New Living Translation
Lamentations 5:12
12Our princes are being hanged by their thumbs, and our elders are treated with contempt.
Lamentations 5:12 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Princes are hanged up by their hand: the faces of elders were not honoured.
- New International Version (NIV)Princes have been hung up by their hands; elders are shown no respect.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Princes are hung up by their hands; no respect is shown to the elders.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Princes were hung up by their hands, And elders were not respected.
Context of Lamentations 5:12
10The famine has blackened our skin as though baked in an oven. 11Our enemies rape the women in Jerusalem and the young girls in all the towns of Judah. Our princes are being hanged by their thumbs, and our elders are treated with contempt. 13Young men are led away to work at millstones, and boys stagger under heavy loads of wood. 14The elders no longer sit in the city gates; the young men no longer dance and sing.
Read all of Lamentations 5Lamentations 5:12 word by word
שָׂרִים֙ בְּיָדָ֣ם נִתְל֔וּ פְּנֵ֥י זְקֵנִ֖ים לֹ֥א נֶהְדָּֽרוּ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Lamentations 5:12
- Lamentations 2:10The leaders of beautiful Jerusalem sit on the ground in silence. They are clothed in burlap and throw dust on their heads. The young women of Jerusalem hang their heads in shame.
- Lamentations 4:16The Lord himself has scattered them, and he no longer helps them. People show no respect for the priests and no longer honor the leaders.
- Isaiah 47:6For I was angry with my chosen people and punished them by letting them fall into your hands. But you, Babylon, showed them no mercy. You oppressed even the elderly.
- Jeremiah 39:6The king of Babylon made Zedekiah watch as he slaughtered his sons at Riblah. The king of Babylon also slaughtered all the nobles of Judah.
- Jeremiah 52:10The king of Babylon made Zedekiah watch as he slaughtered his sons. He also slaughtered all the officials of Judah at Riblah.
Commentaries on Lamentations 5:12
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 12Princes are hanged up by their hand - It is very probable that this was a species of punishment. They were suspended from hooks in the wall by their hands till they died through torture and exhaustion. The body of Saul was fastened to the wall of Bethshan, probably in the same way; but his head had already been taken off. They were hung in this way that they might be devoured by the fowls of the air. It was a custom with the Persians after they had slain…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 12After the princes had been put to death their bodies were hung up by the hand to expose them to public contumely. Old age, again, no more availed to shield men from shameful treatment than the high rank of the princes. Such treatment of conquered enemies was not uncommon in ancient warfare.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 12-17These terrible things happened because the people had sinned (see Isaiah 24:7–12; Jeremiah 7:24; Jeremiah 13:18; Jeremiah 25:10–11; Amos 8:10).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1212. hanged ... by their hand--a piece of wanton cruelty invented by the Chaldeans. Grotius translates, "Princes were hung by the hand of the enemy"; hanging was a usual mode of execution (Ge 40:19). elders--officials (La 4:16).Read the comment
Topics related to Lamentations 5:12
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Lamentations 5
- 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
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