Lamentations 5

4 for money . . . sold. Our wells and forests are no longer ours.

5. Our necks [are] under persecution. Rather, as R.V., “Our pursuers are upon our necks”; closely pressing on us.

6. We have given the hand, etc. See note on Jer. I. 15: see also Ezek. xvii. 18.

8. Servants. “Slaves,” referring to the ignoble origin of many of the Chaldeans.

9. We gat. “We get,” R.V. “The perils of the wilderness” refer to the hordes of wild Arabs that made the pastures insecure.

10. Our skin was (is) black. Rather, “is fiery red with” the “burning heat of famine.”

13. They took the young men to grind. Or, as R.V., “The young men bare the mill”: meaning the hand-mill. See notes on Exod. xi. 5; Judges xvi. 21.

the children fell (“stumbled,” R.V.) under the wood. The carrying of wood was as menial as grinding at the mill, and for children it was oppressively laborious.

14. The elders have ceased from the gate. See Job xxix. 7, and note.

17 our eyes are dim. See note on 1 Sam. xiv. 27.

19. Thou, O Lord, remainest for ever. “Thou, O Eternal, sittest [as King] for ever.” The unchangeableness and supremacy of God encourage the sufferers in asking that they may not be cast off for ever.

21. Renew our days as of old. That is, Restore to us what we enjoyed in former days—our religious ordinances, Temple, etc.

22. But Thou hast utterly rejected us, etc. Rather, “Unless Thou hast utterly rejected us, [and] art very wroth against us”: thus suggesting that there is room for hope.

EZEKIEL was one of the prophets of the Captivity, and his prophecies covered a period of twenty-two years. (For particulars as to place and date, see notes on i. 1, below.) It is interesting to compare his visions with those of the Apocalypse of St. John, whose writings have traces of the language and ideas of the Old Testament prophet. Both were exiles. Both lived in times when the pagan powers seemed triumphant. Both found it necessary to rebuke the

unbelief and deadness of the professed people of God. And both spoke of the final victory of righteousness.