Lamentations 3:16-66

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

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Lamentations 3:21-36

Here the clouds begin to disperse and the sky to clear up; the complaint was very melancholy in the former part of the chapter, and yet here the tune is altered and the mourners in Zion begin to look a little pleasant. But for hope, the heart would break. To save the heart from being quite broken, here is something called to mind, which gives ground for hope (Lam. 3:21), which refers to what comes after, not to what goes before. I make to return to my heart (so the margin words it); what we... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Lamentations 3:37-41

That we may be entitled to the comforts administered to the afflicted in the Lam. 3:21-36, and may taste the sweetness of them, we have here the duties of an afflicted state prescribed to us, in the performance of which we may expect those comforts. I. We must see and acknowledge the hand of God in all the calamities that befal us at any time, whether personal or public, Lam. 3:37, 38. This is here laid down as a great truth, which will help to quiet our spirits under our afflictions and to... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Lamentations 3:42-54

It is easier to chide ourselves for complaining than to chide ourselves out of it. The prophet had owned that a living man should not complain, as if he checked himself for his complaints in the former part of the chapter; and yet here the clouds return after the rain and the wound bleeds afresh; for great pains must be taken with a troubled spirit to bring it into temper. I. They confess the righteousness of God in afflicting them (Lam. 3:42): We have transgressed and have rebelled. Note, It... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Lamentations 3:55-65

We may observe throughout this chapter a struggle in the prophet's breast between sense and faith, fear and hope; he complains and then comforts himself, yet drops his comforts and returns again to his complaints, as Ps. 42:1-11. But, as there, so here, faith gets the last word and comes off a conqueror; for in these verses he concludes with some comfort. And here are two things with which he comforts himself:? I. His experience of God's goodness even in his affliction. This may refer to the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Lamentations 3:16

He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones ,.... With gritty bread, such as is made of corn ground with new millstones, the grit of which mixes with the flour; or with stony bread, as Seneca F14 "Pane lapidoso", Seneca De Beneficiis, l. 7. calls a benefit troublesome to others; with bread that has little stones mixed with it, by eating of which the teeth are broken, as Jarchi observes: the phrase signifies afflictions and troubles, which are very grievous and disagreeable, like... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Lamentations 3:17

And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace ,.... From the time the city was besieged by the Chaldeans, and now the people was carried captive; who could have no true peace, being in a foreign land, in an enemy's country, and out of their own, and far from the place of divine worship; nor could the prophet have any peace of soul, in the consideration of these things, the city, temple, and nation, being desolate, though he himself was not in captivity. I forgat prosperity ; or "good"... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Lamentations 3:18

And I said, my strength and my hope are perished from the Lord. The former of these words signifies, according to Aben Ezra, "my standing", my subsistence, my continuance in being, or my perpetuity; according to Jarchi, my abiding F18 נצחי "duratio mea", Montanus; "perennitas mea", Cocceius. in this world; it is rendered "blood" in Isaiah 63:3 ; which is the support of life; and which when gone, or ceases to circulate, a man ceases to be: the sense is, that the prophet, or those he... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Lamentations 3:19

Remembering mine affliction and my misery ,.... The miserable affliction of him and his people; the remembrance of which, and poring upon it continually, caused the despondency before expressed: though it may be rendered imperatively, "remember my affliction, and my misery" F19 זכר "recordare", Munster, Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus, Cocceius, Michealis. ; so the Vulgate Latin and Syriac versions; and Aben Ezra observes, that the words may be considered as a request to God, and so... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Lamentations 3:20

My soul hath them still in remembrance ,.... That is, according to our version, affliction and misery, compared to wormwood and gall: but the words, "my soul", are fetched from the next clause, where they ought to stand, and this to be rendered, "in remembering thou wilt remember" F20 זכור תזכור "recordando recordaberis", Luther, Michaelis. ; or, "thou wilt surely remember", and so expresses the confidence of the prophet, and his firm belief, his faith and hope increasing in... read more

Group of Brands