RECAPITULATION OF ZION’S CALAMITIES AND PRAYER THE verses of this chapter are not arranged according to the order of the alphabet, yet their number corresponds to its number. More distinctly than the preceding Chapter s this one shows the “parallelism” of Hebrew poetry, in which one clause of a ver... [ Continue Reading ]
EXEGETICAL NOTES.— Lamentations 5:1. REMEMBER, O JEHOVAH, WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO US—an application not to one who had forgotten, but to One who could _consider their affliction and pain with a view to forgive all their sins and redeem Israel out of all his troubles;_ a prayer which is not so much an... [ Continue Reading ]
EXEGETICAL NOTES.— Lamentations 5:2 begins to describe the substance of the reproaches. OUR INHERITANCE, the land which was promised to Abraham, and of which his descendants had held possession for generations, IS TURNED OVER UNTO STRANGERS. Indeed, all their property had passed into other hands; O... [ Continue Reading ]
EXEGETICAL NOTES.— Lamentations 5:6. Judæa was on the verge of famine through the foragings of the invaders, and, under the ominous shadow of starvation, TO EGYPT WE HAVE GIVEN THE HAND, _i.e.,_ imploring supplies of food, as is signified by the parallel clause, TO ASSYRIA TO BE SATISFIED WITH BREA... [ Continue Reading ]
EXEGETICAL NOTES.— Lamentations 5:10. The bread, which was obtained at the risk of their lives, was not enough in quantity to nourish them. OUR SKIN IS HOT LIKE AN OVEN; the feverishness is BECAUSE OF THE BURNING HEAT OF HUNGER. “Hunger dries up the pores of the skin, so that it becomes like as if... [ Continue Reading ]
EXEGETICAL NOTES.— Lamentations 5:14. Entire collapse of interest in the common ways of life was shown by the abandonment of public meetings and social pastimes. THE ELDERS CEASED FROM [FREQUENTING] THE GATE. They had gone thither as to the usual gathering-place; they adjudicated, advised, had gene... [ Continue Reading ]
EXEGETICAL NOTES.— Lamentations 5:16. FALLEN IS THE CROWN FROM OUR HEAD. That which was their honour has gone—the crown with which the Lord Jehovah had decked His chosen nation. _I put … a beautiful crown upon thine head … and thy renown went forth among the nations for thy beauty; for it was perfec... [ Continue Reading ]
EXEGETICAL NOTES.— Lamentations 5:17. How depressing is the conviction of personal sin. FOR THIS OUR HEART HAS BECOME FAINT. Many sorrows had surged over them and exhausted the faculty of external and mental vision. FOR THESE THINGS OUR EYES ARE DARKENED. Lamentations 5:18. The depression of heart... [ Continue Reading ]
EXEGETICAL NOTES.— Lamentations 5:19. Nevertheless, whatever be the low estate of His sanctuary and people, the living God is and reigns. THOU, O JEHOVAH, ABIDEST FOR EVER. Not only is His continual existence denoted, but also that _Jehovah sitteth as king for ever_ (Psalms 29:10), the same verb be... [ Continue Reading ]