CHAPTER IV _The present deplorable sate of the nation is now contrasted_ _with its ancient prosperity_, 1-12; _and the unhappy change ascribed, in a great degree, to the_ _profligacy of the priests and prophets_, 13-16. _The national calamities are tenderly lamented_, 17-20. _The ruin of the E... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Lamentations 4:2. _THE PRECIOUS SONS OF ZION_] The Jewish priests and Jewish believers. _COMPARABLE TO FINE GOLD_] Who were of the _pure standard_ of holiness; holy, because God who called them is holy; but now esteemed no better than _earthen pitchers _- vessels of dishonour in comparison of... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Lamentations 4:3. _EVEN THE SEA MONSTERS DRAW OUT THE BREAST_] The _whales_ give suck to their young ones. The word תנין _tannin_, signifies all _large_ and _cruel_ creatures, whether _aquatic_ or _terrestrial_; and need not here be restrained to the _former_ sort. My Old MS. Bible translates... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Lamentations 4:4. _THE TONGUE OF THE SUCKING CHILD_] Lamentations 2:12.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Lamentations 4:5. _EMBRACE DUNGHILLS._] Lie on _straw_ or _rubbish_, instead of the costly carpets and sofas on which they formerly stretched themselves.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 6. _FOR THE PUNISHMENT_] He thinks the punishment of _Jerusalem_ far greater than that of _Sodom_. That was destroyed _in_ _a moment_, while all her inhabitants were in _health_ and _strength_; Jerusalem fell by the most _lingering_ calamities; _her men partly_ _destroyed by the sword_, and _p... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 7. _HER NAZARITES WERE PURER THAN SNOW_] נזיר _nazir_ does not always signify a _person separated_ under a _religious vow_; it sometimes denotes what is _chief_ or _eminent_. It is applied to _Joseph_, Genesis 49:26. _Blayney_ therefore translates here, HER NOBLES. "Her nobles were purer than... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 10. _THE HANDS OF THE PITIFUL WOMEN HAVE SODDEN THEIR OWN_ _CHILDREN_] Lamentations 2:20. But here there is a reference to mothers eating their own children; and this was done, not by mothers cruel and brutal, but by נשים רחמניות _nashim rachmaniyoth_, the _compassionate_, the _tender-hearted... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 12. _THE KINGS OF THE EARTH_] Jerusalem was so well fortified, both by nature and art, that it appeared as a miracle that it should be taken at all.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 13. _FOR THE SINS OF HER PROPHETS_, AND _THE INIQUITIES OF_ _HER PRIESTS_] These most wretched beings, under the pretense of _zeal for the true religion_, persecuted the _genuine prophets,_ _priests_, and _people of God_, and caused their blood to be shed in the midst of the city, in the most... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 14. _THEY HAVE WANDERED_ AS _BLIND_ MEN _IN THE STREETS_] Rather, "They ran frantic through the streets, they were stained with blood." This was in their pretended zeal for their cause. Bishop _Bonner_, who was at the head of those sanguinary executions in England, was accustomed to _buffet_ t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 15. _WHEN THEY FLED AWAY_] These priests and prophets were so _bad_, that the very _heathen_ did not like to permit them to sojourn among them. The prophet now resumes the history of the siege.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 17. _WE HAVE WATCHED FOR A NATION_] Viz., the Egyptians, who were their pretended allies, but were neither _able_ nor _willing_ to help them against the Chaldeans.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 18. _WE CANNOT GO IN OUR STREETS_] Supposed to refer to the _darts_ and other _missiles_ cast from the mounds which they had raised on the outside of the walls, by which those who walked in the streets were grievously annoyed, and could not shield themselves.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 19. _THEY PURSUED US UPON THE MOUNTAINS_] They hunted down the poor Jews like wild beasts in every part of the country by their marauding parties, whilst the great army besieged Jerusalem. But this may apply to the pursuit of Zedekiah. See what follows.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Lamentations 4:20. _THE BREATH OF OUR NOSTRILS, THE ANOINTED OF THE LORD_] That is, Zedekiah the king, who was as _the life of the city_, was taken in his flight by the Chaldeans, and his eyes were put out; so that he was wholly unfit to perform any function of government; though they had fond... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Lamentations 4:21. _REJOICE AND BE GLAD, O DAUGHTER OF EDOM_] A strong irony. _THE CUP ALSO SHALL PASS THROUGH UNTO THEE_] Thou who hast triumphed in our disasters shalt shortly have enough of thy own. They had joined themselves to the Chaldeans, (see Psalms 137:7,) and therefore they should... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Lamentations 4:22. _THE PUNISHMENT OF THINE INIQUITY IS ACCOMPLISHED, O_ _DAUGHTER OF ZION_] On the contrary: Rejoice, O Jerusalem, for thy captivity will soon end; thy sufferings are nearly completed; thou shalt soon return to thy own land: but he will _visit thy iniquity,_ _O Edom; he will d... [ Continue Reading ]