I [am] the man [that] hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath. Ver. 1. _I am the man._] Here Jeremiah, in the name and place of all the Jewish people, setteth forth his sufferings very passionately and elegantly. Oυδεν γαρ του παθοντος ρητορικοτερον, saith Synesius; for nothing is more rhetori... [ Continue Reading ]
He hath led me, and brought [me into] darkness, but not [into] light. Ver. 2. _He hath led me and brought me into darkness._] _Perstat semper in metaphora a pastoritia,_ say some, who by rod in the foregoing verse understand God's shepherd's wand, wherewith, when he is displeased, he driveth his un... [ Continue Reading ]
Surely against me is he turned; he turneth his hand [against me] all the day. Ver. 3. _Surely against me is he turned._] _Metaphora a colaphizantibus._ A metaphor from buffeters, who double their blows, beating their adversaries on both sides, as the smith doth his red hot iron upon the anvil till... [ Continue Reading ]
_My flesh and my skin hath he made old; he hath broken my bones._ Ver. 4. _My flesh and my skin hath he made old._] Withered it and wanzed it, so that I am not like myself; _facta videbor anus,_ as she said. See Psalms 32:3 . _ He hath broken my bones._] Decayed and impaired, and that with greates... [ Continue Reading ]
He hath builded against me, and compassed [me] with gall and travail. Ver. 5. _He hath builded against me._] Bulwarks and batteries. _ And compassed me with gall and travel._] Or, With venom and vexation. See Jeremiah 8:14. In these and the like hyperbolic expressions we must note that words are t... [ Continue Reading ]
He hath set me in dark places, as [they that be] dead of old. Ver. 6. _He hath set me in dark places._] Dungeons haply, which are a kind of graves, and where poor prisoners lie as forgotten. The Persians called their prisons ληθας, oblivions. And Ezekiel saith that Babylon was to the Jews as a grav... [ Continue Reading ]
He hath hedged me about, that I cannot get out: he hath made my chain heavy. Ver. 7. _He hath hedged me about._] Sorrounded me with troubles, brought me into straits inextricable and importable.... [ Continue Reading ]
Also when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer. Ver. 8. _Also when I cry and shout._] As poor prisoners use to do for relief and release. _ He shutteth out my prayer._] Or, Shutteth his ear to my prayer. This was very grievous to any good heart; more than it could be to Cicero, a stranger to... [ Continue Reading ]
He hath inclosed my ways with hewn stone, he hath made my paths crooked. Ver. 9. _He hath enclosed my ways with hewn stone,_] _i.e., _ Most strongly and closely, so that none can come at me. _ He hath made all my paths crooked._] So that all things go cross with me; and although they were never so... [ Continue Reading ]
He [was] unto me [as] a bear lying in wait, [and as] a lion in secret places. Ver. 10. _He was unto me as a bear lying in wait._] So that if I do but offer to stir, or seek to make escape, I am in danger to be devoured. _ And as a lion in secret places._] God hath many ways and means to bemeet wit... [ Continue Reading ]
He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces: he hath made me desolate. Ver. 11. _He hath turned aside my ways._] As Lamentations 3:9 . _ And pulled me in pieces._] As a bear or lion doth the silly sheep that falleth into their paws. _Carnali quadam intemperie haec effusa sunt._ The Vulga... [ Continue Reading ]
He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow. Ver. 12. _He hath bent his bow._] Lamentations 2:4 . _ And set me as a mark._] Which he is sure to hit. The Benjamites, Jdg 20:16 the Parthians, Alcon the Cretan, Domitian the Emperor, were excellent archers; but “ _Non semper feriet quodc... [ Continue Reading ]
He hath caused the arrows of his quiver to enter into my reins. Ver. 13. _He hath caused the arrows of his quiver to enter into my reins._] _a_ Heb., The sons of his quiver, by a Hebraism. So Horace hath - “ _Pharetram gravidam sagittis._ ” - Lib, ii. od. 21. “Full quiver of arrows.” Job hath ma... [ Continue Reading ]
_I was a derision to all my people; [and] their song all the day._ Ver. 14. _I was a derision, to all my people._] Or, To all peoples. Our Saviour suffered all this and much more for us. _ And their song all the day._] Or, Their lute, or kit, whom they played on at pleasure, and desired no better... [ Continue Reading ]
He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath made me drunken with wormwood. Ver. 15. _He hath filled me with bitterness._] Heb., Bitternesses: _a_ alluding, as some think, to that _ius seu embamma in quo intingebant agnum Paschalem,_ sauce of bitter herbs wherewith they did eat the Passover - the jui... [ Continue Reading ]
He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones, he hath covered me with ashes. Ver. 16. _He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones._] _Comminuit scrupis dentes meos_ - i.e., With gritty bread. See Proverbs 20:17 . _ He hath covered me with ashes._] The Greek and Latin have it, He hath fed m... [ Continue Reading ]
And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace: I forgat prosperity. Ver. 17. _And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace._] Prosperity and I are twain; we are utterly unacquainted.... [ Continue Reading ]
And I said, My strength and my hope is perished from the LORD: Ver. 18. _And I said._] But not so wisely. I was even almost tumbling into the pit of desperation. I was straddling over it, as it were, but God preserved me. _ My strength and my hope is perished._] My strength to bear these miseries,... [ Continue Reading ]
Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall. Ver. 19. _Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall,_] _i.e., _ The bitterness that was in it, but of mine own commingling. _Impatiens quisque bis affligitur,_ Impatience redoubleth an affliction.... [ Continue Reading ]
My soul hath [them] still in remembrance, and is humbled in me. Ver. 20. _My soul hath them still in remembrance._] But it is not good to plod overly much in this case. Such bitter pills should be swallowed whole, and not chewed upon, unless it be for our further humiliation.... [ Continue Reading ]
This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. Ver. 21. _This I recall to my mind._] This? What? God's infinite mercies, that cape of good hope; see Lam 3:22 Psalms 119:56; "This I had" - that is, this comfort, or this ability to keep thy precepts.... [ Continue Reading ]
Lamentations 3:22 [It is of] the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. Ver. 22. It is of the Lord's mercy that we are not consumed.] That we are yet on this side hell. This sentence was much in the mouth of that famous Maria Aegyptiaca, and should be in all our... [ Continue Reading ]
Lamentations 3:23 [They are] new every morning: great [is] thy faithfulness. Ver. 23. _They are new every morning._] Yea, every moment. We have continual experiments. _ Great is thy faithfulness._] God's mercy moved him to promise; his truth to perform. See 2 Samuel 7:18; 2 Samuel 7:21. _See Trapp... [ Continue Reading ]
The LORD [is] my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. Ver. 24. _The Lord is my portion._] And that is enough for me, should I never have more. _See Trapp on "_ Psa 16:5 _"_ That which giveth content in any portion is (1.) The favour and presence of God; (2.) That it is from the han... [ Continue Reading ]
The LORD [is] good unto them that wait for him, to the soul [that] seeketh him. Ver. 25. _The Lord is good unto them that wait for him._] Which few can skill of, and I have somewhat to do to hit on, but would not now have missed of for all the world. _a_ To the soul that seeketh him.] Not giving o... [ Continue Reading ]
__ Lamentations 3:26 _[It is] good that [a man] should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD._ Ver. 26. _It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait._] Heb., Be silent: not with a pythagoric or monastic silence, _ut non liceat loqui locis et horis certis,_ but with a... [ Continue Reading ]
__ Lamentations 3:27 _[It is] good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth._ Ver. 27. _It is good for a man that he bear the yoke from his youth._] The yoke of God's law, and the discipline of afflictions: it is good to be betime in God's nurturing house, and remain a good while there, that h... [ Continue Reading ]
_He sitteth alone and keepeth silence, because he hath borne [it] upon him._ Ver. 28. _He sitteth alone._] _Sessio solitaria,_ as being much in meditation, according to that counsel of the preacher, "in the day of adversity consider." _ And keepeth silence._] When God's hand is upon his back, his... [ Continue Reading ]
He putteth his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope. Ver. 29. _He putteth his mouth in the dust._] He lieth low at God's feet: putting himself into the hands of justice, yet in hope of mercy. See 1 Corinthians 14:25 . _ If so be there may be hope._] Heb., Peradventure there is hope - _q.d... [ Continue Reading ]
He giveth [his] cheek to him that smiteth him: he is filled full with reproach. Ver. 30. _He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him._] Humility, the product of affliction sanctified, is still at her lesson, or rather practising what she hath learned. David, having suffered by Absalom, can well en... [ Continue Reading ]
For the Lord will not cast off for ever: Ver. 31. _For the Lord will not cast off for ever._] No, not at all, however he may seem to some so to do. _Non deserit etiamsi deserat,_ saith a father: He doth not put his people far from him, as the word here signifieth.... [ Continue Reading ]
But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies. Ver. 32. _For though he cause grief._] As sometimes he doth "in very faithfulness," and that he may be true to his people's souls. _ Yet he will have compassion._] He will repent and return, and leave... [ Continue Reading ]
For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men. Ver. 33. _For he doth not afflict willingly._] Heb., From the heart. _a_ _Non nisi coactus,_ as that emperor said when he sealed a writ for execution of a condenmed person: I would not do it but upon necessity. It goeth as much again... [ Continue Reading ]
_To crush under his feet all the prisoners of the earth,_ Ver. 34. _To crush under his feet all the prisoners of the earth,_] _i.e., _ All those that are in misery, to lay more load upon them, and so to crush them to pieces, yea, to grind them to powder. This he could as easily do as bid it be done... [ Continue Reading ]
To turn aside the right of a man before the face of the most High, Ver. 35. _To turn aside the right of a man._] To wrest his right by false witness and corrupt means, as wicked men use to do before the face of the Most High, or of a superior under colour of law. God liketh none of all this, though... [ Continue Reading ]
To subvert a man in his cause, the Lord approveth not. Ver. 36. _To subvert a man in his cause._] By sleight of hand to tilt the balance of justice on one side. _ The Lord approveth not._] Heb., Seeth not. _Non videt_ - _i.e., _ _non ei visum est,_ it seemeth not good unto him; he liketh it not.... [ Continue Reading ]
Who [is] he [that] saith, and it cometh to pass, [when] the Lord commandeth [it] not? Ver. 37. _Who is he?_] _Tam imprudens et imperitus?_ Can any one be so simple as to think that the enemy could do aught against us but by the divine permission and appointment? God, as he made all by his power, so... [ Continue Reading ]
Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not evil and good? Ver. 38. _Out of the mouth of the Most High proceedeth not evil and good?_] _i.e., _ Prosperity and adversity; _q.d., _ Who doubteth of that? Amo 3:5 Isa 45:7 Talk not then of fate and blind fortune.... [ Continue Reading ]
Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins? Ver. 39. _Wherefore doth a living man complain?_] Mourn immoderately, or murmur causelessly. 1. If he mourn, let him mourn for his sin as the cause of his suffering; let him revenge upon that. 2. If he be tempted to murmur,... [ Continue Reading ]
Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the LORD. Ver. 40. _Let us search and try our ways,_] _i.e., _ Make accurate inquiry into them; so shall we soon find ourselves to be a whole newly found world of wickedness. Search we therefore, and do it thoroughly. Many either search not at all ... [ Continue Reading ]
_Let us lift up our heart with [our] hands unto God in the heavens._ Ver. 41. _Let us llft up our hearts with our hands._] Holy hearts, pure hands. Instead of wrangling with God, _as _ Lam 3:39 let us wrestle with him in prayer; this is the only way to get off with comfort. Nazianzen saith, that th... [ Continue Reading ]
We have transgressed and have rebelled: thou hast not pardoned. Ver. 42. _We have transgressed and have rebelled._] We have committed evil and omitted good, and failed in the manner, and are therefore justly punished. Let God hear such words fall from our mouths, set to work by our hearts, and then... [ Continue Reading ]
Thou hast covered with anger, and persecuted us: thou hast slain, thou hast not pitied. Ver. 43. _Thou hast covered with anger._] Overwhelmed us with thy judgments. None out of hell have ever suffered more than the saints: they have felt the sad effects of displeased love.... [ Continue Reading ]
Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud, that [our] prayer should not pass through. Ver. 44. _Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud._] Hid thy face from us, and secreted thyself as a judge doth when he hath passed sentence upon a malefactor, that he may not be solicited to reverse it. _ That our p... [ Continue Reading ]
Thou hast made us [as] the offscouring and refuse in the midst of the people. Ver. 45. _Thou hast made us as the offscouring._] _Eradicationem,_ saith the Vulgate; _rasuram potius,_ not the rooting out, but the scrapings off. As the Jews did rather _extrinsecus radere peccata quam intrinsecus eradi... [ Continue Reading ]
All our enemies have opened their mouths against us. Ver. 46. _All our enemies have opened their mouths against us,_] _i.e., _ Reviled and derided us. See Lamentations 2:16 .... [ Continue Reading ]
Fear and a snare is come upon us, desolation and destruction. Ver. 47. _Fear and a snare is come upon us._] Heb., A pit; great terror, and no way to escape. See Isaiah 24:17,18 .... [ Continue Reading ]
Mine eye runneth down with rivers of water for the destruction of the daughter of my people. Ver. 48. _Mine eye runneth down._] Heb., Mine eye descendeth; _i.e., _ falleth, as it were, wholly away. See Lamentations 1:16; Lamentations 2:18 .... [ Continue Reading ]
Mine eye trickleth down, and ceaseth not, without any intermission, Ver. 49. _Mine eye trickleth down, and ceaseth not._] Put fire under the still, and water droppeth from roses. Fiery afflictions cause drops of repentance; and repentance, like the philosopher's stone, maketh golden afflictions. 1P... [ Continue Reading ]
Till the LORD look down, and behold from heaven. Ver. 50. _Till the Lord look down._] Let God but see the rainbow of sound repentance in our hearts, and he will soon shine forth, and cause it to clear up.... [ Continue Reading ]
Mine eye affecteth mine heart because of all the daughters of my city. Ver. 51. _Mine eye affecteth my heart._] _Iisdem quibus videmus oculis flemus,_ We see and weep with the same eyes. But Pliny _a_ wondereth where that humour is at other times that floweth out of the eyes so readily and plentifu... [ Continue Reading ]
Mine enemies chased me sore, like a bird, without cause. Ver. 52. _Mine enemies chased me sore._] In a most eager and extreme manner, with utmost cruelty and craft. _ As a bird._] Beaten from bush to bush. _ Without cause._] Jeremiah and the godly party might say so; but not Zedekiah and other pe... [ Continue Reading ]
They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and cast a stone upon me. Ver. 53. _They have cut off my life in the dungeon._] Where I led a lifeless life; such as did Roger, Bishop of Salisbury, in King Stephen's time, who sustained such miseries in prison, _ut vivere noluerit, mori nescierit,_ that li... [ Continue Reading ]
Waters flowed over mine head; [then] I said, I am cut off. Ver. 54. _Waters flowed over mine head._] Many and great miseries have overwhelmed and oppressed me, both in body and soul. These are frequently compared to waters. _ Then I said, I am cut off,_] _sc., _ From the land of the living; but Go... [ Continue Reading ]
I called upon thy name, O LORD, out of the low dungeon. Ver. 55. _I called upon thy name, O Lord, out of the low dungeon._] See 1 John 2:1. _See Trapp on "_ Psa 130:1 _"_ _See Trapp "_ Jon 2:1 _"_... [ Continue Reading ]
Thou hast heard my voice: hide not thine ear at my breathing, at my cry. Ver. 56. _Thou hast heard my voice._] Seem a man's case never so desperate, if he can but find a praying heart, God will find a pitying heart. Prayer is the best lever at a dead lift. _ Hide not thine ear at my breathing._] A... [ Continue Reading ]
Thou drewest near in the day [that] I called upon thee: thou saidst, Fear not. Ver. 57. _Thou drawest near._] This thou hast done, and this I hope thou yet wilt do. Experience breedeth confidence.... [ Continue Reading ]
O Lord, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul; thou hast redeemed my life. Ver. 58. _O Lord, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul._] Whereof those Babylonians were no just judges. _ Thou hast redeemed my life._] It is the life, nay, the soul of the saints, that the wicked hunt after, though t... [ Continue Reading ]
O LORD, thou hast seen my wrong: judge thou my cause. Ver. 59. _O Lord, thou hast seen my wrong._] Thou hast seen it and art sensible of it; that is my comfort; for εχει θεος εκδικον δμμα . _Judge thou my cause._] As Psalms 43:1 .... [ Continue Reading ]
Thou hast seen all their vengeance [and] all their imaginations against me. Ver. 60. _Thou hast seen all their vengeance._] See on Lamentations 3:59. The saints fare the better for their enemies' spite and cruelty; and they may very well plead and present it to God in prayer.... [ Continue Reading ]
Thou hast heard their reproach, O LORD, [and] all their imaginations against me; Ver. 61. _Thou hast heard their reproach._] Their spiteful speeches and taunting terms have come into thine ears. _ And all their imaginations._] Heb., Their contrivements. As the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteo... [ Continue Reading ]
The lips of those that rose up against me, and their device against me all the day. Ver. 62. _The lips of those that rose up._] See on Lamentations 3:61 .... [ Continue Reading ]
Behold their sitting down, and their rising up; I [am] their musick. Ver. 63. _Behold their sitting down, and their rising up._] Or, At their both sitting down (to eat), and at their rising up (from eatting). I am their music master, their table talk, and the matter of their mirth; they make sport... [ Continue Reading ]
Render unto them a recompence, O LORD, according to the work of their hands. Ver. 64. _Render unto them a recompense._] Call them to an account, and requite them. Let their music be marred, and the meal once ended, send them in a reckoning.... [ Continue Reading ]
Give them sorrow of heart, thy curse unto them. Ver. 65. _Give them sorrow of heart._] In place of their mad mirth and sinful music; turn their psalm - as the Vulgate rendereth the word music in the foregoing verse - into a black _santis,_ as they call it, _ferale carmen,_ a doleful ditty. _Dabis e... [ Continue Reading ]
Persecute and destroy them in anger from under the heavens of the LORD. Ver. 66. _Persecute and destroy them in anger._] Since they are thine and our implacable and irreformable enemies, be thou, Lord, implacably bent against them, to their utter destruction; and since they think us not worthy to b... [ Continue Reading ]