Lamentations 4:21

ש (Sin/Shin) Rejoice and be glad for now, ¹  O people of Edom, ²  who reside in the land of Uz. But the cup of judgment ³  will pass ⁴  to you also; you will get drunk and take off your clothes.

Ge 36:28; 2Ch 28:19; Job 1:1; Ps 83:3-12; Ps 137:7; Ec 11:9; Isa 34:1-17; Isa 63:1-6; Jer 25:15-29; Jer 49:12; Eze 25:6,8; Eze 25:12-14; Eze 26:2; Eze 35:3-9; Eze 35:11-15; Am 1:11; Ob 1:1,10-14; Ob 1:10-16; Mic 1:11; Mal 1:2-4; Re 16:15

¹ tn The phrase “for now” is added in the translation to highlight the implied contrast between the present joy of the Gentiles (4:21a) and their future judgment (4:21b).

² tn Heb “O Daughter of Edom.”

³ tn Heb “the cup.” Judgment is often depicted as a cup of wine that God forces a person to drink, causing him to lose consciousness, red wine drooling out of his mouth – resembling corpses lying on the ground as a result of the actual onslaught of the Lord’s judgment. The drunkard will reel and stagger, causing bodily injury to himself – an apt metaphor to describe the devastating effects of God’s judgment. Just as a cup of poison kills all those who are forced to drink it, the cup of God’s wrath destroys all those who must drink it (e.g., Ps 75:9; Isa 51:17, 22; Jer 25:15, 17, 28; 49:12; 51:7; Lam 4:21; Ezek 23:33; Hab 2:16).

⁴ tn The imperfect verb “will pass” may also be a jussive, continuing the element of request, “let the cup pass…”