Lamentations 5 · Verse 12

Lamentations 5:12

Princes are hanged up by their hand: the faces of elders were not honoured.
Lamentations 5:12, King James Version

Lamentations 5:12 in other translations

BSBPrinces have been hung up by their hands; elders receive no respect.
WEBPrinces were hanged up by their hands. The faces of elders were not honored.
ASVPrinces were hanged up by their hand: The faces of elders were not honored.
YLTPrinces by their hand have been hanged, The faces of elders have not been honoured.
DARBYPrinces were hanged up by their hand; the faces of elders were not honoured.
BBETheir hands put princes to death by hanging: the faces of old men were not honoured.
WebsterPrinces were hanged by their hand: the faces of elders were not honored.

What does Lamentations 5:12 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
12. hanged ... by their hand--a piece of wanton cruelty invented by the Chaldeans. Grotius translates, "Princes were hung by the hand of the enemy"; hanging was a usual mode of execution (Ge 40:19). elders--officials (La 4:16).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 12 Princes are hanged up by their hand - It is very probable that this was a species of punishment. They were suspended from hooks in the wall by their hands till they died through torture and exhaustion. The body of Saul was fastened to the wall of Bethshan, probably in the same way; but his head had already been taken off. They were hung in this way that they might be devoured by the fowls of the air. It was a custom with the Persians after they had slain, strangled, or beheaded their enemies, to hang their bodies upon poles, or empale them. In this way they treated Histiaeus of Miletum, and Leonidas of Lacedaemon. See Herodot. lib. 6 c. 30, lib. 7 c. 238.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Lamentations 5:1-16

The Jewish nation supplicating the Divine favour. Verses 1-16 Is any afflicted? Let him pray; and let him in prayer pour out his complaint to God. The people of God do so here; they complain not of evils feared, but of evils felt. If penitent and patient under what we suffer for the sins of our fathers, we may expect that He who punishes, will return in mercy to us. They acknowledge, Woe unto us that we have sinned!…

Read the full comment on Lamentations 5:1-16 →

Lamentations 5:12 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

שָׂרִים֙sa.RimprincesH8269
בְּיָדָ֣םbe.ya.Damby hand theirH3027
נִתְל֔וּnit.Luthey have been hangedH8518
פְּנֵ֥יpe.Nei[the] face ofH6440
זְקֵנִ֖יםze.ke.NimeldersH2205
לֹ֥אlo'notH3808
נֶהְדָּֽרוּ\׃neh.Da.ruthey have been honoredH1921

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Lamentations 5:12

  • Lamentations 4:16

    The anger of the Lord hath divided them; he will no more regard them: they respected not the persons of the priests, they favoured not the elders.

  • Isaiah 47:6

    I was wroth with my people, I have polluted mine inheritance, and given them into thine hand: thou didst shew them no mercy; upon the ancient hast thou very heavily laid thy yoke.

  • Jeremiah 52:10-11

    And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes: he slew also all the princes of Judah in Riblah. Then he put out the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him in chains, and carried him to Babylon, and put him in prison till the day of his death.

  • Lamentations 2:20

    Behold, O Lord, and consider to whom thou hast done this. Shall the women eat their fruit, and children of a span long? shall the priest and the prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord?

  • Jeremiah 52:25-27

    He took also out of the city an eunuch, which had the charge of the men of war; and seven men of them that were near the king’s person, which were found in the city; and the principal scribe of the host, who mustered the people of the land; and threescore men of the people of the land, that were found in the midst of the city. So Nebuzar–adan the captain of the guard took them, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah. And the king of Babylon smote them, and put them to death in Riblah in the land of Hamath. Thus Judah was carried away captive out of his own land.

  • Lamentations 2:10

    The elders of the daughter of Zion sit upon the ground, and keep silence: they have cast up dust upon their heads; they have girded themselves with sackcloth: the virgins of Jerusalem hang down their heads to the ground.

  • Jeremiah 39:6-7

    Then the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah before his eyes: also the king of Babylon slew all the nobles of Judah. Moreover he put out Zedekiah’s eyes, and bound him with chains, to carry him to Babylon.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2:10,20; 4:16; Isa 47:6; Jer 39:6,7; 52:10,11,25-27

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Lamentations 5:11

    They ravished the women in Zion, and the maids in the cities of Judah.

  • Lamentations 5:12

    Princes are hanged up by their hand: the faces of elders were not honoured.

  • Lamentations 5:13

    They took the young men to grind, and the children fell under the wood.

Read all of Lamentations 5

Lamentations 5:12 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		A los príncipes colgaron por su mano; no respetaron el rostro de los viejos.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Des princes ont été pendus par leur main; la personne des vieillards n’a pas été honorée.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Fürsten sind durch ihre Hand aufgehängt, das Angesicht der Alten wird nicht geehrt.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Principes manu suspensi sunt; facies senum non erubuerunt.