Lamentations · Chapter 2

V. 1. His footstool-His temple; but suffered the Chaldeans to destroy it. Cast down-That is, thrown them down from the highest glory and honour, to the meanest degree of servitude.

Verse 1. How hath the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud] The women in the eastern countries wear veils, and often very costly ones. Here, Zion is represented as being veiled by the hand of God’s judgment. And what is the veil? A dark cloud, by which she is entirely obscured.

Instead of ynda Adonai, lord, twenty-four of Dr. Kennicott’s MSS., and some of the most ancient of my own, read hwhy Yehovah, LORD, as in Lamentations 2:2.

The beauty of Israel] His Temple.

His footstool] The ark of the covenant, often so called. The rendering of my old MS. Bible is curious:—And record not of his litil steging-stole of his feet, in the dai of his woodnesse. To be wood signifies, in our ancient language, to be mad.

Verse 1. 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 — Hath not spared even the ark itself, the footstool of the shekinah, or divine glory, which was wont to appear, sitting, as it were, enthroned upon the mercy-seat, between the cherubim: see the margin.

Verse 1. How hath the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud. The day break, but no sun shines, no opening of future hope.

THE JUDGMENT, 1-10.

1. Covered — The original is a denomination from the noun for cloud, so that the literal rendering is, How doeth the Lord becloud with a cloud the daughter of Zion! God’s anger settles down on Jerusalem like a dark thundercloud. By daughter of Zion (and beauty of Israel) Jerusalem is meant, containing, as it did, the “holy and beautiful house,” the temple, and the ark, which was his footstool. Cast down — Not, as some have suggested, by the launching of a thunderbolt, but rather as a star is cast down from heaven.

V. 2. Polluted-Dealt with them as with a polluted thing; cast them off, brake them in pieces.

Verse 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.

Verses 2-4. 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 himself had settled upon the family of David, but involved the royal family in one common destruction with the rest of the people. The expression is much the same with that of Psalm 89:39, Thou hast profaned his crown by casting it to the ground.” — Lowth. He hath cut off, &c., all the horn of Israel — Namely, their strength and glory, and especially their kingly dignity. He hath drawn back his right hand, &c. — He hath withdrawn his wonted assistance, and given us up into the hands of our enemies. Or, as Blaney rather thinks, the right hand of Israel may be here intended, namely, his exertions of strength represented as rendered ineffectual by God, or turned away from obstructing the progress of the enemy; “just as God says, Jeremiah 21:4, that he would turn aside the weapons of war that were in the hands of the Jews, so as to prevent their hindering the Chaldean army from entering the city.” He burned against Jacob round about — God hath consumed them, not on this or that part merely, but everywhere, as a fire which seizes a house, or a heap of combustible matter, on all sides at once. He hath bent his bow like an enemy, &c. — God, whom by their sins they had provoked, and made their enemy, behaved himself as such toward them, bending his bow, as it were, and stretching out his right hand to destroy them. And slew all that were pleasant to the eye — The chief in worth and dignity; those who were in the flower of their age, the joy and delight of their parents. He poured out his fury like fire — Which devours all before it, without any discrimination.

Ver. 2. The Lord hath swallowed up all the inhabitants of Jacob. The enemy has come in like a flood, the people have disappeared in the vortex.

2. The Lord… hath not pitied — Such a clause as this illustrates one characteristic feature of the Hebrew language, which, having few adjectives and adverbs, resorts to various expedients to supply the deficiency. Here a sentence is used for an adverb, the whole being equivalent to some such word as unsparingly or unpityingly. Habitations of Jacob — The word rendered “habitations,” means the places where the shepherds stay, and so includes not only dwellings but especially pasture grounds. These are swallowed up, or destroyed, showing that the ruin spreads from Jerusalem into the whole country round about. Polluted — Reduced it from its high and distinguishing glory to be a common and unclean thing.

V. 3. The horn-All their beauty and strength. Drawn back-God hath drawn back his assistance which he was wont to give the Jews against their enemies. Round about-God consumed them, not in this or that part, but round about, as a fire seizing an house at once on all sides.

Verse 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.

Verses 2-4. 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 himself had settled upon the family of David, but involved the royal family in one common destruction with the rest of the people. The expression is much the same with that of Psalm 89:39, Thou hast profaned his crown by casting it to the ground.” — Lowth. He hath cut off, &c., all the horn of Israel — Namely, their strength and glory, and especially their kingly dignity. He hath drawn back his right hand, &c. — He hath withdrawn his wonted assistance, and given us up into the hands of our enemies. Or, as Blaney rather thinks, the right hand of Israel may be here intended, namely, his exertions of strength represented as rendered ineffectual by God, or turned away from obstructing the progress of the enemy; “just as God says, Jeremiah 21:4, that he would turn aside the weapons of war that were in the hands of the Jews, so as to prevent their hindering the Chaldean army from entering the city.” He burned against Jacob round about — God hath consumed them, not on this or that part merely, but everywhere, as a fire which seizes a house, or a heap of combustible matter, on all sides at once. He hath bent his bow like an enemy, &c. — God, whom by their sins they had provoked, and made their enemy, behaved himself as such toward them, bending his bow, as it were, and stretching out his right hand to destroy them. And slew all that were pleasant to the eye — The chief in worth and dignity; those who were in the flower of their age, the joy and delight of their parents. He poured out his fury like fire — Which devours all before it, without any discrimination.

Ver. 3. He hath cut off—all the horn of Israel. See on Job 15:15. Psalm 112.

3. Cut off… the horn — Symbolizing all offensive and defensive power. Among a people so simple and so near to nature “the horn” would be a most natural and expressive symbol of dominion and power. In drawing back his right hand from before the enemy he withdrew his providence and help, while the following clause implies that he had become the “archenemy of Jacob.”

V. 4. He-That is, God, (whom by their sins they had provoked and made their enemy) behaved himself as an enemy. And slew-All their young men, and maidens who were pleasant to look upon.

Verse 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 to let fly.

Verses 2-4. 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 himself had settled upon the family of David, but involved the royal family in one common destruction with the rest of the people. The expression is much the same with that of Psalm 89:39, Thou hast profaned his crown by casting it to the ground.” — Lowth. He hath cut off, &c., all the horn of Israel — Namely, their strength and glory, and especially their kingly dignity. He hath drawn back his right hand, &c. — He hath withdrawn his wonted assistance, and given us up into the hands of our enemies. Or, as Blaney rather thinks, the right hand of Israel may be here intended, namely, his exertions of strength represented as rendered ineffectual by God, or turned away from obstructing the progress of the enemy; “just as God says, Jeremiah 21:4, that he would turn aside the weapons of war that were in the hands of the Jews, so as to prevent their hindering the Chaldean army from entering the city.” He burned against Jacob round about — God hath consumed them, not on this or that part merely, but everywhere, as a fire which seizes a house, or a heap of combustible matter, on all sides at once. He hath bent his bow like an enemy, &c. — God, whom by their sins they had provoked, and made their enemy, behaved himself as such toward them, bending his bow, as it were, and stretching out his right hand to destroy them. And slew all that were pleasant to the eye — The chief in worth and dignity; those who were in the flower of their age, the joy and delight of their parents. He poured out his fury like fire — Which devours all before it, without any discrimination.

4. His right hand as an adversary — That same “hand” which had been to them an instrument of help, and which is mentioned in the previous verse as withdrawn from their protection. In the tabernacle, etc. — This phrase belongs to the sentence following. The colon after “Zion” should be moved back to stand after “eye.” Fearful, indeed, is the contrast when, instead of the down-shining of the Lord’s favour and glory, he pours out upon the tabernacle of Zion his fury like fire.

5. Her palaces… his strongholds — The change of gender here is explained by Keil by the fact that when the “palaces,” or, more correctly, citadels, are mentioned, the city is in the mind of the writer, but when the “strongholds” are mentioned he was thinking of the whole country, Judah.

V. 6. His tabernacle-His temple. The places-The synagogues. The king-By the king and the priests are meant persons of greatest rank and eminency, though it is thought here is a special reference to Zedekiah the king of Judah, and Seraiah who was the high priest; the former of which was miserably handled, the latter slain.

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.

Verses 6, 7. 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, and of our religious assemblies, as if it had been no better than a tent or cottage set up in a garden, or vineyard, just while the fruit was gathering, and then to be taken down again. This interpretation of the original text, which is, wkc ˆgk smjy, supposes wkc to be written for wks words exactly alike in sound, though not always in sense, and frequently put the one for the other. But, as the former, from Ëwc, to hedge, originally signifies his hedge, many think the most proper rendering of the Hebrew, and the true sense of the passage is, as in the margin, He hath taken away his hedge as of a garden; that is, he hath withdrawn his protection, and left us exposed to the mercy of our enemies. He hath destroyed his places of the assembly — This translation, as also that of the Vulgate, understands this as a repetition of the former clause; but, as sixty MSS. and one edition, instead of wd[m, read wd[wm at large, Blaney takes the congregation of Jehovah to be intended, rather than the place of their assembly, and renders the words, He hath destroyed his congregation, namely, the people of Israel, the vineyard, which he had heretofore kept under his special protection. The Lord hath caused the solemn feasts, &c., to be forgotten — Or rather, as jkv is more properly rendered, hath forgotten the solemn feasts, &c., that is, “holds those services no longer in esteem, but slights and disregards them:” compare Isaiah 1:14, 15. And hath despised the king and the priest — Hath shown no regard for either of those honourable offices, but hath suffered the kingdom to be destroyed, and the temple to be laid waste. He hath abhorred his sanctuary — It had been defiled with sin, that only thing which he hates, and for the sake of that he hath abhorred it, though he had formerly delighted in, and called it his rest for ever, Psalm 132:14. They have made a noise in the house of the Lord, &c. — “Instead of the joyful sound of praises and thanksgivings to God, such as used to be solemnly performed in the temple at the public festivals, there was nothing to be heard there but the noise of soldiers, and the rudeness of infidels, profaning that sacred place, and insulting the true God, who was worshipped there: compare Psalm 74:4.” — Lowth.

6. He hath… taken away his tabernacle — Slight inaccuracies in our Version in this verse, and in many others in this book, almost completely conceal the poetic diction of the original. The word rendered “tabernacle” is not the same which appears in verse 4, but means rather a temporary enclosure or shelter, as a hedge or booth. It should also be noticed that the original for places of the assembly and solemn feasts is one and the same word. The translation then should be something as follows: — And he hath violently treated, as a garden, his booth, he hath destroyed his festival:

Jehovah hath caused to be forgotten in Zion festival and sabbath; And in the fierceness of his wrath he hath rejected king and priest. The phrase as… a garden is obscure, but probably contains some intimation of temporariness and facility.

V. 7. They-The enemies with their triumphs and blasphemies, made as great a noise, as those that sang holy songs, or played on instruments, were wont to make to the glory of God.

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.

Verses 6, 7. 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, and of our religious assemblies, as if it had been no better than a tent or cottage set up in a garden, or vineyard, just while the fruit was gathering, and then to be taken down again. This interpretation of the original text, which is, wkc ˆgk smjy, supposes wkc to be written for wks words exactly alike in sound, though not always in sense, and frequently put the one for the other. But, as the former, from Ëwc, to hedge, originally signifies his hedge, many think the most proper rendering of the Hebrew, and the true sense of the passage is, as in the margin, He hath taken away his hedge as of a garden; that is, he hath withdrawn his protection, and left us exposed to the mercy of our enemies. He hath destroyed his places of the assembly — This translation, as also that of the Vulgate, understands this as a repetition of the former clause; but, as sixty MSS. and one edition, instead of wd[m, read wd[wm at large, Blaney takes the congregation of Jehovah to be intended, rather than the place of their assembly, and renders the words, He hath destroyed his congregation, namely, the people of Israel, the vineyard, which he had heretofore kept under his special protection. The Lord hath caused the solemn feasts, &c., to be forgotten — Or rather, as jkv is more properly rendered, hath forgotten the solemn feasts, &c., that is, “holds those services no longer in esteem, but slights and disregards them:” compare Isaiah 1:14, 15. And hath despised the king and the priest — Hath shown no regard for either of those honourable offices, but hath suffered the kingdom to be destroyed, and the temple to be laid waste. He hath abhorred his sanctuary — It had been defiled with sin, that only thing which he hates, and for the sake of that he hath abhorred it, though he had formerly delighted in, and called it his rest for ever, Psalm 132:14. They have made a noise in the house of the Lord, &c. — “Instead of the joyful sound of praises and thanksgivings to God, such as used to be solemnly performed in the temple at the public festivals, there was nothing to be heard there but the noise of soldiers, and the rudeness of infidels, profaning that sacred place, and insulting the true God, who was worshipped there: compare Psalm 74:4.” — Lowth.

Ver. 7. They (the Chaldeans) have made a noise in the house of the Lord, as in the day of a solemn feast. The song and the music were once heard there: now the noise, the cries, the shouts of a storming army. What a reverse of glory for vengeance.

7. Altar… sanctuary… walls of her palaces — These are parts of the house of the Lord. The noise which the enemy makes therein is the shout of triumph and exultation.

V. 8. The wall-The strength and security of the Jews. A line-Artificers used with lines not only to mark out places for building, but also for destruction, to direct them what to cut off; and such a line is here meant.

Verse 8. He hath stretched out a line] The line of devastation; marking what was to be pulled down and demolished.

Verses 8, 9. 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, wht wq, the line of confusion or devastation, being designed to mark out the extent of what was to be pulled down. For the instruments designed for building are in some places applied to destroying, because men sometimes mark out those buildings they intend to demolish. Thus, 2 Kings 21:13, God says, I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab: see likewise Amos 7:7, 8. Therefore he made the rampart, &c., to lament — Made their walls and ramparts feeble, ready to shake like a man under some languishing distemper, who had no strength left. Her gates are sunk into the ground, &c. — The gates of Jerusalem are destroyed and covered over with rubbish, and the bolts of the gates are broken. Her king and her princes are among the Gentiles — Zedekiah and the nobles of Judah, who were not slain, are in a state of miserable captivity. The law is no more — It is no longer read and expounded; the priests and the Levites, whose office it is to instruct the people, being dispersed among the heathen; and that part of the law which respects the public worship of God, being rendered impracticable by the temple’s being destroyed. Her prophets also find no vision from the Lord — The prophets are either dead, or in a state of captivity, and these latter are not favoured with divine revelations as they were wont to be, and so cannot resolve the doubts of those who come to them for advice.

Ver. 8. The Lord—hath stretched out a line on Zion. This is a figure of architecture: the artists measure the ground for a new building, and for the removal of walls and rubbish. So God caused “the measuring line to pass over Samaria.”

8. Wall of the daughter of Zion — Walls of Jerusalem. The line which had been stretched out for the purpose of erection is now used for the purpose of destruction, and thus is suggested the precision and thoroughness of the work.

V. 9. Among the Gentiles-In miserable captivity. The law-Is no more read, opened or observed. Her prophets-They had but very few prophets, from this time to the time of the gospel, and very few of those at this time alive had any revelation from God.

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 Babylon, another proof that the captivity had endured some time, unless all this be spoken prophetically, of what should be done.

Verses 8, 9. 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, wht wq, the line of confusion or devastation, being designed to mark out the extent of what was to be pulled down. For the instruments designed for building are in some places applied to destroying, because men sometimes mark out those buildings they intend to demolish. Thus, 2 Kings 21:13, God says, I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab: see likewise Amos 7:7, 8. Therefore he made the rampart, &c., to lament — Made their walls and ramparts feeble, ready to shake like a man under some languishing distemper, who had no strength left. Her gates are sunk into the ground, &c. — The gates of Jerusalem are destroyed and covered over with rubbish, and the bolts of the gates are broken. Her king and her princes are among the Gentiles — Zedekiah and the nobles of Judah, who were not slain, are in a state of miserable captivity. The law is no more — It is no longer read and expounded; the priests and the Levites, whose office it is to instruct the people, being dispersed among the heathen; and that part of the law which respects the public worship of God, being rendered impracticable by the temple’s being destroyed. Her prophets also find no vision from the Lord — The prophets are either dead, or in a state of captivity, and these latter are not favoured with divine revelations as they were wont to be, and so cannot resolve the doubts of those who come to them for advice.

9. Law is no more… no vision from the Lord — Thus the first, as it is also the last, grand distinguishing glory of Israel disappears. The “law” and prophecy, or “vision,” were the grand, all-comprehending distinctions of the Jewish people — the germs out of which all the forms of their life grew.

V. 10. The virgins-The whole city is in a mournful posture.

Verse 10. Sit upon the ground] See Clarke’s note on “Lamentations 1:1”.

Keep silence] No words can express their sorrows: small griefs are eloquent, great ones dumb.

Verses 10-13. 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 calamities coming, Jeremiah 4:19, 20. My liver is poured upon the earth — My vitals seem to be dissolved, and have lost all their strength. “That the mental passions.” says Blaney, “have a considerable influence upon the habit of the body in various instances, is a fact not to be questioned. And experience daily shows, that a violent uneasiness of mind tends greatly to promote a redundance and overflowing of vitiated bile. The liver is the proper seat of the bile, where its secretions are carried on. Hence the prophet’s meaning in this place seems to be, that he felt as if his whole liver was dissolved and carried off in bile, on account of the copious discharge brought on by continual vexation and fretting. Job expresses the same thing, Job 16:13, where he says, He poureth out my gall upon the ground.” Because the children and sucklings swoon in the streets — For want of sustenance. As the wounded — As those who are not presently despatched, but die a lingering death. What thing shall I take to witness for thee? — What instance can I bring of any calamity like thine, that such an example may be some mitigation of thy complaints. For thy breach is great, like the sea, &c. — The breach made in thee is like the breaking in of the sea that overflows a whole country, where no stop can be put to the inundation.

Ver. 10. The elders—sit on the ground, and keep silence. Job’s three friends sat down for seven days, indicating the deepest sorrow.

THE JUDGMENT, 1-10.

1. Covered — The original is a denomination from the noun for cloud, so that the literal rendering is, How doeth the Lord becloud with a cloud the daughter of Zion! God’s anger settles down on Jerusalem like a dark thundercloud. By daughter of Zion (and beauty of Israel) Jerusalem is meant, containing, as it did, the “holy and beautiful house,” the temple, and the ark, which was his footstool. Cast down — Not, as some have suggested, by the launching of a thunderbolt, but rather as a star is cast down from heaven.

V. 11. Mine eyes-This whole verse is but expressive of the prophets great affliction for the miseries come upon the Jews. He wept himself almost blind. Bowels-His passion had disturbed his bodily humours, that his bowels were troubled. Liver-His gall lying under his liver. All these are expressions of great affliction and sorrow. Swoon-During the famine, occasioned by the long siege.

Verse 11. Swoon in the streets of the city.] Through the excess of the famine.

Verses 10-13. 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 calamities coming, Jeremiah 4:19, 20. My liver is poured upon the earth — My vitals seem to be dissolved, and have lost all their strength. “That the mental passions.” says Blaney, “have a considerable influence upon the habit of the body in various instances, is a fact not to be questioned. And experience daily shows, that a violent uneasiness of mind tends greatly to promote a redundance and overflowing of vitiated bile. The liver is the proper seat of the bile, where its secretions are carried on. Hence the prophet’s meaning in this place seems to be, that he felt as if his whole liver was dissolved and carried off in bile, on account of the copious discharge brought on by continual vexation and fretting. Job expresses the same thing, Job 16:13, where he says, He poureth out my gall upon the ground.” Because the children and sucklings swoon in the streets — For want of sustenance. As the wounded — As those who are not presently despatched, but die a lingering death. What thing shall I take to witness for thee? — What instance can I bring of any calamity like thine, that such an example may be some mitigation of thy complaints. For thy breach is great, like the sea, &c. — The breach made in thee is like the breaking in of the sea that overflows a whole country, where no stop can be put to the inundation.

Ver. 11. The sucklings swoon in the streets, when dying of the blackest famine, or when they asked their mother,

THE LAMENTATION, 11-16.

11, 12. Liver is poured… earth — This language occurs nowhere else in the Old Testament, and the exact force of it is doubtful. “My soul is poured out” occurs in two passages, but this is easier. It would seem that “the liver” is taken as representing the large viscera, usually classed together under the general name of bowels, and regarded as the seat of the emotions. If so, the expression means that he could no longer restrain his feelings; that his grief must have vent in expression. Swoon — Rather faint; or, with Keil, pine away. No feature of the common calamity — the utter desolation of the people — is more graphic or more painful than the falling down of the children in the street from hunger, and their pitiful and oft repeated cry, Where is corn and wine? until they finally expire in the arms of their miserable mothers.

V. 12. Bosom-When they died in their mother’s arms.

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!

Verses 10-13. 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 calamities coming, Jeremiah 4:19, 20. My liver is poured upon the earth — My vitals seem to be dissolved, and have lost all their strength. “That the mental passions.” says Blaney, “have a considerable influence upon the habit of the body in various instances, is a fact not to be questioned. And experience daily shows, that a violent uneasiness of mind tends greatly to promote a redundance and overflowing of vitiated bile. The liver is the proper seat of the bile, where its secretions are carried on. Hence the prophet’s meaning in this place seems to be, that he felt as if his whole liver was dissolved and carried off in bile, on account of the copious discharge brought on by continual vexation and fretting. Job expresses the same thing, Job 16:13, where he says, He poureth out my gall upon the ground.” Because the children and sucklings swoon in the streets — For want of sustenance. As the wounded — As those who are not presently despatched, but die a lingering death. What thing shall I take to witness for thee? — What instance can I bring of any calamity like thine, that such an example may be some mitigation of thy complaints. For thy breach is great, like the sea, &c. — The breach made in thee is like the breaking in of the sea that overflows a whole country, where no stop can be put to the inundation.

Ver. 12. Where is corn, zgd dogzt, not parched corn, but bread made of wheat flour, their usual food; and wine, as in former days. These words are the real copies of nature, which always touch the heart. The flood of invasion had made a breach wide as the sea.

THE LAMENTATION, 11-16.

11, 12. Liver is poured… earth — This language occurs nowhere else in the Old Testament, and the exact force of it is doubtful. “My soul is poured out” occurs in two passages, but this is easier. It would seem that “the liver” is taken as representing the large viscera, usually classed together under the general name of bowels, and regarded as the seat of the emotions. If so, the expression means that he could no longer restrain his feelings; that his grief must have vent in expression. Swoon — Rather faint; or, with Keil, pine away. No feature of the common calamity — the utter desolation of the people — is more graphic or more painful than the falling down of the children in the street from hunger, and their pitiful and oft repeated cry, Where is corn and wine? until they finally expire in the arms of their miserable mothers.

V. 13. Who-There was no people whose condition was in any degree parallel to the misery of the Jews: nor was there any cure for them, their breach was like a sea breach where the waters come in with such a torrent, that there is no making any defence against them.

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.

Verses 10-13. 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 calamities coming, Jeremiah 4:19, 20. My liver is poured upon the earth — My vitals seem to be dissolved, and have lost all their strength. “That the mental passions.” says Blaney, “have a considerable influence upon the habit of the body in various instances, is a fact not to be questioned. And experience daily shows, that a violent uneasiness of mind tends greatly to promote a redundance and overflowing of vitiated bile. The liver is the proper seat of the bile, where its secretions are carried on. Hence the prophet’s meaning in this place seems to be, that he felt as if his whole liver was dissolved and carried off in bile, on account of the copious discharge brought on by continual vexation and fretting. Job expresses the same thing, Job 16:13, where he says, He poureth out my gall upon the ground.” Because the children and sucklings swoon in the streets — For want of sustenance. As the wounded — As those who are not presently despatched, but die a lingering death. What thing shall I take to witness for thee? — What instance can I bring of any calamity like thine, that such an example may be some mitigation of thy complaints. For thy breach is great, like the sea, &c. — The breach made in thee is like the breaking in of the sea that overflows a whole country, where no stop can be put to the inundation.

13. What thing, etc. — All words fail. No comparison is adequate. No comfort meets the case. Your misery is great like the sea, illimitable, over-passing all measure.

V. 14. The prophets-False prophets told you vain stories. Not discovered-Whereas they ought to have made you sensible of your sins, and this might have prevented your captivity. False burdens-False stories to encourage you in sin, and so cause your banishment.

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.

Verse 14. 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 captivity, or of a speedy return therefrom. They have not discovered thine iniquity, &c. — They have not given thy people a just sense of their iniquities, in order that, by being humbled and brought to true repentance, they might avert God’s judgments, but they have rather flattered them in their sins, and thereby have hastened on their ruin: see the margin. But have seen for thee false burdens — They have amused thee with false and fallacious prophecies, and that even after, as well as before, they were carried into captivity; (see Jeremiah 29:8, &c.;) and causes of banishment — Hebrew, µyjwdm, of casting out, of expulsion, as the word properly signifies: that is, their pretended revelations, promising peace, and giving hopes of impunity to thy people continuing in sin, were so far from profiting thee, that they were in a great measure the causes of thy captivity. Why prophecies are termed twacm, burdens, see notes on Isaiah 13:1, and Jeremiah 23:33.

Ver. 14. Thy prophets have seen vain and foolish things. To these Jeremiah attributes the ruin of the country. They invariably opposed his ministry. When he predicted war, they predicted peace; when he spake of famine, they foretold fine harvests, and halcyon days. When he raised the cry of invasion, they soothed all fears with the balm of Egypt. Therefore, hardening the people in their sins, they spurned repentance, and boldly rushed on the bucklers of destruction. These prophets were men of influence in the temple, lap-dogs of the highpriest, who stopped at no blasphemy to carry their point. But the priests and the prophets were slain in the sanctuary of the Lord, in the holy temple which their idolatries had profaned: ver. 20.

14. Thy prophets — This is in continuation of the preceding verse. The false prophets had indeed cried “Peace, peace,” but there was no peace. False burdens — The term burden is often technical in the sense of prophecies of a minatory character, but this is not the easiest sense in this place. True, as Keil suggests, it may mean threatening of evil against the enemies of Israel, but this would be no burden to the Jews. It is better to regard this word here as used in a more general sense, “oracles of deceit.” Causes of banishment — Literally, expulsions. The original is a single word.

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.

Verse 15. 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 ypy tl lk; The Joy of the whole earth — Such was the light in which the Jews had viewed Jerusalem, and such was the language in which they had been wont to speak of it. And it was at least a pardonable partiality in them, which led them to pass these encomiums upon it, and to suppose that all strangers would be equally delighted with its beauty as they themselves were. It was the metropolis of their nation, and the city their God had chosen to put his name there. There was his magnificent temple, and there the symbols of his divine presence, and the administration of the ordinances of his worship. Thither the whole nation resorted, according to his appointment, to celebrate their solemn feasts: and there those feasts were observed with all the magnificence of religious joy. It is no wonder, therefore, that they esteemed it the perfection of beauty, and a place in which the whole earth ought to delight.

15. Clap their hands — An expression of delight at the calamity of the people. They wag their head as did the Jews in derision of the crucified Christ.

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.

Verses 16, 17. 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 in their success against her, and in the rich prey they have got in making themselves masters of her. Certainly, this is the day we have looked for — Which we have expected and longed to see. Thus the enemies of the church are apt to take its disasters for its ruin, and to triumph in them accordingly; but they will find themselves deceived, for the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. The Lord hath done that which he had devised — Our destroyers could have had no power against us, unless it had been given them from above: they were but the sword in God’s hand. And he hath not surprised us by these providences: he gave us notice before hand what he would do if we were disobedient, and he hath done no more than what he threatened long since. He hath fulfilled his word which he had commanded — Hath verified and made good his declarations uttered in days of old — Namely, by Moses, Leviticus 26:16-31; Deuteronomy 28:15-49. He hath set up the horn of thine adversaries — Hath advanced their power and glory.

THE LAMENTATION, 11-16.

11, 12. Liver is poured… earth — This language occurs nowhere else in the Old Testament, and the exact force of it is doubtful. “My soul is poured out” occurs in two passages, but this is easier. It would seem that “the liver” is taken as representing the large viscera, usually classed together under the general name of bowels, and regarded as the seat of the emotions. If so, the expression means that he could no longer restrain his feelings; that his grief must have vent in expression. Swoon — Rather faint; or, with Keil, pine away. No feature of the common calamity — the utter desolation of the people — is more graphic or more painful than the falling down of the children in the street from hunger, and their pitiful and oft repeated cry, Where is corn and wine? until they finally expire in the arms of their miserable mothers.

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 p phe for its acrostic letter, and the seventeenth has [ ain, which should precede the other in the order of the alphabet.

Verses 16, 17. 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 in their success against her, and in the rich prey they have got in making themselves masters of her. Certainly, this is the day we have looked for — Which we have expected and longed to see. Thus the enemies of the church are apt to take its disasters for its ruin, and to triumph in them accordingly; but they will find themselves deceived, for the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. The Lord hath done that which he had devised — Our destroyers could have had no power against us, unless it had been given them from above: they were but the sword in God’s hand. And he hath not surprised us by these providences: he gave us notice before hand what he would do if we were disobedient, and he hath done no more than what he threatened long since. He hath fulfilled his word which he had commanded — Hath verified and made good his declarations uttered in days of old — Namely, by Moses, Leviticus 26:16-31; Deuteronomy 28:15-49. He hath set up the horn of thine adversaries — Hath advanced their power and glory.

THE CALL TO PRAYER, 17-19.

17. Devised — Better, purposed. This calamity was no fortuitous event, neither was it a mere devise of Jehovah, but simply the moving forward of the chariot-wheels of the divine administration. The Jewish nation had persisted in placing themselves and their interests in the way of these, and so, of course, the inevitable result must be ruin.

V. 18. O wall-That is, those that are upon it.

Verse 18. O wall of the daughter of Zion] ˆwyx tb tmwj 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 their restoration. But what is the meaning of wall of the daughter of Zion? I answer I do not know. It is certainly harsh to say “O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night.” Zion’s ways may lament, and her streets mourn; but how the walls can be said to weep is not so easy to be understood, because there is no parallel for it. One of my most ancient MSS. omits the three words; and in it the text stands thus: “Their heart cried unto the Lord, Let tears run down like a river day and night; give thyself no rest,” &c.

Let not the apple of thine eye cease.] ˆy[ tb bath ayin means either the pupil of the eye, or the tears. Tears are the produce of the eye, and are here elegantly termed the daughter of the eye. Let not thy tears cease. But with what propriety can we say to the apple or pupil of the eye, Do not cease! Tears are most certainly meant.

Verses 18, 19. 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, (verse 15,) whose hearts, being deeply affected with what they saw, urged them to break forth into the following passionate exclamation, addressed to the daughter of Zion.” O wall of the daughter of Zion — The Vulgate reads the verse, Clamavit cor eorum ad Dominum, super muros filiæ Sion, Deduc quasi torrentem lacrymas per diem et noctem; non des requiem tibi, neque taceat pupilla occuli tui: “Their heart hath cried unto the Lord concerning the walls of the daughter of Zion, Cause thy tears to descend, like a torrent, night and day; give thyself no rest, nor let the apple of thine eye be silent.” As the wall and rampart are said to lament, (verse 8,) because their ruins were objects of lamentation; so here the ruined wall, including the ruined city and its inhabitants, is called upon, by a beautiful prosopopœia, to mourn and weep over the desolations of that place which God had chosen for his peculiar residence, and to entreat him to take compassion on its miseries. The original expression, rendered the apple of thine eye, is literally the daughter of thine eye; by which Blaney thinks is meant, not the pupil, but the tear, which, he says, may, with great propriety and elegance, be termed the daughter of the eye from which it issues. Arise, cry out in the night — Do not cease thy prayers and supplications even in the night season. In the beginning of the watches — The Jews divided the night, first into three, and in after ages into four watches: see Judges 7:19; Matthew 14:25. Pour out thy heart like water before the Lord — Offer up thy earnest prayers with tears to the throne of grace; and send up thy very soul, and thy most devout affections along with them: see Psalm 62:8; 1 Samuel 7:6. Lift up thy hands for the life of thy young children — That they at least may be spared; (see verse 11;) that faint in the top of every street — See the margin. The expression seems to mean the same as in every street.

18. Their heart — Namely, the people, who are literally driven to pray for mercy. The apparent lack of logical coherence as to the order is due to the emotional character of the whole poem. O wall… let tears run down, etc. — Similar is the language of Isaiah 14:31, “Howl, O gate.” Of course there is in both places a kind of double metonomy — the wall or gate for the city, and the city for the inhabitants. Let the weeping be uninterrupted day and night — perpetual. Let not the apple of thine eye cease, means, let not the fount of thy tears be dried up.

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.

Verses 18, 19. 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, (verse 15,) whose hearts, being deeply affected with what they saw, urged them to break forth into the following passionate exclamation, addressed to the daughter of Zion.” O wall of the daughter of Zion — The Vulgate reads the verse, Clamavit cor eorum ad Dominum, super muros filiæ Sion, Deduc quasi torrentem lacrymas per diem et noctem; non des requiem tibi, neque taceat pupilla occuli tui: “Their heart hath cried unto the Lord concerning the walls of the daughter of Zion, Cause thy tears to descend, like a torrent, night and day; give thyself no rest, nor let the apple of thine eye be silent.” As the wall and rampart are said to lament, (verse 8,) because their ruins were objects of lamentation; so here the ruined wall, including the ruined city and its inhabitants, is called upon, by a beautiful prosopopœia, to mourn and weep over the desolations of that place which God had chosen for his peculiar residence, and to entreat him to take compassion on its miseries. The original expression, rendered the apple of thine eye, is literally the daughter of thine eye; by which Blaney thinks is meant, not the pupil, but the tear, which, he says, may, with great propriety and elegance, be termed the daughter of the eye from which it issues. Arise, cry out in the night — Do not cease thy prayers and supplications even in the night season. In the beginning of the watches — The Jews divided the night, first into three, and in after ages into four watches: see Judges 7:19; Matthew 14:25. Pour out thy heart like water before the Lord — Offer up thy earnest prayers with tears to the throne of grace; and send up thy very soul, and thy most devout affections along with them: see Psalm 62:8; 1 Samuel 7:6. Lift up thy hands for the life of thy young children — That they at least may be spared; (see verse 11;) that faint in the top of every street — See the margin. The expression seems to mean the same as in every street.

19. Cry out in the night — Better, wail. Not a cry for relief, but a wail of distress, is meant.

V. 20. Whom-Not the Heathen, but to thy own people. Women-Wilt thou suffer women to satisfy their hunger with the fruit of their own bodies?

Verse 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?” That it was foretold that there should be such distress in the siege,—that mothers should be obliged to eat their own children, is evident enough from Leviticus 26:29; Deuteronomy 28:53, 56, 57; but the former view of the subject seems the most natural and is best supported by the context. The priest and the prophet are slain; the young and old lie on the ground in the streets; the virgins and young men are fallen by the sword. “THOU hast slain them in the day of thine anger; THOU hast killed, and not pitied.” See Lamentations 4:10.

Verses 20-22. 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. 4:10, that God brought upon them that terrible judgment which he had denounced against them, if they continued to provoke him, namely, that they should eat the flesh of their own sons and daughters. See the margin. And children of a span long — Hebrew, µyjpc, rendered in the margin, swaddled with their hands, and by the LXX., nhpia qhlazonta mastouv, infants sucking the breasts. Shall the priest and the prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord? — Shall thy ministers be slain, and that in thy sanctuary? We learn from this, 1st, That the Chaldeans spared no character, no, not the most distinguished; even the priest and the prophet, who, of all men, one would think, might have expected protection from heaven, and veneration on earth, yet they were slain; not abroad in the field of battle, where they would have been out of their place, as Hophni and Phinehas were, but in the sanctuary of the Lord, the place of their business, and which they hoped would have been a refuge to them. 2d, They spared no age, no, not those who, by reason of their tender or decrepit age, were exempted from taking up the sword; for the young and the old lay on the ground slain in the streets. 3d, They spared no sex, the virgins and the young men fell by the sword. In the most barbarous military executions that we read of, the virgins were spared and made part of the spoil, but here they were put to the sword as well as the young men. We learn, 4th, That this was the Lord’s doing; he suffered the sword of the Chaldeans to devour thus without distinction; he slew them in the day of his anger — Namely, his anger for their many and aggravated sins. Thou hast called, as in a solemn day — A day of awful retribution; my terrors round about — As my people were wont to be called together from all parts on solemn days, when they were to meet at Jerusalem for thy service; so now, by thy providence, my terrible enemies are by thee called together to slay thy people in that holy city in which they were wont to worship thee. So that none escaped nor remained — That is, few or none. Those that I have swaddled, and brought up, hath mine enemy consumed — As if they had been brought forth for the murderer, like lambs for the butcher, Hosea 9:13. Zion, that was a mother to them all, laments to see those that were brought up in her courts, and under the tuition of her oracles, thus made a prey of and destroyed.

Ver. 20. Shall women eat their fruit—children of a span long? This, in case of apostasy, Moses had foretold, with all the consequent horrors. Deuteronomy 28.

THE PRAYER, 20-22.

20. Behold, O Lord, etc. — The prayer of the prophet. The fearful picture has been seen, the cries of distress and agony have been heard, and the prophet weaves out of them an argument of prayer. To whom thou hast done this — An appeal to that covenant upon which their very existence was based. Their fruit — That is, the fruit of their body. Children of a span long — Children of their tender care; the word being from a verb, jpc, which means to care for tenderly.

Verses 20-22. 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. 4:10, that God brought upon them that terrible judgment which he had denounced against them, if they continued to provoke him, namely, that they should eat the flesh of their own sons and daughters. See the margin. And children of a span long — Hebrew, µyjpc, rendered in the margin, swaddled with their hands, and by the LXX., nhpia qhlazonta mastouv, infants sucking the breasts. Shall the priest and the prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord? — Shall thy ministers be slain, and that in thy sanctuary? We learn from this, 1st, That the Chaldeans spared no character, no, not the most distinguished; even the priest and the prophet, who, of all men, one would think, might have expected protection from heaven, and veneration on earth, yet they were slain; not abroad in the field of battle, where they would have been out of their place, as Hophni and Phinehas were, but in the sanctuary of the Lord, the place of their business, and which they hoped would have been a refuge to them. 2d, They spared no age, no, not those who, by reason of their tender or decrepit age, were exempted from taking up the sword; for the young and the old lay on the ground slain in the streets. 3d, They spared no sex, the virgins and the young men fell by the sword. In the most barbarous military executions that we read of, the virgins were spared and made part of the spoil, but here they were put to the sword as well as the young men. We learn, 4th, That this was the Lord’s doing; he suffered the sword of the Chaldeans to devour thus without distinction; he slew them in the day of his anger — Namely, his anger for their many and aggravated sins. Thou hast called, as in a solemn day — A day of awful retribution; my terrors round about — As my people were wont to be called together from all parts on solemn days, when they were to meet at Jerusalem for thy service; so now, by thy providence, my terrible enemies are by thee called together to slay thy people in that holy city in which they were wont to worship thee. So that none escaped nor remained — That is, few or none. Those that I have swaddled, and brought up, hath mine enemy consumed — As if they had been brought forth for the murderer, like lambs for the butcher, Hosea 9:13. Zion, that was a mother to them all, laments to see those that were brought up in her courts, and under the tuition of her oracles, thus made a prey of and destroyed.

21. Young and… old — More literally, boy and old man.

V. 22. My terrors-As my people were wont to be called together from all parts in a solemn day, so now my terrible enemies, or terrible things are by thee called together.

Verse 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 Jerusalem on one of the solemn annual festivals. God has called terrors together to feast on Jerusalem, similar to the convocation of the people from all parts of the land to one of those annual festivals. The indiscriminate slaughter of young and old, priest and prophet, all ranks and conditions, may be illustrated by the following verses from Lucan, which appear as if a translation of the nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first verses of this chapter:—

Nobilitas cum plebe perit; lateque vagatur Ensis, et a nullo revocatum est pectore ferrum. Stat cruor in Templis; multaque rubentia cæde Lubrica saxa madent. Nulli sua profuit ætas. Non senes extremum piguit vergentibus annis Præcipitasse diem; nec primo in limine vitæ, Infanti miseri nascentia rumpere fata. Pharsal. lib. ii., 101.

“With what a slide devouring slaughter passed, And swept promiscuous orders in her haste; O’er noble and plebeian ranged the sword, Nor pity nor remorse one pause afford! The sliding streets with blood were clotted o’er, And sacred temples stood in pools of gore. The ruthless steel, impatient of delay, Forbade the sire to linger out his day: It struck the bending father to the earth, And cropped the wailing infant at its birth.” ROWE.

LAMENTATIONS

Verses 20-22. 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. 4:10, that God brought upon them that terrible judgment which he had denounced against them, if they continued to provoke him, namely, that they should eat the flesh of their own sons and daughters. See the margin. And children of a span long — Hebrew, µyjpc, rendered in the margin, swaddled with their hands, and by the LXX., nhpia qhlazonta mastouv, infants sucking the breasts. Shall the priest and the prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord? — Shall thy ministers be slain, and that in thy sanctuary? We learn from this, 1st, That the Chaldeans spared no character, no, not the most distinguished; even the priest and the prophet, who, of all men, one would think, might have expected protection from heaven, and veneration on earth, yet they were slain; not abroad in the field of battle, where they would have been out of their place, as Hophni and Phinehas were, but in the sanctuary of the Lord, the place of their business, and which they hoped would have been a refuge to them. 2d, They spared no age, no, not those who, by reason of their tender or decrepit age, were exempted from taking up the sword; for the young and the old lay on the ground slain in the streets. 3d, They spared no sex, the virgins and the young men fell by the sword. In the most barbarous military executions that we read of, the virgins were spared and made part of the spoil, but here they were put to the sword as well as the young men. We learn, 4th, That this was the Lord’s doing; he suffered the sword of the Chaldeans to devour thus without distinction; he slew them in the day of his anger — Namely, his anger for their many and aggravated sins. Thou hast called, as in a solemn day — A day of awful retribution; my terrors round about — As my people were wont to be called together from all parts on solemn days, when they were to meet at Jerusalem for thy service; so now, by thy providence, my terrible enemies are by thee called together to slay thy people in that holy city in which they were wont to worship thee. So that none escaped nor remained — That is, few or none. Those that I have swaddled, and brought up, hath mine enemy consumed — As if they had been brought forth for the murderer, like lambs for the butcher, Hosea 9:13. Zion, that was a mother to them all, laments to see those that were brought up in her courts, and under the tuition of her oracles, thus made a prey of and destroyed.

22. My terrors round about — These are the sword, famine, and plagues which had apparently combined for the destruction of the people.