_How hath the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud_ Changed her condition for the worse, and turned the light of her prosperity into the darkness of adversity. _And cast down, &c., the beauty of Israel_ The temple and all its glory. _And remembered not his footstool in the day of his anger... [ Continue Reading ]
_The Lord hath swallowed up the habitations_, &c. Without showing any pity or concern for them. _He hath thrown down the strong holds_, &c. Hath suffered the enemies to batter down their fortifications to the ground. _He hath polluted the kingdom_, &c. “He hath shown no regard for the kingdom which... [ Continue Reading ]
_He hath violently taken away his tabernacle as of a garden_ The Vulgate reads, _dissipavit, quasi hortum, tentorium suum; he hath dissolved, broke in pieces, scattered_, or _laid waste, his tent as a garden._ Thus also Houbigant: that is, he hath destroyed the temple, the place of his residence, an... [ Continue Reading ]
_The Lord hath purposed to destroy the wall of Zion_ The word _wall_ is here to be taken in a metaphorical sense, for the strength and security of the city. _He hath stretched out a line_, &c. Called emphatically, Isaiah 34:11, קו תהו, the line of confusion or devastation, being designed to mark out... [ Continue Reading ]
_The elders, &c., sit upon the ground, and keep silence _ These and the other expressions of this and the two following verses betoken the deepest mourning and sorrow. _Mine eyes do fail with tears_ My sight is become dim with weeping. _My bowels are troubled_ As they were when he foresaw these cala... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thy prophets have seen vain and foolish things_ The prophets, to whom thou didst choose to hearken, and whom thou didst believe, rather than those whom God sent to reveal his will, came and told thee idle tales, the fancies of their own minds, deluding thee with hopes of not being carried into capt... [ Continue Reading ]
_All that pass by clap their hands at thee; they hiss_, &c. These were gestures of derision, whereby the enemies of the Jews expressed a satisfaction in their calamities; _saying, Is this the city that men call The Perfection of beauty_ Or, _perfect in beauty_, as Blaney renders כל לת יפי; _The Joy... [ Continue Reading ]
_All thine enemies have opened their mouths against thee_ As if they were ready to devour thee: see the margin. Or they have opened them in scoffs, reproaches, and insults. _They hiss and gnash their teeth_ In scorn and derision. _They say, We have swallowed her up_ Namely, Jerusalem. They triumph i... [ Continue Reading ]
_Their heart cried unto the Lord_ “The same,” says Blaney, “are the speakers here who are said to have made the foregoing remarks concerning the distressed condition of Jerusalem, namely, the passengers, (Lamentations 2:15,) whose hearts, being deeply affected with what they saw, urged them to break... [ Continue Reading ]
_Behold, O Lord, to whom thou hast done this_ To thy people, for whom thou hast formerly expressed so much tenderness and affection. Jerusalem seems to be here introduced speaking. _Shall the women eat their fruit_ We find by comparing this verse with chap. Lamentations 4:10, that God brought upon t... [ Continue Reading ]