Lamentations 1 - Introduction
This poem Lamentations 1 divides itself into two equal parts; Lamentations 1:1 describe the misery which has befallen the Jews; in Lamentations 1:12, Jerusalem laments over her sufferings.... [ Continue Reading ]
This poem Lamentations 1 divides itself into two equal parts; Lamentations 1:1 describe the misery which has befallen the Jews; in Lamentations 1:12, Jerusalem laments over her sufferings.... [ Continue Reading ]
In these two verses is the same sad image as appears in the well-known medal of Titus, struck to celebrate his triumph over Jerusalem. A woman sits weeping beneath a palm-tree, and below is the legend “Judaea capta.” Translate Lamentations 1:1 : How sitteth solitary the city that was full of peopl... [ Continue Reading ]
LOVERS ... FRIENDS - i. e. the states in alliance with Judaea, and all human helpers.... [ Continue Reading ]
BECAUSE OF ... - i. e. the people, not of Jerusalem only, but of the whole land, “is gone into exile to escape from the affliction and laborious servitude,” to which they are subject in their own land. PERSECUTORS ... BETWEEN THE STRAITS - Rather, “pursuers ... in the midst of her straits.” The Jew... [ Continue Reading ]
Zion, as the holy city, is the symbol of the religious life of the people, just as Judah in the previous verse represents their national life. The “virgins” took a prominent part in all religious festivals Jeremiah 31:13; Exodus 15:20.... [ Continue Reading ]
ARE THE CHIEF ... PROSPER - Or, “are become the head”... are at rest. Judaea is so entirely crushed that her enemies did not need to take precautions against resistance on her part. CHILDREN - i. e. “young children,” who are driven before the enemy (literally the adversary), not as a flock of lambs... [ Continue Reading ]
HER PRINCES ... - Jeremiah had before his mind the sad flight of Zedekiah and his men of war, and their capture within a few miles of Jerusalem Jeremiah 39:4.... [ Continue Reading ]
Jerusalem remembers in the days of her affliction, And of her homelessness, All her pleasant things which have been from the days of old: Now that her people fall by the hand of the adversary, And she hath no helper; Her adversaries have seen her, They have mocked at her sabbath-keepings. The... [ Continue Reading ]
GRIEVOUSLY SINNED - literally, “Jerusalem hath sinned a sin,” giving the idea of a persistent continuance in wickedness. REMOVED - Or, become an abomination. Sin has made Jerusalem an object of horror, and therefore she is cast away. YEA, SHE SIGHETH ... - Jerusalem groans over the infamy of her d... [ Continue Reading ]
HER FILTHINESS IS IN HER SKIRTS - Her personal defilement is no longer concealed beneath the raiment Jeremiah 13:22. SHE CAME DOWN WONDERFULLY - Jerusalem once enthroned as a princess must sit on the ground as a slave.... [ Continue Reading ]
HER PLEASANT THINGS - Chiefly, the sacred vessels of the temple 2 Chronicles 36:10. SANCTUARY ... CONGREGATION - Even a Jew might not enter the innermost sanctuary, which was for the priests only; but now the tramp of pagan soldiery has been heard within its sacred precincts.... [ Continue Reading ]
SIGH ... SEEK - Are sighing ... are seeking. The words are present participles, describing the condition of the people. After a siege lasting a year and a half the whole country, far and near, would be exhausted. TO RELIEVE THE SOUL - See the margin, i. e. to bring back life to them. They bring out... [ Continue Reading ]
The lamentation of the city, personified as a woman in grief over her fate. Lamentations 1:13 IT PREVAILETH - Or, hath subdued. HE HATH TURNED ME BACK - Judaea, like a hunted animal, endeavors to escape, but finds every outlet blocked by nets, and recoils from them with terror and a sense of utte... [ Continue Reading ]
SPREADETH FORTH HER HANDS - In prayer Exodus 9:29, Exodus 9:33, but Zion entreats in vain. There is no one to comfort her - not God, for He is chastising her, nor man, for all the neighboring nations have become her enemies. See Lamentations 1:2. THAT HIS ADVERSARIES ... - Rather, that those round... [ Continue Reading ]
PEOPLE - peoples, pagan nations.... [ Continue Reading ]
I CALLED FOR ... - Rather, to “my lovers.” WHILE THEY SOUGHT THEIR MEAT - literally, “for they sought food for themselves to revive their souls.” Complete the sense by adding, “and found none.”... [ Continue Reading ]
TROUBLED - Or, inflamed with sorrow. TURNED WITHIN ME - Agitated violently. AT HOME THERE IS AS DEATH - i. e. “in the house” there are pale pining forms, wasting with hunger, and presenting the appearance of death.... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY HAVE HEARD ... - Or, “They heard that I sigh,” that I have “no comforter.” THOU WILT BRING THE DAY ... - literally, thou hast brought “the day thou hast proclaimed, and they shall be like unto me.” The day of Judah’s punishment was the proof that the nations now triumphing over Jerusalem’s fal... [ Continue Reading ]