_ZION BEWAILETH HER PITIFUL ESTATE: SHE CONFESSETH HER SINS. EDOM IS THREATENED. ZION IS COMFORTED._ _Before Christ 588._ THE prophet contrasts, in various affecting instances, the wretched and deplorable circumstances of the Jewish nation with the flourishing state of their affairs in former tim... [ Continue Reading ]
HOW IS THE GOLD BECOME DIM! &C.— "How is the glory of the temple obscured! The sanctuary, which was overlaid with gold, now lies in the ruins." Some think that the prophet here alludes to the princes and chief persons of the country. See the next verse, and Psalms 119:83.... [ Continue Reading ]
SEA-MONSTERS—GIVE SUCK TO THEIR YOUNG ONES— See Job 39:13, and Parkhurst on the word ענה _anah._ We are told by voyagers, that the sea lioness, and other sea-monsters, have dugs with which they give suck.... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY THAT DID FEED DELICATELY, &C.— See the note on 1 Samuel 2:8 where it has been observed that it was usual in the east to burn dried dung, and consequently to lay up heaps of it for use in their cottages. The author of the _Observations_ thinks that this will serve to explain the expression in th... [ Continue Reading ]
AND NO HANDS STAYED ON HER— _Nor were hands weakened in her._ Sodom was destroyed by a sudden act of God which the prophet thinks preferable to lingering and wasting with disease and want, as was the case in Jerusalem during the long siege.... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY WERE MORE RUDDY, &C.— _They were brighter in body than pearls,_ &c. See Bochart, lib. 2: cap. 6.... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THESE PINE AWAY— _For they who are cut down by the sword, have departed quickly as the fruits of the field:_ "They who have perished by the sword, are quickly cut down like the ripe fruits of the field; and therefore it is better with them than with those who have wasted away by a long famine.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE HANDS, &C.— _The hands of tender-hearted women have boiled their own children: they served them for meat in their calamity,_ &c.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE KINGS OF THE EARTH— Jerusalem was so strongly fortified both by art and nature, and had been so often miraculously preserved by God from the attempts of its enemies, that it seemed almost incredible that it should suffer so total a subversion. See Calmet.... [ Continue Reading ]
SO THAT MEN COULD NOT TOUCH THEIR GARMENTS— _It could not be avoided but their garments must be touched._ Therefore the prophet immediately addresses the citizens of Jerusalem, Lamentations 4:15. _Depart, proclaim ye their uncleanness; depart, depart, touch not, that they may fly away and wander. Sa... [ Continue Reading ]
AS FOR US, OUR EYES AS YET FAILED— _While we yet continued, our eyes failed with the vain expectation of help._ Houbigant.... [ Continue Reading ]
OUR PERSECUTORS, &C.— The Lord hath brought upon us the judgment that he threatened by Moses, of bringing a nation against us, as swift as the eagle flieth; for such are the Chaldean horsemen. See Jeremiah 4:13; Jeremiah 48:40; Jeremiah 49:22.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE BREATH OF OUR NOSTRILS, &C.— That is to say, _Our king;_ namely Zedekiah, whose flight the Chaldean soldiers intercepted, and on whose account the captive Jews hoped that their servitude would be lighter. So long as he was safe they might hope to preserve some face of religion and government. Ca... [ Continue Reading ]
REJOICE AND BE GLAD, O DAUGHTER OF EDOM— This is an ironical expression against the Edomites, who had joined themselves to the Chaldeans in the siege of Jerusalem. See Psalms 137:7. Obad. Lamentations 4:10. REFLECTIONS.—1st, Who can, unaffected, behold the desolations here described? 1. The temple... [ Continue Reading ]