Lamentations 4:6

ו (Vav)

4:6 The punishment ¹  of my people ² 

exceeded that of ³  of Sodom,

which was overthrown in a moment

with no one to help her. ⁴ 

Ezekiel 16:48-50

16:48 As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, your sister Sodom and her daughters never behaved as wickedly as you and your daughters have behaved.

16:49 “‘See here – this was the iniquity ⁵  of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters had majesty, abundance of food, and enjoyed carefree ease, but they did not help ⁶  the poor and needy. 16:50 They were haughty and practiced abominable deeds before me. Therefore when I saw it I removed them.

Matthew 10:15

10:15 I tell you the truth, ⁷  it will be more bearable for the region of Sodom and Gomorrah ⁸  on the day of judgment than for that town!

Matthew 11:24

11:24 But I tell you, it will be more bearable for the region of Sodom ⁹  on the day of judgment than for you!”

Mark 6:11

6:11 If a place will not welcome you or listen to you, as you go out from there, shake the dust off ¹⁰  your feet as a testimony against them.”

¹ tn The noun עֲוֹן (’avon) has a basic two-fold range of meanings: (1) basic meaning: “iniquity, sin” and (2) metonymical cause for effect meaning: “punishment for iniquity.”

² tn Heb “the daughter of my people.”

³ tn Heb “the sin of.” The noun חַטָּאת (khatta’t) often means “sin, rebellion,” but here it probably functions in a metonymical (cause for effect) sense: “punishment for sin” (e.g., Zech 14:19). The context focuses on the severity of the punishment of Jerusalem rather than the depths of its degradation and depravity that led to the judgment.

⁴ tn Heb “without a hand turned.” The preposition ב (bet) after the verb חוּל (khul) in Hos 11:6 is adversative “the sword will turn against [Assyria’s] cities.” Other contexts with חוּל (khul) plus ב (bet) are not comparable (ב [bet] often being locative). However, it is not certain that hands must be adversarial as the sword clearly is in Hos 11:6. The present translation pictures the suddenness of Sodom’s overthrow as an easier fate than the protracted military campaign and subsequent exile and poverty of Judah’s survivor’s.

⁵ tn Or “guilt.”

⁶ tn Heb “strengthen the hand of.”

⁷ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

⁸ sn The allusion to Sodom and Gomorrah, the most wicked of OT cities from Gen 19:1-29, shows that to reject the current message is even more serious than the worst sins of the old era and will result in more severe punishment.

⁹ sn The allusion to Sodom, the most wicked of OT cities from Gen 19:1-29, shows that to reject the current message is even more serious, and will result in more severe punishment, than the worst sins of the old era. The phrase region of Sodom is in emphatic position in the Greek text.

¹⁰ sn To shake the dust off represented shaking off the uncleanness from one’s feet; see Luke 10:11; Acts 13:51; 18:6. It was a sign of rejection.