Lamentations 4:20 - Exposition

The breath of our nostrils. The theocratic king was the direct representative of the people with Jehovah, and to him the promises of 2 Samuel 7:1-29 . were conveyed. He was also, in a sense, the representative of Jehovah with the people. His throne was "the throne of Jehovah" ( 1 Chronicles 29:23 ). A similar conception of the king was generally prevalent in antiquity. Most of all among the Egyptians; but, even in imperial Rome, we find Seneca ('De Clementia,' 2 Samuel 1:4 , quoted by Archbishop Seeker, in Blayney) declaring, " Ille (Princeps) est spiritus vitalis, quem haec tot millia (civium) trahunt ." For the Jewish, or Old Testament, conception, see Psalms 28:8 , where "his people" and "his anointed" are used almost synonymously. Was taken in their pits. A figure from hunting (comp. Lamentations 1:13 ; Psalms 7:15 ). The fate of Zedekiah is referred to. Among the heathen; better, among the nations. The rendering of the Authorized Version suggests that the Jews hoped to preserve at least a qualified independence under their own king, even after their captivity.