The Pulpit Commentary — Lamentations — Section 20

worn O{\('.urs in the BRme ecnee in Pe. lxxiv. oovered; i.e. dieolosed. To turn away thy !l. It is t.he temple which ie me&nt, and oaptivity, 'l'he Cttptivit.y, then, might lmvo the term is borrowed from the fa.moue been " turned away," if the other prophets phrase. iihel ,nii'edh (Exod. xxvii. 21 ; comp. had. like Jeremiah, disoloeed the true XXV. 22). ~piritual state of the people, aud moved Ver. 7.-B:er pale.oea; i.e. those of the them to repentance. False burdens. Sug- daughter of Zion, especially "hig-h build- gestive reforonoes to these false prophecies ingi," (this is the true meaning of 'armiin) occur iu Jer. xiv. 13, 14; xxiii. 31, 32 (sec of the temple. They have me.de a noise, etc. the Exposition on these passiiges). Caus01 Comp. Ps. lxxiv. 3, "Thine enemies roar in of banishment. So Jeremiah (xxvii. 10; tl1e midst of thy place of meeting.'' The comp. 15), "They prophesy a lie unto you, passages Rre parallel, though, whether the to remove you for from your land." calamities referred to are the B&me in bnth, Ver. 15.-Clap . . . hias . . . wag their c,rnnot a pi·iori be determined. The shouts heads. Gestures of mo.licious joy (Job xxvii. of triumph of the foe are likened to the 23) or contempt (Jer. xix. 8; Ps. xxii. 7). festal shout& of the temple-worshippers The perfeotion of beauty; liternlly, the per- (comp. Isa. xxx. 29; Amos v. 24). fect in beauty. The so.me phrase is used in Ver. 8.-lle he.th stretched out a line. n Ezekiel (xxvii. 3: xxviii. 12) of Tyre, and is the " line of desolRtion" mentioned in a similar one in Ps. 1. 2 of Zion. lsRiah (xxxi-r. 11 ; comp. Amos vii. 7; Vera. 16, 17.-On the transposition of the 2 Kings xxi. 13). Such is the unsparing initial letters in these verses, see Intro- rigour of Jehovah's judgments. duction. Yer. 9.-Are sunk into the ground; i.e.. Ver. 16.-Have opened their mouth against are broken down and bnried in the dust. thee. As against the innocent sufferer of The Law is no more. The observance of Ps. xxii. (ver. 13). Gnash the teeth, In the Law being rendered impossible by the token of rage, as Ps. :xxxv. 16; xxxvii. 12. destruction of the temple. Comp. this and We have seen it (comp. Ps. xxxv. 21). the nat clause with Ezek. vii. 26. Ver. 17.-llis word that he had oom- Ver. 10.-They have ce.st up dust, et.o. manded, eto. "Commanded," i.e. given in A sign of mourning (Josh. vii. 6; 2 Sam. charge to. Comp. Zech. i. 6, "My words xiii. 19 ; Job ii. 12). and my statutes, which I commanded my Ver. 11.-lly bowels are troubled (see on servants the prophets." Zechariah continues, eh. i. 20). Ky liver is poured upon the earth. in language which illustrates the foregoing A ,iolent emotion being supposed to occa- words of this verse, "Did they not take hold sion a copious discharge of bile. The of [overtakeJ your fathers;" where the persons daughter of my people. A poetic expression spoken of as "your fa.there" are the same as for Zion or Judah. those who are represented by the speaker of Ver. 12.-Corn.. Either in the sense of the elegy. "In the days of old;" alluding, parched com (comp. Lev. xxiii. 14; l Sam. perhaps, to such passages &t! Dent. xxviii. 52, xvii. 17; Prov. xxvii. 22) or a poetic etc. The horn of thine adversaries. "H11m" expression for "bread" (comp. Exod. xvi has e. twofold meaning-"strength" or "de- 4; Pa. CV. 40). fence" (comp. ver. 3), and "honour" or Ver. 13.-What thing Bha.Il I ta.ke to wit- "dignity" (comp. 1 Sam. ii. I). . The neBS for thee 1 rather, What shall I testify figure is too natural to need explanation. unto thee ? The nature of the testifyiug Ver. 18.-Their heart oried unto the Lord, may be gathered from the following words. etc. "Their heart" ce.n only mean "the It would be a comfort to Zion to know that heart of the people of Jerusalem.'' For her misfortune was not unparalleled: 801,a,. the expression, comp. Pa. lxxxiv. 2, "My men miseru BOcios habuuse malorum. The heart and my flesh cry aloud to the living expression is odd, however, and, comparing God." To avoid the rather startling proso- Isa. tl 18, A. Krochmal he.s su~gest.ed, popceia in the next clause, Thenius sup- What shall I compare f The correction is poses e. corruption in the group of letters easy. Equal; i.e. compare (comp. Isa.. x.lvi. rendered" wall," and e.ttaohes the corrected 5). word to the first clause, rendering thus: Ver. 14.-Thy prophets. Jeremiah con- " Their hee.rt crieth unto the Lord in ve.in ; stantly inveighs against the fallacious, im- 0 daughter of Zion, let te11rs run down," moral preaching of t½e great mass o! his etc. Another resource, which oleo involves prophetic contemporaries (comp. Jer. Vl. 13, an emendation, is that of Ewald, '' Cry with 14; xiv. 13-15; xxiii.14-40). Rave seen all thy heart, 0 we.11 of the daughter ot ve.in aB.d foolish thingll ; i.e. have annouuced Zion." 0 wall, etc. The prosopopceia is "viBions '' (prophecies) of an unre:1;~ and surprising, but is only a degree more striking irrational tenor. Comp. Jer. xxm. 13, than that of ver. 8 e.nd eh. i. 4. In Isa. where the same word here paraphrased as xiv. 31 we find an equally strong one, "irration.a.1" (literally, insipid) occurs. Dia- "Howl, 0 gate.'' Most probably, however, CR, II, 1-22.) THE LAMEN'f ATIONS OF JEREMIAH. I!)