Lamentations 1-2

The prophet sometimes speaks in his own person; at other times Jerusalem, as a distressed female, is the speaker, or some of the Jews. The description shows the miseries of the Jewish nation. Jerusalem became a captive and a slave, by reason of the greatness of her sins; and had no rest from suffering. If we allow sin, our greatest adversary, to have dominion over us, justly will other enemies also be suffered to have dominion. The people endured the extremities of famine and distress. In this sad condition Jerusalem acknowledged her sin, and entreated the Lord to look upon her case. This is the only way to make ourselves easy under our burdens; for it is the just anger of the Lord for man's transgressions, that has filled the earth with sorrows, lamentations, sickness, and death.

The miserable state of Jerusalem, the just consequences of its sins. (Lam. 1:1-11) Jerusalem represented as a captive female, lamenting, and seeking the mercy of God. (Lam. 1:12-22)

Jerusalem, sitting dejected on the ground, calls on those that passed by, to consider whether her example did not concern them. Her outward sufferings were great, but her inward sufferings were harder to bear, through the sense of guilt. Sorrow for sin must be great sorrow, and must affect the soul. Here we see the evil of sin, and may take warning to flee from the wrath to come. Whatever may be learned from the sufferings of Jerusalem, far more may be learned from the sufferings of Christ. Does he not from the cross speak to every one of us? Does he not say, Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? Let all our sorrows lead us to the cross of Christ, lead us to mark his example, and cheerfully to follow him.

A sad representation is here made of the state of God's church, of Jacob and Israel; but the notice seems mostly to refer to the hand of the Lord in their calamities. Yet God is not an enemy to his people, when he is angry with them and corrects them. And gates and bars stand in no stead when God withdraws his protection. It is just with God to cast down those by judgments, who debase themselves by sin; and to deprive those of the benefit and comfort of sabbaths and ordinances, who have not duly valued nor observed them. What should they do with Bibles, who make no improvement of them? Those who misuse God's prophets, justly lose them. It becomes necessary, though painful, to turn the thoughts of the afflicted to the hand of God lifted up against them, and to their sins as the source of their miseries.

Lamentation for the misery of Jerusalem.

Causes for lamentation are described. Multitudes perished by famine. Even little children were slain by their mother's hands, and eaten, according to the threatening, Deut. 28:53. Multitudes fell by the sword. Their false prophets deceived them. And their neighbours laughed at them. It is a great sin to jest at others' miseries, and adds much affliction to the afflicted. Their enemies triumphed over them. The enemies of the church are apt to take its shocks for its ruins; but they will find themselves deceived. Calls to lamentation are given; and comforts for the cure of these lamentations are sought. Prayer is a salve for every sore, even the sorest; a remedy for every malady, even the most grievous. Our business in prayer is to refer our case to the Lord, and leave it with him. His will be done. Let us fear God, and walk humbly before him, and take heed lest we fall.

how is she ... widow! she that was great, &c.--English Version is according to the accents. But the members of each sentence are better balanced in antithesis, thus, "how is she that was great among the nations become as a widow! (how) she who was princess among the provinces (that is, she who ruled over the surrounding provinces from the Nile to the Euphrates, Ge 15:18; 1Ki 4:21; 2Ch 9:26; Ezr 4:20) become tributary!" [Maurer]. sit--on the ground; the posture of mourners (La 2:10; Ezr 9:3). The coin struck on the taking of Jerusalem by Titus, representing Judea as a female sitting solitary under a palm tree, with the inscription, Judæa Capta, singularly corresponds to the image here; the language therefore must be prophetical of her state subsequent to Titus, as well as referring retrospectively to her Babylonian captivity. Beth.

in the night--even in the night, the period of rest and oblivion of griefs (Job 7:3). lovers ... friends--the heathen states allied to Judah, and their idols. The idols whom she "loved" (Jer 2:20-25) could not comfort her. Her former allies would not: nay, some "treacherously" joined her enemies against her (2Ki 24:2, 7; Ps 137:7). Gimel.

(Jer 52:27). because of great servitude--that is, in a state "of great servitude," endured from the Chaldeans. "Because" is made by Vatablus indicative of the cause of her captivity; namely, her having "afflicted" and unjustly brought into "servitude" the manumitted bond-servants (Jer 34:8-22). Maurer explains it, "Judah has left her land (not literally 'gone into captivity') because of the yoke imposed on it by Nebuchadnezzar." no rest--(De 28:64, 65). overtook her between ... straits--image from robbers, who in the East intercept travellers at the narrow passes in hilly regions. Daleth.

feasts--the passover, pentecost (or the feast of weeks), and the feast of tabernacles. gates--once the place of concourse. He.

the chief--rule her (De 28:43, 44). adversaries ... prosper; for the Lord--All the foes' attempts would have failed, had not God delivered His people into their hands (Jer 30:15). Vau.

beauty ... departed--her temple, throne, and priesthood. harts that find no pasture--an animal timid and fleet, especially when seeking and not able to "find pasture." Zain.

remembered--rather, "remembers," now, in her afflicted state. In the days of her prosperity she did not appreciate, as she ought, the favors of God to her. Now, awakening out of her past lethargy, she feels from what high privileges she has fallen. when her people fell, &c.--that is, after which days of prosperity "her people fell." mock at her sabbaths--The heathen used to mock at the Jews' Sabbath, as showing their idleness, and term them Sabbatarians [Martial, 4.4]. Now, said they ironically, ye may keep a continuous Sabbath. So God appointed the length of the captivity (seventy years) to be exactly that of the sum of the Sabbaths in the four hundred ninety years in which the land was denied its Sabbaths (Le 26:33-35). Maurer translates it "ruin." But English Version better expresses the point of their "mocking," namely, their involuntary "Sabbaths," that is, the cessation of all national movements. A fourth line is added in this stanza, whereas in all the others there are but three. So in La 2:19. Cheth.

(1Ki 8:46). is removed--as a woman separated from the congregation of God for legal impurity, which is a type of moral impurity. So La 1:17; Le 12:2; 15:19, &c. her nakedness--They have treated her as contumeliously as courtesans from whom their clothes are stripped. turneth backward--as modest women do from shame, that is, she is cast down from all hope of restoration [Calvin]. Teth.

Continuation of the image in La 1:8. Her ignominy and misery cannot be concealed but are apparent to all, as if a woman were suffering under such a flow as to reach the end of her skirts. remembereth not ... last end--(De 32:29; Isa 47:7). She forgot how fatal must be the end of her iniquity. Or, as the words following imply: She, in despair, cannot lift herself up to lay hold of God's promises as to her "latter end" [Calvin]. wonderfully--Hebrew, "wonders," that is, with amazing dejection. O Lord, behold--Judah here breaks in, speaking for herself. for the enemy hath magnified himself--What might seem ground for despair, the elated insulting of the enemy, is rather ground for good hope. Jod.

for--surely she hath seen, &c. heathen ... command ... not enter ... congregation--for instance, the Ammonites and Moabites (De 23:3; Ne 13:1, 2). If the heathen, as such, were not allowed to enter the sanctuary for worship, much less were they allowed to enter in order to rob and destroy. Caph.

(Jer 37:21; 38:9; 52:6). given ... pleasant things for meat--(2Ki 6:25; Job 2:4). relieve ... soul--literally, "to cause the soul or life to return." for I am become vile--Her sins and consequent sorrows are made the plea in craving God's mercy. Compare the like plea in Ps 25:11. Lamed.

The pathetic appeal of Jerusalem, not only to her neighbors, but even to the strangers "passing by," as her sorrow is such as should excite the compassion even of those unconnected with her. She here prefigures Christ, whom the language is prophetically made to suit, more than Jerusalem. Compare Israel, that is, Messiah, Isa 49:3. Compare with "pass by," Mt 27:39; Mr 15:29. As to Jerusalem, Da 9:12. M AURER, from the Arabic idiom, translates, "do not go off on your way," that is, stop, whoever ye are that pass by. English Version is simpler. Mem.

bones--a fire which not only consumes the skin and flesh, but penetrates even to my "bones" (that is, my vital powers). prevaileth against--not as Rosenmuller, "He (Jehovah) hath broken them"; a sense not in the Hebrew. net--(Eze 12:13); image from hunting wild beasts. He has so entangled me in His judgments that I cannot escape. turned me back--so that I cannot go forward and get free from His meshes. Nun.

yoke ... is bound by his hand--(De 28:48). Metaphor from husbandmen, who, after they have bound the yoke to the neck of oxen, hold the rein firmly twisted round the hand. Thus the translation will be, "in His hand." Or else, "the yoke of my transgressions" (that is, of punishment for my transgressions) is held so fast fixed on me "by" God, that there is no loosening of it; thus English Version, "by His hand." wreathed--My sins are like the withes entwined about the neck to fasten the yoke to. into their hands, from whom--into the hands of those, from whom, &c. Maurer translates, "before whom I am not able to stand." Samech.

trodden, &c.--Maurer, from Syriac root, translates, "cast away"; so 2Ki 23:27. But Ps 119:118, supports English Version. in ... midst of me--They fell not on the battlefield, but in the heart of the city; a sign of the divine wrath. assembly--the collected forces of Babylon; a very different "assembly" from the solemn ones which once met at Jerusalem on the great feasts. The Hebrew means, literally, such a solemn "assembly" or feast (compare La 2:22). trodden ... virgin ... in a wine-press--hath forced her blood to burst forth, as the red wine from the grapes trodden in the press (Isa 63:3; Re 14:19, 20; 19:15). Ain.

(Jer 13:17; 14:17). Jerusalem is the speaker. mine eye, mine eye--so La 4:18, "our end ... our end"; repetition for emphasis. Pe.

Like a woman in labor-throes (Jer 4:31). menstruous woman--held unclean, and shunned by all; separated from her husband and from the temple (compare La 1:8; Le 14:19, &c.). Tzaddi.

The sure sign of repentance; justifying God, condemning herself (Ne 9:33; Ps 51:4; Da 9:7-14). his commandment--literally, "mouth"; His word in the mouth of the prophets. Koph.

lovers--(La 1:2; Jer 30:14). elders--in dignity, not merely age. sought ... meat--Their dignity did not exempt them from having to go and seek bread (La 1:11). Resh.

bowels ... troubled--(Job 30:27; Isa 16:11; Jer 4:19; 31:20). Extreme mental distress affects the bowels and the whole internal frame. heart ... turned--(Ho 11:8); is agitated or fluttered. abroad ... sword ... at home ... as death--(De 32:25; Eze 7:15). The "as" does not modify, but intensifies. "Abroad the sword bereaveth, at home as it were death itself" (personified), in the form of famine and pestilence (2Ki 25:3; Jer 14:18; 52:6). So Hab 2:5, "as death" [Michaelis]. Schin.

they are glad that thou hast done it--because they thought that therefore Judah is irretrievably ruined (Jer 40:3). the day ... called--(but) thou wilt bring on them the day of calamity which thou hast announced, namely, by the prophets (Jer 50:1-46; 48:27). like ... me--in calamities (Ps 137:8, 9; Jer 51:25, &c.). Tau.

Such prayers against foes are lawful, if the foe be an enemy of God, and if our concern be not for our own personal feeling, but for the glory of God and the welfare of His people. come before thee--so Re 16:19, "Babylon came in remembrance before God" (compare Ps 109:15).

How--The title of the collection repeated here, and in La 4:1. covered ... with a cloud--that is, with the darkness of ignominy. cast down from heaven unto ... earth--(Mt 11:23); dashed down from the highest prosperity to the lowest misery. beauty of Israel--the beautiful temple (Ps 29:2; 74:7; 96:9, Margin; Isa 60:7; 64:11). his footstool--the ark (compare 1Ch 28:2, with Ps 99:5; 132:7). They once had gloried more in the ark than in the God whose symbol it was; they now feel it was but His "footstool," yet that it had been a great glory to them that God deigned to use it as such. Beth.

polluted--by delivering it into the hands of the profane foe. Compare Ps 89:39, "profaned ... crown." Gimel.

horn--worn in the East as an ornament on the forehead, and an emblem of power and majesty (1Sa 2:10; Ps 132:17; see on Jer 48:25). drawn back ... fight hand--(Ps 74:11). God has withdrawn the help which He before gave them. Not as Henderson, "He has turned back his (Israel's) right hand" (Ps 89:43). Daleth.

(Isa 63:10). stood with ... right hand--He took His stand so as to use His right hand as an adversary. Henderson makes the image to be that of an archer steadying his right hand to take aim. Not only did He withdraw His help, but also took arms against Israel. all ... pleasant to ... eye--(Eze 24:25). All that were conspicuous for youth, beauty, and rank. in ... tabernacle--the dwellings of Jerusalem. He.

an enemy--(Jer 30:14). mourning and lamentation--There is a play of similar sounds in the original, "sorrow and sadness," to heighten the effect (Job 30:3, Hebrew; Eze 35:3, Margin). Vau.

tabernacle--rather, "He hath violently taken away His hedge (the hedge of the place sacred to Him, Ps 80:12; 89:40; Isa 5:5), as that of a garden" [Maurer]. Calvin supports English Version, "His tabernacle (that is, temple) as (one would take away the temporary cottage or booth) of a garden." Isa 1:8 accords with this (Job 27:18). places of ... assembly--the temple and synagogues (Ps 74:7, 8). solemn feasts--(La 1:4). Zain.

they ... made a noise in ... house of ... Lord, as in ... feast--The foe's shout of triumph in the captured temple bore a resemblance (but oh, how sad a contrast as to the occasion of it!) to the joyous thanksgivings we used to offer in the same place at our "solemn feasts" (compare La 2:22). Cheth.

stretched ... a line--The Easterns used a measuring-line not merely in building, but in destroying edifices (2Ki 21:13; Isa 34:11); implying here the unsparing rigidness with which He would exact punishment. Teth.

Her gates cannot oppose the entrance of the foe into the city, for they are sunk under a mass of rubbish and earth. broken ... bars--(Jer 51:30). her king ... among ... Gentiles--(De 28:36). law ... no more--(2Ch 15:3). The civil and religious laws were one under the theocracy. "All the legal ordinances (prophetical as well as priestly) of the theocracy, are no more" (Ps 74:9; Eze 7:26). Jod.

(Job 2:12, 13). The "elders," by their example, would draw the others to violent grief. the virgins--who usually are so anxious to set off their personal appearances to advantage. Caph.

liver is poured, &c.--that is, as the liver was thought to be the seat of the passions, "all my feelings are poured out and prostrated for," &c. The "liver," is here put for the bile ("gall," Job 16:13; "bowels," Ps 22:14) in a bladder on the surface of the liver, copiously discharged when the passions are agitated. swoon--through faintness from the effects of hunger. Lamed.

as the wounded--famine being as deadly as the sword (Jer 52:6). soul ... poured ... into ... mothers bosom--Instinctively turning to their mother's bosom, but finding no milk there, they breathe out their life as it were "into her bosom." Mem.

What thing shall I take to witness--What can I bring forward as a witness, or instance, to prove that others have sustained as grievous ills as thou? I cannot console thee as mourners are often consoled by showing that thy lot is only what others, too, suffer. The "sea" affords the only suitable emblem of thy woes, by its boundless extent and depth (La 1:12; Da 9:12). Nun.

Thy prophets--not God's (Jer 23:26). vain ... for thee--to gratify thy appetite, not for truth, but for false things. not discovered thine iniquity--in opposition to God's command to the true prophets (Isa 58:1). Literally, "They have not taken off (the veil) which was on thine iniquity, so as to set it before thee." burdens--Their prophecies were soothing and flattering; but the result of them was heavy calamities to the people, worse than even what the prophecies of Jeremiah, which they in derision called "burdens," threatened. Hence he terms their pretended prophecies "false burdens," which proved to the Jews "causes of their banishment" [Calvin]. Samech.

clap ... hands--in derision (Job 27:23; 34:37). wag ... head--(2Ki 19:21; Ps 44:14). perfection of beauty ... joy of ... earth--(Ps 48:2; 50:2). The Jews' enemies quote their very words in scorn. Pe.

For the transposition of Hebrew letters (Pe and Ain, La 2:16, 17) in the order of verses, see Introduction. opened ... mouth--as ravening, roaring wild beasts (Job 16:9, 10; Ps 22:13). Herein Jerusalem was a type of Messiah. gnash ... teeth--in vindictive malice. we have seen it--(Ps 35:21). Ain.

Lord--Let not the foe exult as if it was their doing. It was "the Lord" who thus fulfilled the threats uttered by His prophets for the guilt of Judea (Le 26:16-25; De 28:36-48, 53; Jer 19:9). Tzaddi.

wall--(La 2:8). Personified. "Their heart," that is, the Jews'; while their heart is lifted up to the Lord in prayer, their speech is addressed to the "wall" (the part being put for the whole city). let tears, &c.--(Jer 14:17). The wall is called on to weep for its own ruin and that of the city. Compare the similar personification (La 1:4). apple--the pupil of the eye (Ps 17:8). Koph.

cry ... in ... night--(Ps 119:147). beginning of ... watches--that is, the first of the three equal divisions (four hours each) into which the ancient Jews divided the night; namely, from sunset to ten o'clock. The second was called "the middle watch" (Jud 7:19), from ten till two o'clock. The third, "the morning watch," from two to sunrise (Ex 14:24; 1Sa 11:11). Afterwards, under the Romans, they had four watches (Mt 14:25; Lu 12:38). for ... thy ... children--that God, if He will not spare thee, may at least preserve "thy young children." top of ... street--(Isa 51:20; Na 3:10). Resh.

women eat ... fruit--as threatened (Le 26:29; De 28:53, 56, 57; Jer 19:9). children ... span long--or else, "children whom they carry in their arms" [Maurer]. Schin.

(2Ch 36:17). Tau.

Thou hast called as in ... solemn day ... terrors--Thou hast summoned my enemies against me from all quarters, just as multitudes used to be convened to Jerusalem, on the solemn feast days. The objects, for which the enemies and the festal multitude respectively met, formed a sad contrast. Compare La 1:15: "called an assembly against me."