THE LAMENTATIONS OF JEREMIAH. ARGUMENT. THIS book has no title in the Hebrew, but, like the five books of Moses, takes its name from the first word of it, ɔ, Echah, How. The Jewish commentators, however, entitle it, as the Greeks, Latins, our translators, and others do, Lamentations; an appellation expressive of the subject matter of it, the prophet lamenting in it, and that most pathetically, the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, the desolation of Judea, and the captivity of God's ancient people. Some indeed, and those men of eminence in literature, have supposed that the death of Josiah is the chief subject of these mournful poems, and that these are the lamentations mentioned 2 Chron. xxxv. 25, as being composed by Jeremiah on that occasion. But, as Blaney justly observes, "whatever is become of those lamentations, these cannot possibly be the same; for their whole tenor, from beginning to end, plainly shows them not to have been composed till the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple, and the depopulation of the country by the transmigration of all its inhabitants; which events are not at all described in the style of prophetic prediction, but are alluded to and bewailed as what had been already fully accomplished. And that this was the most ancient opinion held concerning them, appears from the introductory title prefixed to the Greek version of the LXX., and from thence, probably, transmitted to the Latin Vulgate :" (see note on verse 1:) but "the internal evidence is sufficient to ascertain both the date and the occasion of these compositions; nor can we admire too much the full and graceful flow of that pathetic eloquence, in which the author pours forth the effusions of a patriotic heart, and piously weeps over the ruins of his venerable country." "Never," says an unquestionable judge of these matters, "was there a more rich and elegant variety of beautiful images and adjuncts arranged together within so small a compass, nor more happily chosen and applied. What can be more elegant and poetical than the image of the city, which was formerly the pride of nations, sitting by herself, absorbed in grief, and a widow; deserted by her friends, betrayed by her relations, stretching out her hands in vain, and finding no one to comfort her? What can be more elegant than the image of the ways of Zion, which are represented as grieving, and demanding the celebration of their solemn festivals? But if we should produce all the beautiful passages, we should be obliged to transcribe the whole poem." See Bishop Lowth, de Sacra Poesi Hebræorum, Prælec. xxii. Indeed, as has been observed, the prophet's peculiar talent lay in working up and expressing the passions of grief and pity; and, unhappily for him, as a man and a citizen, he met with a subject but too well calculated to give his genius its full display. These Lamentations of Jeremiah are very properly distributed into five chapters, each of them containing a distinct elegy, consisting of twenty-two periods, or stanzas, according to the number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet; although it is in the first four chapters only that the several periods begin, acrostic-wise, with the different letters following each other in alphabetical order. By this contrivance the metre is more precisely marked and ascertained, particularly in the third chapter, where each period contains three verses, which have all the same initial letter. The first two chapters in like manner consist of triplets, excepting only the seventh period of the first, and the nineteenth of the second, which have each a supernumerary line. The fourth chapter resembles the three former in metre, but the periods are only couplets. In the fifth chapter the periods are couplets, but of a considerably shorter measure. See Blaney. CHAPTER I. The prophet begins this his first elegy with mourning over the sad change of condition which his country had experienced; at the same time sorrowfully confessing, that all her miseries were of her own procuring; the result of national wickedness and rebellion against God, 1-11. In the midst of the discourse he, on a sudden, withdraws himself from view, and leaves Jerusalem to continue the complaint which she makes, (1,) To friends, entreating their compassionate consideration, 12-17. (2) To God, justifying his righteous procedure in their affliction, but humbly soliciting, from his divine compassion, that comfort and redress which she found it in vain to look for from any other quarter. 18-22. The prophet's lamentation LAMENTATIONS. over Judah's misery. among all A. M. 3416. B. C. 588. A. M. 3416. HOW doth the city sit solitary, || tears are on her cheeks: C. 588. that was full of people! a how her lovers fshe hath none to comfort is she become as a widow! she that was great her: all her friends have dealt treacherously among the nations, and princess among the with her, they are become her enemies. provinces, how is she become tributary! с b d 3 Judah is gone into captivity because of 1 2 She weepeth sore in the night, and her affliction, and because of great servitude: a Isa. xlvii. 7, 8.vii. 3; Psa. vi. 6. b Ezra iv. 20. Jer. xiii. 17.-d Job Le Verse 19; Psa. cxxxvii. 7; Jer. iv. 30; NOTES ON CHAPTER I. Verse 1. How doth the city sit solitary-The short history of the desolations of the Jewish nation, contained in the fifty-second chapter of Jeremiah, formerly stood as a preface to the Lamentations; but, instead of it, the Greek and Latin copies have a short introduction, which may be thus translated: "And it came to pass after that Israel had been carried away captive, and Jerusalem was become desolate, that Jeremiah sat weeping, and lamented with this lamentation over Jerusalem, and said,” How, &c. The book being undoubtedly poetical, as a specimen of the kind of poetry which it contains, the reader is here presented with Blaney's translation of the first stanza. She is become as a widow, that was great among the nations! "How does she sit solitary, the city that was full of people Verse 2. She weepeth sore in the night-In the Hebrew, according to the idiom of that language, it is, Weeping she weepeth, which our old English version renders. She weepeth continually. The expression, in the night, is interpreted by some to signify her condition was so unhappy that, though oppressed with calamities, she did not dare to utter her complaints, unless secretly in the night, for fear xxx. 14; Ezra xxv. 3-15; Obad. 10-14.- f Verses 9, 16, 17, 21.- - Jer. lii. 27.- Heb. for the greatness of servitude. of irritating her enemies. Among all her lovers she hath none to comfort her-Those nations that courted her alliance in the time of her prosperity, or those allies, whose friendship she courted by sinful compliances, have forsaken her in her affliction, and joined with her enemies in insulting over her. "Several of the neighbouring princes sent their ambassadors to Zedekiah, Jer. xxvii. 3, &c., to engage him, as appears from the context, to join them in a confederacy against the power of the king of Babylon. But they not only universally failed, and deserted Judah in the time of need, but most of them turned against her, and took a malignant pleasure in aggravating her misfortunes." See Blaney and the margin. Verse 3. Judah is gone into captivity because of affliction, &c.-Her miseries have received their finishing stroke in a total captivity among, and bondage to, heathen and infidels, because of the oppression exercised by her rulers and others, and the servitude to which they obliged their subjects and inferiors. This is the interpretation adopted by the Chaldee paraphrast, who represents the Jews as having been carried into captivity, in retaliation of their having oppressed the widows and the fatherless among them, and prolonged illegally the bondage of their brethren who had been sold for slaves. But, as the word, here used, does not necessarily signify to go into captivity, but often to remove, or go into exile, whether voluntarily or by compulsion; Blaney thinks that "a voluntary migration of the Jews is here intended, many of whom, previous to the captivity, had left their country, and retired into Egypt and other parts, to avoid the oppressions and servitude that they had reason to apprehend from the Chaldeans, who had invaded, or were about to invade, their land. Either of these seuses," however, he observes, "is competent; and the interpretation according to them will be found to suit perfectly with the subsequent members of the period." She find eth no rest-No satisfaction of mind, no settled place of abode, no remission of labour, terror, and suffering; but, deprived of all peace and comfort, is continually exposed to every insult and outrage, and to all manner of oppressions and vexations. All her persecutors-Or pursuers, rather; overtook her between the straits-That is, all her enemies have taken the opportunity of her being in a difficult and distressed condition, to oppress and injure her. The expression is metaphorical, taken from those who hunt their prey, which they are wont to drive into some strait and difficult passage, from whence it cannot escape. tr The miseries of Jerusalem CHAPTER I. the result of her wickedness B. C. 598. B. C. 588. A. M. 3416. she dwelleth among the heathen, || harts that find no pasture, and they A. M. 3416. she findeth no rest: all her perse- are gone without strength before the cutors overtook her between the straits. pursuer. served, commonly ridicule the Jews' celebration of their sabbaths as a mark of their sloth and idleness. Verses 4-6. The ways of Zion do mourn-The||ity. The LXX. render it anwoμwv, rejections, or exhighways leading to Zion, which used to be thronged pulsions; all her pleasant things--All her former with people going to the solemn feasts before the riches and glory, and the various benefits she enjoyLord, now, as it were, mourned on account of no ed from God's favour and protection, particularly the persons travelling in them for that purpose. All her honour and happiness of having his peculiar pregates are desolate―The gates of Jerusalem, or of sence in the temple, and among his people, and the the temple: few or none passing through them, the manifestation he gave of his will by the prophets. city and country being depopulated; and there are Nothing is more natural than for persons, who have no longer any courts of judicature, or assemblies of fallen into adversity, to recollect the advantages people, held in her gates. Her priests sigh-Because they had formerly possessed, and to feel an aggravano victims, or other oblations, are offered, the templetion of their sufferings in proportion to the greatness and altar being destroyed. Her virgins are afflicted of the contrast. The adversaries saw her, and did -Her calamities afflict the young as well as the old,|| mock at her sabbaths--Not considering the excellent and persons of all ages and ranks are in bitterness. uses those days were designed for; namely, to give Her adversaries are the chief-Her enemies have men a proper degree of relaxation from labour; got the advantage over her, and she is become their leisure to attend upon the service of God, and learn vassal. This was a judgment that Moses threatened the duties of religion; and to celebrate the creation to them if they proved disobedient, Deut. xxviii. 43; of the world, that wonderful effect of infinite wisdom, namely, that their enemies should be the head, and power, and goodness, which can never be sufficientthey the tail. For the Lord hath afflicted her-ly extolled. The heathen writers, it must be obHath fulfilled his threatenings, denounced in case of disobedience. For the multitude of her transgressions-The procuring, provoking cause of all her Verses 8, 9. Jerusalem hath grievously sinned— calamities: for whoever may be made the instru- Hebrew, Non son, in sinning hath sinned, or hath ments, God is the author of all these troubles: it is sinned sin: that is, sinned wilfully and deliberately; the Lord that has afflicted her, and he has done it as hath sinned that sin which of all others is the abomia righteous judge, because of her transgressions, nable thing which the Lord hates, the sin of idolatry. which have been very many as well as very great. The sins of Jerusalem, which makes such a profesHence her children, her inhabitants, are gone into sion of worshipping and serving the true God, and captivity before the enemy-Are forced into slavery therefore of obeying his will, and enjoys such priviby the Chaldeans, as cattle are driven in herds by leges, are of all others the most grievous sins. Therethem that sell them. And from the daughter of Zion fore she is removed-The greatest part of her inhabitall her beauty is departed--All the glory of God's ants are either carried away captive to Babylon, or are sanctuary, and the comely order of his worship, and || fled for refuge and safety to some of the neighbourall the beauty of holiness. Her princes are like ing nations. Blaney translates this clause, Thereharts, &c.--That upon the first alarm betake them- fore hath she been as one set apart for unclean, inselves to flight, and make no resistance: they are be- stead of 77, a word that occurs nowhere else, readcome dispirited, have lost their courage, given waying 7, after nineteen MSS., which signifies a woand fled before their enemies. man in her state of separation, All that honoured her, Verse 7. Jerusalem remembered in her affliction|| despise her-She hath made herself vile, and thereand misery. The word ', here rendered fore is justly vilified. Because they have seen her misery, frequently signifies banishment and captiv-|| nakedness-Have seen her deprived of all her In the midst of her calamities, B. C. 588. LAMENTATIONS. 6 Jerusalem makes her complaint. B. C. 588. that pass A. M. 3416. 9 Her filthiness is in her skirts; she || have given their pleasant things for A. M. 3416. • remembereth not her last end; there- meat to relieve the soul: see, O LORD, fore she came down wonderfully: P she had no and consider; for I am become vile. comforter. O LORD, behold my affliction: for the 12 Is it nothing to you, all ye that' enemy hath magnified himself. by? behold, and see "if there be any sorrow 10 The adversary hath spread out his hand like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, upon all her pleasant things: for she hath wherewith the LORD hath afflicted me in the seen that the heathen entered into her sanc-day of his fierce anger. tuary, whom thou didst command that they should not enter into thy congregation. 4 S 13 From above hath he sent fire into my bones, and it prevaileth against them: he hath 11 All her people sigh, they seek bread; they spread a net for my feet, he hath turned me • Deuteronomy xxxii. 29; Isaiah xlvii. 7.—P Verses 2, 17, 21. Verse 7. - Or, desirable.— Jer. li. 51.—— Deut. xxiii. 3; Neh. xiii. 1. 5 Or, to make -Heb. pass by Ezek. xii. 13; xvii. 20. 'Jer. xxxviii. 9; lii. 6; Chap. ii. 12; iv. 4.- rusalem to God for relief; for I am become vile— That is, miserable and contemptible. &c. &c. O all ye, who pass by the way, observe, see, Lowth also and Blaney prefer reading it in a similar way; the former thus: O all ye that pass by; or, O! I appeal to all you that pass by: and the latter, O that among you, all ye that pass by the way, ye would look and see, &c. Our translation, however, is more agreeable to the Hebrew, and certainly more expressive and emphatical. The pro strength and glory. As she had defiled herself with idolatry, (called spiritual adultery in Scripture,) so God has ordered her to be exposed to shame like a Verse 12. Is it nothing to you? &c.-The Vulgate common harlot. Yea, she sigheth and turneth back-reads this clause without an interrogation, thus: ward-As ashamed to be seen in such a despicable O vos omnes qui transitis per viam attendite, videte, condition, destitute of all those things which constituted her former glory. Her filthiness is in her skirts-She carries the marks of her sins in the greatness of her punishments. She remembereth not her last end-Reflects not on what is still further coming upon her. "The plain meaning of this," says Blaney, "taken out of metaphor, seems to be, that although evident marks of her pollution appeared about her, and the land was defiled by her sinful-phet speaks in the name of Jerusalem, or of the ness, even to its utmost borders, she had no thought or consideration of what must be the consequence of|| all this at the last." Therefore she came down wonderfully-She was brought low, and humbled in an extraordinary manner having sinned grievously, verse 8, she was degraded and punished wonderfully. Observe, reader, grievous sins bring wondrous ruin; there are some workers of iniquity for whom is prepared a strange and uncommon punishment. Verse 10, 11. The adversary hath—Or rather, did, spread his hand upon all her pleasant things -Hebrew, ', her desirable things, namely, her riches, and what else she most desired to preserve. She hath seen the heathen entered into her sanctuary, &c.-She saw heathen nations, whom thou hadst forbidden even to be admitted into thy congregation, (as being uncircumcised,) enter into the sanctuary farther than ever her own people themselves were permitted to go. The Chaldeans entered into the inmost part of the sanctuary, even into the holy of holies, into which none of the Jews, except the high-priest, were ever allowed to enter. All her people sigh, they seek bread-He probably refers to the time of the invasion of the country by the Chaldeans, and the siege of Jerusalem, when the whole body of the people were in a sad condition, and, in a land that ordinarily flowed with milk and honey, were at a loss for bread to eat. They have given their pleasant things for meat to relieve the soulThey have parted with their riches and all their desirable things to purchase bread to sustain their lives. See, O Lord, and consider―This is a prayer of Je Jewish Church, still represented as a woman in misery, sitting by the way-side, and calling to travellers that passed by to have compassion on her, suggesting to them that hers was no ordinary affliction, nor the visitation of a common and ordinary providence, but the effect of the Lord's fierce anger, a most severe though just chastisement. The intention of the passage is to show that the calamities brought on the Jews, as the punishment of their idolatries and other crimes, ought to be observed and maturely considered by people of all nations, that from their miseries they might learn how dangerous it was to provoke the God of Israel by such practices; which he would not overlook in any people, not even in those that stood in the nearest relation to him, but would assuredly punish them: and to signify to the Babylonians themselves in what danger they stood by despising and setting at naught this only living and true God. But the prophet does not address them by name, nor speak more pointedly, lest he should irritate them still more against his already too miserable countrymen. "These words are often quoted in speaking of our Lord's sufferings, and they are capable of a striking accommodation thereto : but it should be recollected that this is only an accommodation, and not the real meaning of the sacred writer.”—Mr. Scott: who adds, “The address is so exquisitely pathetical, that no comment can possibly do justice to it." Verses 13-16. From above hath he sent fire into my bones-Calamities as consuming and as afflictive as fire in the bones. He hath spread a net for my feet Jerusalem complains of her grief, B. C. 588. B. C. 588. A. M. 3416. back: he hath made me desolate || comforter that should relieve my soul A. M. 3416 and faint all the day. is far from me: my children are desolate, because the enemy prevailed. 17 Zion spreadeth forth her hands, and there is none to comfort her: the LORD hath commanded concerning Jacob, that his adversaries should be round about him: Jerusalem is as a menstruous woman among them. 14 The yoke of my transgressions is bound by his hand they are wreathed, and come up upon my neck: he hath made my strength to fall, the LORD hath delivered me into their hands, from whom I am not able to rise up. 15 The LORD hath trodden under foot all my mighty men in the midst of me: he hath called an assembly against me to crush my young men: the LORD hath trodden 8 the virgin, the daughter of Judah, as in a wine-press. 16 For these things I weep; a mine eye, mine eye runneth down with water, because the b y Deut. xxviii. 48.- - Isa. lxiii. 3; Rev. xiv. 19, 20; xix. 15. Or, the wine-press of the virgin, &c. Jer. xiii. 17; xiv. 17; Chap. ii. 18.- b Verses 2, 9. my soul-Namely, God; is far from me-Hath withdrawn himself, is departed from me in displeasure, and beholds me afar off. My children are desolate-The other cities of Judah, under Jerusalem, the mother city, or my people, are wasted, destroyed, and made desolate, because the enemy hath prevailed-And effected his purpose. Verse 17. Zion spreadeth forth her hands-She extendeth her hands as a suppliant praying for relief and consolation. And there is none to comfort The Lord hath commanded, &c.—That is, it came to pass by God's command, that the surrounding nations were the adversaries of Jacob. We meet with a similar form of expression Psa. lxviii. 11, The Lord gave the word, great was the company of those that published it. Jerusalem is as a menstruous woman-She is become loathsome and filthy in the eyes of her former friends, like women separated from the congregation in the time of their legal uncleanness. -Hath brought me into a most miserable condition, || and am in such distress, that mine eye runneth down in which I am so entangled that I cannot extricate || with water, because the comforter that should relieve myself nor escape from it. Thus the prophet teaches Jerusalem to look beyond the Babylonians, and to see the sin-avenging hand of God in her sufferings. As if he had said, It is God himself that hath sent these evils upon me; he hath stirred up my enemies against me, and they are no more than the rod of his anger. The yoke of my transgressions is bound by his hand, &c.—He has, as it were, gathered my iniquities and the iniquities of my people together, and made a yoke of them to put upon me, so that I am weighed down by them, and by the judg-her-None who can, or are even inclined to do it. ments inflicted on account of them. They are wreathed, and come up upon my neck-My punishments are twisted with my sins as cords to make them strong: I have a complication of judgments upon me, sword, famine, pestilence, captivity; and they are not only prepared for my neck, but are already put upon it. He hath made my strength to fall, &c.-All my valiant men, the strength of my nation, is broken, and I am so fallen that I am not able to rise again. The Lord hath trodden under foot all my mighty men, &c.—The destruction which is made by war is frequently expressed by treading under foot: see note on Jer. 1. 26. He hath called an assembly against me to crush, &c.-Instead of those solemn assemblies that were wont to be called together in the midst of me by the sound of trumpet, to celebrate my solemn feasts, God hath called an assembly of Chaldeans to lay me in ruins, and crush my people. The Lord hath trodden the daughter of Judah as in a wine-press-That people, which was formerly chosen by Jehovah, and secured against all violent attempts by his immediate and almighty protection, he has now given up to the fury of their enemies, to afflict them with such severity that their blood has been shed in the streets of Jerusalem as wine from the wine-press. For these things I weep, &c.-For these sore afflictions, and for my sins which have caused them, and for these tokens of divine wrath which I see in them I weep so plentifully, Verses 18, 19. The Lord is righteous, for I have rebelled, &c.-He does me no wrong in dealing thus with me, nor can I charge him with any injustice. Observe, reader, whatever the troubles are which God is pleased to inflict upon us, we must own that in them he is righteous: we neither know him nor ourselves, if we do not acknowledge this. Jerusalem owns the equity of God's actions by confessing the iniquity of her own. Hear, I pray you, all people-See note on verse 12. My virgins and my young men are gone into captivity-Thus it is said, 2 Chron. xxxvi. 17, that the Chaldeans had "no compassion upon young men or maidens." I called for my lovers, but they deceived me-They proved like the brooks in summer to the thirsty traveller, Job vi. 15. The Egyptians and her other allies are intended, who made court to her in her prosperity, and promised her assistance, but in the day of her adversity and necessity were alienated from her, and |