He was unto me as a bear lying in wait ,.... For its prey, which seizes on it at once, and tears it in pieces; such were the Chaldeans to the Jews by divine permission: and as a lion in secret places ; lurking there, in order to take every opportunity and advantage, and fall upon any creature that comes that way. The same thing is signified here as before; see Hosea 5:14 . read more
Verse 10 Harsh is the complaint when Jeremiah compares God to a. bear and a lion. But we have said that the apprehension of God’s wrath so terrified the faithful, that they could not sufficiently express the atrocity of their calamity; and then borne in mind must also be what we have stated, that they spoke according to the judgment of the flesh; for they did not always so moderate their feelings, but that something fell from them worthy of blame. We ought not, then, to make as a rule in... read more
MONOLOGUE SPOKEN BY AN INDIVIDUAL BELIEVER WHOSE FATE IS BOUND UP WITH THAT OF THE NATION ; OR PERHAPS BY THE NATION PERSONIFIED (see Introduction). read more
Was; rather, is. As a bear ...as a lion . The comparison of the enemy to a lion is not uncommon; see e.g. Jeremiah 4:7 ; Jeremiah 5:6 (see note); Jeremiah 49:19 ; Jeremiah 1:1-19 :44; Psalms 10:9 ; Psalms 17:12 ; Job 10:16 . The bear is only once mentioned in such a context ( Hosea 13:8 ). The two latter passages may possibly have been in the mind of the writer, as Jehovah is in both the subject of the comparison. read more
Having dwelt upon the difficulties which hemmed in his path, he now shows that there are dangers attending upon escape.Lamentations 3:11The meaning is, “God, as a lion, lying in wait, has made me turn aside from my path, but my flight was in vain, for springing upon me from His ambush lie has torn me in pieces.”Desolate - Or, astonied, stupefied that he cannot flee. The word is a favorite one with Jeremiah.Lamentations 3:12This new simile arises out of the former one, the idea of a hunter being... read more
Lamentations 3:9-13 . He hath enclosed my way with hewn stone He hath not only hedged it up with thorns, Hosea 2:6, but stopped it up with a stone wall which cannot be broken through; so that my paths are made crooked That is, I traverse to and fro, to the right hand and to the left, to try to get forward, but I am still turned back. Observe, reader, if we walk in the crooked ways of sin, crossing or swerving from God’s laws, it is just with God to make us walk in the crooked paths of... read more
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
as a lion. See note on Psalms 22:16 . read more
10-13. (Job 10:16; Hosea 13:7; Hosea 13:8). read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Lamentations 3:1-20
The title of the Ps. 102:1-28 might very fitly be prefixed to this chapter?The prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed, and pours out his complaint before the Lord; for it is very feelingly and fluently that the complaint is here poured out. Let us observe the particulars of it. The prophet complains, 1. That God is angry. This gives both birth and bitterness to the affliction (Lam. 3:1): I am the man, the remarkable man, that has seen affliction, and has felt it sensibly, by the rod... read more