Lamentations 5:12 (DRB)

Passage

The princes were hanged up by their hand: they did not respect the persons of the ancients.

Nearby Context

Lamentations 5:10 Our skin was burnt as an oven, by reason of the violence of the famine.

Lamentations 5:11 They oppressed the women in Sion, and the virgins in the cities of Juda.

Lamentations 5:12 The princes were hanged up by their hand: they did not respect the persons of the ancients.

Lamentations 5:13 They abused the young men indecently: and the children fell under the wood.

Lamentations 5:14 The ancients have ceased from the gates: the young men from the choir of the singers.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "princes", "hanged", "hand", "respect", "persons", and "ancients". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "princes" and "hanged", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 11's "They oppressed the women in Sion and..." into verse 13's "They abused the young men indecently and...", so "princes" and "hanged" belong inside that flow. In Lamentations context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "princes" and "hanged" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.