Commentary - Lamentations 4:21-22

Bird's-eye view

In these closing verses of the fourth lament, the prophet pivots with startling abruptness. After cataloging the horrors of Jerusalem's fall in excruciating detail, he turns his attention to two daughters: the daughter of Zion and the daughter of Edom. For Zion, the long night of punishment is ending. Her sentence is served, her iniquity is paid for. But for Edom, who gloated over her sister's destruction, the party is about to end. The cup of God's wrath, which Judah has been forced to drink to the dregs, is now being passed to her. This is not simple schadenfreude; it is a declaration of God's perfect, covenantal justice. God disciplines His own children, but He will not fail to judge those who mock His purposes and kick His people when they are down. The passage is a stark reminder that history is not a random series of events but a story being told by a sovereign God who is both just in His wrath and faithful in His mercy.

The structure here is a classic biblical reversal. The one who was low (Zion) is about to be lifted up, and the one who was proud and gloating (Edom) is about to be brought low. It is a microcosm of the gospel pattern: death and resurrection for God's people, and judgment for God's enemies. The end of Zion's exile and the beginning of Edom's exposure are two sides of the same coin, minted by the hand of a righteous God.

Outline

Context In Lamentations

Lamentations 4 is the fourth of five acrostic poems mourning the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. This chapter focuses on the shocking reversal of fortunes, contrasting the previous glory of Zion's inhabitants with their current degradation. The precious sons of Zion, once valued like fine gold, are now treated like cheap pottery (4:2). The wealthy lie in the streets, and children starve (4:4-5). The prophet lays the blame squarely on the sins of the people, particularly their corrupt prophets and priests (4:13). After this bleak assessment, the final two verses of the chapter serve as a crucial hinge. They look beyond the present suffering to a future restoration for Judah and a coming judgment for her enemies, represented by Edom. This sets the stage for the final chapter, which is a community prayer for restoration. The turn toward Edom is not random; historical and prophetic books are filled with accounts of Edom's treachery, particularly their malicious delight in Jerusalem's fall (see Psalm 137:7; Obadiah 1:10-14).

Key Issues

The Cup Is Passed

Throughout Scripture, the "cup" is a potent metaphor for a divinely allotted destiny. There is the cup of salvation (Ps 116:13), but more often, we find the cup of God's wrath. Jeremiah prophesied that God would make all the nations drink from this cup of intoxicating fury, starting with Jerusalem (Jer 25:15-18). When Zion drinks it, she staggers and falls, disgraced and destroyed. This is the discipline of a father, severe but ultimately restorative. But the cup does not stop there. God is the God of all nations, and He judges them all by His righteous standard. Here, the cup is passed to Edom. She is commanded, in bitter irony, to rejoice and be glad, because her time to drink has come. Her glee over Judah's fall was her great sin, and her punishment will fit the crime. She will drink the very same cup of wrath and will experience the same staggering shame and naked exposure that she so enjoyed watching her sister endure. This is a fundamental principle of God's government: with what measure you mete, it shall be measured to you again.

Verse by Verse Commentary

21 Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, Who inhabits the land of Uz; But the cup will pass on to you as well; You will become drunk and make yourself naked.

The prophet begins with a biting taunt, a piece of sanctified sarcasm. "Go ahead, Edom, have your party. Gloat over your sister's corpse." This is not an encouragement to sin but a rhetorical device that highlights the foolishness and temporary nature of Edom's celebration. The Edomites, descendants of Esau, had a long history of bitter rivalry with Israel, the descendants of Jacob. When Babylon destroyed Jerusalem, Edom stood by, cheered, and likely participated in the looting (Obad. 1:11-14). Their joy was a profound offense to God. So the prophet says, enjoy it while it lasts, because the bill is coming due. The very cup of divine fury that brought Jerusalem to her knees will pass on to you. The consequences are described in terms of utter humiliation. She will become drunk, losing all control and sense, and in that state, she will make herself naked. This is an image of total shame, exposure, and vulnerability. The nation that gloated over Judah's stripping will itself be stripped bare before the world.

22 The punishment of your iniquity has come to an end, O daughter of Zion; He will exile you no longer.

Here is the great reversal, the gospel note in the midst of the dirge. For the daughter of Zion, the covenant people of God, the sentence is complete. The word for "punishment of your iniquity" can also be translated as "your iniquity." God has dealt with it. The debt has been paid. This is not to say that they deserved this grace, but that the term of their covenantal punishment was finished. God, in His sovereignty, had set a limit to their suffering. The promise is explicit: He will exile you no longer. This was a promise of restoration, of being brought back to the land. For the Christian, this points to a far greater reality. Our iniquity was fully punished in the person of Jesus Christ on the cross. His death was the end of our exile from God. Because He drank the cup of wrath for us, our punishment has come to an end, and God promises that He will never cast us out.

But He will punish your iniquity, O daughter of Edom; He will expose your sins!

The final clause seals Edom's fate and contrasts it sharply with Zion's. While Zion's punishment is finished, Edom's is about to begin. God will "visit" or punish your iniquity. The Hebrew word for punish here is paqad, which means to visit, to attend to, to take account of. God has been watching Edom's behavior, and He is coming to settle the accounts. And what will this visitation accomplish? He will expose your sins! The very thing Edom delighted in, the exposure of Jerusalem, will happen to them. Their secret hatreds, their malicious thoughts, their violent actions, all will be laid bare. For the unrepentant, judgment is an uncovering, a stripping away of all pretenses, leaving nothing but the raw, shameful reality of their sin before a holy God. There is no remedy for them, no sacrifice, because they are not in covenant with Him. They are outsiders to the promises, and they must face the full, unmitigated force of His justice.

Application

This passage contains a severe warning and a profound comfort. The warning is for all those who stand on the sidelines of God's covenant purposes and mock. This can be the atheist who scoffs at the church's failings, or it can be the proud churchman who looks down on a fallen brother with contempt instead of compassion. To rejoice in the downfall of another, especially in the discipline of God's own people, is to put yourself in the place of Edom. It is to invite the cup of wrath to be passed to you. We are called to weep with those who weep, not to kick them when they are down. We must take great care that we never find ourselves gloating over the judgment that befalls others, lest we find ourselves under a similar judgment.

The comfort is for the daughter of Zion, for the church. God's discipline of His people, though painful, is always finite and purposeful. He does not cast off His people forever. Our punishment for sin has been fully and finally accomplished in the cross of Christ. When we suffer in this life, it is the discipline of a loving Father, not the wrath of an avenging Judge. He is fitting us for glory, and He promises that our exile in this fallen world will one day end. And on that last day, all the Edomites of this world, all those who have mocked Christ and persecuted His church, will have their sins exposed, and they will drink the cup of His wrath forever. But for us, who are in Christ, the cup that is passed to us is the cup of salvation, the cup of communion, the cup of everlasting joy.