Isaiah 51:23

them that afflict thee thy tormentors. The word occurs three times in the Lamentations (Lamentations 1:5; Lamentations 1:12; Lamentations 3:32).

to thy soul i.e. "to thyself," although without special emphasis (cf. Psalms 3:2; Psalms 11:1).

Bow down, that we may go over The figure is taken from the Eastern custom of treading or even riding on the backs of conquered enemies. Comp. Lane's account of the Mohammedan ceremony of the Doosehor "Treading," as he witnessed it at Cairo in 1834; when the Sheikh of the Saadîyeh dervishes, mounted on horseback, rode over the prostrate bodies of a large number of dervishes. (See Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians, pp. 417 f., 432 f. [Ed. 1890].)

and thou hast laid &c. so that thou madest thy back as the earth. Gesenius cites in illustration an Arabic proverb: "To him who pleases me, I will be earth."