Lamentations 2:11-16

II. THE PROPHET'S SINCERE SYMPATHY FOR HIS PEOPLE Lamentations 2:11-16

TRANSLATION

(11) MY eyes are spent with weeping, my inward parts are troubled, my heart is poured out to the ground because of the destruction of the daughter of my people, because infants and babies have fainted in the streets of the city. (12) To their mothers they said, Where is the grain and wine? as they faint like wounded men in the streets of the city, as their life is poured out upon the bosom of their mothers. (13) What shall I testify to you? To what shall I liken you in order to comfort you, O virgin daughter of Zion? For vast as the sea is your destruction! Who shall heal you? (14) Your prophets have seen for you falsehood and foolishness; they have not exposed your iniquity in order to reverse your fortunes but have seen for you false and misleading oracles. (15) All who pass by clap their hands at you. They hiss and wag their heads at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying is this the city which was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of all the earth? (16) All your enemies rail against you, hissing and gnashing their teeth. They have said, We have swallowed her up! Ah, this is the day we longed for; we have found it! We have seen it!

COMMENTS

In Lamentations 2:1-10 the prophet described what he saw when Jerusalem fell in 587 B.C. In Lamentations 2:11-16 he describes whet he felt as he looked upon the pathetic plight of his kinsmen. His eyes shed tears till they could shed no more. His inward parts (lit., bowels) and heart (lit., liver) were overwhelmed by anguish. The tender-hearted prophet is particularly upset as he recalls the agonizing death of starvation to which the innocent babes and infants were subjected (Lamentations 2:11). He hears their pitiful cry for food which had to remain unanswered. He sees them dying, some in the streets where they have been abandoned by their despairing mothers, others clutching to the breasts of their mothers who are helpless to do anything to preserve the young life (Lamentations 2:12). The prophet tries desperately to think of a word of instruction, edification or comfort which he can bring to those people who had to live through the horrible days of Jerusalem's fall. He tries to think of some like catastrophe with which to compare the present plight of his people. Search as he may he cannot find any tragedy equaling the destruction of the daughter of Zion. Her ruin is as unlimited and unfathomable as the ocean itself.

The lament of the prophet reaches a climax with the question asked at the end of Lamentations 2:13, Who shall heal you? Certainly Zion's wound, by human standards, is incurable. The prophets are certainly not able to help for they have never been able To correctly assess the situation in Zion. For a number of years they have actually encouraged the national hypocrisy and wickedness of their false and foolish visions. They have made no effort to expose iniquity, encourage repentance which would permit God to reverse the miserable condition of Zion. Their false and misleading oracles (lit., whitewash job) could not heal the wound of Zion (Lamentations 2:14). Much less could the caravaneers and travelers who passed along the busy highways do anything to aid Zion. They have actually joined in the mockery of the fallen city by contemptuously clapping their hands, hissing and wagging their heads. Having looked upon the city which had been renown for its beauty they jeer, Is this the city which was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of all the earth? (Lamentations 2:15). Still less would neighboring nations be able to heal the broken nation of Judah. They had actually been looking forward to the day when Jerusalem would fall and they would be able to swallow up the territory she once possessed (Lamentations 2:16). Who then can heal the wound of Zion?