Lamentations 2:16

All thine enemies have opened their mouth against thee: they hiss and gnash the teeth: they say, We have swallowed her up: certainly this is the day that we looked for; we have found, we have seen it. For the transposition of Hebrew letters (Pe and `Ayin) in the order of verses, see Introduction. ALL THINE ENEMIES HAVE OPENED THEIR MOUTH AGAINST THEE - as ravening, roaring wild beasts (Job 16:9; ). Herein Jerusalem was a type of Messiah. THEY ... GNASH THE TEETH - in vindictive malice. WE HAVE SEEN IT - (, "Yea, they opened their mouth wide against me, and said, Aha, aha! our eye hath seen at"). [`Ayin (')] Verse 17. The Lord hath done th...

Here, also, the Prophet introduces enemies as insolently exulting over the miseries of the people. He first says, that they had opened the mouth, even that they might loudly upbraid them; for he is not said to open the mouth who only speaks, but who insolently and freely utters his calumnies. God is, indeed, sometimes said emphatically to open his mouth, when he announces something that deserves special notice; and so Matthew says, that Christ opened his mouth when he spoke of true happiness. (Matthew 5:2.) But in this place and in others the enemy is said to open his mouth, who, with a full mouth, so to speak, taunts him whom he sees worn out with evils. Hence, he refers to petulance or insolence, when he says, that enemies had _opened their mouth _ He then adds, that they had _hissed_. By hissing he no doubt means scoffing or taunting; for it immediately follows, that they had _gnashed...

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 16. _THIS_ IS _THE DAY THAT WE LOOKED FOR_] Jerusalem was the envy of the surrounding nations: they longed for its destruction, and rejoiced when it took place....

SEEN IT - Omit “it.” The intensity of the enemy’s exultation is shown by the heaping up of unconnected words. We have found what we sought, have seen what we looked for....

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

ALL THINE ENEMIES HAVE OPENED THEIR MOUTH AGAINST THEE,.... Or "widened" x them; stretched them out as far as they could, to reproach, blaspheme, and insult; or, like gaping beasts, to swallow up and devour: THEY HISS AND GNASH THEIR TEETH; hiss like serpents, and gnash their teeth in wrath and fury; all expressing their extreme hatred and abhorrence of the Jews, and the delight they took in their ruin and destruction: THEY SAY, WE HAVE SWALLOWED [HER] UP; all her wealth and riches were corns into their hands, and were all their own; as well as they thought these were all their own doings, owing to their wisdom and skill, courage and strength; not seeing and knowing the hand of God in all this. These words seem to be the words of the Chaldeans particularly: CERTAINLY THIS [IS] THE DAY THAT WE HAVE LOOKED FOR; WE HAVE FOUND, WE HAVE SEEN [IT]: this day of Jerusalem's destruction, which...

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

ALL, &C. In some Codices, with Syriac, Lamentations 2:16 and Lamentations 2:17 are transposed to bring the letters _Ayin_ and _Pe_ into alphabetical order. The Septuagint leaves the verses, but transposes the letters. This is done because it is supposed to be. mistake. But it cannot be, because the same order appears in Lamentations 3 and Lamentations 4, and in the former case it occurs three times, although the subject-matter allows no such break. It is easier to believe that the outward artificial form is sacrificed to call our attention to the greater importance of the utterance. In...