He hath bent his bow ,.... Which is put for all the instruments, of war; the Chaldeans were archers, and shot their arrows into the city: and set me as a mark for the arrow ; as a target to shoot at; signifying that God dealt with him, or his people, as enemies, the object of his wrath and indignation; and if he directed his arrow against them, it must needs hit them; there was no escaping his vengeance; see Job 7:20 . read more
He hath caused the arrows of his quiver ,.... Or, "the sons of his quiver" F9 בני אשפתו "filios pharetrae suae", Montanus, Munster, Cocceius, Michaelis. ; an usual Hebraism; the quiver is compared, as Aben Ezra observes, to a pregnant woman; and Horace has a like expression, "venenatis gravidam sagittis pharetram" F11 L. 1. Ode 22. ; the judgments of God are often signified by this metaphor, even his four sore ones, sword, famine, pestilence, and noisome beast, Deuteronomy... read more
He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow - One might conjecture that the following thought in the Toozek i Teemour was borrowed from this: - "One addressed the caliph Aaly, and said, 'If the heavens were a bow, and the earth the cord thereof; if calamities were arrows, man the butt for those arrows; and the holy blessed God the unerring marksman; where could the sons of Adam flee for succor?' The caliph replied, 'The children of Adam must flee unto the Lord.'" This was the... read more
The arrows of his quiver - אשפתו בני beney ashpatho , "The sons of his quiver." The issue or effect; the subject, adjunct, or accident, or produce of a thing, is frequently denominated its son or child. So arrows that issue from a quiver are here termed the sons of the quiver. read more
Verse 12 Here the Prophet introduces another metaphor, that God had shot him with arrows, as he was made a mark to them. Jeremiah has elsewhere often used the word מתרא, methera, for a prison; but here it means a mark at which arrows are leveled, and such is its meaning in Job 16:12, where there is a similar complaint made. The meaning is, that the people, in whose name Jeremiah speaks, had been like marks, because God had directed against them all his arrows. It is, indeed, a fearful thing... read more
Verse 13 He goes on with the same metaphor; he said in the last verse that God had leveled his bow; he now adds, that his arrows had penetrated into his reins, that is, into his inward parts. But we must bear in mind what the Prophet meant, that God had dealt so severely with the people, that no part, even the innermost, was sound or untouched, for his arrows had perforated their very reins. He afterwards adds, — 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
Set me as a mark. Precisely as Job complains of Jehovah, "He hath set me up for his mark" ( Job 16:13 ). read more
This verse seems strangely short—it consists of only four words in the Hebrew, Probably something like "his weapons," or "the weapons of death" ( Psalms 7:13 ), has fallen out. Restore them, and the verse becomes a two-membered one, like its companions. To enter into my reins. So Job ( Job 16:12 ), "He cleaveth my reins asunder." "Reins," equivalent to "inward parts," like "heart," with which it is often combined; e.g. Jeremiah 11:20 ; Jeremiah 17:10 ; Jeremiah 20:12 . 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