Lamentations 3:16
Ver. 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 {n} 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 gravel in the mouth, as sin in its effects often proves, Pr 20:17;
he hath covered me with ashes; as mourners used to be; the word rendered "covered" is only used in this place. Aben Ezra renders it, "he hath defiled me"; and Jarchi and Ben Melech, from the Misnah, "he hath pressed me", without measure; see Lu 6:38; and so the Targum,
"he hath humbled me:''
but the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Arabic versions, render it, "he hath fed me with ashes"; which version is defended by Castel {o} and Noldius {p}, and best agrees with the preceding clause; the sense is the same with Ps 102:9.
{n} "Pane lapidoso", Seneca De Beneficiis, l. 7. {o} Lexic. Polyglott, col. 1791. {p} Concordant. Ebr. Part. p. 168. No. 763.