Lamentations — Chapter 4
Synopsis: Fourth alphabet: the contrast between Jerusalem's former glory (gold, precious stones, Nazirites fairer than snow) and her present degradation. The sin for which Jerusalem was more severely judged than Sodom (v.6: 'the punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the punishment of Sodom'). The slaughter of the innocent (mothers cooking their children). V.20: 'the breath of our mouth, the Lord's anointed' = King Josiah or Christ. The fall of Edom.
Verse 1
How is the gold become dim, the finest colour is changed, the stones of the sanctuary are scattered in the top of every street! The gold become dull = Jerusalem's fallen glory; the 'sons of Sion' worth their weight in gold (v.2) now treated as earthen vessels. Lapide's extended typology: the gold of spiritual grace when tarnished by sin loses its lustre; the sacraments given to those in mortal sin are 'changed gold.'
Verse 5
They that were fed delicately have died in the streets: they that were brought up in scarlet have embraced the dung. The reversal of fortunes in siege: the pampered and silk-clad now embrace garbage for warmth. Lapide: the ultimate leveling of earthly distinctions by disaster — applied to the vanity of seeking delicate nourishment and expensive clothing.
Verse 6
For the iniquity of the daughter of my people is made greater than the sin of Sodom, which was overthrown in a moment, and hands took no hold of her. Jerusalem's punishment is declared greater than Sodom's — because Sodom had less light and less grace; Jerusalem had the Temple, the Law, and the prophets. Lapide: the greater the gifts, the greater the responsibility; the sin of rejecting greater grace is proportionally graver.
Verse 20
The breath of our mouth, Christ the Lord, is taken in our sins: to whom we said: Under thy shadow we shall live among the nations. 'The breath of our mouth, Christus Domini' = Christ the Lord. Lapide (with Jerome, Origen, Cyril): the Chaldean capture of Zedekiah is a type of Christ's Passion. 'The Lord's Anointed' = the Christus (anointed one) of the text = literally Zedekiah, but typically/prophetially Christ. The verse is one of the earliest applications of the term 'Christ' to the Son of God in the Old Testament.