Lamentations 1:2 Komentář

We have here the first alphabet of this lamentation, twenty-two stanzas, in which the miseries of Jerusalem are bitterly bewailed and her present deplorable condition is aggravated by comparing it with her former prosperous state; all along, sin is acknowledged and complained of as the procuring cause of all these miseries; and God is appealed to for justice against their enemies and applied to for compassion towards them. The chapter is all of a piece, and the several remonstrances are interwoven; but here is, I. A complaint made to God of their calamities, and his compassionate consideration desired (Lam 1:1-11). II. The same complaint made to their friends, and their compassionate consideration desired (Lam 1:12-17). III. An appeal to God and his righteousness concerning it (Lam 1:18-22), in which he is justified in their affliction and is humbly solicited to justify himself in their deliverance.

This chapter contains a complaint of the miseries of the city of Jerusalem, and the nation of the Jews; first by the Prophet Jeremiah, then by the Jewish people; and is concluded with a prayer of theirs. The prophet deplores the state of the city, now depopulated and become tributary, which had been full of people, and ruled over others; but now in a very mournful condition, and forsaken and ill used by her lovers and friends, turned her enemies, Lam 1:1; and next the state of the whole nation; being carried captive for their sins among the Heathens; having no rest, being overtaken by their persecutors, Lam 1:3; but what most of all afflicted him was the state of Zion; her ways mourning; her solemn feasts neglected; her gates desolate; her priests sighing, and virgins afflicted; her adversaries prosperous; her beauty departed; her sabbaths mocked; her nakedness seen; and all her pleasant things in the sanctuary seized on by the adversary; and all this because of her many transgressions, grievous sins, and great pollution and vileness, which are confessed, Lam 1:4; then the people themselves, or the prophet representing them, lament their case, and call upon others to sympathize with them, Lam 1:12; observing the sad desolation made by the hand of the Lord upon them for their iniquities, Lam 1:13; on account of which great sorrow is expressed; and their case is represented as the more distressing, that they had no comforter, Lam 1:16; then follows a prayer to God, in which his righteousness in doing or suffering all this is acknowledged, and mercy is entreated for themselves, and judgments on their enemies, Lam 1:18.

She weepeth sore in the night,.... Or, "weeping weeps" (i); two weepings, one for the first, the other for the second temples (k); and while others are taking their sleep and rest; a season fit for mourners, when they can give their grief the greater vent, without any interruption from others; and it being now a night of affliction with her, which occasioned this sore weeping. Jarchi observes, that it was in the night that the temple was burnt: and her tears are on her cheeks; continue there, being always flowing, and never wholly dried up; which shows how great her grief was, and that her weeping was without intermission; or otherwise tears do not lie long, but are soon dried up, or wiped off: among all her lovers she hath none to comfort her; as the Assyrians formerly were, Eze 23:5; and more lately the Egyptians her allies and confederates, in whom she trusted; but these gave her no assistance; nor yielded her any relief in her distress; nor so much as spoke one word of comfort to her: all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they are become her enemies; those who pretended great friendship to her, and were in strict alliance with her, acted the treacherous part, and withdrew from her, leaving her to the common enemy; and not only so, but behaved towards her in a hostile manner themselves; for "the children of Noph and Tahapanes", places in Egypt confederate with the Jews, are said to "have broken the crown of their head", Jer 2:16. The Targum interprets the "lovers" of the "idols" she loved to follow, who now could be of no use unto her by way of comfort. (i) "plorando plorat", Vatablus; "plorando plorabit", Pagninus, Montanus. (k) T. Sanhedr. ib. col. 2.

Bringing someone to his senses is censure, which makes one think. And he does not abstain from this form of instruction either, but says by Jeremiah, “How long shall I cry, and you not hear? So your ears are uncircumcised.” O blessed forbearance! And again, by the same: “All the heathen are uncircumcised, but this people is uncircumcised in heart,” “for the people are disobedient children,” he says, “in whom faith does not exist.” … Bewailing one’s fate is latent censure and artfully helps to bring salvation, albeit under stealth. He made use of this by Jeremiah: “How did the city sit solitary that was full of people! She that ruled over territories became as a widow; she came under tribute; weeping, she wept in the night.” … In the end, the system God pursues to inspire fear is the source of salvation. And it is the prerogative of goodness to save: “The mercy of the Lord is on all flesh, while he reproves, corrects and teaches as a shepherd does his flock. He pities those who receive his instruction and those who eagerly seek union with him.” … “For according to the greatness of his mercy, so is his rebuke.” For it is indeed noble not to sin, but it is good also for the sinner to repent, just as it is best to be always in good health but well to recover from disease. So he commands by Solomon, “Strike your son with the rod, that you may deliver his soul from death.” And again, “Do not abstain from chastising your son but correct him with the rod, for he will not die.” For reproof and rebuke, as also the original term implies, are the stripes of the soul, chastising sins, preventing death and leading to self-control for those who are out of control.… And so we, too, who in our lives are sick with shameful lusts and reprehensible excesses and other inflammatory effects of the passions, need the Savior. And he administers not only mild but also stringent medicines. The bitter roots of fear then arrest the eating sores of our sins. This is why fear is also salutary, if bitter. Sick, we truly stand in need of the Savior; having wandered, of one to guide us; blind, of one to lead us to the light; thirsty, “of the fountain of life, of which whoever partakes shall no longer thirst”; dead, we need life; sheep, we need a shepherd; we who are children need a tutor, while universal humanity stands in need of Jesus; so that we may not continue intractable and sinners to the end and thus fall into condemnation but may be separated from the chaff and stored up in the paternal garner.

As for Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel, who can fully understand or adequately explain them? The first of them seems to compose not a prophecy but a gospel. The second speaks of a rod of an almond tree and of a seething pot with its face toward the north, and of a leopard that has changed its spots. He also goes four times through the alphabet in different meters.

WEEPING SHE HAS WEPT: the fourth topic of complaint, in which shameful, mean and ignoble acts are recounted before the suffering, which is very often the case here. ALL HER FRIENDS HAVE DESPISED HER: similarly the Church is sometimes afflicted for her sins and spurned by interior as well as exterior enemies. ALL HER FRIENDS &c: the thirteenth topic of complaint, by which we complain with indignation, when we are badly treated by those by whom it would be least becoming. Historical interpretation. WEEPING SHE HAS WEPT IN THE NIGHT: what it is she bewails, the letter BETH makes clear through its interpretation, ‘house’, that house, namely, that entered into Egypt with Jacob and went out by the mercy of the Lord, according to this: When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob. But on the other hand, because of her sins, she is taken captive in Babylon, and therefore WEEPING she weeps IN THE NIGHT, because in the day, rest is not given to them, that they at least may be consoled by their own tears and, at a late hour, cleanse their eyes, which they previously used to raise to idols and, which is worse, THERE IS NONE TO COMFORT HER of all her friends previously flattering her. HER TEARS ARE ON HER CHEEKS, so that they may be more confused among the enemies and be content with their own disgrace. By means of idolatry, however, the people, brought into captivity, was harshly shattered by its enemies, but even harsher by Titus and Vespasian; the people, who for long have been upheld by God’s patience, but, being impenitent, have treasured up anger towards themselves in the day of wrath. Allegorical interpretation. WEEPING SHE HAS WEPT IN THE NIGHT: the Church of Christ weeps IN THE NIGHT, that is to say among the adversities of this life, since she, although predestined to glory, nevertheless abides in the obscurity of ignorance and the hazards of blindness. She weeps what she endures without; within she weeps the hardships of her infirmity; but she weeps WEEPING, because she is previously punctured on the inside and thus baptized on the outside with her own tears, which are produced from the spring of her heart, and of whose abundance the prophet makes allusion when he says: WEEPING SHE HAS WEPT. In this fashion the outward man needing to be reshaped is cleansed no less than the inward, whence it follows: HER TEARS ARE ON HER CHEEKS: those who know to mourn and not conceal their own faults nor those of others, of whom it is spoken in the Canticles: Thy cheeks are as a piece of a pomegranate, besides that which lies hid within. Indeed, in these the beauty of the Church is shown and through their proclamation we are drawn to the body of the Church. Just as those who labor more than others in the body of Christ, they mourn more and lament those whom they see abide in the night of wrongs and in the blindness of error. The Church weeps IN THE NIGHT and does not ignore the shadows of her sins. She carries her tears ON HER CHEEKS, with which she every day renews her beauty. To be sure, Mary is of benefit to Martha being troubled, when she weeps WEEPING at the Lord’s feet. The bride weeps far away from her spouse’s embrace, and she weeps in the valley, that is to say IN THE NIGHT of this ignorance. WEEPING SHE HAS WEPT, namely of desire for the heavenly fatherland and for her own sins and the sins of others in this world. She weeps for those who are dead to the world, she weeps for virgins, for widows, she weeps for all who confess themselves pilgrims and visitors to this earth. THERE IS NONE TO COMFORT HER AMONG ALL THEM THAT WERE DEAR TO HER: that is to say the saints or the angels, unless she receives the comfort of her spouse. Hence ALL HER FRIENDS HAVE DESPISED HER, since God scorns her, AND HAVE BECOME HER ENEMIES, to whom God is an enemy, with whose justice they cannot be at variance. Moral interpretation. WEEPING SHE HAS WEPT IN THE NIGHT: that is to say the soul, in the blindness of sin, of which it is said: Let that night be solitary, and not worthy of praise. But she does not weep on her own decision, but due to the Lord’s compassion, whence the prophet, wailing in the person of the Lord, says: How doth the city sit solitary &c. For lest the Lord, moved by pity, had seen her sit solitary, she had hardly lamented herself. The Lord looked on Peter, and he wept bitterly. HER TEARS ARE ON HER CHEEKS: the cheek is the conscience of the soul. The face is formed by the cheeks; the character of everyone is shown in the conscience. The conscience, however, that is aware of its sins, should always let itself be watered from the spring of tears, whence David: My sin is always before me. Alternatively THERE IS NONE TO COMFORT HER, the true Paraclete being dismissed, that is the Holy Ghost, especially as ALL HER FRIENDS, i. e. the desires for perverted pleasure, BECOME HER ENEMIES, when, according to the Apostle, on Judgement Day thoughts will rise, accusing or defending the poor conscience, and demons, most wicked persuaders, who now flatter by deceiving.

Verse 2 laments the violation of friendship. So, first is indicated the need for friends. As expressed: "She weeps bitterly": as if continuously: Jerusalem. And, "in the night": privately, due to fear of enemies, or as one in adversity. Also: "tears on her cheeks": since there are none who would wipe them away. As Psalm 6:6 states: "every night I flood my bed with tears" Secondly, as to lack of aid: "among all her lovers she has none to comfort her". That is, offering any aid against her enemies. For: "all her friends have dwelt treacherously with her". Namely, the Egyptians and all joining with them. As Ecclesiastes 4:1 claims: "Again I saw all the oppressions that are practiced under the sun. And behold, the tears of the oppressed and they had no one to comfort them." Thirdly, all affection is changeable. As said: "all her friends have dwelt treacherously with her, they have become her enemies." To this second Verse is applied the Hebrew alphabet letter "Beth". This letter can symbolize a "House". For the house of Jacob now weeps, as a third situation for lamenting is pointed out. Allegorically, the Church weeps over her enemies. As Verse 2 expresses: "tears on her cheek": on Church prelates. And: "among her lovers": as the holy angels. Also: "she has none to comfort her" as one person consoling with divine justice. Morally, the human soul laments. As said: "she weeps bitterly in the night." That is, for sins. Then: "tears on her cheek", the conscience by which action of one speaks. And: "among all her lovers": in her private affections. Also: "she has none to comfort her" with any pleasures of perverted affection.

The prophet begins with lamenting the dismal reverse of fortune that befell his country, confessing at the same time that her calamities were the just consequence of her sins, Lam 1:1-6. Jerusalem herself is then personified and brought forward to continue the sad complaint, and to solicit the mercy of God, vv. 7-22. In all copies of the Septuagint, whether of the Roman or Alexandrian editions, the following words are found as a part of the text: Και εγενετο μετα το αιχμαλωτισθηναι τον Ισραηλ, και Ιερουσαλημ ερημωθηναι, εκαθισεν Ιερεμιας κλαιων, και εθρηνησεν τον θρηνον τουτον επι Ιερουσαλημ, και ειπεν· - And it came to pass after Israel had been carried away captive, and Jerusalem was become desolate, that Jeremiah sat weeping: and he lamented with this lamentation over Jerusalem; and he said." The Vulgate has the same, with some variations: - "Et factum est, postquam in captivitatem redactus est Israel, et Jerusalem deserta est, sedit Jeremias propheta fiens, et planxit lamentations hac in Jerusalem, et amaro animo suspirans et ejulans, digit." The translation of this, as given in the first translation of the Bible into English, may be found at the end of Jeremiah, taken from an ancient MS. in my own possession. I subjoin another taken from the first Printed edition of the English Bible, that by Coverdale, 1535. "And it came to passe, (after Israel was brought into captyvitie, and Jerusalem destroyed); that Jeremy the prophet sat weeping, mournynge, and makinge his mone in Jerusalem; so that with an hevy herte he sighed and sobbed, sayenge." Matthew's Bible, printed in 1549, refines upon this: "It happened after Israell was brought into captyvite, and Jerusalem destroyed, that Jeremy the prophet sate wepyng, and sorrowfully bewayled Jerusalem; and syghynge and hewlynge with an hevy and wooful hert, sayde." Becke's Bible of the same date, and Cardmarden's of 1566, have the same, with a trifling change in the orthography. On this Becke and others have the following note: - "These words are read in the lxx. interpreters: but not in the Hebrue." All these show that it was the ancient opinion that the Book of Lamentations was composed, not over the death of Josiah, but on account of the desolations of Israel and Jerusalem. The Arabic copies the Septuagint. The Syriac does not acknowledge it; and the Chaldee has these words only: "Jeremiah the great priest and prophet said."

Among all her lovers - Her allies; her friends, instead of helping her, have helped her enemies. Several who sought her friendship when she was in prosperity, in the time of David and Solomon, are now among her enemies.

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; Kg1 4:21; Ch2 9:26; Ezr 4:20) become tributary!" [MAURER]. sit--on the ground; the posture of mourners (Lam 2:10; Ezr 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, JudÃ&brvbra 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.

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 2:20-25) could not comfort her. Her former allies would not: nay, some "treacherously" joined her enemies against her (Kg2 24:2, Kg2 24:7; Psa 137:7).

Sorrow and Wailing over the Fall of Jerusalem and Judah (Note: Keil has attempted, in his German translation of this and the next three chapters, to reproduce something of the alphabetic acrosticism of the original (see above, p. 466); but he has frequently been compelled, in consequence, to give something else than a faithful reproduction of the Hebrew. It will be observed that his example has not been followed here; but his peculiar renderings have generally been given, except where these peculiarities were evidently caused by the self-imposed restraint now mentioned. He himself confesses, in two passages omitted from the present translation (pp. 591 and 600 of the German original), that for the sake of reproducing the alphabeticism, he has been forced to deviate from a strict translation of the ideas presented in the Hebrew. - Tr.) 1 Alas! how she sits alone, the city that was full of people! She has become like a widow, that was great among the nations; The princess among provinces has become a vassal. 2 She weeps bitterly through the night, and her tears are upon her cheek; She has no comforter out of all her lovers: All her friends have deceived her; they have become enemies to her. 3 Judah is taken captive out of affliction, and out of much servitude; She sitteth among the nations, she hath found no rest; All those who pursued her overtook her in the midst of her distresses. 4 The ways of Zion mourn, for want of those who went up to the appointed feast; All her gates are waste; her priests sigh; Her virgins are sad, and she herself is in bitterness. 5 Her enemies have become supreme; those who hate her are at ease; For Jahveh hath afflicted her because of the multitude of her transgressions: Her young children have gone into captivity before the oppressor. 6 And from the daughter of Zion all her honour has departed; Her princes have become like harts [that] have found no pasture, And have gone without strength before the pursuer. 7 In the days of her affliction and her persecutions, Jerusalem remembers all her pleasant things which have been from the days of old: When her people fell by the hand of the oppressor, and there was none to help her, Her oppressors saw her, - they laughed at her times of rest. 8 Jerusalem hath sinned grievously, therefore she hath become an abomination: All those who honoured her despise her, because they have seen her nakedness; And she herself sighs, and turns backward. 9 Her filth is on her flowing skirts; she remembered not her latter end; And so she sank wonderfully: she has no comforter. "O Jahveh, behold my misery!" for the enemy hath boasted. 10 The oppressor hath spread out his hand upon all her precious things; For she hath seen [how] the heathen have come into her sanctuary, [Concerning] whom Thou didst command that they should not enter into Thy community. 11 All her people [have been] sighing, seeking bread; They have given their precious things for bread, to revive their soul. See, O Jahveh, and consider that I am become despised. 12 [Is it] nothing to you, all ye that pass along the way? Consider, and see if there be sorrow like my sorrow which is done to me, Whom Jahveh hath afflicted in the day of the burning of His anger. 13 From above He sent fire in my bones, so that it mastered them; He hath spread a net for my feet, He hath turned me back; He hath made me desolate and ever languishing. 14 The yoke of my transgressions hath been fastened to by His hand; They have interwoven themselves, they have come up on my neck; it hath made my strength fail: The Lord hath put me into the hands of [those against whom] I cannot rise up. 15 The Lord hath removed all my strong ones in my midst; He hath proclaimed a festival against me, to break my young men in pieces: The Lord hath trodden the wine-press for the virgin daughter of Judah. 16 Because of these things I weep; my eye, my eye runneth down [with] water, Because a comforter is far from me, one to refresh my soul; My children are destroyed, because the enemy hath prevailed. 17 Zion stretcheth forth her hands, [yet] there is none to comfort her; Jahveh hath commanded concerning Jacob; his oppressors are round about him: Jerusalem hath become an abomination among them. 18 Jahveh is righteous, for I have rebelled against His mouth. Hear now, all ye peoples, and behold my sorrow; My virgins and my young men are gone into captivity. 19 I called for my lovers, [but] they have deceived me; My priests and my elders expired in the city, When they were seeking bread for themselves, that they might revive their spirit. 20 Behold, O Jahveh, how distressed I am! my bowels are moved; My heart is turned within me, for I was very rebellious: Without, the sword bereaveth [me]; within, [it is] like death. 21 They have heard that I sigh, I have no comforter: All mine enemies have heard of my trouble; they are glad because Thou hast done it. Thou bringest the day [that] Thou hast proclaimed, that they may be like me. 22 Let all their wickedness come before Thee, And do to them as Thou hast done to me because of all my transgressions; For my sighs are many and my heart is faint. Lamentations 1:1-22 The poem begins with a doleful meditation on the deeply degraded state into which Jerusalem has fallen; and in the first half (Lam 1:1-11), lament is made over the sad condition of the unhappy city, which, forsaken by all her friends, and persecuted by enemies, has lost all her glory, and, finding no comforter in her misery, pines in want and disesteem. In the second half (Lam 1:12-22), the city herself is introduced, weeping, and giving expression to her sorrow over the evil determined against her because of her sins. Both portions are closely connected. On the one hand, we find, even in Lam 1:9 and Lam 1:11, tones of lamentation, like signs from the city, coming into the description of her misery, and preparing the way for the introduction of her lamentation in Lam 1:12-22; on the other hand, her sin is mentioned even so early as in Lam 1:5 and Lam 1:8 as the cause of her misfortune, and the transition thus indicated from complaint to the confession of guilt found in the second part. This transition is made in Lam 1:17 by means of a kind of meditation on the cheerless and helpless condition of the city. The second half of the poem is thereby divided into two equal portions, and in such a manner that, while in the former of these (Lam 1:12-16) it is complaint that prevails, and the thought of guilt comes forward only in Lam 1:14, in the latter (Lam 1:18-22) the confession of God's justice and of sin in the speaker becomes most prominent; and the repeated mention of misery and oppression rises into an entreaty for deliverance from the misery, and the hope that the Lord will requite all evil on the enemy.

In this sorrow of hers she has not a single comforter, since all her friends from whom she could expect consolation have become faithless to her, and turned enemies. בּכו תבכּה, "weeping she weeps," i.e., she weeps very much, or bitterly, not continually (Meier); the inf. abs. before the verb does not express the continuation, but the intensity of the action Gesenius, 131, 3, a; Ewald, 312]. בּלּילה, "in the night," not "on into the night" (Ewald). The weeping by night does not exclude, but includes, weeping by day; cf. Lam 2:18. Night is mentioned as the time when grief and sorrow are wont to give place to sleep. When tears do not cease to flow even during the night, the sorrow must be overwhelming. The following clause, "and her tears are upon her cheek," serves merely to intensify, and must not be placed (with Thenius) in antithesis to what precedes: "while her sorrow shows itself most violently during the loneliness of the night, her cheeks are yet always wet with tears (even during the day)." But the greatness of this sorrow of heart is due to the fact that she has no comforter, - a thought which is repeated in Lam 1:9, Lam 1:16, Lam 1:17, and Lam 1:21. For her friends are faithless, and have become enemies. "Lovers" and "friends" are the nations with which Jerusalem made alliances, especially Egypt (cf. Jer 2:36.); then the smaller nations round about, - Edomites, Moabites, Ammonites, and Phoenicians, with which Zedekiah had conspired against the king of Babylon, Jer 27:3. Testimony is given in Psa 137:7 to the hostile dealing on the part of the Edomites against Judah at the destruction of Jerusalem; and Ezekiel (Eze 25:3, Eze 25:6) charges the Ammonite and Tyrians with having shown malicious delight over the fall of Jerusalem; but the hostility of the Moabites is evident from the inimical behaviour of their King Baalis towards Judah, mentioned in Jer 40:14.