2 She weepeth H1058 sore H1058 in the night, H3915 and her tears H1832 are on her cheeks: H3895 among all her lovers H157 she hath none to comfort H5162 her: all her friends H7453 have dealt treacherously H898 with her, they are become her enemies. H341
Therefore, O Aholibah, H172 thus saith H559 the Lord H136 GOD; H3069 Behold, I will raise up H5782 thy lovers H157 against thee, from whom thy mind H5315 is alienated, H5361 and I will bring H935 them against thee on every side; H5439 The Babylonians, H1121 H894 and all the Chaldeans, H3778 Pekod, H6489 and Shoa, H7772 and Koa, H6970 and all the Assyrians H1121 H804 with them: all of them desirable H2531 young men, H970 captains H6346 and rulers, H5461 great lords H7991 and renowned, H7121 all of them riding H7392 upon horses. H5483 And they shall come H935 against thee with chariots, H2021 wagons, H7393 and wheels, H1534 and with an assembly H6951 of people, H5971 which shall set H7760 against thee buckler H6793 and shield H4043 and helmet H6959 round about: H5439 and I will set H5414 judgment H4941 before H6440 them, and they shall judge H8199 thee according to their judgments. H4941 And I will set H5414 my jealousy H7068 against thee, and they shall deal H6213 furiously H2534 with thee: they shall take away H5493 thy nose H639 and thine ears; H241 and thy remnant H319 shall fall H5307 by the sword: H2719 they shall take H3947 thy sons H1121 and thy daughters; H1323 and thy residue H319 shall be devoured H398 by the fire. H784
For these things I weep; H1058 mine eye, H5869 mine eye H5869 runneth down H3381 with water, H4325 because the comforter H5162 that should relieve H7725 my soul H5315 is far H7368 from me: my children H1121 are desolate, H8074 because the enemy H341 prevailed. H1396 Zion H6726 spreadeth forth H6566 her hands, H3027 and there is none to comfort H5162 her: the LORD H3068 hath commanded H6680 concerning Jacob, H3290 that his adversaries H6862 should be round about H5439 him: Jerusalem H3389 is as a menstruous woman H5079 among them.
Go up H5927 to Lebanon, H3844 and cry; H6817 and lift up H5414 thy voice H6963 in Bashan, H1316 and cry H6817 from the passages: H5676 for all thy lovers H157 are destroyed. H7665 I spake H1696 unto thee in thy prosperity; H7962 but thou saidst, H559 I will not hear. H8085 This hath been thy manner H1870 from thy youth, H5271 that thou obeyedst H8085 not my voice. H6963 The wind H7307 shall eat up H7462 all thy pastors, H7462 and thy lovers H157 shall go H3212 into captivity: H7628 surely then shalt thou be ashamed H954 and confounded H3637 for all thy wickedness. H7451
In the day H3117 of my trouble H6869 I sought H1875 the Lord: H136 my sore H3027 ran H5064 in the night, H3915 and ceased H6313 not: my soul H5315 refused H3985 to be comforted. H5162 I remembered H2142 God, H430 and was troubled: H1993 I complained, H7878 and my spirit H7307 was overwhelmed. H5848 Selah. H5542 Thou holdest H270 mine eyes H5869 waking: H8109 I am so troubled H6470 that I cannot speak. H1696 I have considered H2803 the days H3117 of old, H6924 the years H8141 of ancient times. H5769 I call to remembrance H2142 my song H5058 in the night: H3915 I commune H7878 with mine own heart: H3824 and my spirit H7307 made diligent search. H2664
He hath put H7368 my brethren H251 far H7368 from me, and mine acquaintance H3045 are verily estranged H2114 from me. My kinsfolk H7138 have failed, H2308 and my familiar friends H3045 have forgotten H7911 me.
Their heart H3820 cried H6817 unto the Lord, H136 O wall H2346 of the daughter H1323 of Zion, H6726 let tears H1832 run down H3381 like a river H5158 day H3119 and night: H3915 give H5414 thyself no rest; H6314 let not the apple H1323 of thine eye H5869 cease. H1826 Arise, H6965 cry out H7442 in the night: H3915 in the beginning H7218 of the watches H821 pour out H8210 thine heart H3820 like water H4325 before H5227 the face H6440 of the Lord: H136 lift up H5375 thy hands H3709 toward him for the life H5315 of thy young children, H5768 that faint H5848 for hunger H7458 in the top H7218 of every street. H2351
Thus saith H559 the LORD H3068 of hosts, H6635 Consider H995 ye, and call H7121 for the mourning women, H6969 that they may come; H935 and send H7971 for cunning H2450 women, that they may come: H935 And let them make haste, H4116 and take up H5375 a wailing H5092 for us, that our eyes H5869 may run down H3381 with tears, H1832 and our eyelids H6079 gush out H5140 with waters. H4325 For a voice H6963 of wailing H5092 is heard H8085 out of Zion, H6726 How are we spoiled! H7703 we are greatly H3966 confounded, H954 because we have forsaken H5800 the land, H776 because our dwellings H4908 have cast us out. H7993
There is none to guide H5095 her among all the sons H1121 whom she hath brought forth; H3205 neither is there any that taketh H2388 her by the hand H3027 of all the sons H1121 that she hath brought up. H1431 These two H8147 things are come H7122 unto thee; who shall be sorry H5110 for thee? desolation, H7701 and destruction, H7667 and the famine, H7458 and the sword: H2719 by whom shall I comfort H5162 thee?
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Lamentations 1
Commentary on Lamentations 1 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 1
La 1:1-22.
Aleph.
1. 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.
2. 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.
3. (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.
4. feasts—the passover, pentecost (or the feast of weeks), and the feast of tabernacles.
gates—once the place of concourse.
He.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. (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.
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. (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.
12. 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.
13. 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.
14. 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.
15. 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.
16. (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.
17. 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.
18. 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.
19. 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.
20. 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.
21. 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.
22. 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).