Lamentations 4:2

Lamentations 4:2 in other versions

• King James Version (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!
• New International Version (NIV)How the precious children of Zion, once worth their weight in gold, are now considered as pots of clay, the work of a potter’s hands!
• English Standard Version (ESV)The precious sons of Zion, worth their weight in fine gold, how they are regarded as earthen pots, the work of a potter's hands!
• New King James Version (NKJV)The precious sons of Zion, Valuable as fine gold, How they are regarded as clay pots, The work of the hands of the potter!

Context of Lamentations 4:2

1How the gold has become tarnished, the fine gold become dull! The stones of the temple lie scattered at the head of every street. Zion’s precious children — once worth their weight in pure gold — how they are regarded as clay jars, the work of a potter’s hands! 3Even jackals offer their breasts to nurse their young, but my dear people have become cruel like ostriches in the wilderness. 4The nursing baby’s tongue clings to the roof of his mouth from thirst. Infants beg for food, but no one gives them any.

Lamentations 4:2 word by word

בְּנֵ֤י צִיּוֹן֙ הַיְקָרִ֔ים הַמְסֻלָּאִ֖ים בַּפָּ֑ז אֵיכָ֤ה נֶחְשְׁבוּ֙ לְנִבְלֵי־חֶ֔רֶשׂ מַעֲשֵׂ֖ה יְדֵ֥י יוֹצֵֽר׃ סRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• The preciousיָקָרyâqâr · preciousH3368
• sonsבֵּןbên · son: descendant/peopleH1121
• of Zionצִיּוֹןtsîyôn · ZionH6726
• comparableסָלָאsâlâ' · to weighH5537
• to fine goldפַּזpâz · pure goldH6337
• how are they esteemedחָשַׁבchâshab · to devise: countH2803
• as earthenחֶ֫רֶשׂchereώ · earthenwareH2789
• pitchersנֵ֫בֶלnebel nêbel · bagH5035
• the workמַעֲשֶׂהma‛ăώeh · deed: workH4639
• of the handsיָדyâd · handH3027
• of the potterיָצַרyâtsar · to form: potterH3335

Cross-references for Lamentations 4:2

• Isaiah 51:18There is no one to guide her among all the children she has raised; there is no one to take hold of her hand among all the offspring she has brought up.
• Zechariah 9:13For I will bend Judah as my bow; I will fill that bow with Ephraim. I will rouse your sons, Zion, against your sons, Greece. I will make you like a warrior’s sword.
• Lamentations 2:21Both young and old are lying on the ground in the streets. My young women and young men have fallen by the sword. You have killed them in the day of your anger, slaughtering without compassion.
• Lamentations 5:12Princes have been hung up by their hands; elders are shown no respect.
• Isaiah 30:14Its collapse will be like the shattering of a potter’s jar, crushed to pieces, so that not even a fragment of pottery will be found among its shattered remains — no fragment large enough to take fire from a hearth or scoop water from a cistern.”
• Jeremiah 19:11and you are to proclaim to them, ‘This is what the Lord of Armies says: I will shatter these people and this city, like one shatters a potter’s jar that can never again be mended. They will bury the dead in Topheth because there is no other place for burials.
• Jeremiah 22:28Is this man Coniah a despised, shattered pot, a jar no one wants? Why are he and his descendants hurled out and cast into a land they have not known?
• Romans 9:21Or has the potter no right over the clay, to make from the same lump one piece of pottery for honor and another for dishonor?
• 2 Corinthians 4:7Now we have this treasure in clay jars, so that this extraordinary power may be from God and not from us.
• 2 Timothy 2:20Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also those of wood and clay; some for honorable use and some for dishonorable.

Commentaries on Lamentations 4:2

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 2The 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.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 2The precious sons of Zion - The whole nation was consecrated to God, and formed “a kingdom of priests” Exodus 19:6: in this respect, a type of the Christian Church 1 Peter 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.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-22Although God’s people still experience his judgment, they will soon experience restoration.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 22. comparable to ... gold--(Job 28:16, 19). earthen pitchers--(Is 30:14; Jr 19:11). Gimel.Read the comment

Topics related to Lamentations 4:2

• Art
• Pitcher
• Righteous

In the dictionaries

• Comparable
• Dim
• Poetry
• Pottery
• Acrostic
• Alphabet
• Earthen Vessels
• Esteem
• Fine
• Gold

Commentaries on Lamentations 4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings