CHAPTER II _The prophet shows the dire effects of the Divine anger in the_ _miseries brought on his country; the unparalleled calamities of_ _which he charges, on a great measure, on the false prophets_, 1-14. _In thus desperate condition, the astonishment and by-word of_ _all who see her, Jer... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Lamentations 2:2. _THE LORD HATH SWALLOWED UP_] It is a strange figure when thus applied: but Jehovah is here represented as having swallowed down Jerusalem and all the cities and fortifications in the land: that is, he has permitted them to be destroyed. See Lamentations 1:5.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Lamentations 2:3. _THE HORN OF ISRAEL_] His _power_ and _strength_. It is a metaphor taken from cattle, whose principal strength lies in their _horns_. _HATH DRAWN BACK HIS RIGHT HAND_] He did not support us when our enemies came against us.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Lamentations 2:4. _HE HATH BENT HIS BOW - HE STOOD WITH HIS RIGHT HAND_] This is the attitude of the archer. He first bends his bow; then sets his arrow upon the string; and, lastly, placing his right hand on the lower end of the arrow, in connexion with the string, takes his aim, and prepares... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 6. _AS_ IF IT WERE OF _A GARDEN_] "As it were the garden of his own hedging." - _Blayney_. _THE LORD HATH CAUSED THE SOLEMN FEASTS_] By delivering us up into the hands of the enemy our religious worship is not only suspended, but all Divine ordinances are destroyed.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 7. _THEY HAVE MADE A NOISE IN THE HOUSE OF THE LORD_] Instead of the silver trumpets of the sanctuary, nothing but the sounds of warlike instruments are to be heard.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 8. _HE HATH STRETCHED OUT A LINE_] The _line of devastation_; marking what was to be pulled down and demolished.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 9. _HER GATES ARE SUNK INTO THE GROUND_] The consequence of their being long thrown down and neglected. From this it appears that the captivity had already lasted a considerable time. _HER KING AND HER PRINCES ARE AMONG THE GENTILES_] Zedekiah and many of the princes were then prisoners in Ba... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 10. _SIT UPON THE GROUND_] Lamentations 1:1. _KEEP SILENCE_] No words can express their sorrows: small griefs are eloquent, great ones dumb.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 11. _SWOON IN THE STREETS OF THE CITY._] Through the excess of the famine.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 12. _WHEN THEIR SOUL WAS POURED OUT INTO THEIR MOTHERS'_ _BOSOM._] When, in endeavouring to draw nourishment from the breasts of their exhausted mothers, they breathed their last in their bosoms! How dreadfully afflicting was this!... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 13. _WHAT THING SHALL I TAKE_] Or, rather, as Dr. _Blayney_, "What shall I urge to thee?" How shall I comfort thee? _THY BREACH_ IS _GREAT LIKE THE SEA_] Thou hast a _flood_ of _afflictions_, a _sea_ of _troubles_, an _ocean_ of _miseries_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 14. _THEY HAVE NOT DISCOVERED THINE INIQUITY_] They did not reprove for sin, they flattered them in their transgressions; and instead of turning away thy captivity, by turning thee from thy sins, they have pretended visions of good in thy favour, and false burdens for thy enemies.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 15. _THE PERFECTION OF BEAUTY_] This probably only applied to the _temple_. Jerusalem never was a fine or splendid city; but the temple was most assuredly the most splendid building in the world.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 16. _THIS_ IS _THE DAY THAT WE LOOKED FOR_] Jerusalem was the envy of the surrounding nations: they longed for its destruction, and rejoiced when it took place.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 17. _THE LORD HATH DONE_ THAT] This and the _sixteenth_ verse should be interchanged, to follow the order of the letters in the Hebrew alphabet; as the _sixteenth_ has פ _phe_ for its acrostic letter, and the _seventeenth_ has ע _ain_, which should precede the other in the order of the alphabe... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 18. _O WALL OF THE DAUGHTER OF ZION_] חומת בת ציון _chomath_ _bath tsiyon, wall of the daughter of Zion_. These words are probably those of the passengers, who appear to be affected by the desolations of the land; and they address the people, and urge them to plead with God day and night for t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 19. _ARISE, CRY OUT IN THE NIGHT_] This seems to refer to Jerusalem besieged. Ye who keep the night watches, pour out your hearts before the Lord, instead of calling the time of night, c. or, when you call it, send up a fervent prayer to God for the safety and relief of the place.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Lamentations 2:20. _CONSIDER TO WHOM THOU HAST DONE THIS_] Perhaps the best sense of this difficult verse is this: "Thou art our _Father_, we are thy _children_; wilt thou _destroy thy own offspring_? Was it ever heard that a mother devoured her own child, a helpless infant of a span long?" T... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Lamentations 2:22. _THOU HAST CALLED AS IN A SOLEMN DAY_] It is by thy influence alone that so many enemies are called together at one time; and they have so hemmed us in that none could escape, and none remained unslain or uncaptivated, Perhaps the figure is the collecting of the people in Je... [ Continue Reading ]