The Pulpit Commentary — Lamentations — Section 62

" h11ve wnndered" refers to some period adequate to shooting the inhabit.ants nt before the fim1.l C'-Rtastrophe, or to the con- some distance. Probnbly the expreBBlons ~ternalion produced by thRt awful surprise. a.re metaphorical ; they nre similar to those The latt.er view eroms the more probable. used in eh. iii. 52, immediately nfter which They have polluted themselves, eto. Their we meet with such a purely poetical 11hrnee acts of vioknce h11.ve been continued to the e.s, "They have cut off my life in the pit ,·ery end of' their term of power. Their [Authorized Version,• dungeon•~• and cast a ,::arments are still stained with blood when stone upon me," (see note on eh. iii. 52-56). the summons to depart into exile reaches Ver. 19.-Swifter than the eagles of the them. heaven. Jeremiah, or his imitator, repeats Ver. 15.-They oried unto them, etc. As the figure which occurs in Jer. iv. 13. There the\' leave the dty they are pursued by the is probably no special reference to the cir- rnalPclictions of those whom they have op- cumstances of the capture of Zedekiah prPssPd. It is unolea.n. The cry with ( J er. xxxi.x. 4, 5); the escape of many fogi- which the leper was directed to warn off tives would be similarly cut off. passengers, lest they should become in- Ver. 20.-The breath of our nostrils. f ect.ed (Lev. xiii. 45). There may be an The theocrat.io king was the direct repre- 1tllusion to this, but, thou~h commonly ac- sentative of the people with Jehovah, and to cepted, the -view is not cert.'lin, D.S the" leper•• him the promises of 2 Sam. vii. were con- in the present case is not the person who veyed. He was also, in a sense, the repre- raises the crv, but those who meet him. sentative of Jehovah with the people. His When they 11.ed away a.nd wandered. The throne was "the throne of Jehovah" (1 clause is difficult. If the text is correct, Chron. x.x.i.x. 23). A similar conception of li:eil's explanation may perhaps pass, the king was generally prevalent in an- .. When they fled away, (there) also they tiquity. Most of all among the Egyptians; wandered," alluding to the "wandering" but, even in imperial Rome, we find Seneca ascribed to them with a somewhat different (' De Clementia,' i 4, quoted by Archbishop ~bade of meaning in the preceding verse. Secker, in Blayney) declaring, "Ille (Prin- In any case there ought to be a fuller stop ceps) est spiritus vitalis, quern hmc tot than a comma after "touch not," which millia (civinm) trahunt." For the Jewish, words close the first of the two parallel or Old Testanwnt, conception, see Ps. lines of which the verse consists. But very xxviii. 8, where (us the Septuagint shows) probably "wlien" (Hebrew, ki) is a.n in- " his people" and " his anointed" a.re used trusion, and we should begin the second line almost synonymously. Was taken in their thus: "They fled, they also wandered about." pits. A figure from hunting (comp. oh. i. They said among the heathen, etc. Even in 13 ; Ps. vii. 15). The fate of Zedekiah is their place of exile they found no rest referred to. Among the heathen; better. (comp. Dent. xxviii. 65). This iB better among the nations. The rendering of the than understanding "the heathen" (liter- Authorized Version suggests that the Jews ally, the nations) to mean "the Chai Jean hoped to preserve at least a qualified inde- army," and the place of sojourn prohibited pendence under their own king, even after to be Jerusalem. their captivity. Ver. 16.-Hath divided them; i.e. bath Ver. 21.-Rejoice and be glad. An ironi- scattered them, like " I will divide them in cal address to Eclom, who is bidden to enjoy Jacob" (Gen. xli.x. 7). her malicious triumph, but warned that it Ver. 17.-Aa for 118, our eyes, etc.; rather will be but short-lived. How ungenerously (correcting the reading of the fust word), the Edomites behaved at the fall of Jerusa- Our eyes were still wasting auay ( as we lem we are repeatedly told (see on Jer. xlix. looked) /or =r help in ooin. To the very 7). In the land of Uz. As to the situation last the Jews leaned on" that broken reed," of Uz, see on Jer. xxv.20. The cup; one of Egypt (Isa. xxni. 6) ; how vain that hope Jeremiah's images (see Jer. xxv. 15). would be Jeremiah had already told them Ver. 22.-The punishment of thine (Jer. xxxvii. 7, 8). In our watching; i.e. :iniquity or, thy guilt (see on ver. 6). The earnestly and continually; or, on our watch- prophet speaks with the confidence of faith, tower. and sees the guilt wiped a.way, and the Ver. 18.-They hunt our steps, etc. Real- danl(er of a future captivity removed by the istic attempts to explain this line have not purification which the Jewish national cha- been wanting, but seem unsuccessful. The racter has undergone. He will disoover thy CLaldeans were either witLin the city or sins. God is said to " cover over " sine without. If within, tliey would not need when he remits their punishment, and to Ltera.lly to "hunt tl.Je steps" of the Jews; "di.~cover" them when he punishes them if wiLlwut, t1ey had not war-engine~ (comp. Job x.x. 27, 28). ea. 1v. 1-22.J 'fHE LAMEN'l'ATIONS OF JEREMIAH. 67