19 Thou, O LORD, H3068 remainest H3427 for ever; H5769 thy throne H3678 from generation H1755 to generation. H1755
Of old H6440 hast thou laid the foundation H3245 of the earth: H776 and the heavens H8064 are the work H4639 of thy hands. H3027 They shall perish, H6 but thou shalt endure: H5975 yea, all of them shall wax old H1086 like a garment; H899 as a vesture H3830 shalt thou change H2498 them, and they shall be changed: H2498 But thou art the same, and thy years H8141 shall have no end. H8552
Which G3739 in his G2398 times G2540 he shall shew, G1166 who G3588 is the blessed G3107 and G2532 only G3441 Potentate, G1413 the King G935 of kings, G936 and G2532 Lord G2962 of lords; G2961 Who G3588 only G3441 hath G2192 immortality, G110 dwelling G3611 in the light G5457 which no man G3762 can approach unto; G676 whom G3739 no man G444 hath seen, G1492 nor G3761 can G1410 see: G1492 to whom G3739 be honour G5092 and G2532 power G2904 everlasting. G166 Amen. G281
And G2532 when G3753 I saw G1492 him, G846 I fell G4098 at G4314 his G846 feet G4228 as G5613 dead. G3498 And G2532 he laid G2007 his G846 right G1188 hand G5495 upon G1909 me, G1691 saying G3004 unto me, G3427 Fear G5399 not; G3361 I G1473 am G1510 the first G4413 and G2532 the last: G2078 G2532 I am he that liveth, G2198 and G2532 was G1096 dead; G3498 and, G2532 behold, G2400 I am G1510 alive G2198 for G1519 evermore, G165 G165 Amen; G281 and G2532 have G2192 the keys G2807 of hell G86 and G2532 of death. G2288
But G1161 unto G4314 the Son G5207 he saith, Thy G4675 throne, G2362 O God, G2316 is for G1519 ever G165 and ever: G165 a sceptre G4464 of righteousness G2118 is the sceptre G4464 of thy G4675 kingdom. G932 Thou hast loved G25 righteousness, G1343 and G2532 hated G3404 iniquity; G458 therefore G1223 G5124 God, G2316 even thy G4675 God, G2316 hath anointed G5548 thee G4571 with the oil G1637 of gladness G20 above G3844 thy G4675 fellows. G3353 And, G2532 Thou, G4771 Lord, G2962 in G2596 the beginning G746 hast laid the foundation G2311 of the earth; G1093 and G2532 the heavens G3772 are G1526 the works G2041 of thine G4675 hands: G5495 They G846 shall perish; G622 but G1161 thou G4771 remainest; G1265 and G2532 they all G3956 shall wax old G3822 as G5613 doth a garment; G2440 And G2532 as G5616 a vesture G4018 shalt thou fold G1667 them G846 up, G1667 and G2532 they shall be changed: G236 but G1161 thou G4771 art G1488 the same, G846 and G2532 thy G4675 years G2094 shall G1587 not G3756 fail. G1587
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Lamentations 5
Commentary on Lamentations 5 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 5
La 5:1-22. Epiphonema, or a Closing Recapitulation of the Calamities Treated in the Previous Elegies.
1. (Ps 89:50, 51).
2. Our inheritance—"Thine inheritance" (Ps 79:1). The land given of old to us by Thy gift.
3. fatherless—Our whole land is full of orphans [Calvin]. Or, "we are fatherless," being abandoned by Thee our "Father" (Jer 3:19), [Grotius].
4. water for money—The Jews were compelled to pay the enemy for the water of their own cisterns after the overthrow of Jerusalem; or rather, it refers to their sojourn in Babylon; they had to pay tax for access to the rivers and fountains. Thus, "our" means the water which we need, the commonest necessary of life.
our wood—In Judea each one could get wood without pay; in Babylon, "our wood," the wood we need, must be paid for.
5. Literally, "On our necks we are persecuted"; that is, Men tread on our necks (Ps 66:12; Isa 51:23; compare Jos 10:24). The extremest oppression. The foe not merely galled the Jews face, back, and sides, but their neck. A just retribution, as they had been stiff in neck against the yoke of God (2Ch 30:8, Margin; Ne 9:29; Isa 48:4).
6. given … hand to—in token of submission (see on Jer 50:15).
to … Egyptians—at the death of Josiah (2Ch 36:3, 4).
Assyrians—that is, the Chaldeans who occupied the empire which Assyria had held. So Jer 2:18.
to be satisfied with bread—(De 28:48).
7. (Jer 31:29).
borne their iniquities—that is, the punishment of them. The accumulated sins of our fathers from age to age, as well as our own, are visited on us. They say this as a plea why God should pity them (compare Eze 18:2, &c.).
8. Servants … ruled … us—Servants under the Chaldean governors ruled the Jews (Ne 5:15). Israel, once a "kingdom of priests" (Ex 19:6), is become like Canaan, "a servant of servants," according to the curse (Ge 9:25). The Chaldeans were designed to be "servants" of Shem, being descended from Ham (Ge 9:26). Now through the Jews' sin, their positions are reversed.
9. We gat our bread with … peril—that is, those of us left in the city after its capture by the Chaldeans.
because of … sword of … wilderness—because of the liability to attack by the robber Arabs of the wilderness, through which the Jews had to pass to get "bread" from Egypt (compare La 5:6).
10. As an oven is scorched with too much fire, so our skin with the hot blast of famine (Margin, rightly, "storms," like the hot simoom). Hunger dries up the pores so that the skin becomes like as if it were scorched by the sun (Job 30:30; Ps 119:83).
11. So in just retribution Babylon itself should fare in the end. Jerusalem shall for the last time suffer these woes before her final restoration (Zec 14:2).
12. hanged … by their hand—a piece of wanton cruelty invented by the Chaldeans. Grotius translates, "Princes were hung by the hand of the enemy"; hanging was a usual mode of execution (Ge 40:19).
elders—officials (La 4:16).
13. young men … grind—The work of the lowest female slave was laid on young men (Jud 16:21; Job 31:10).
children fell under … wood—Mere children had to bear burdens of wood so heavy that they sank beneath them.
14. Aged men in the East meet in the open space round the gate to decide judicial trials and to hold social converse (Job 29:7, 8).
16. The crown—all our glory, the kingdom and the priesthood (Job 19:9; Ps 89:39, 44).
17. (La 1:22; 2:11).
18. foxes—They frequent desolate places where they can freely and fearlessly roam.
19. (Ps 102:12). The perpetuity of God's rule over human affairs, however He may seem to let His people be oppressed for a time, is their ground of hope of restoration.
20. for ever—that is, for "so long a time."
21. (Ps 80:3; Jer 31:18). "Restore us to favor with Thee, and so we shall be restored to our old position" [Grotius]. Jeremiah is not speaking of spiritual conversion, but of that outward turning whereby God receives men into His fatherly favor, manifested in bestowing prosperity [Calvin]. Still, as Israel is a type of the Church, temporal goods typify spiritual blessings; and so the sinner may use this prayer for God to convert him.
22. Rather, "Unless haply Thou hast utterly rejected us, and art beyond measure wroth against us," that is, Unless Thou art implacable, which is impossible, hear our prayer [Calvin]. Or, as Margin, "For wouldest Thou utterly reject us?" &c.—No; that cannot be. The Jews, in this book, and in Isaiah and Malachi, to avoid the ill-omen of a mournful closing sentence, repeat the verse immediately preceding the last [Calvin].