Compare Translations for Lamentations 1:20

Commentaries For Lamentations 1

  • Chapter 1


    The miserable state of Jerusalem, the just consequences of its sins. (1-11) Jerusalem represented as a captive female, lamenting, and seeking the mercy of God. (12-22)




    Lamentations 1:1-22 .


    1. 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, Genesis 15:18 , 1 Kings 4:21 , 2 Chronicles 9:26 , Ezra 4:20 ) become tributary!" [MAURER].
    sit--on the ground; the posture of mourners ( Lamentations 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, Judæa 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.


    lovers . . . friends--the heathen states allied to Judah, and their idols. The idols whom she "loved" ( Jeremiah 2:20-25 ) could not comfort her. Her former allies would not: nay, some "treacherously" joined her enemies against her ( 2 Kings 24:2 2 Kings 24:7 , Psalms 137:7 ).


    3. ( Jeremiah 52:27 ).
    no rest--( Deuteronomy 28:64 Deuteronomy 28:65 ).


    gates--once the place of concourse.


    5. the chief--rule her ( Deuteronomy 28:43 Deuteronomy 28:44 ).
    adversaries . . . prosper; for the Lord--All the foes' attempts would have failed, had not God delivered His people into their hands ( Jeremiah 30:15 ).






    8. ( 1 Kings 8:46 ).
    is removed--as a woman separated from the congregation of God for legal impurity, which is a type of moral impurity. So Lamentations 1:17 , Leviticus 12:2 , 15:19 , &c.


    9. Continuation of the image in Lamentations 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--( Deuteronomy 32:29 , Isaiah 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].


    heathen . . . command . . . not enter . . . congregation--for instance, the Ammonites and Moabites ( Deuteronomy 23:3 , Nehemiah 13:1 Nehemiah 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. ( Jeremiah 37:21 , 38:9 , 52:6 ).
    given . . . pleasant things for meat--( 2 Kings 6:25 , Job 2:4 ).
    for I am become vile--Her sins and consequent sorrows are made the plea in craving God's mercy. Compare the like plea in Psalms 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, Isaiah 49:3 . Compare with "pass by," Matthew 27:39 , 15:29 . As to Jerusalem, Daniel 9:12 . MAURER, 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.


    net--( Ezekiel 12:13 ); image from hunting wild beasts. He has so entangled me in His judgments that I cannot escape.




    15. trodden, &c.--MAURER, from Syriac root, translates, "cast away"; so 2 Kings 23:27 . But Psalms 119:118 , supports English Version.
    trodden . . . virgin . . . in a wine-press--hath forced her blood to burst forth, as the red wine from the grapes trodden in the press ( Isaiah 63:3 , Revelation 14:19 Revelation 14:20 , 19:15 ).


    16. ( Jeremiah 13:17 , 14:17 ). Jerusalem is the speaker.
    mine eye, mine eye--so Lamentations 4:18 , "our end . . . our end"; repetition for emphasis.


    17. Like a woman in labor-throes ( Jeremiah 4:31 ).
    menstruous woman--held unclean, and shunned by all; separated from her husband and from the temple (compare Lamentations 1:8 , Leviticus 14:19 , &c.).


    18. The sure sign of repentance; justifying God, condemning herself ( Nehemiah 9:33 , Psalms 51:4 , Daniel 9:7-14 ).


    19. lovers--( Lamentations 1:2 , Jeremiah 30:14 ).
    elders--in dignity, not merely age.
    sought . . . meat--Their dignity did not exempt them from having to go and seek bread ( Lamentations 1:11 ).


    20. bowels . . . troubled--( Job 30:27;,Isa 16:11 Job 30:27;,Isa 16:11 , Jeremiah 4:19 , 31:20 ). Extreme mental distress affects the bowels and the whole internal frame.
    heart . . . turned--( Hosea 11:8 ); is agitated or fluttered.
    abroad . . . sword . . . at home . . . as death--( Deuteronomy 32:25 , Ezekiel 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 ( 2 Kings 25:3 , Jeremiah 14:18 , 52:6 ). So Habakkuk 2:5 , "as death" [MICHAELIS].


    21. they are glad that thou hast done it--because they thought that therefore Judah is irretrievably ruined ( Jeremiah 40:3 ).
    the day . . . called--(but) thou wilt bring on them the day of calamity which thou hast announced, namely, by the prophets ( Jeremiah 50:1-46 , 48:27 ).
    like . . . me--in calamities ( Psalms 137:8 Psalms 137:9 , Jeremiah 51:25 , &c.).


    come before thee--so Revelation 16:19 , "Babylon came in remembrance before God" (compare Psalms 109:15 ).