Lamentations 2:14

Thy prophets have seen vain and foolish things for thee: and they have not discovered thine iniquity, to turn away thy captivity; but have seen for thee false burdens and causes of banishment. THY PROPHETS HAVE SEEN VAIN AND FOOLISH THINGS FOR THEE. "Thy prophets," not God's (, "They are prophets of the deceit of their own heart"). VAIN ... FOR THEE - to gratify thy appetite, not for truth, but for deception. THEY HAVE NOT DISCOVERED THINE INIQUITY - in opposition to God's command to the true prophets (). Literally, They have not taken off the vail which was on thine iniquity, so as to set it before thee. HAVE SEEN FOR THEE FALSE BURDENS. Their prophecies were soothing and flattering; but the result of them, inasmuc...

Here the Prophet condemns the Jews for that wantonness by which they had, as it were, designedly destroyed themselves, as though they had willfully drunk sweet poison. They had been inebriated with those fallacies which we have seen, when impostors promised them a prosperous condition; for we have seen that false prophets often boldly declared that whatever Jeremiah threatened was of no account. Since, then, the Jews were inebriated with such flatteries, and disregarded God’s judgment, and freely indulged themselves in their vices, the effect was, that God’s wrath had been always and continually kindled by them. Now, then, Jeremiah reproves them for such wantonness, even because they willfully sought to be deceived, and with avidity cast themselves into snares, by seeking for themselves flatterers as teachers. Micah also reproves them for the same thing, that they sought prophets who pro...

10-22 Causes for lamentation are described. Multitudes perished by famine. Even little children were slain by their mother's hands, and eaten, according to the threatening, Deuteronomy 28:53. Multitudes fell by the sword. Their false prophets deceived them. And their neighbours laughed at them. It is a great sin to jest at others' miseries, and adds much affliction to the afflicted. Their enemies triumphed over them. The enemies of the church are apt to take its shocks for its ruins; but they will find themselves deceived. Calls to lamentation are given; and comforts for the cure of these lamentations are sought. Prayer is a salve for every sore, even the sorest; a remedy for every malady, even the most grievous. Our business in prayer is to refer our case to the Lord, and leave it with him. His will be done. Let us fear God, and walk humbly before him, and take heed lest we fall....

Verse 14. _THEY HAVE NOT DISCOVERED THINE INIQUITY_] They did not reprove for sin, they flattered them in their transgressions; and instead of turning away thy captivity, by turning thee from thy sins, they have pretended visions of good in thy favour, and false burdens for thy enemies....

THY PROPHETS HAVE SEEN VAIN AND FOOLISH THINGS FOR THEE - The Septuagint and Vulgate give the true meaning, “stupidity” (see Jeremiah 23:13 note). TO TURN AWAY THY CAPTIVITY - The right sense is, “They have not disclosed to thee thy sins, that so thou mightest repent, and I might have turned away thy captivity.” BURDENS - Applied contemptuously to predictions which proved “false” or “empty,” i. e. failed of accomplishment. On the deduction to be drawn from this, see Jeremiah 28:9. CAUSES OF BANISHMENT - The result of the teaching of the false prophets would be that God would “drive out” the Jews from their land....

ZION'S JUDGMENT IS OF GOD. LAMENTATIONS AND SUPPLICATIONS. EXPOSITION LAMENTATIONS 2:1 HATH THE LORD COVERED; rather, _doth _… _cover_. THE DAUGHTER OF ZION; _i.e._ Jerusalem. CAST DOWN FROM HEAVEN. Here and in Matthew 11:28 we have a parallel to Isaiah 14:12, where the King of Babylon is compared to a bright star. "Cast down" whither? Into the "pit" or dungeon of Hades (Isaiah 14:15

THY PROPHETS HAVE SEEN VAIN AND FOOLISH THINGS FOR THEE,.... Not the prophets of the Lord; but false prophets, as the Targum; which were of the people's choosing, and were acceptable to them; prophets after their own hearts, because they prophesied smooth things, such as they liked; though in the issue they proved "vain" and "foolish", idle stories, impertinent talk, the fictions of their own brains; and yet they pretended to have visions of them from the Lord; as that within two years Jeconiah, and all the vessels of the temple carried away by the king of Babylon, should be returned; and that he would not come against Jerusalem, nor should it be delivered into his hands; see Jeremiah 28:2; AND THEY HAVE NOT DISCOVERED THINE INIQUITY: they did not tell them of their sins; they took no pains to convince them of them, but connived at them; instead of reproving

CHAPTER 2 WHAT THE LORD HAS DONE The great catastrophe continues in vivid description throughout this chapter also. Not an enemy has done it, not Nebuchadrezzar and his Chaldean hordes, but the Lord is the executor of all. The beauty of Israel He cast down; He swallowed up the habitations of Jacob; He burned against Jacob like a flame; He bent His bow like an enemy; He poured out His fury like fire; He was as an enemy. These are a few of the many expressions with which the righteousness of the Lord in judging His people is acknowledged. And what a great description of Jerusalem and her inhabitants we read in Lamentations 2:8. Gates broken down; king and princes among the Gentiles; law abandoned; no more visions! Elders on the ground in sackcloth and ashes; virgins hanging their heads; children and sucklings swooning in the streets--and all that pass by clap their hands,

LAMENTATIONS 2. THE SECOND LAMENT. This differs from the first in its contents, and in its literary form. The metrical matters are the same, _i.e._ there are twenty-two verses, wherein the first word of the verse, or stanza, begins with the Heb. A, B, C, etc., and each stanza has three lines, of five accents each. We saw that in Lamentations 1 the singer's wail for Zion filled half the song, and her own cries the second half; but this second Lament is all taken up with God. In Lamentations 2:1 the woes are bemoaned as being of His doing and His alone, and Lamentations 2:13 forms a short ré sumé of this; then, next, Lamentations 2:18 f. urges the city to cry to Him for help; and in the clo

PROPHETS, &C. Compare Ezekiel 12:24; Ezekiel 13:1; Ezekiel 13:23; Ezekiel 21:29; Ezekiel 22:28. TURN AWAY THY CAPTIVITY. cause thy captives to return. See note on Deuteronomy 30:3. BURDENS. oracles. CAUSES OF BANISHMENT. Here, the Figure of speech _Metonymy_ (of Effect), App-6, is translated. Hebrew. expulsions, which is put for the effect of listening to those who brought about the expulsion ...