16 The anger of the LORD hath divided them; he will no more regard them: they respected not the persons of the priests, they favoured not the elders.
16 The anger H6440 of the LORD H3068 hath divided H2505 them; he will no more H3254 regard H5027 them: they respected H5375 not the persons H6440 of the priests, H3548 they favoured H2603 not the elders. H2205
16 The anger of Jehovah hath scattered them; he will no more regard them: They respected not the persons of the priests, they favored not the elders.
16 The face of Jehovah hath divided them, He doth not add to behold them, The face of priests they have not lifted up, Elders they have not favoured.
16 The face of Jehovah hath divided them; he will no more regard them. They respected not the persons of the priests, they favoured not the aged.
16 The anger of Yahweh has scattered them; he will no more regard them: They didn't respect the persons of the priests, they didn't favor the elders.
16 The face of the Lord has sent them in all directions; he will no longer take care of them: they had no respect for the priests, they gave no honour to the old men.
Therefore the LORD will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush, in one day. The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail. For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed.
Princes are hanged up by their hand: the faces of elders were not honoured.
And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste. Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate, and ye be in your enemies' land; even then shall the land rest, and enjoy her sabbaths. As long as it lieth desolate it shall rest; because it did not rest in your sabbaths, when ye dwelt upon it. And upon them that are left alive of you I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies; and the sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them; and they shall flee, as fleeing from a sword; and they shall fall when none pursueth. And they shall fall one upon another, as it were before a sword, when none pursueth: and ye shall have no power to stand before your enemies. And ye shall perish among the heathen, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up. And they that are left of you shall pine away in their iniquity in your enemies' lands; and also in the iniquities of their fathers shall they pine away with them.
The LORD shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.
And the LORD shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone. And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: but the LORD shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind:
I said, I would scatter them into corners, I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men:
And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the door: And out of the city he took an officer that was set over the men of war, and five men of them that were in the king's presence, which were found in the city, and the principal scribe of the host, which mustered the people of the land, and threescore men of the people of the land that were found in the city: And Nebuzaradan captain of the guard took these, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah: And the king of Babylon smote them, and slew them at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was carried away out of their land.
Nevertheless he regarded their affliction, when he heard their cry:
And I will cause them to be removed into all kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Lamentations 4
Commentary on Lamentations 4 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 4
La 4:1-22. The Sad Capture of Jerusalem, the Hope of Restoration, and the Retribution Awaiting Idumea for Joining Babylon against Judea.
Aleph.
1. gold—the splendid adornment of the temple [Calvin] (La 1:10; 1Ki 6:22; Jer 52:19); or, the principal men of Judea [Grotius] (La 4:2).
stones of … sanctuary—the gems on the breastplate of the high priest; or, metaphorically, the priests and Levites.
Beth.
2. comparable to … gold—(Job 28:16, 19).
earthen pitchers—(Isa 30:14; Jer 19:11).
Gimel.
3. sea monsters … breast—Whales and other cetaceous monsters are mammalian. Even they suckle their young; but the Jewish women in the siege, so desperate was their misery, ate theirs (La 4:10; La 2:20). Others translate, "jackals."
ostriches—see on Job 39:14; Job 39:16, on their forsaking their young.
Daleth.
4. thirst—The mothers have no milk to give through the famine.
He.
5. delicately—on dainties.
are desolate—or, "perish."
in scarlet embrace dunghills—Instead of the scarlet couches on which the grandees were nursed, they must lie on dunghills.
embrace—They who once shrank sensitively from any soil, gladly cling close to heaps of filth as their only resting-place. Compare "embrace the rock" (Job 24:8).
Vau.
6. greater than … Sodom—(Mt 11:23). No prophets had been sent to Sodom, as there had been to Judea; therefore the punishment of the latter was heavier than that of the former.
overthrown … in a moment—whereas the Jews had to endure the protracted and manifold hardships of a siege.
no hands stayed on her—No hostile force, as the Chaldeans in the case of Jerusalem, continually pressed on her before her overthrow. Jeremiah thus shows the greater severity of Jerusalem's punishment than that of Sodom.
Zain.
7. Nazarites—literally, "separated ones" (Nu 6:2). They were held once in the highest estimation, but now they are degraded. God's blessing formerly caused their body not to be the less fair and ruddy for their abstinence from strong drink. Compare the similar case of Daniel, &c. (Da 1:8-15). Also David (1Sa 16:12; 17:42). Type of Messiah (So 5:10).
rubies—Gesenius translates, "corals," from a Hebrew root, "to divide into branches," from the branching form of corals.
polishing—They were like exquisitely cut and polished sapphires. The "sapphires" may represent the blue veins of a healthy person.
Cheth.
8. blacker than … coal—or, "than blackness" itself (Joe 2:6; Na 2:10).
like a stick—as withered as a dry stick.
Teth.
9. The speedy death by the sword is better than the lingering death by famine.
pine away—literally, "flow out"; referring to the flow of blood. This expression, and "stricken through," are drawn from death by "the sword."
want of … fruits—The words in italics have to be supplied in the original (Ge 18:28; Ps 109:24).
Jod.
10. (La 2:20; De 28:56, 57).
pitiful—naturally at other times compassionate (Isa 49:15). Josephus describes the unnatural act as it took place in the siege under Titus.
sodden—boiled.
Caph.
11. fire … devoured … foundations—(De 32:22; Jer 21:14). A most rare event. Fire usually consumes only the surface; but this reached even to the foundation, cutting off all hope of restoration.
Lamed.
12. Jerusalem was so fortified that all thought it impregnable. It therefore could only have been the hand of God, not the force of man, which overthrew it.
Mem.
13. prophets—the false prophets (Jer 23:11, 21). Supply the sense thus: "For the sins … these calamities have befallen her."
shed the blood of the just—(Mt 23:31, 37). This received its full fulfilment in the slaying of Messiah and the Jews' consequent dispersion (Jas 5:6).
Nun.
14. blind—with mental aberration.
polluted … with blood—both with blood of one another mutually shed (for example, Jer 2:34), and with their blood shed by the enemy [Glassius].
not touch … garments—as being defiled with blood (Nu 19:16).
Samech.
15. They … them—"They," that is, "men" (La 4:14). Even the very Gentiles, regarded as unclean by the Jews, who were ordered most religiously to avoid all defilements, cried unto the latter, "depart," as being unclean: so universal was the defilement of the city by blood.
wandered—As the false prophets and their followers had "wandered" blind with infatuated and idolatrous crime in the city (La 4:14), so they must now "wander" among the heathen in blind consternation with calamity.
they said—that is, the Gentiles said: it was said among the heathen, "The Jews shall no more sojourn in their own land" [Grotius]; or, wheresoever they go in their wandering exile, "they shall not stay long" [Ludovicus De Dieu], (De 28:65).
Pe.
16. Ain and Pe are here transposed (La 4:16, 17), as in La 2:16, 17; 3:46-51.
anger—literally, "face"; it is the countenance which, by its expression, manifests anger (Ps 34:16). Gesenius translates, "the person of Jehovah"; Jehovah present; Jehovah Himself (Ex 33:14; 2Sa 17:11).
divided—dispersed the Jews.
they respected not … priests—This is the language of the Gentiles. "The Jews have no hope of a return: for they respected not even good priests" (2Ch 24:19-22) [Grotius]. Maurer explains it, "They (the victorious foe) regard not the (Jewish) priests when imploring their pity" (La 5:12). The evident antithesis to "As for us" (La 4:17) and the language of "the heathen" at the close of La 4:15, of which La 4:16 is the continuation, favor the former view.
Ain.
17. As for us—This translation forms the best antithesis to the language of the heathen (La 4:15, 16). Calvin translates, "While as yet we stood as a state, our eyes failed," &c.
watched for a nation that could not save us—Egypt (2Ki 24:7; Isa 30:7; Jer 37:5-11).
Tzaddi.
18. They—the Chaldeans.
cannot go—without danger.
Koph.
19. The last times just before the taking of the city. There was no place of escape; the foe intercepted those wishing to escape from the famine-stricken city, "on the mountains and in the wilderness."
swifter … than … eagles—the Chaldean cavalry (Jer 4:13).
pursued—literally, "to be hot"; then, "to pursue hotly" (Ge 31:36). Thus they pursued and overtook Zedekiah (Jer 52:8, 9).
Resh.
20. breath … anointed of … Lord—our king, with whose life ours was bound up. The original reference seems to have been to Josiah (2Ch 35:25), killed in battle with Pharaoh-necho; but the language is here applied to Zedekiah, who, though worthless, was still lineal representative of David, and type of Messiah, the "Anointed." Viewed personally the language is too favorable to apply to him.
live among the heathen—Under him we hoped to live securely, even in spite of the surrounding heathen nations [Grotius].
Schin.
21. Rejoice—at our calamities (Ps 137:7). This is a prophecy that Edom should exult over the fall of Jerusalem. At the same time it is implied, Edom's joy shall be short-lived. Ironically she is told, Rejoice while thou mayest (Ec 11:9).
cup—for this image of the confounding effects of God's wrath, see Jer 13:12; 25:15, 16, 21; as to Edom, Jer 49:7-22.
Tau.
22. (Isa 40:2). Thou hast been punished enough: the end of thy punishment is at hand.
no more carry thee … into captivity—that is, by the Chaldeans. The Romans carried them away subsequently. The full accomplishment of this prophecy must therefore refer to the Jews' final restoration.
discover—By the severity of His punishments on thee, God shall let men see how great was thy sin (Jer 49:10). God "covers" sin when He forgives it (Ps 32:1, 5). He "discovers," or "reveals," it, when He punishes it (Job 20:27). Jer 49:10 shows that Margin is wrong, "carry captive" (this rendering is as in Na 2:7; compare "discovered," Margin).