1WieH1471 sitztH3427 einsamH910 die volkreiche StadtH5892, ist einer WitweH490 gleich geworden die GroßeH7227 unter den Nationen; die Fürstin unter den Landschaften ist zinsbar geworden! 2Bitterlich weintH1058 sie des NachtsH3915, und ihre TränenH1832 sind auf ihren WangenH3895; sie hatH157 keinen TrösterH5162 unter allen, die sie liebten; alle ihre FreundeH7453 haben treulos an ihr gehandelt, sind ihr zu FeindenH341 geworden. 3JudaH3063 ist ausgewandert vor ElendH6040 undH7230 vor schwerer Dienstbarkeit; es wohntH3427 unter den Nationen, hatH1540 keine RuheH4494 gefunden; seine VerfolgerH7291 habenH4672 es in der Bedrängnis ergriffen. 4Die WegeH1870 ZionsH6726 trauern, weil niemand zum FesteH4150 kommtH935; alle ihre ToreH8179 sind ödeH8074; ihre PriesterH3548 seufzenH584; ihre JungfrauenH1330 sind betrübtH4843, und ihr selbst ist es bitter. 5Ihre Bedränger sindH1980 zum HaupteH7218 geworden, ihre FeindeH6862 sind wohlgemut; denn JehovaH3068 hat sie betrübt wegen der MengeH7230 ihrer ÜbertretungenH6588; vorH6440 dem Bedränger her sind ihre KinderH5768 in GefangenschaftH7628 gezogen. 6Und vonH3318 der TochterH1323 ZionH6726 ist all ihre Pracht gewichen; ihre FürstenH8269 sindH4672 wie HirscheH354 geworden, dieH7291 keine WeideH4829 finden, und kraftlos gingenH3212 sie vorH6440 dem Verfolger einher. 7In den TagenH3117 ihres ElendsH6040 undH6924 ihres Umherirrens gedenktH2142 JerusalemH3389 all ihrer Kostbarkeiten, die seit den TagenH3117 der Vorzeit waren, da nun ihr VolkH5971 durch die HandH3027 des Bedrängers gefallenH5307 istH4788 und sie keinen HelferH5826 hat: Die Bedränger sehenH7200 sie an, spottenH7832 ihres Feierns. 8JerusalemH3389 hat schwerH3513 gesündigtH2398, darum istH7725 sie wie eine Unreine geworden; alle, die sie ehrten, verachten sie, weil sie ihre BlößeH6172 gesehenH7200 haben; auch sie selbst seufztH584 undH268 wendet sichH2399 ab. 9Ihre UnreinigkeitH2932 istH1431 an ihren Säumen; sie hat ihrH5162 EndeH319 nichtH2142 bedacht und ist wunderbarH6382 heruntergekommen: Da ist niemand, der sie tröste. SiehH7200, JehovaH3068, mein ElendH6040, denn der FeindH341 hat großgetan! 10Der Bedränger hat seine HandH3027 ausgebreitetH6566 über alle ihre Kostbarkeiten; denn sieH4261 hat gesehenH7200, daß Nationen in ihrH935 HeiligtumH4720 gekommenH935 sind, von welchen du geboten hast: SieH6680 sollen nicht in deine VersammlungH6951 kommen! 11All ihr VolkH5971 seufztH584, suchtH1245 nach BrotH3899; sieH4261 gebenH5414 ihre Kostbarkeiten für SpeiseH400 hin, um sichH7725 zu erquicken. SiehH7200, JehovaH3068, und schaueH5027, daß ich verachtet binH2151! 12Merket ihrH5674 es nichtH5027, alle, die ihr des WegesH1870 ziehet? Schauet und sehetH7200, ob ein SchmerzH4341 sei wie mein SchmerzH4341, der mir angetan worden, mir, die JehovaH3068 betrübt hatH3426 am TageH3117 seiner Zornglut. 13Aus der HöheH4791 hat er ein FeuerH784 in meine GebeineH6106 gesandtH7971, daß es sieH7725 überwältigte; ein NetzH7568 hat er meinen FüßenH7272 ausgebreitetH6566, hat michH268 zurückgewendet; er hat michH8074 zur Wüste gemachtH5414, siech den ganzen TagH3117. 14Angeschirrt durch seine HandH3027 ist das JochH5923 meiner ÜbertretungenH6588 : Sie haben sich verflochten, sindH8244 aufH5927 meinen HalsH6677 gekommen; er hat meine KraftH3581 gebrochen. Der HerrH136 hat mich in HändeH3027 gegebenH5414, daß ich mich nicht aufrichtenH6965 kannH3201. 15Der HerrH136 hatH7121 alle meine StarkenH47 weggerafft inH7130 meiner Mitte; er hatH4150 ein Fest wider michH1869 ausgerufen, um meine JünglingeH970 zu zerschmettern; der HerrH136 hat der JungfrauH1330, der TochterH1323 JudaH3063, die KelterH1660 getreten. 16Darüber weine ich, rinnt mein AugeH5869, mein AugeH5869 von WasserH4325; denn fernH7368 von mir istH7725 ein TrösterH5162, der meine SeeleH5315 erquicken könnte; meine KinderH1121 sind vernichtet, denn der FeindH341 hat obgesiegt. 17ZionH6726 breitetH6566 ihre HändeH3027 aus: Da ist niemandH5162, der sieH6680 tröste. JehovaH3068 hatH5079 seine Bedränger ringsum gegen JakobH3290 entboten; wie eine Unreine ist JerusalemH3389 unter ihnen geworden. 18JehovaH3068 istH4784 gerechtH6662, denn ich bin widerspenstig gegen seinen MundH6310 gewesen. HöretH8085 doch, ihr VölkerH5971 alle, und sehetH7200 meinen SchmerzH4341! Meine JungfrauenH1330 und meine JünglingeH970 sindH1980 in die GefangenschaftH7628 gezogen. 19Ich riefH7121 meinen Liebhabern, sie aber betrogenH7411 mich; meine PriesterH3548 und meine ÄltestenH2205 sind in der StadtH5892 verschieden, als sie für sichH7725 SpeiseH400 suchtenH1245, damit sie ihre SeeleH5315 erquicken möchten. 20SiehH7200, JehovaH3068, wie mir angstH6887 istH2015! Meine Eingeweide wallen, mein HerzH4578 wendet sich um inH7130 meinem Innern; denn ich bin sehr widerspenstig gewesenH4784. DraußenH2351 hat mich das SchwertH2719 der Kinder beraubtH7921, drinnenH1004 istH4784 es wie der TodH4194. 21SieH935 haben gehört, daß ich seufzte: Ich habe niemand, der mich tröstet! Alle meine FeindeH341 haben mein UnglückH7451 gehört, haben sichH7797 gefreut, daß duH584 esH5162 getanH6213 hastH8085. Führst du den TagH3117 herbei, den du verkündigt hastH8085, so werdenH7121 sie sein wieH3644 ich. 22Laß alle ihre BosheitH7451 vor dein AngesichtH6440 kommenH935 und tue ihnen, wie du mir getan hastH5953 wegen aller meiner ÜbertretungenH6588; denn vieleH7227 sind meiner Seufzer, und mein HerzH3820 ist siech.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 (Lam. 1:1-22)
how is she . . . widow! she that was great, &c.--English Version is according to the accents. But the members of each sentence are better balanced in antithesis, thus, "how is she that was great among the nations become as a widow! (how) she who was princess among the provinces (that is, she who ruled over the surrounding provinces from the Nile to the Euphrates,
Gen 15:18;
1Kgs 4:21;
2Chr 9:26;
Ezra 4:20) become tributary!" [MAURER].
sit--on the ground; the posture of mourners (
Lam 2:10;
Ezra 9:3). The coin struck on the taking of Jerusalem by Titus, representing Judea as a female sitting solitary under a palm tree, with the inscription, Judća Capta, singularly corresponds to the image here; the language therefore must be prophetical of her state subsequent to Titus, as well as referring retrospectively to her Babylonian captivity.
2 in the night--even in the night, the period of rest and oblivion of griefs (
Job 7:3).
lovers . . . friends--the heathen states allied to Judah, and their idols. The idols whom she "loved" (
Jer 2:20-
Jer 2:25) could not comfort her. Her former allies would not: nay, some "treacherously" joined her enemies against her (
2Kgs 24:2,
2Kgs 24:7;
Ps 137:7).
3 (
Jer 52:27).
because of great servitude--that is, in a state "of great servitude," endured from the Chaldeans. "Because" is made by VATABLUS indicative of the cause of her captivity; namely, her having "afflicted" and unjustly brought into "servitude" the manumitted bond-servants (
Jer 34:8-
Jer 34:22). MAURER explains it, "Judah has left her land (not literally 'gone into captivity') because of the yoke imposed on it by Nebuchadnezzar."
no rest-- (
Deut 28:64-
Deut 28:65).
overtook her between . . . straits--image from robbers, who in the East intercept travellers at the narrow passes in hilly regions.
4 feasts--the passover, pentecost (or the feast of weeks), and the feast of tabernacles.
gates--once the place of concourse.
5 the chief--rule her (
Deut 28:43-
Deut 28:44).
adversaries . . . prosper; for the Lord--All the foes' attempts would have failed, had not God delivered His people into their hands (
Jer 30:15).
6 beauty . . . departed--her temple, throne, and priesthood.
harts that find no pasture--an animal timid and fleet, especially when seeking and not able to "find pasture."
7 remembered--rather, "remembers," now, in her afflicted state. In the days of her prosperity she did not appreciate, as she ought, the favors of God to her. Now, awakening out of her past lethargy, she feels from what high privileges she has fallen.
when her people fell, &c.--that is, after which days of prosperity "her people fell."
mock at her sabbaths--The heathen used to mock at the Jews' Sabbath, as showing their idleness, and term them Sabbatarians [MARTIAL, 4.4]. Now, said they ironically, ye may keep a continuous Sabbath. So God appointed the length of the captivity (seventy years) to be exactly that of the sum of the Sabbaths in the four hundred ninety years in which the land was denied its Sabbaths (
Lev 26:33-
Lev 26:35). MAURER translates it "ruin." But English Version better expresses the point of their "mocking," namely, their involuntary "Sabbaths," that is, the cessation of all national movements. A fourth line is added in this stanza, whereas in all the others there are but three. So in
Lam 2:19.
8 (
1Kgs 8:46).
is removed--as a woman separated from the congregation of God for legal impurity, which is a type of moral impurity. So
Lam 1:17;
Lev 12:2;
Lev 15:19, &c.
her nakedness--They have treated her as contumeliously as courtesans from whom their clothes are stripped.
turneth backward--as modest women do from shame, that is, she is cast down from all hope of restoration [CALVIN].
9 Continuation of the image in
Lam 1:8. Her ignominy and misery cannot be concealed but are apparent to all, as if a woman were suffering under such a flow as to reach the end of her skirts.
remembereth not . . . last end-- (
Deut 32:29;
Isa 47:7). She forgot how fatal must be the end of her iniquity. Or, as the words following imply: She, in despair, cannot lift herself up to lay hold of God's promises as to her "latter end" [CALVIN].
wonderfully--Hebrew, "wonders," that is, with amazing dejection.
O Lord, behold--Judah here breaks in, speaking for herself.
for the enemy hath magnified himself--What might seem ground for despair, the elated insulting of the enemy, is rather ground for good hope.
10 for--surely she hath seen, &c.
heathen . . . command . . . not enter . . . congregation--for instance, the Ammonites and Moabites (
Deut 23:3;
Neh 13:1-
Neh 13:2). If the heathen, as such, were not allowed to enter the sanctuary for worship, much less were they allowed to enter in order to rob and destroy.
11 (
Jer 37:21;
Jer 38:9;
Jer 52:6).
given . . . pleasant things for meat-- (
2Kgs 6:25;
Job 2:4).
relieve . . . soul--literally, "to cause the soul or life to return."
for I am become vile--Her sins and consequent sorrows are made the plea in craving God's mercy. Compare the like plea in
Ps 25:11.
12 The pathetic appeal of Jerusalem, not only to her neighbors, but even to the strangers "passing by," as her sorrow is such as should excite the compassion even of those unconnected with her. She here prefigures Christ, whom the language is prophetically made to suit, more than Jerusalem. Compare Israel, that is, Messiah,
Isa 49:3. Compare with "pass by,"
Matt 27:39;
Mark 15:29. As to Jerusalem,
Dan 9:12. M AURER, from the Arabic idiom, translates, "do not go off on your way," that is, stop, whoever ye are that pass by. English Version is simpler.
13 bones--a fire which not only consumes the skin and flesh, but penetrates even to my "bones" (that is, my vital powers).
prevaileth against--not as ROSENMULLER, "He (Jehovah) hath broken them"; a sense not in the Hebrew.
net-- (
Ezek 12:13); image from hunting wild beasts. He has so entangled me in His judgments that I cannot escape.
turned me back--so that I cannot go forward and get free from His meshes.
14 yoke . . . is bound by his hand-- (
Deut 28:48). Metaphor from husbandmen, who, after they have bound the yoke to the neck of oxen, hold the rein firmly twisted round the hand. Thus the translation will be, "in His hand." Or else, "the yoke of my transgressions" (that is, of punishment for my transgressions) is held so fast fixed on me "by" God, that there is no loosening of it; thus English Version, "by His hand."
wreathed--My sins are like the withes entwined about the neck to fasten the yoke to.
into their hands, from whom--into the hands of those, from whom, &c. MAURER translates, "before whom I am not able to stand."
15 trodden, &c.--MAURER, from Syriac root, translates, "cast away"; so
2Kgs 23:27. But
Ps 119:118, supports English Version.
in . . . midst of me--They fell not on the battlefield, but in the heart of the city; a sign of the divine wrath.
assembly--the collected forces of Babylon; a very different "assembly" from the solemn ones which once met at Jerusalem on the great feasts. The Hebrew means, literally, such a solemn "assembly" or feast (compare
Lam 2:22).
trodden . . . virgin . . . in a wine-press--hath forced her blood to burst forth, as the red wine from the grapes trodden in the press (
Isa 63:3;
Rev 14:19-
Rev 14:20;
Rev 19:15).
16 (
Jer 13:17;
Jer 14:17). Jerusalem is the speaker.
mine eye, mine eye--so
Lam 4:18, "our end . . . our end"; repetition for emphasis.
17 Like a woman in labor-throes (
Jer 4:31).
menstruous woman--held unclean, and shunned by all; separated from her husband and from the temple (compare
Lam 1:8;
Lev 14:19, &c.).
18 The sure sign of repentance; justifying God, condemning herself (
Neh 9:33;
Ps 51:4;
Dan 9:7-
Dan 9:14).
his commandment--literally, "mouth"; His word in the mouth of the prophets.
19 lovers-- (
Lam 1:2;
Jer 30:14).
elders--in dignity, not merely age.
sought . . . meat--Their dignity did not exempt them from having to go and seek bread (
Lam 1:11).
20 bowels . . . troubled-- (
Job 30:27;
Isa 16:11;
Jer 4:19;
Jer 31:20). Extreme mental distress affects the bowels and the whole internal frame.
heart . . . turned-- (
Hos 11:8); is agitated or fluttered.
abroad . . . sword . . . at home . . . as death-- (
Deut 32:25;
Ezek 7:15). The "as" does not modify, but intensifies. "Abroad the sword bereaveth, at home as it were death itself" (personified), in the form of famine and pestilence (
2Kgs 25:3;
Jer 14:18;
Jer 52:6). So
Hab 2:5, "as death" [MICHAELIS].
21 they are glad that thou hast done it--because they thought that therefore Judah is irretrievably ruined (
Jer 40:3).
the day . . . called--(but) thou wilt bring on them the day of calamity which thou hast announced, namely, by the prophets (Jer. 50:1-46;
Jer 48:27).
like . . . me--in calamities (
Ps 137:8-
Ps 137:9;
Jer 51:25, &c.).
22 Such prayers against foes are lawful, if the foe be an enemy of God, and if our concern be not for our own personal feeling, but for the glory of God and the welfare of His people.
come before thee--so
Rev 16:19, "Babylon came in remembrance before God" (compare
Ps 109:15).