Lamentations 5:3

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Lamentations 5:1-16

Isa. any afflicted? let him pray; and let him in prayer pour out his complaint to God, and make known before him his trouble. The people of God do so here; being overwhelmed with grief, they give vent to their sorrows at the footstool of the throne of grace, and so give themselves ease. They complain not of evils feared, but of evils felt: ?Remember what has come upon us, Lam. 5:1. What was of old threatened against us, and was long in the coming, has now at length come upon us, and we are... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Lamentations 5:3

We are orphans and fatherless ,.... In every sense; in a natural sense, their fathers having been cut off by the sword, famine, or pestilence; in a civil sense, their king being taken from them; and in a religious sense, God having forsaken them for their sins: our mothers are as widows ; either really so, their husbands being dead; or were as if they had no husbands, they not being able to provide for them, protect and deferred them. The Targum adds, "whose husbands are gone to the... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Lamentations 5:3

Verse 3 Here the Prophet not only speaks in the person of the whole people, but utters also the groans and complaints of each; for this could not have been suitable to the whole Church, as he speaks of fathers and mothers. We hence see that this verse does not apply to the whole body, but to individual members, though every one of the people might have said that widows and orphans were everywhere seen. Now, this usually happens when a nation is consumed either by pestilence or by war; for in... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Lamentations 5:1-18

INSULT UPON INSULT HAS BEEN HEAPED UPON JERUSALEM . read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Lamentations 5:3

We are orphans and fatherless; i.e. "We are like the most desolate of beings," as the Targum already explains it. Hence in the next clause the mothers of Israel ere likened to widows. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Lamentations 5:3

Orphanage and widowhood. In the desolation of Jerusalem the inhabitants felt like orphans and widows, bereaved of the stay and comfort of life, uncured for and homeless. Many would be literally orphaned and widowed after the great slaughter of the siege, The sad condition of these greatest sufferers brings before our notice the similar trouble of those who are similarly situated in our own day. I. ORPHANAGE AND WIDOWHOOD INVOLVE OVERWHELMING SORROW . The mournful condition... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Lamentations 5:3

Our mothers are as widows - The particle “as” suggests that the whole verse is metaphorical. Our distress and desolation is comparable only to that of fatherless orphans or wives just bereaved of their husbands. read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Lamentations 5:1-6

Lamentations 5:1-6. Consider, and behold our reproach Which we suffer from the heathen nations. Our inheritance is turned to strangers Namely, to the Babylonians and others, to whom our lands are given. We are orphans and fatherless All the chief men being carried away to Babylon, lest they should make any fresh attempts to shake off the Babylonish yoke, all that were left in Judea were poor people, destitute of almost every thing. We have drunk our water for money, &c. When our... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Lamentations 5:1-22

A prayer for mercy (5:1-22)This poem was apparently written in Judah some time after the fall of Jerusalem. Only the people of no use to Babylon were left in the land, and this poem reflects the hardships they faced (cf. Jeremiah 52:16).In a plea to God for mercy, the people remind him of their present shame (5:1). Death has broken up their families, and the invaders have taken over their houses and lands (2-3). They live and work like slaves in their own country, and have to buy water from... read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Lamentations 5:3

3. fatherless—Our whole land is full of orphans [CALVIN]. Or, "we are fatherless," being abandoned by Thee our "Father" (Jeremiah 3:19), [GROTIUS]. read more

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