Lamentations 4

La 4:1-22.

THE

SAD

CAPTURE OF

JERUSALEM, THE

HOPE OF

RESTORATION, AND THE

RETRIBUTION

AWAITING

IDUMEA FOR

JOINING

BABYLON AGAINST

JUDEA.

Aleph.

1. gold--the splendid adornment of the temple

[CALVIN]

(La 1:10;

1Ki 6:22;

Jer 52:19);

or, the principal men of Judea [GROTIUS]

(La 4:2).

stones of . . . sanctuary--the gems on the breastplate of the high

priest; or, metaphorically, the priests and Levites.

Beth.

2. comparable to . . . gold--

(Job 28:16, 19).

earthen pitchers--

(Isa 30:14;

Jer 19:11).

Gimel.

3. sea monsters . . . breast--Whales and other cetaceous monsters are

mammalian. Even they suckle their young; but the Jewish women in the

siege, so desperate was their misery, ate theirs

(La 4:10;

La 2:20).

Others translate, "jackals."

ostriches--see on

Job 39:14;

Job 39:16,

on their forsaking their young.

Daleth.

4. thirst--The mothers have no milk to give through the famine.

He.

5. delicately--on dainties.

are desolate--or, "perish."

in scarlet embrace dunghills--Instead of the scarlet couches on

which the grandees were nursed, they must lie on dunghills.

embrace--They who once shrank sensitively from any soil, gladly

cling close to heaps of filth as their only resting-place. Compare

"embrace the rock"

(Job 24:8).

Vau.

6. greater than . . . Sodom--

(Mt 11:23).

No prophets had been sent to Sodom, as there had been to Judea;

therefore the punishment of the latter was heavier than that of the

former.

overthrown . . . in a moment--whereas the Jews had to endure the

protracted and manifold hardships of a siege.

no hands stayed on her--No hostile force, as the Chaldeans in

the case of Jerusalem, continually pressed on her before her

overthrow. Jeremiah thus shows the greater severity of Jerusalem's

punishment than that of Sodom.

Zain.

7. Nazarites--literally, "separated ones"

(Nu 6:2).

They were held once in the highest estimation, but now they are

degraded. God's blessing formerly caused their body not to be the less

fair and ruddy for their abstinence from strong drink. Compare the

similar case of Daniel, &c.

(Da 1:8-15).

Also David

(1Sa 16:12; 17:42).

Type of Messiah

(So 5:10).

rubies--GESENIUS translates, "corals," from a Hebrew root, "to

divide into branches," from the branching form of corals.

polishing--They were like exquisitely cut and polished sapphires. The "sapphires" may represent the blue veins of a healthy person.

Cheth.

8. blacker than . . . coal--or, "than blackness" itself

(Joe 2:6;

Na 2:10).

like a stick--as withered as a dry stick.

Teth.

9. The speedy death by the sword is better than the lingering death

pine away--literally, "flow out"; referring to the flow of blood.

This expression, and "stricken through," are drawn from death by "the

sword."

want of . . . fruits--The words in italics have to be supplied

in the original

(Ge 18:28;

Ps 109:24).

Jod.

10.

(La 2:20;

De 28:56, 57).

pitiful--naturally at other times compassionate

(Isa 49:15).

JOSEPHUS describes the unnatural act as it took place in the siege under

Titus.

sodden--boiled.

Caph.

11. fire . . . devoured . . . foundations--

(De 32:22;

Jer 21:14).

A most rare event. Fire usually consumes only the surface; but this

reached even to the foundation, cutting off all hope of

restoration.

Lamed.

12. Jerusalem was so fortified that all thought it impregnable. It

therefore could only have been the hand of God, not the force of man,

which overthrew it.

Mem.

13. prophets--the false prophets

(Jer 23:11, 21).

Supply the sense thus: "For the sins . . . these

calamities have befallen her."

shed the blood of the just--

(Mt 23:31, 37).

This received its full fulfilment in the slaying of Messiah and the

Jews' consequent dispersion

(Jas 5:6).

Nun.

14. blind--with mental aberration.

polluted . . . with blood--both with blood of one

another mutually shed (for example,

Jer 2:34),

and with their blood shed by the enemy [GLASSIUS].

not touch . . . garments--as being defiled with blood

(Nu 19:16).

Samech.

15. They . . . them--"They," that is, "men"

(La 4:14).

Even the very Gentiles, regarded as unclean by the Jews,

who were ordered most religiously to avoid all defilements, cried unto

the latter, "depart," as being unclean: so universal was the

defilement of the city by blood.

wandered--As the false prophets and their followers had "wandered"

blind with infatuated and idolatrous crime in the city

(La 4:14),

so they must now "wander" among the heathen in blind consternation with

calamity.

they said--that is, the Gentiles said: it was said among the

heathen, "The Jews shall no more sojourn in their own land"

[GROTIUS];

or, wheresoever they go in their wandering exile, "they shall not stay

long" [LUDOVICUS

DE

DIEU],

(De 28:65).

Pe.

16. Ain and Pe are here transposed

(La 4:16, 17),

as in

La 2:16, 17; 3:46-51.

anger--literally, "face"; it is the countenance which, by its

expression, manifests anger

(Ps 34:16).

GESENIUS translates, "the person of

Jehovah"; Jehovah present; Jehovah Himself

(Ex 33:14;

2Sa 17:11).

divided--dispersed the Jews.

they respected not . . . priests--This is the language of the

Gentiles. "The Jews have no hope of a return: for

they respected not even good priests"

(2Ch 24:19-22)

[GROTIUS]. MAURER explains

it, "They (the victorious foe) regard not the (Jewish) priests when

imploring their pity"

(La 5:12).

The evident antithesis to "As for us"

(La 4:17)

and the language of "the heathen" at the close of

La 4:15,

of which

La 4:16

is the continuation, favor the former view.

Ain.

17. As for us--This translation forms the best antithesis to the

language of the heathen

(La 4:15, 16).

CALVIN translates, "While

as yet we stood as a state, our eyes failed," &c.

watched for a nation that could not save us--Egypt

(2Ki 24:7;

Isa 30:7;

Jer 37:5-11).

Tzaddi.

18. They--the Chaldeans.

cannot go--without danger.

Koph.

19. The last times just before the taking of the city. There was no

place of escape; the foe intercepted those wishing to escape from the

famine-stricken city, "on the mountains and in the wilderness."

swifter . . . than . . . eagles--the Chaldean cavalry

(Jer 4:13).

pursued--literally, "to be hot"; then, "to pursue hotly"

(Ge 31:36).

Thus they pursued and overtook Zedekiah

(Jer 52:8, 9).

Resh.

20. breath . . . anointed of . . . Lord--our

king, with whose life ours was bound up. The original reference seems

to have been to Josiah

(2Ch 35:25),

killed in battle with Pharaoh-necho; but the language is here applied

to Zedekiah, who, though worthless, was still lineal representative of

David, and type of Messiah, the "Anointed." Viewed personally

the language is too favorable to apply to him.

live among the heathen--Under him we hoped to live securely, even in

spite of the surrounding heathen nations [GROTIUS].

Schin.

21. Rejoice--at our calamities

(Ps 137:7).

This is a prophecy that Edom should exult over the fall of

Jerusalem. At the same time it is implied, Edom's joy shall be

short-lived. Ironically she is told, Rejoice while thou mayest

(Ec 11:9).

cup--for this image of the confounding effects of God's wrath, see

Jer 13:12; 25:15, 16, 21;

as to Edom,

Jer 49:7-22.

Tau.

22.

(Isa 40:2).

Thou hast been punished enough: the end of thy punishment is at hand.

no more carry thee . . . into captivity--that is, by

the Chaldeans. The Romans carried them away subsequently. The

full accomplishment of this prophecy must therefore refer to the

Jews' final restoration.

discover--By the severity of His punishments on thee, God shall let

men see how great was thy sin

(Jer 49:10).

God "covers" sin when He forgives it

(Ps 32:1, 5).

He "discovers," or "reveals," it, when He punishes it

(Job 20:27).

Jer 49:10

shows that Margin is wrong, "carry captive" (this rendering is

as in

Na 2:7;

compare "discovered," Margin).