rather, Kath proclaimed a festival. When uehoTali Bummons the instruments of hia vengeance, the prophels dopcribe it as the " proclaiming a festival." The Persians oi' Chaldeans, as the case may be, obey tho summons with a holy glee, and destroy the enemies of the true God (comp. Isa, xiii. 3). Hath trodden, etc. ; rather, hath trodden the winepress for (i.e. to the ruin of) the virgin (laughter of Zion. The poet carries on the figure of the festival. It is a vintage which is to be celebrated, such a vintage as is de- scribed in Isa. Ixiii. 3 (comp. Joel iii. 13). The choicest youth of Judah are to be cut off like giapes from the vine. " Virgin daughter " is a frequent figure to express inviolate security (so Jer. xiv. 17).
Ver. 16.— For these thinsrs, etc. After the reflections of vers. 13— 15, the poet gives vent anew to his bitter grief. Mine eye, mine eye. A repetition quite in Jeremiah's manner ; comp. Jer. iv. 19 ; vi. 14 (repeated viil. 11); xxii. 29; xxiii. 25. The Septua- gint and Vulgate, however, have "mine eye" only once. Relieve my sonl (see on ver. 11).
Ver. 17. — Again the poet passes into the tone of reflection, thus relieving the strain upon the feelings of the reader. Spreadeth forth her hands. Tlie gesture of suppli- cation and entreaty (comp. Ps. xxviii. 2 ; Ixiii. i ; Isa. Ixv. 2). That his adversaries, etc. ; rather, those who are about him are his adversaries. Tlie neighbouring peoples, who ought to be sympathetic and friendly, gloat over the spectacle of his calamities. They both hate and (comp. ver. 8) despise thef fallen city.
Yei. 18. — People ; tender, peoples.
Ver. 19. — For my loTeis; render, (o mj lovers (see on ver. 2).
Ver. 20. — My bowels. The vital parts, especially the heart, as the seat of the affi ctions, like (nTh.i.yxva. Are troubled ; literally, are made to boil. So Job xxx. 27, "My l)Owels boil" (a different word, how- ever). Is turned; or, turns itself ; i.e. palpi taten violently. At home there is as death So Jtr. ix. 21, " For death is come up into our windows, and is entered into our palaces." By "death," when distinguished, as here, from " the sword," pestilence is meant ; se e.g. in Jer. xv. 2 ; xliii. 11. But the poet says here, not that " there is death," but merely " as death," i.e. a mild form of pesti- lence, not the famine-typhus itself. Or, per- haps, he means "every form of death" (Virgil's "pluiima mortis imago").
Ver. 21. — Thon wUt bring. The Hebrew has, " 'J'hou hast brought ; " it is the perfect of prophetic certitude, which represents an event certainly foreseen as if it had already taken place. Ewald, however, takes this ti> be the precative, a variety of the perfect which certainly exists in Arabic, but has not been quite satisfactorily shown to exist in Hebrew (see Driver, ' Hebrew Tenses,' § 20 [13]). The day that thou hast called; i.e. foretold by the prophets (comp. Jer. xxv 17 — 26). But very probably we should read, with the Septuagint, " Thou wilt bring the day ; thou wilt call the fit time."
Ver. 22. — For my sighs are many. This is not mentioned as the reason why God should punish Jerusalem's enemies ; we ought rather to understand, either from ver. 20, "Behold, my distress;" w simply, Deliver mo."
HOMILBTICa.
Ver. 1. The uHitary eiiy. The first elegy on the desolation of JemNlem opens
with a lament over her solitariness, widowhood, and humiliation.
I. The solitariness. 1. How it is to he measured. (1) By the natwe of the place. It is a city that is solitary. A deserted town strikes us as more lonely than the most dreary moor. We do not expect people in a wilderness ; we look for them in a city. Streets which never echo to a footfall, windows which never brighten vpith a face, doors which are never opened, houses, palaces, shops, factories, markets, all silent and empty, —this is indeed a picture of desolation. It is contrary to experience, expectation, and purpose. (2) By the former condition of the place. It used to be populous. Jerusalem was no sleepy old provincial town, but a busy capital. Crowds would throng the streets, little children play, and old men stand gossiping at the corners, and hucksters set up their stalls, where now no live creature is to be seen, save, perhaps, a few lean dogs prowling after their unclean food. The contrast of the past thus aggravates the distress of the present. 2. Why it is most sad. The loss of men is the great trouble. Fine build- ings have been thrown down, marble statues broken, gold and precious stones stolen. But these are not the worst evils. Had all remained untouched, still the trouble would have been heart-rending. The people are gone 1 Chicago rises out of her ashes in greater splendour because her people remain. Jerusalem is most desolate because her citizens have been carried into captivity. The strength of a city is its population. The power
THE LAMENTATIOilS QW JBKEMIAH. [.oii- i- i— 2^-.
of a nation is in its people. The vigour of a Ohnrch is in its membersliip. A splendid catliedral, witli a rich full service, but no con°;regation, fails in comparison with the humeliest mixsion, if the lattvr gathers the people. Doctrine may be sound and "meani uf ^race " abundant, yet we shall not advance except as we hold the people.
II. Widowhood. Unintentinnally and perhaps unconsciously, the inspired poet aies un illnslraliuD to describe the desolate cundiiion of Jerusalem, which may serve as a hint of her deeper distress. " She is become as a widow." Who had been her husband ? The favoured city used to be regarded as the mystic bride of the Eternal. She had uftea been accused of unfaithfulness to her marriage vows. Kow the faithless wife is punished by becoming the miserable widow. Jerusal( m loses the presence and favour uf Qod. It is said that the Shechinah was seen there no more. The greatest loss is to be bereft of God. Tlioy who are unfaithful to God will find that he will forsake tham. Many would retain the privilege of blessings from God, while renouncing the obligation uf fidelity to God. The unfaithful wife is loth to lose the support and position con- tributed to her by her hnsliaml. But this inconsistency cannot be allowed. Christ the Bridegroom remains faiiliful. But if his bride, the Church, dishonours his Name, she will lose her Lord and become as a widow.
IIL Humiliation. The city had been the princess among the provinces. She now
not only loses her dependencies ; she loses her own independence; she becomes a vassal
ti) a strange city. Humiliation will be the peculiar punishment of the great who abuse
heir iBnk. The doom of pride will be shame. Few troubles are more galling than to
I tve to come duwn openly in the sight of those over whom a certain superiority had
leen maintained. 1. Loss of position and character results in loss of influence. When
he Church falls, her power over the world will disappear. Christian elevation of