinners, and, on the other hand, that the Gospel has a voice of unutterable sweetness to those favored persons who have by the Holy Spirit been prepared to hear its voice. While there are texts which are universal, and invitations whose range is as wide as fallen humanity, there are at the same time a still larger number of texts which are aimed like arrows at an appointed target. My text this morning can never be understood unless we clearly point out the characters to whom it is addressed. The blessing is not for the daughter of Edom, neither is the curse for the daughter of Zion. We must be very earnest with our own hearts this morning, to discover, if possible, whether we come under the number of those whose warfare is accomplished, and whose sin is pardoned; or whether, on the other hand, we abide with the multitude on whom resteth the curse of God, and whose sins shall be discovered and punished by the right-hand of the Most High. I have a double message from the Lord this morning.
The words behind it
14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| תַּם־ | tam- | it will finish | H8552 → | |
| עֲוֹנֵךְ֙ | ʾavonekh | iniquity your | H5771 → | 233 times |
| בַּת־ | bat- | O daughter of | H1323 → | 588 times |
| צִיּ֔וֹן | tziyon | Zion | H6726 → | 154 times |
| לֹ֥א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יוֹסִ֖יף | yosif | he will increase | H3254 → | 212 times |
| לְהַגְלוֹתֵ֑ךְ | lehaglotekh | to take into exile you | H1540 → | 186 times |
| פָּקַ֤ד | pakad | he will punish | H6485 → | |
| עֲוֹנֵךְ֙ | ʾavonekh | iniquity your | H5771 → | 233 times |
| בַּת־ | bat- | O daughter of | H1323 → | 588 times |
| אֱד֔וֹם | ʾedom | Edom | H123 → | |
| גִּלָּ֖ה | gilah | he will make known | H1540 → | 186 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| חַטֹּאתָֽיִךְ׃ פ | chatotayikh | sins your | H2403 → | 295 times |
תַּם־it will finish
tam-H8552 →
עֲוֹנֵךְ֙iniquity your
ʾavonekhH5771 →233 times
בַּת־O daughter of
bat-H1323 →588 times
צִיּ֔וֹןZion
tziyonH6726 →154 times
לֹ֥אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
יוֹסִ֖יףhe will increase
yosifH3254 →212 times
לְהַגְלוֹתֵ֑ךְto take into exile you
lehaglotekhH1540 →186 times
פָּקַ֤דhe will punish
pakadH6485 →
עֲוֹנֵךְ֙iniquity your
ʾavonekhH5771 →233 times
בַּת־O daughter of
bat-H1323 →588 times
אֱד֔וֹםEdom
ʾedomH123 →
גִּלָּ֖הhe will make known
gilahH1540 →186 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
חַטֹּאתָֽיִךְ׃ פsins your
chatotayikhH2403 →295 times
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
Jeremiah 50:20In those days and at that time, declares the LORD, a search will be made for Israel’s guilt, but there will be none, and for Judah’s sins, but they will not be found; for…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 31:34
No longer will each man teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Micah 7:19
He will again have compassion on us; He will vanquish our iniquities. You will cast out all our sins into the depths of the sea.
- Isaiah 1:9
Unless the LORD of Hosts had left us a few survivors, we would have become like Sodom, we would have resembled Gomorrah.
- Isaiah 43:25
I, yes I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake and remembers your sins no more.
- Jeremiah 31:34
Through
Isaiah 40:2“Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her forced labor has been completed; her iniquity has been pardoned. For she has received from the hand of the LORD double for all her…
it leads to
- Zechariah 9:12
Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope; even today I declare that I will restore to you double.
- Isaiah 61:7
Instead of shame, My people will have a double portion, and instead of humiliation, they will rejoice in their share; and so they will inherit a double portion in their land, and everlasting joy…
- Hosea 2:14
“Therefore, behold, I will allure her and lead her to the wilderness, and speak to her tenderly.
- Zechariah 9:12
Through
Psalms 137:7Remember, O LORD, the sons of Edom on the day Jerusalem fell: “Destroy it,” they said, “tear it down to its foundations!”
it leads to
- Lamentations 4:21–22
So rejoice and be glad, O Daughter of Edom, you who dwell in the land of Uz. Yet the cup will pass to you as well; you will get drunk and expose yourself.
- Lamentations 4:21–22
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Lamentations
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 480: “A Message from God for Thee” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Lamentations.