Lamentations 2

round about.] Terrours came upon me on every side by thy appointment; just as multitudes used to flock to Jerusalem at the times of the solemn feasts. The phrase “fear or terrour on every side,” is elsewhere used by Jeremiah to express great misery and desolation, Jer. vi. 25; xx. 3; xlvi. 5; xlix. 29. W. Lowth. Chap. III. ver. 2. — darkness, — light.] “Darkness” is a common emblem of distress, as “light” is of prosperity. Dr. Blayney. 16. He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones, &c.] In this and the foregoing verse, the Prophet aggravates the calamities of his people by such expressions as imply, that, instead of any support or comfort, they find nothing but miseries and afflictions: see note on Jer. ix. 15. The Septuagint render the latter part of the verse, “He hath fed me with ashes,” that is, We fare as hard as those who feed upon bread baked in ashes, whose teeth are in danger of being broken by grits and stones. Compare Ps. cii. 9; Job vi. 7. W. Lowth.

Lamentations 2:11

11. — my liver is poured upon the earth.] Compare Job xvi. 13. Dr. Blayney.

Lamentations 2:13

13. What thing shall I take to witness for thee?] With what example of like misery shall I go about to comfort thee? Bp. Hall.

— thy breach is great like the sea.] Like the breaking in of the sea, that overflows a whole country, where no stop can be put to the inundation. W. Lowth.

Lamentations 2:14

14. — they have not discovered thine iniquity, &c.] They have not given the people a just sense of their iniquities, in order to avert God’s judgment; but rather flatter them in their sins, with the hope of impunity. See Jer. v. 31; xiv. 14. W. Lowth.

— false burdens] The Hebrew word is usually translated “burden,” and generally signifies a burdensome prophecy: see the note on Jer. xxiii. 33. But it likewise imports prophecy in general: see Prov. xxx. 1; xxxi. 1: and so it is used here; for Jeremiah complains of those impostors, who prophesied of peace, and soothed men in their sins to their final destruction. W. Lowth.

Lamentations 2:15

15. All that pass by clap their hands at thee.] See note at Job xxvii. 23.

Lamentations 2:17

17. — he hath fulfilled his word that he had commanded] God hath not surprised us by these providences; He gave us notice what He would do, and hath done no more than what He threatened long since, Lev. xxvi. 16, &c.; Deut. xxviii. 15, &c. It is true He hath

18. — I forgat prosperity.] I have been a stranger to prosperity long enough to wear the remembrance of it out of my mind: so Joseph, speaking of the seven years of famine, saith, that “plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt,” Gen. xli. 30. By the same figure the Prophet Isaiah, describing happy times, saith, “the former troubles are forgotten,” chap. lxv. 16. W. Lowth.

Lamentations 2:18

18. — O wall of the daughter of Zion, &c.] As the wall and ramparts are said to lament, ver. 8, because their ruins are objects of lamentation; so here devout persons, upon the destruction of the city, direct their prayers to God, as if the ruins themselves did entreat Him to have compassion on the miseries of that place, which He had chosen for his peculiar residence. W. Lowth.

Lamentations 2:19

19. — in the top of every street.] The same phrase occurs, chap. iv. 1; Isa. li. 20; Nahum iii. 10; and perhaps signifies “in every street;” (W. Lowth;) or at the extremity of the streets at either end. Dr. Blayney.

20. — wormwood and the gall.] See note on Jer. ix. 15.

Lamentations 2:20

20. — Shall the women eat their fruit, &c.] We find by comparing this verse with chap. iv. 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,” Lev. xxvi. 29; Deut. xxviii. 53; Jer. xix. 9. W. Lowth.

Before CHRIST about 588. c Lev. 26. 16. Deut. 28. 15. f Jer. 14. 17. ch. 1. 16. evaddled with their hands? The faithful bewail their calamities. LAMENTATIONS. God’s mercies a proper Before CHRIST about 588. of thine anger; thou hast killed, and not pitied.

Lamentations 2:27

27. — that he bear the yoke in his youth.] It is good to be inured betimes to bear those useful restraints which arise from a sense of the duty we owe to God, and the obedience we ought to pay to his laws. W. Lowth.

Lamentations 2:28

28. He sitteth alone &c.] The discipline of affliction makes a man serious and thoughtful, it disposes him to reflect on himself and his ways, and instructs him to