60. imaginations—devices ( :-). Their vengeance—means their malice. Jeremiah gives his conduct, when plotted against by his foes, as an example how the Jews should bring their wrongs at the hands of the Chaldeans before God. Schin. read more
C. Jeremiah’s prayer 3:41-66The following section of the lament falls into two parts, marked by Jeremiah’s use of the plural (Lamentations 3:41-47) and singular personal pronouns (Lamentations 3:48-66). In the first part, he called on the Judahites to confess their sins to God. In the second part, he recalled God’s past deliverance in answer to prayer, which motivated him to ask God to judge his enemies. In both sections, the prophet modeled proper behavior for his people. read more
2. A recollection of past deliverance 3:48-66 read more
Jeremiah knew that Yahweh had seen his affliction. He asked that He would judge him, knowing that the Lord would be fair."Perhaps because of their status as the Chosen People the Jews were always sensitive to abuse and injury inflicted from outside, whatever the source. Consequently they found it impossible to overlook these hostile acts, with the result that the imprecations which they hurled at their enemies, while typical of such Near Eastern utterances, seem to possess an unexpected and... read more
Zion’s Hope in God’s MercyThis third poem is the most elaborate in structure and the most sublime in thought of all. The poet speaks not only for himself, but for the nation. The order of thought is sorrow, confession, repentance, prayer. Though consisting of 66 vv. the poem is but a little longer than the others. Three consecutive vv. are built upon each letter of the Heb. alphabet: each triplet is usually closely associated in thought, and consequently grouped together as in the RV.1-18. Zion... read more
(60) All their imaginations . . .—Same word as the “devices” of Jeremiah 11:19; Jeremiah 18:18, to which the writer obviously refers. read more
The Shadow of the Cross (For Palm Sunday) Lamentations 3:19 We celebrate Today an event that stands alone in the sacred life of Jesus, the solitary occasion on which He was publicly honoured and escorted into Jerusalem amid popular rejoicings the central Figure in a grand procession of triumph. Palm Sunday is a day of triumph, but still there is something sad even in the triumph, and so we take our text from Lamentations. I. The Shadow of the Cross. The week which opens with a triumph closes... read more
DE PROFUNDISLamentations 3:55-66As this third elegy-the richest and the most elaborate of the five that constitute the Book of Lamentations-draws to a close it retains its curious character of variability, not aiming at any climax, but simply winding on till its threefold acrostics are completed by the limits of the Hebrew alphabet, like a river that is monotonous in the very succession of its changes, now flowing through a dark gorge, then rippling in clear sunlight, and again plunging into... read more
CHAPTER 3 The Prophet’s Suffering and Distress This chapter is intensely personal. None but Jeremiah could have written these wonderful expressions of sorrow, the sorrows of the people of God into which he entered so fully, in such a way that they become his own. He shared all their afflictions, bore them himself and then was hated by them. It was the Spirit of Christ who created these feelings in the heart of the prophet. In reading these words of deep distress and the words of faith and... read more
Get Bible verse every day in your inbox
Read on Mobile
Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Lamentations 3:1-66
Grief, repentance and hope (3:1-66)This poem is different in style from the previous two. The poet speaks as if he is the representative of all Judah, describing Judah’s sufferings as if they were his own. And those sufferings are God’s righteous judgment (3:1-3). He is like a starving man ready to die. Indeed, he feels as if he already dwells in the world of the dead (4-6). He is like a man chained and locked inside a stone prison from which there is no way out (7-9).To the writer God seems... read more