Lamentations 2:9-18

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Lamentations 2:1-9

It is a very sad representation which is here made of the state of God's church, of Jacob and Israel, of Zion and Jerusalem; but the emphasis in these verses seems to be laid all along upon the hand of God in the calamities which they were groaning under. The grief is not so much that such and such things are done as that God has done them, that he appears angry with them; it is he that chastens them, and chastens them in wrath and in his hot displeasure; he has become their enemy, and fights... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Lamentations 2:10-22

Justly are these called Lamentations, and they are very pathetic ones, the expressions of grief in perfection, mourning and woe, and nothing else, like the contents of Ezekiel's roll, Ezek. 2:10. I. Copies of lamentations are here presented and they are painted to the life. 1. The judges and magistrates, who used to appear in robes of state, have laid them aside, or rather are stripped of them, and put on the habit of mourners (Lam. 2:10); the elders now sit no longer in the judgment-seats,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Lamentations 2:9

Her gates are sunk into the ground ,.... Either the gates of the city or temple, or both; being broke and demolished, and laid level with the ground, and covered with rubbish; for as for the Midrash, or exposition, that Jarchi mentions, that the gates sunk into the earth upon the approach of the enemy, that they might not have power over them, through which the ark passed, is a mere fable of their Rabbins; and equally as absurd is the additional gloss of the Targum, "her gates sunk into... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Lamentations 2:10

The elders of the daughter of Zion sit on the ground, and keep silence ,.... Who used to sit in the gate on thrones of judgment, and passed sentence in causes tried before them; or were wont to give advice and counsel, and were regarded as oracles, now sit on the ground, and dumb, as mourners; see Job 2:13 ; they have cast up dust upon their heads ; on their white hairs and gray locks, which bespoke wisdom, and made them grave and venerable: they have girded themselves with... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Lamentations 2:11

Mine eyes do fail with tears ,.... According to Aben Ezra, everyone of the elders before mentioned said this; but rather they are the words of the Prophet Jeremiah, who had wept his eyes dry, or rather blind, on account of the calamities of his people; though he himself obtained liberty and enlargement by means thereof: my bowels are troubled ; all his inward parts were distressed: my liver is poured upon the earth ; his gall bladder, which lay at the bottom of his liver, broke, and... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Lamentations 2:12

They say to their mothers, where is corn and wine ?.... Not the sucklings who could not speak, nor were used to corn and wine, but the children more grown; both are before spoken of, but these are meant, even the young men of Israel, as the Targum; and such as had been brought up in the best manner, had been used to wine, and not water, and therefore ask for that as well as corn; both take in all the necessaries of life; and which they ask of their mothers, who had been used to feed them,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Lamentations 2:13

What thing shall I take to witness for thee ?.... What argument can be made use of? what proof or evidence can be given? what witnesses can be called to convince thee, and make it a clear case to time, that ever any people or nation was in such distress and calamity, what with sword, famine, pestilence, and captivity, as thou art? what thing shall I liken thee to, O daughter of Jerusalem ? what kingdom or nation ever suffered the like? no example can be given, no instance that comes up... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Lamentations 2:14

Thy prophets have seen vain and foolish things for thee ,.... Not the prophets of the Lord; but false prophets, as the Targum; which were of the people's choosing, and were acceptable to them; prophets after their own hearts, because they prophesied smooth things, such as they liked; though in the issue they proved "vain" and "foolish", idle stories, impertinent talk, the fictions of their own brains; and yet they pretended to have visions of them from the Lord; as that within two years... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Lamentations 2:15

All that pass by clap their hands at thee ,.... Travellers that passed by, and saw Jerusalem in ruins, clapped their hands at it, by way of rejoicing, as well pleased at the sight. This must be understood, not of the inhabitants of the land, but of strangers, who had no good will to it; though they seem to be distinguished from their implacable enemies in Lamentations 2:16 , they hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem ; by way of scorn and derision; hereby expressing... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Lamentations 2:16

All thine enemies have opened their mouth against thee ,.... Or "widened" F24 פצו "dilatant", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. them; stretched them out as far as they could, to reproach, blaspheme, and insult; or, like gaping beasts, to swallow up and devour: they hiss and gnash their teeth ; hiss like serpents, and gnash their teeth in wrath and fury; all expressing their extreme hatred and abhorrence of the Jews, and the delight they took in their ruin and destruction: ... read more

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