Lamentations 4:21 · Bible study
Lamentations 4:21 Commentary: The Cup of Wrath Passes to Edom
Hebrew · 11 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Lamentations 4:21 examines why God ironically commands Edom to rejoice before their fall, reflecting the certainty of divine retribution against those who oppose
Research Summary
- Meaning: An ironic taunt against Edom, warning that the cup of God’s wrath, which has struck Jerusalem, will soon strike them with equal force.
- Key words: śîśî (exult), śimḥî (rejoice), imperatives used ironically; kôs (cup), wrath of God; titʿārî (strip yourself naked), public shame from divine judgment.
- Main debate: Whether the command “rejoice and be glad” is purely ironic or also expresses a genuine (though temporary) permission; most scholars hold the ironic reading.
- Theological theme: Divine retribution is certain and universal; those who gloat over God’s chastened people will themselves be judged.
- Best use: A sobering warning against schadenfreude and a powerful assurance that God’s justice will not overlook hostility toward His covenant community.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
So rejoice and be glad, O Daughter of Edom, you who dwell in the land of Uz. Yet the cup will pass to you as well; you will get drunk and expose yourself.
WEB World English Bible 2000
Rejoice and be glad, daughter of Edom, who dwells in the land of Uz. The cup will pass through to you also. You will be drunken, and will make yourself naked.
KJV King James Version 1769
Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Uz; the cup also shall pass through unto thee: thou shalt be drunken, and shalt make thyself naked.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Uz: The cup shall pass through unto thee also; thou shalt be drunken, and shalt make thyself naked.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
Joy and rejoice, O daughter of Edom, Dwelling in the land of Uz, Even unto thee pass over doth a cup, Thou art drunk, and makest thyself naked.
Darby Darby Bible 1890
Rejoice and be glad, daughter of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Uz: the cup shall pass also unto thee; thou shalt be drunken, and make thyself naked.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
Sin. Rejoice, and be glad, O daughter of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Hus: to thee also shall the cup come, thou shalt be made drunk, and naked.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Gózate y alégrate, hija de Edom, la que habitas en tierra de Hus: aun hasta ti pasará el cáliz; embriagarte has, y vomitarás.
Goza-te e alegra-te, filha de Edom, que habitas na terra de Uz: porém o cálice também passará por ti; tu te embriagarás, e te desnudarás.
Réjouis-toi, tressaille d’ allégresse, fille d’Édom,
Ja, freue dich und sei fröhlich, du Tochter Edom, die du wohnst im Lande Uz! denn der Kelch wird auch über dich kommen; du mußt auch trunken und entblößt werden.
Schin. Wees vrolijk, en verblijd u, gij dochter Edoms, die in het land Uz woont! doch de beker zal ook tot u komen, gij zult dronken worden, en ontbloot worden.
Rallegrati, gioisci, o figliuola d’Edom, che dimori nel paese di Uts! Anche fino a te passerà la coppa; tu t’inebrierai e ti nuderai.
Raduj się i wesel się córko Edomska! która mieszkasz w ziemi Hus; przyjdzie też do ciebie kubek, upijesz się, i obnażysz się.
Радуйся и веселись, дочь Едома, обитательница земли Уц! И до тебя дойдет чаша; напьешься допьяна и обнажишься.
住 烏斯 地 的以東 民哪，只管歡喜 快樂；苦杯 也 必傳 到你那裡；你必喝醉，以致露體。
Have joy and be glad, O daughter of Edom, living in the land of Uz: the cup will be given to you in your turn, and you will be overcome with wine and your shame will be seen.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Lamentations 4:21
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
The commentators agree that this verse is thick with irony. The command to “rejoice and be glad” is not an invitation to celebration but a biting taunt. Adam Clarke calls it “strong irony”; Keil and Delitzsch use the same word. Edom had gloated over Jerusalem’s fall (Psalm 137:7), but the prophet turns their triumph upside down. The cup of God’s wrath, a figure rooted in Jeremiah 25:15, has already emptied over Judah; now it will “pass through to you also.” Barnes, Calvin, and Gill all note that Edom’s short-lived joy is about to collapse into drunken shame. The underlying certainty is that the same God who judges Israel for covenant unfaithfulness will not overlook Edom’s hatred. The verse sets the stage for Lamentations 4:22, where Zion’s punishment is declared finished while Edom’s is just beginning. What looks like a cheer is actually a funeral bell for the enemies of God’s people.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Low
What is clear: Edom will not escape divine justice; the command to rejoice is ironic, not a sincere blessing.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Irony of the command | The command 'rejoice and be glad' is ironic; Edom’s joy will be short-lived. | Some older commentators (e.g., Calvin) see it as a description of the depth of Judah’s misery rather than pure irony; most modern interpreters take it as bitter mockery. |
| The cup as judgment | The cup represents God’s wrath, a consistent metaphor in Jeremiah and the Psalms. | Whether the cup is exclusively temporal judgment (military destruction) or includes eternal punishment. Most see it as historical-national judgment, with an eschatological dimension in later reception. |
| Edom as representative | Edom stands for the archetypal enemy of God’s people throughout Scripture. | Whether the prophecy is limited to historical Edom or also foreshadows judgment on all nations hostile to the Church (Rome, etc.). Jewish and Christian interpretations diverge here. |
| Timing of fulfillment | Edom’s punishment is certain and will soon follow Judah’s fall. | Whether it was fulfilled by the Babylonians, the Maccabees, or later Roman conquests. Multiple layers are possible. |
| Relation to Zion’s hope | Edom’s judgment is contrasted with Zion’s restoration in the following verse. | Whether the hope for Zion is purely the end of exile or a messianic promise of a new covenant. Keil & Delitzsch see messianic hope; others read strictly historical restoration. |
Historical & Cultural Context
Edom was Judah’s bitter sibling-nation, descended from Jacob’s brother Esau. When the Babylonians besieged Jerusalem in 587 BC, Edom not only stayed neutral but actively cheered the destruction, calling for the city to be razed (Psalm 137:7). They may even have assisted the Chaldeans. The prophet Jeremiah singles out Edom repeatedly (Jeremiah 49:7 ff.), and the same anger appears in Obadiah. In Lamentations 4:21, the “daughter of Edom” stands for the whole people. The phrase “who dwells in the land of Uz” locates them in a territory on the edge of Edomite land, Uz is also Job’s homeland (Job 1:1), a place associated with patient suffering, not gloating malice. The Hebrew verb yashav (יושׁבת, “dwells”) implies a settled security they do not deserve.
The “cup” is a repeated metaphor in the prophets for God’s intoxicating wrath (Jeremiah 25:15, 29; Isaiah 51:17). To be “drunken” meant to stagger, fall, and lose control; to be made “naked” was the ultimate shame, reducing a nation to helpless exposure. The parallel with Habakkuk 2:15, 16 is direct: those who force others to drink the cup of wrath will themselves drink it. The irony in the Hebrew is sharp: the imperatives śîśî and śimḥî (rejoice, exult) sound like a party anthem, but the verbs that follow, tiškerî (you will be drunk) and titʿārî (you will strip yourself naked), are prophetic perfects, so certain that they are stated as already accomplished. The one tripping the light fantastic will collapse in a shameful heap.
Textual Notes
The consulted sources note no significant textual variants for Lamentations 4:21. The Septuagint paraphrases the final clause as “and thou shalt be drunken, and pour out” (i.e., vomit), which Gill records, but this reflects a translational choice rather than a different Hebrew Vorlage. The Masoretic text is stable across manuscripts.
Reception History
The Targum (Aramaic paraphrase) already identified Edom with Rome, a tradition continued in medieval Jewish exegesis, Jarchi reads the verse as a prophecy of Rome’s downfall. Early Christian writers, including Jerome and Augustine, saw Edom as a type of the worldly powers that persecute the church, and this verse as a warning against rejoicing in others’ misfortunes (schadenfreude). Reformation commentators such as Luther and Calvin used the ironic command to press the doctrine of divine justice: the cup of wrath circulates until every enemy drinks. In modern homiletics, the verse is often a touchstone for preaching on the certainty of retribution and the call to leave vengeance to God (Deuteronomy 32:35; Romans 12:19).
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- The fool’s party. Edom’s glee over Jerusalem’s fall is met with an ironic command: rejoice, but only because your own turn is next. The gloat becomes a groan.
- The cup that keeps traveling. God’s wrath is not a single drink; it passes from one nation to another. No one who delights in the suffering of God’s people escapes the hangover of divine justice.
- Naked and ashamed. Drunkenness here is not literal intoxication but a metaphor for confusion, vulnerability, and public disgrace. Sin that seemed clever ends up exposed.
Five-point outline
- Edom’s settled arrogance: “who dwells in the land of Uz”, a people confident in their security.
- Ironic permission to gloat: “Rejoice and be glad”, the prophet gives them rope, knowing they will hang themselves.
- The universal cup: “The cup will pass through to you also”, the same judgment that destroyed Judah now targets Edom.
- Drunken staggering: “You will be drunken”, the loss of control that comes when God’s anger hits.
- Naked exposure: “and will make yourself naked”, all pretenses stripped away, their sin laid bare for every nation to see.
Illustration hooks
- A student who laughs when a rival fails an exam, only to discover the same test is being given to the whole class with an even tougher grader.
- A party where someone boasts of winning a race, not noticing they are running the wrong direction on a cliff edge.
- A small business owner who celebrates a competitor’s bankruptcy, then watches a recession wipe out his own market.
Questions your congregation is asking
- Why does God allow enemies to mock His people for so long?
- Does this verse give us permission to enjoy the downfall of our enemies?
- How can I trust that God’s justice will eventually arrive when it seems delayed?
Leading a Discussion
This short verse packs a heavy punch. It forces us to sit with God’s holiness and our own tendency to take sides. Before you begin reading, remember that the book of Lamentations is a cry of pain from a shattered people. Edom is the neighbor who cheered the destruction. The irony of this command is meant to wound the proud and comfort the broken, but only if we are willing to let God be the judge.
Discussion questions
- Read Lamentations 4:21 slowly. What tone of voice do you imagine the prophet using?
- Why do you think the prophet names the specific place “the land of Uz”? What does that location add to the scene?
- How does the “cup” metaphor in Jeremiah 25 and elsewhere help you understand what is promised to Edom?
- What emotions might the original hearers (Jewish exiles) have felt when they heard this verse?
- In what ways do we, as Christians, sometimes take secret pleasure in the misfortunes of those who oppose us? How does this verse challenge that?
- How does the certainty of Edom’s judgment (languages: prophetic perfects) affect the way you view present injustices?
- How does verse 22 (“the punishment of your iniquity is accomplished, daughter of Zion”) reframe the whole chapter? What does it tell us about God’s ultimate plan for His people?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Genesis 36:28 | These are the children of Dishan: Uz and Aran. |
| II Chronicles 28:19 | For Yahweh brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of Israel, because he acted without restraint in Judah and trespassed severely against Yahweh. |
| Job 1:1 | There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job. That man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God, and turned away from evil. |
| Psalms 83:3 | They conspire with cunning against your people. They plot against your cherished ones. |
| Psalms 83:12 | who said, “Let’s take possession of God’s pasture lands.” |
| Psalms 137:7 | Remember, Yahweh, against the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem, who said, “Raze it! Raze it even to its foundation!” |
| Ecclesiastes 11:9 | Rejoice, young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth, and walk in the ways of your heart, and in the sight of your eyes; but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment. |
| Isaiah 34:1 | Come near, you nations, to hear! Listen, you peoples. Let the earth and all it contains hear, the world, and everything that comes from it. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
11 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke highlights the sharp irony: Edom rejoiced over Judah's fall but will soon face the same judgment. Because they allied with the Chaldeans against Israel, they must share Babylon's fate and drink the same cup of suffering.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes sees the prophet closing his lament with Messianic hope: Judah’s present guilt is fully paid, so God will not exile them again on that account. The ironic taunt to Edom, though, warns that the Church’s triumph is also the day of the wicked’s reckoning.
Calvin's Commentaries Reformed 1564
Calvin reads this verse not as irony but as a two-part statement: first, the Jews were so utterly reduced that their enemies freely taunted them; second, God immediately softens that bitter sorrow by promising that those enemies will soon be punished. The alleviation comes not from dismissing the taunts but from the certainty of future retribution.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
The Cambridge Bible School notes treat Edom's command to rejoice as bitter irony, a limited triumph soon reversed. The cup of God's wrath will leave them exposed and drunken with disaster, bringing the same contempt Edom once scorned upon others.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The Geneva annotators highlight the grim irony of Edom's celebration. The same cup of God's wrath that struck Jerusalem will pass to Edom. Their joy turns to drunken staggering and vomiting, showing that no enemy of God's people escapes judgment.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill treats the command to rejoice as bitter irony. Edom celebrated Jerusalem's fall, but the same cup of God's wrath that struck Judah will soon reach them. Their brief joy will end in drunken shame and total exposure.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
JFB reads the command for Edom to rejoice as deeply ironic. Edom will gloat over Jerusalem’s fall, but this joy is fleeting. The verse warns that God’s cup of wrath soon overtakes them, making their celebration tragically short.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil and Delitzsch see the sudden shift from despair to confidence as grounded in Israel's unbreakable covenant with God, not in any outward sign. They read "exult and rejoice" as ironic mockery toward Edom, whose guilt will be punished once Zion's guilt is fully atoned for in the Messianic age.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange reads the opening verses as figurative, not literal: the gold and precious stones represent the people of Zion themselves, not Temple treasures. The poet asks how these human jewels could lose their luster and be discarded. This shifts the focus from material loss to the degradation of God's chosen people.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry stresses that God sets a fixed limit on Zion's suffering, inflicting only what serves His purpose of purging sin and displaying justice. By contrast, Edom's punishment has no such limit and will strip away every false comfort, turning their gloating into shame.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley reads the call to rejoice as irony, not a genuine command. The prophet warns that this joy will last only a short time. The drunkenness means being intoxicated to the point of shameless nakedness, as drunkards often expose themselves.