Lamentations 4:2

How the precious sons of Zion, once worth their weight in pure gold, are now esteemed as jars of clay, the work of a potter’s hands!

Majority Standard Bible

In The King James Version

The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter!

In Context

1How the gold has become tarnished, the pure gold has become dull! The gems of the temple lie scattered on every street corner.

3Even jackals offer their breasts to nurse their young, but the daughter of my people has become cruel, like an ostrich in the wilderness.

Read all of Lamentations 4

Cross References

Isaiah 30:14It will break in pieces like a potter’s jar, shattered so that no fragment can be found. Not a shard will be found in the dust large enough to scoop the coals from a hearth or to skim the water from a cistern.”

Jeremiah 19:11and you are to proclaim to them that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: I will shatter this nation and this city, like one shatters a potter’s jar that can never again be repaired. They will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room to bury them.

Lamentations 2:21Both young and old lie together in the dust of the streets. My young men and maidens have fallen by the sword. You have slain them in the day of Your anger; You have slaughtered them without compassion.

Hosea 8:8Israel is swallowed up! Now they are among the nations like a worthless vessel.

Romans 9:21Does not the potter have the right to make from the same lump of clay one vessel for special occasions and another for common use?

2 Timothy 2:20A large house contains not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay. Some indeed are for honorable use, but others are for common use.

Matthew Henry on Lamentations 4:2-13

Desolate Condition of Jerusalem; Effects of Famine in Jerusalem; Destruction of Jerusalem. ( b. c. 588.) 1 How is the gold become dim! how is the most fine gold changed! the stones of the sanctuary are poured out in the top of every street. 2 The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter! 3 Even the sea monsters draw out the breast, they give suck to their young ones: the daughter of my people is become cruel, like the ostriches… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study Lamentations 4:2