6 We have given H5414 the hand H3027 to the Egyptians, H4714 and to the Assyrians, H804 to be satisfied H7646 with bread. H3899
Woe H1945 to the rebellious H5637 children, H1121 saith H5002 the LORD, H3068 that take H6213 counsel, H6098 but not of me; and that cover H5258 with a covering, H4541 but not of my spirit, H7307 that they may add H5595 sin H2403 to sin: H2403 That walk H1980 to go down H3381 into Egypt, H4714 and have not asked H7592 at my mouth; H6310 to strengthen H5810 themselves in the strength H4581 of Pharaoh, H6547 and to trust H2620 in the shadow H6738 of Egypt! H4714 Therefore shall the strength H4581 of Pharaoh H6547 be your shame, H1322 and the trust H2622 in the shadow H6738 of Egypt H4714 your confusion. H3639 For his princes H8269 were at Zoan, H6814 and his ambassadors H4397 came H5060 to Hanes. H2609 They were all ashamed H3001 of a people H5971 that could not profit H3276 them, nor be an help H5828 nor profit, H3276 but a shame, H1322 and also a reproach. H2781 The burden H4853 of the beasts H929 of the south: H5045 into the land H776 of trouble H6869 and anguish, H6695 from whence come the young H3833 and old lion, H3918 the viper H660 and fiery H8314 flying H5774 serpent, H8314 they will carry H5375 their riches H2428 upon the shoulders H3802 of young asses, H5895 and their treasures H214 upon the bunches H1707 of camels, H1581 to a people H5971 that shall not profit H3276 them.
Woe H1945 to them that go down H3381 to Egypt H4714 for help; H5833 and stay H8172 on horses, H5483 and trust H982 in chariots, H7393 because they are many; H7227 and in horsemen, H6571 because they are very H3966 strong; H6105 but they look H8159 not unto the Holy One H6918 of Israel, H3478 neither seek H1875 the LORD! H3068 Yet he also is wise, H2450 and will bring H935 evil, H7451 and will not call back H5493 his words: H1697 but will arise H6965 against the house H1004 of the evildoers, H7489 and against the help H5833 of them that work H6466 iniquity. H205 Now the Egyptians H4714 are men, H120 and not God; H410 and their horses H5483 flesh, H1320 and not spirit. H7307 When the LORD H3068 shall stretch out H5186 his hand, H3027 both he that helpeth H5826 shall fall, H3782 and he that is holpen H5826 shall fall down, H5307 and they all shall fail H3615 together. H3162
And I will take H3947 the remnant H7611 of Judah, H3063 that have set H7760 their faces H6440 to go H935 into the land H776 of Egypt H4714 to sojourn H1481 there, and they shall all be consumed, H8552 and fall H5307 in the land H776 of Egypt; H4714 they shall even be consumed H8552 by the sword H2719 and by the famine: H7458 they shall die, H4191 from the least H6996 even unto the greatest, H1419 by the sword H2719 and by the famine: H7458 and they shall be an execration, H423 and an astonishment, H8047 and a curse, H7045 and a reproach. H2781 For I will punish H6485 them that dwell H3427 in the land H776 of Egypt, H4714 as I have punished H6485 Jerusalem, H3389 by the sword, H2719 by the famine, H7458 and by the pestilence: H1698 So that none of the remnant H7611 of Judah, H3063 which are gone H935 into the land H776 of Egypt H4714 to sojourn H1481 there, shall escape H6412 or remain, H8300 that they should return H7725 into the land H776 of Judah, H3063 to the which they have H5375 a desire H5315 to return H7725 to dwell H3427 there: for none shall return H7725 but such as shall escape. H6405
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Lamentations 5
Commentary on Lamentations 5 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 5
La 5:1-22. Epiphonema, or a Closing Recapitulation of the Calamities Treated in the Previous Elegies.
1. (Ps 89:50, 51).
2. Our inheritance—"Thine inheritance" (Ps 79:1). The land given of old to us by Thy gift.
3. fatherless—Our whole land is full of orphans [Calvin]. Or, "we are fatherless," being abandoned by Thee our "Father" (Jer 3:19), [Grotius].
4. water for money—The Jews were compelled to pay the enemy for the water of their own cisterns after the overthrow of Jerusalem; or rather, it refers to their sojourn in Babylon; they had to pay tax for access to the rivers and fountains. Thus, "our" means the water which we need, the commonest necessary of life.
our wood—In Judea each one could get wood without pay; in Babylon, "our wood," the wood we need, must be paid for.
5. Literally, "On our necks we are persecuted"; that is, Men tread on our necks (Ps 66:12; Isa 51:23; compare Jos 10:24). The extremest oppression. The foe not merely galled the Jews face, back, and sides, but their neck. A just retribution, as they had been stiff in neck against the yoke of God (2Ch 30:8, Margin; Ne 9:29; Isa 48:4).
6. given … hand to—in token of submission (see on Jer 50:15).
to … Egyptians—at the death of Josiah (2Ch 36:3, 4).
Assyrians—that is, the Chaldeans who occupied the empire which Assyria had held. So Jer 2:18.
to be satisfied with bread—(De 28:48).
7. (Jer 31:29).
borne their iniquities—that is, the punishment of them. The accumulated sins of our fathers from age to age, as well as our own, are visited on us. They say this as a plea why God should pity them (compare Eze 18:2, &c.).
8. Servants … ruled … us—Servants under the Chaldean governors ruled the Jews (Ne 5:15). Israel, once a "kingdom of priests" (Ex 19:6), is become like Canaan, "a servant of servants," according to the curse (Ge 9:25). The Chaldeans were designed to be "servants" of Shem, being descended from Ham (Ge 9:26). Now through the Jews' sin, their positions are reversed.
9. We gat our bread with … peril—that is, those of us left in the city after its capture by the Chaldeans.
because of … sword of … wilderness—because of the liability to attack by the robber Arabs of the wilderness, through which the Jews had to pass to get "bread" from Egypt (compare La 5:6).
10. As an oven is scorched with too much fire, so our skin with the hot blast of famine (Margin, rightly, "storms," like the hot simoom). Hunger dries up the pores so that the skin becomes like as if it were scorched by the sun (Job 30:30; Ps 119:83).
11. So in just retribution Babylon itself should fare in the end. Jerusalem shall for the last time suffer these woes before her final restoration (Zec 14:2).
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).
13. young men … grind—The work of the lowest female slave was laid on young men (Jud 16:21; Job 31:10).
children fell under … wood—Mere children had to bear burdens of wood so heavy that they sank beneath them.
14. Aged men in the East meet in the open space round the gate to decide judicial trials and to hold social converse (Job 29:7, 8).
16. The crown—all our glory, the kingdom and the priesthood (Job 19:9; Ps 89:39, 44).
17. (La 1:22; 2:11).
18. foxes—They frequent desolate places where they can freely and fearlessly roam.
19. (Ps 102:12). The perpetuity of God's rule over human affairs, however He may seem to let His people be oppressed for a time, is their ground of hope of restoration.
20. for ever—that is, for "so long a time."
21. (Ps 80:3; Jer 31:18). "Restore us to favor with Thee, and so we shall be restored to our old position" [Grotius]. Jeremiah is not speaking of spiritual conversion, but of that outward turning whereby God receives men into His fatherly favor, manifested in bestowing prosperity [Calvin]. Still, as Israel is a type of the Church, temporal goods typify spiritual blessings; and so the sinner may use this prayer for God to convert him.
22. Rather, "Unless haply Thou hast utterly rejected us, and art beyond measure wroth against us," that is, Unless Thou art implacable, which is impossible, hear our prayer [Calvin]. Or, as Margin, "For wouldest Thou utterly reject us?" &c.—No; that cannot be. The Jews, in this book, and in Isaiah and Malachi, to avoid the ill-omen of a mournful closing sentence, repeat the verse immediately preceding the last [Calvin].