Lamentations 1:3 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Lamentations 1:1-11

Those that have any disposition to weep with those that weep, one would think, should scarcely be able to refrain from tears at the reading of these verses, so very pathetic are the lamentations here. I. The miseries of Jerusalem are here complained of as very pressing and by many circumstances very much aggravated. Let us take a view of these miseries. 1. As to their civil state. (1.) A city that was populous is now depopulated, Lam. 2:1. It is spoken of by way of wonder?Who would have... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Lamentations 1:3

Judah is gone into captivity ,.... Not only Jerusalem the metropolis of Judea was destroyed, but the whole country was ravaged, and the inhabitants of it carried captive into Babylon: because of affliction, and because of great servitude ; because of their sins in oppressing and afflicting their poor brethren, and retaining them in a state of bondage after their seven years' servitude, contrary to the law of God; for which they were threatened with captivity, Jeremiah 34:13 ; so the... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Lamentations 1:3

Between the straits - She has been brought into such difficulties, that it was impossible for her to escape. Has this any reference to the circumstances in which Zedekiah and the princes of Judah endeavored to escape from Jerusalem, by the way of the gates between the two walls? Jeremiah 52:7 . read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Lamentations 1:3

Verse 3 Interpreters apply this, but in my view improperly, to the captivity of the people; on the contrary, the Prophet means that the Jews had been scattered and sought refuges when oppressed, as they were often, by the tyranny of their enemies, and then by degrees he advances to their exile; for he could not have said all things at the same time. Let, then, the order in which he speaks be observed: before he bewails their exile, he says that Judah had been scattered; for many, fleeing the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Lamentations 1:1-11

A WAIL OF DISTRESS FOR JERUSALEM . read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Lamentations 1:3

Is gone into captivity because of affliction; rather, is gone into exile, etc. The poet is not thinking of the deportation of the captives, but of those Jews who sought refuge for themselves in foreign lands (comp. Jeremiah 40:11 ). An objection has been raised to this view that the number of fugitive Jews would not be large enough to warrant their being called "Judah." But we might almost as well object on a similar ground to the application of the term "Judah" to the Jews who were... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Lamentations 1:3

Because of ... - i. e. the people, not of Jerusalem only, but of the whole land, “is gone into exile to escape from the affliction and laborious servitude,” to which they are subject in their own land.Persecutors ... between the straits - Rather, “pursuers ... in the midst of her straits.” The Jews flee like deer to escape from the invading Chaldaeans, but are driven by them into places from where there is no escape. read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Lamentations 1:3

Lamentations 1:3. 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... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Lamentations 1:1-22

THE FIVE POEMSDesolation in Jerusalem (1:1-22)Jerusalem, once a busy commercial city, is now empty. She is like a woman who has lost her husband, like a princess who has become a slave. The nations (her ‘lovers’) who she thought would help her have proved useless, some even treacherous (1:1-3).When Jerusalem’s hour of crisis came, all her leaders fled, leaving the people to be attacked, plundered and taken captive. Now that all the usual activities of daily life have ceased, there remain only... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Lamentations 1:3

among the heathen. Reference to Pentateuch (Deuteronomy 28:64 , Deuteronomy 28:65 ). heathen = nations. persecutors = pursuers. between the straits. Like a hunted animal driven where there is no escape. Same word as in Psalms 116:3 ; Psalms 118:5 . Occurs only in these three places. Compare Lamentations 1:6 . read more