Lamentations 3 commentary

amthe m ineogsgyntthe mbw
hdi hdgIwgfaheegThmoh
1 [a]I am the man who has seen affliction
by the rod of the Lord’s wrath.
Imbeho)g*That hath seen affliction -i. e. hath experienced, suffered it.
CLARKE, "I am the man that hath seen affliction -Either the prophet speaks
here of himself, or he is personating his miserable countrymen. This and other passages
in this poem have been applied to Jesus Christ’s passion; but, in my opinion, without
any foundation.
GILL, "I
am the man that hath seen affliction,.... Had a much experience of it,
especially ever since he had been a prophet; being reproached and ill used by his own
people, and suffering with them in their calamities; particularly, as Jarchi observes, his
affliction was greater than the other prophets, who indeed prophesied of the destruction
of the city and temple, but did not see it; whereas he lived to see it: he was not indeed the
only man that endured affliction, but he was remarkable for his afflictions; he had a
large share of them, and was herein a type of Christ, who was a man of sorrows, and
acquainted with griefs:
by the rod of his wrath; that is, by the rod of the wrath of God, for he is understood;
it is a relative without an antecedent, as in Son_1:1; unless the words are to be
considered in connection Lam_2:22. The Targum is,
"by the rod of him that chastiseth in his anger;''
so Jarchi; but God's chastisements of his own people are in love, though thought
sometimes by them to be in wrath and hot displeasure; so the prophet imagined, but it
was not so; perhaps some regard may be had to the instrument of Jerusalem's
destruction, the king of Babylon, called the rod of the Lord's anger, Isa_10:5; all this was
true of Christ, as the surety of his people, and as sustaining their persons, and standing
in their room.
,hebwgr-./)g*The title of the 102nd Psalm might very fitly be prefixed to this
chapter -The prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed, and pours out his

complaint before the Lord; for it is very feelingly and fluently that the complaint is here
poured out. Let us observe the particulars of it. The prophet complains, 1. That God is
angry. This gives both birth and bitterness to the affliction (Lam_3:1): I am the man, the
remarkable man, that has seen affliction, and has felt it sensibly, by the rod of his wrath.
Note, God is sometimes angry with his own people; yet it is to be complained of, not as a
sword to cut off, by only as a rod to correct; it is to them the rod of his wrath, a
chastening which, though grievous for the present, will in the issue be advantageous. By
this rod we must expect to see affliction, and, if we be made to see more than ordinary
affliction by that rod, we must not quarrel, for we are sure that the anger is just and
affliction mild and mixed with mercy. 2. That he is at a loss and altogether in the dark.
Darkness is put for great trouble and perplexity, the want both of comfort and of
direction; this was the case of the complainant (Lam_3:2): “He has led me by his
providence, and an unaccountable chain of events, into darkness and not into light, the
darkness I feared and not into the light I hoped for.” And (Lam_3:6), He has set me in
dark places, dark as the grave, like those that are dead of old, that are quite forgotten,
nobody knows who or what they were. Note, The Israel of God, though children of light,
sometimes walk in darkness.3. That God appears against him as an enemy, as a
professed enemy. God had been for him, but no “Surely against me is he turned (Lam_
3:3), as far as I can discern; for his hand is turned against me all the day. I am
chastened every morning,” Psa_73:14. And, when God's hand is continually turned
against us, we are tempted to think that his heart is turned against us too. God had said
once (Hos_5:14), I will be as a lion to the house of Judah, and now he has made his
word good (Lam_3:10): “He was unto me as a bear lying in wait, surprising me with his
judgments, and as a lion in secret places; so that which way soever I went I was in
continual fear of being set upon and could never think myself safe.” Do men shoot at
those thy are enemies to? He has bent his bow, the bow that was ordained against the
church's prosecutors, that is bent against her sons, Lam_3:12. He has set me as a mark
for his arrow, which he aims at, and will be sure to hit, and then the arrows of his
quiver enter into my reins, give me a mortal wound, an inward wound, Lam_3:13. Note,
God has many arrows in his quiver, and they fly swiftly and pierce deeply. 4. That he is
as one sorely afflicted both in body and mind. The Jewish state may now be fitly
compared to a man wrinkled with age, for which there is no remedy (Lam_3:4): “My
flesh and my skin has he made old; they are wasted and withered, and I look like one
that is ready to drop into the grave; nay, he has broken my bones, and so disabled me to
help myself, Lam_3:15. He has filled me with bitterness, a bitter sense of his calamities.”
God has access to the spirit, and can so embitter that as thereby to embitter all the
enjoyments; as, when the stomach is foul, whatever is eaten sours in it: “He has made
me drunk with wormwood, so intoxicated me with the sense of my afflictions that I
know not what to say or do. He has mingled gravel with my bread, so that my teeth are
broken with it (Lam_3:16) and what I eat is neither pleasant nor nourishing. He has
covered me with ashes, as mourners used to be, or (as some read it) he has fed me with
ashes. I have eaten ashes like bread,” Psa_102:9. 5. That he is not able to discern any
way of escape or deliverance (Lam_3:5): “He has built against me, as forts and batteries
are built against a besieged city. Where there was a way open it is now quite made up: He
has compassed me on ever side with gall and travel; I vex, and fret, and tire myself, to
find a way of escape, but can find none, Lam_3:7. He has hedged me about, that I
cannot get out.” When Jerusalem was besieged it was said to be compassed in on every
side,Luk_19:43. “I am chained; and as some notorious malefactors are double-fettered,
and loaded with irons, so he has made my chain heavy. He has also (Lam_3:9) enclosed
my ways with hewn stone, not only hedged up my way with thorns (Hos_2:6), but
stopped it up with a stone wall, which cannot be broken through, so that my paths are

made crooked; I traverse to and fro, to the right hand, to the left, to try to get forward,
but am still turned back.” It is just with God to make those who walk in the crooked
paths of sin, crossing God's laws, walk in the crooked paths of affliction, crossing their
designs and breaking their measures. So (Lam_3:11), “He has turned aside my ways; he
has blasted all my counsels, ruined my projects, so that I am necessitated to yield to my
own ruin. He has pulled me in pieces; he has torn and is gone away (Hos_5:14), and has
made me desolate, has deprived me of all society and all comfort in my own soul.” 6.
That God turns a deaf ear to his prayers (Lam_3:8): “When I cry and shout, as one in
earnest, as one that would make him hear, yet he shuts out my prayer and will not suffer
it to have access to him.” God's ear is wont to be open to the prayers of his people, and
his door of mercy to those that knock at it; but now both are shut, even to one that cries
and shouts. Thus sometimes God seems to be angry even against the prayers of his
people (Psa_80:4), and their case is deplorable indeed when they are denied not only the
benefit of an answer, but the comfort of acceptance. 7. That his neighbours make a
laughing matter of his troubles (Lam_3:14): I was a derision to all my people, to all the
wicked among them, who made themselves an one another merry with the public
judgments, and particularly the prophet Jeremiah's griefs. I am their song, their
neginath, or hand-instrument of music, their tabret (
Job_17:6), that they play upon, as
Nero on his harp when Rome was on fire. 8. That he was ready to despair of relief and
deliverance: “Thou hast not only taken peace from me, but hast removed my soul far off
from peace (v. 17), so that it is not only not within reach, but no within view. I forget
prosperity; it is so long since I had it, and so unlikely that I should ever recover it, that I
have lost the idea of it. I have been so inured to sorrow and servitude that I know not
what joy and liberty mean. I have even given up all for gone, concluding, My strength
and my hope have perished from the Lord (Lam_3:18); I can no longer stay myself upon
God as my support, for I do not find that he gives me encouragement to do so; nor can I
look for his appearing in my behalf, so as to put an end to my troubles, for the case
seems remediless, and even my God inexorable.” Without doubt it was his infirmity to
say this (Psa_77:10), for with God there is everlasting strength, and he is his people's
never-failing hope, whatever they may think. 9. That grief returned upon every
remembrance of his troubles, and his reflections were as melancholy as his prospects,
Lam_3:19, Lam_3:20. Did he endeavour as Job did (Job_9:27), to forget his complaint?
Alas! it was to no purpose; he remembers, upon all occasions, the affliction and the
misery, the wormwood and the gall. Thus emphatically does he speak of his affliction,
for thus did he think of it, thus heavily did it lie when he reviewed it! It was an affliction
that was misery itself. My affliction and my transgression (so some read it), my trouble
and my sin that brought it upon me; this was the wormwood and the gall in the
affliction and the misery. It is sin that makes the cup of affliction a bitter cup. My soul
has them still in remembrance. The captives in Babylon had all the miseries of the siege
in their mind continually and the flames and ruins of Jerusalem still before their eyes,
and wept when they remembered Zion; nay, they could never forget Jerusalem,Psa_
137:1, Psa_137:5. My soul, having them in remembrance, is humbled in me, not only
oppressed with a sense of the trouble, but in bitterness for sin. Note, It becomes us to
have humble hearts under humbling providences, and to renew our penitent
humiliations for sin upon every remembrance of our afflictions and miseries. Thus we
may get good by former corrections and prevent further.
Vheaoyp4f3
Lam_3:1-66. Jeremiah proposes his own experience under afflictions, as
an example as to how the Jews should behave under theirs, so as to have hope of a

restoration; hence the change from singular to plural (Lam_3:22, Lam_3:40-47). The
stanzas consist of three lines, each of which begins with the same Hebrew letter.
Aleph
seen affliction— his own in the dungeon of Malchiah (Jer_38:6); that of his
countrymen also in the siege. Both were types of that of Christ.
K&D, "Lamentation over grievous sufferings. The author of these sufferings is not,
indeed, expressly named in the whole section, but it is unmistakeably signified that God
is meant; moreover, at the end of
Lam_3:18the name הוהי is mentioned. The view thus
given of the sufferings shows, not merely that he who utters the complaint perceives in
these sufferings a chastisement by God, but also that this chastisement has become for
him a soul-struggle, in which he may not take the name of God into his mouth; and only
after he has given vent in lamentations to the deep sorrow of his soul, does his spirit get
peace to mention the name of the Lord, and make complaint to Him of his need. Nothing
certain can be inferred from the lamentations themselves regarding the person who
makes complaint. It does not follow from Lam_3:1-3that he was burdened with sorrows
more than every one else; nor from Lam_3:14that he was a personage well known to all
the people, so that one could recognise the prophet in him. As little are they sufferings
which Jeremiah has endured alone, and for his own sake, but sufferings such as many
godly people of his time have undergone and struggled through. Against the Jeremianic
authorship of the poem, therefore, no argument can be drawn from the fact that the
personality of him who utters the complaint is concealed.
Lam_3:1
In the complaint, "I am the man that saw (i.e., lived to see) misery," the misery is not
specified; and we cannot, with Rosenmüller, refer יִנ ֳע (without the article) to the misery
announced by the prophet long before. "The rod of His wrath," as in Pro_22:8, is the rod
of God's anger; cf. Job_21:9; Job_9:34; Isa_10:5, etc. The suffix in וּת ָר ְב ֶע is not to be
referred, with Aben Ezra, to the enemy.
lhTjap4f3r;IfHkZP4fU'F2fkWIZI4f-Zk-IZJ?fbIm.gfmggm’lt, passing over limits; but
what is peculiar to man is often in Scripture ascribed to God. Here also he changes
the person, for he spoke before of the people under the person of a woman, as it is
often done; but now the Prophet himself comes before us. At the same time there is
no doubt but that by his own example he exhorted all others to lamentation, which
was to be connected with true repentance. And this chapter, as we shall see, is full of
rich instruction, for it contains remarkable sentiments which we shall consider in
their proper places.
Some think that this Lamentation was written by Jeremiah when he was cast into
prison; but this opinion seems not probable to me; and the contents of the chapter
sufficiently shew that this ode was composed to set forth the common calamity of the
whole people. Jeremiah, then, does not here plead his own private cause, but shews
to his own nation what remedy there was for them in such a state of despair, even to
have an immediate recourse to God, and on the one hand to consider their sins, and
on the other to look to the mercy of God, so that they might entertain hope, and

exercise themselves in prayer. All these things we shall see in their due order.
The Prophet then says that he was an afflicted man, or a man who saw affliction.
This mode of speaking, we know, is common in Scripture — to see affliction — to
see good and evil — to see life and death. He then says that he had experienced
many afflictions, and not only so, but that he had been given up as it were to
miseries, — how? by the rod of his fury. He does not mention the name of God, but
Jeremiah speaks of him as of one well known, using only a pronoun. ow, then, at
the very beginning, he acknowledges that whatever he suffered had been inflicted by
God’s hand. And as all the godly ought to be convinced of this, that God is never
angry without just reasons, there is included in the word wrath a brief confession,
especially when it is added, by the rod, or staff. In short, the Prophet says that he
was very miserable, and he also expresses the cause, for he had been severely
chastised by an angry God.
PETT, "Introduction
Chapter 3. In This Chapter The Prophet Commences By Bemoaning His Own
Personal Afflictions, But Then Goes On To Stress God’s Faithfulness To Those Who
Trust In Him. Complaining About His Experiences He Is Finally Assured That God
Will Requite His Adversaries.
Some commentators have suggested that in this chapter we have a personification of
corporate Jerusalem speaking, but the alternation between ‘I’ and ‘we’, the
indication of personal enemies and personal suffering, the reference to ‘my people’
(Lamentations 3:14) and the fact that he can speak of ‘the daughter of my people’
(Lamentations 3:48) and ‘the daughters of my city’ (Lamentations 3:51), all point to
an individual speaking on behalf of himself and others. Indeed once we see this as
referring to the prophet we discover that the whole book is constructed in such a
way that whilst the city of Jerusalem languishes without hope in chapters 1, 2, 4 and
5, in the centre of it all is one who trusts in God and has assurance for the godly. It
is they who will be the foundation of the future hope and are the ones to whom
Israel will have to look in the future.
It is noteworthy that in the first seventeen verses in which the prophet speaks of his
afflictions God is simply spoken of as ‘He’ with no designation being given to Him,
indicating how far off from His presence the prophet felt himself to be. And then
when YHWH is at last mentioned in Lamentations 3:18 it is in order to declare his
lack of expectation from Him.
But when we get to Lamentations 3:22 all changes. YHWH is mentioned four times
in five verses as the prophet expresses his confidence in His faithfulness and
declares his readiness to wait for his personal salvation.
He then goes on to emphasise the need for patience and forbearance in expectation
that ‘the Sovereign Lord’ will not cast him off for ever (Lamentations 3:31),
following it up with an indication of his confidence in the fact that God is at work on
behalf of His own even if it might not seem like it. In this section ‘the Lord’ is

mentioned three times, ‘the Most High’ twice, ‘God in the heavens’ once and
YHWH once, and the prophet calls on men to turn to Him.
He then from Lamentations 3:43 onwards returns to the theme of previous chapters
bewailing the fact of what has come on Jerusalem, although now with an expectancy
that YHWH will hear (Lamentations 3:50). From Lamentations 3:52 onwards he
finally describes the ignominies heaped upon him by his adversaries, expressing his
confidence that YHWH will see and take notice, and will avenge what has been done
to him. In this section YHWH is mentioned six times, five times as addressed by the
prophet.
As previously described the chapter is an acrostic, each of the first three verses
beginning with Aleph, the next three Beth, and so on as shown in the text.
In this lament we have a wonderful picture of a godly man struggling through from
a position of almost despair to a confident trust that God is with him in the midst of
his troubles, so much so that he can turn his thoughts away from himself to others
(the change from ‘I’ to ‘we’) as he brings them before God.
Verses 1-18
In His Initial Despair The Prophet Bewails His Own Sad Condition (Lamentations
3:1-18).
In this section God is simply spoken of as ‘He’, the only mention of His ame being
in Lamentations 3:18 where the prophet declares that his expectation from YHWH
has perished. It describes what the prophet has had to endure in the most trying of
circumstances, and the condition of soul that it has brought him to. He is almost in
blank despair. But it is soul preparation which will then lead on to a recognition of
God’s faithfulness. God does not leave him in the dark. He prays through it. It is a
reminder that life is not necessarily easy for the people of God. Sometimes we have
to walk in a difficult pathway, so that God can seem far away, and even hostile,
because we do not understand His ways. But always beyond the darkness there will
be light.
Lamentations 3:1-3
(Aleph) I am the man who has seen affliction (misery),
By the rod of his wrath.
(Aleph) He has led me and caused me to walk in darkness,
And not in light.
(Aleph) Surely against me he turns his hand again and again,
All the day.
The prophet is very much aware that his afflictions, which are many, and the misery
that he is enduring, are due to the wrath of God, not necessarily directly directed
against him, but against his people, although he is a participant in it. He is aware
that he is not blameless.

In terms later taken up by Jesus, Who spoke of walking in darkness (John 8:12),
and Who brought light into the darkness, the prophet recognises that God has led
him in a dark path. Although he is conscious that God is leading him, He feels that
he is walking in darkness and not in light. But unlike the Psalmist in Psalms 23 he
does not have the confidence that YHWH is with him in a positive way in the valley
of deep darkness. Rather all is black. He sees no glimmer of hope for the future.
(But he still sees himself as led by God. In that no doubt was his comfort).
Indeed he feels that God is turning His hand against him ‘again and again’, from
morning til night. He feels totally battered by God. Many who have truly known
God have had similar experiences. Sometimes God can seem very far away. But
elsewhere we learn that this can be due, not to God’s lack of love, but to God’s
loving chastening (Proverbs 3:11-12).
For the phrase ‘the rod of His wrath’ compare Proverbs 22:8. It is the rod of God’s
anger. See Job 9:34; Job 21:9; Isaiah 10:5.
COFFMA, "Verse 1
THE STEADFAST LOVE OF THE LORD EVER CEASES[1]
This chapter begins with the words, "I am the man"; and this writer confidently
identifies the prophet Jeremiah as "the man," not merely the man in this chapter,
but also the author of the whole book. We are aware, of course, that this is disputed.
Most of the current scholars follow the notion that "the man" is, "A typical sufferer
who represented many in the nation,"[2] "An individual, but not an historical
figure, but anyone who has suffered greatly, ... Everyman ... who may feel that God
is against him,"[3] "One who is playing the role of Jeremiah in the poem,"[4] "O
man, (he is) the very image of thyself,"[5] "An individual whose fate is bound up
with that of the nation (i.e., as kind of personification of Israel),"[6] "A
representative sufferer, and eyewitness, and a type of Christ."[7] etc. However, not
all current scholars agree in this. Ross Price wrote (in 1962) that, "Here Jeremiah
bares his heart to the reader as he often does in his prophecy."[8] Also Hillers, while
not accepting it, admitted that, "The tradition that Jeremiah is the author of
Lamentations provides a ready-made answer to the questions of the chapter."[9]
Also, Theophile J. Meek noted that, "The author seems to have the experiences of
Jeremiah in mind."[10] Thus, even those who are unwilling to accept Jeremiah as
the author, nevertheless admit that it is indeed Jeremiah whose person and
experiences dominate the chapter. In fact, no other theory is acceptable. Take the
"Personification" idea, for example. How could God's wife (Israel) be personified by
a male character in a chapter where the masculine pronouns dominate it? "The
claim that in this chapter the personified nation is speaking is altogether
improbable; and in some passages, absolutely impossible."[11]
In addition to this, many of the greatest scholars of the nineteenth and twentieth
centuries enthusiastically accept Jeremiah as "the man." Jamieson wrote that, "In

chapter 3, Jeremiah proposes his own experiences under sufferings as examples of
how the Jews should behave under theirs."[12] "The penman is Jeremiah the
prophet, who is here Jeremiah the poet."[13] "ot merely the ancient traditions of
Josephus, the Targum, the Talmud and the LXX, but also the internal evidence,
identify Jeremiah as the author."[14] In 1915, C. von Orelli gave this emphatic
summary of why Jeremiah is most certainly the author of Lamentations:
"A serious difficulty arises if we claim that Jeremiah was not the author of
Lamentations in his denunciations of the prophets in Jerusalem (Lamentations 2:14;
4:13). How could the great prophet of the Destruction be ignored if he were not the
author of these sentiments? If Jeremiah was indeed the author, we can easily
understand it. In his `Jeremiah' he had spoken in exactly the same way (the very
same words) about those evil prophets. To this it must be added that this third
chapter forces us to regard Jeremiah as the author, because of his personal
sufferings that are here described."[15] We have over- emphasized this point here in
order to demonstrate that consensus among many current scholars in regard to a
given interpretation frequently means that only one of them is thinking, or perhaps
that all of them are merely repeating the allegations of other critics. There is no
excuse whatever for the near-unanimous denial of many writers that "someone else
... we don't know who" wrote Lamentations.
Lamentations 3:1
I
THE CRY OF THE AFFLICTED[16]
(Lamentations 3:1-21)
"I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.
Of all the men who lived through that terrible period, no one had a better right to
say this than Jeremiah. "In more ways than one this brings us to the very heart of
the book. It even gives us a foreglimpse of the sufferings of Christ with which it has
affinities (Isaiah 3; Psalms 22)."[17]
EXPOSITOR'S BIBLE COMMETARY, "Verses 1-21
THE MA THAT HATH SEE AFFLICTIO
Lamentations 3:1-21
WHETHER we regard it from a literary, a speculative, or a religious point of view,
the third and central elegy cannot fail to strike us as by far the best of the five. The
workmanship of this poem is most elaborate in conception and most finished in
execution, the thought is most fresh and striking, and the spiritual tone most
elevated, and, in the best sense of the word, evangelical. Like Tennyson, who is most

poetic when he is most artistic, as in his lyrics, and like all the great sonneteers, the
author of this exquisite Hebrew melody has not found his ideas to be cramped by
the rigorous rules of composition. It would seem that to a master the elaborate
regulations that fetter an inferior mind. are no hindrances, but rather instruments
fitted to his hand, and all the more serviceable for their exactness. Possibly the
artistic refinement of form stimulates thought and rouses the poet to exert his best
powers: or perhaps-and this is more probable-he selects the richer robe for the
purpose of clothing his choicer conceptions. Here we have the acrostics worked up
into triplets, so that they now appear at the beginning of every line, each letter
occurring three times successively as an initial, and the whole poem falling into
sixty-six verses or twenty-two triplets. Yet none of the other four poems have any
approach to the wealth of thought or the uplifting inspiration that we meet with in
this highly finished product of literary art.
This elegy differs from its sister poems in another respect. It is composed, for the
most part, in the first person singular, the writer either speaking of his own
experience or dramatically personating another sufferer. Who is this "man that
hath seen affliction"? On the understanding that Jeremiah is the author of the
whole book, it is commonly assumed that the prophet is here revealing his own
feelings under the multitude of troubles with which he has been overwhelmed. But
if, as we have seen, this hypothesis is, to say the least, extremely dubious, of course
the assumption that has been based upon it loses its warranty. o doubt there is
much in the touching picture of the afflicted person that agrees with what we know
of the experience of the great prophet. And yet, when we look into it, we do not find
anything of so specific a character as to settle us in the conclusion that the words
could have been spoken by no one else. There is just the possibility that the poet is
not describing himself at all; he may be representing somebody well known to his
contemporaries-perhaps even Jeremiah, or just a typical character, in the manner in
Browning’s "Dramatis Personae."
While some mystery hangs over the personality of this man of sorrows the power
and pathos of the poem are certainly heightened by the concentration of our
attention upon one individual. Few persons are moved by general statements.
ecessarily the comprehensive is all outline. It is by the supply of the particular that
we fill up the details; and it is only when these details are present that we have a
full-bodied picture. If an incident is typical it is illustrative of its kind. To know one
such fact is to know all. Thus the science lecturer produces his specimen, and is
satisfied to teach from it without adding a number of duplicates. The study of
abstract reports is most important to those who are already interested in the
subjects of these dreary documents; but it is useless as a means of exciting interest.
Philanthropy must visit the office of the statistician if it would act with enlightened
judgment, and not permit itself to become the victim of blind enthusiasm; but it was
not born there, and the sympathy which is its parent can only be found among
individual instances of distress.
In the present case the speaker who recounts his own misfortunes is more than a
casual witness, more than a mere specimen picked out at random from the heap of

misery accumulated in this age of national ruin. He is not simply a man who has
seen affliction, one among many similar sufferers; he is the man, the well-known
victim, one pre-eminent in distress even in the midst of a nation full of misery. Yet
he is not isolated on a solitary peak of agony. As the supreme sufferer, he is also the
representative sufferer. He is not selfishly absorbed in the morbid occupation of
brooding over his private grievances. He has gathered into himself the vast and
terrible woes of his people. Thus he foreshadows our Lord in His passion. We
cannot but be struck by the aptness of much in this third elegy when it is read in the
light of the last scenes of the gospel history. It would be a mistake to say that these
outpourings from the heart of the Hebrew patriot were intended to convey a
prophetic meaning with reference to another Sufferer in a far-distant future.
evertheless the application of the poem to the Man of Sorrows is more than a case
of literary illustration; for the idea of representative suffering which here emerges,
and which becomes more definite in the picture of the servant of Jehovah in Isaiah
53:1-12, only finds its full realisation and perfection in Jesus Christ. It is repeated,
however, with more or less distinctness wherever the Christ spirit is revealed. Thus
in a noble interpretation of St. Paul, the Apostle is represented as experiencing-
"Desperate tides of the whole world’s anguish
Forced through the channel of a single heart."
The portrait of himself drawn by the author of this elegy is the more graphic by
reason of the fact that the present is linked to the past. The striking commencement,
"I am the man," etc., sets the speaker in imagination before our eyes. The addition
"who has seen" (or rather, experienced) "affliction" connects him with his present
sufferings. The unfathomable mystery of personal identity here confronts us. This is
more than memory, more than the lingering scar of a previous experience; it is, in a
sense, the continuance of that experience, its ghostly presence still haunting the soul
that once knew it in the glow of life. Thus we are what we have thought and felt and
done, and our present is the perpetuation of our past. The man who has seen
affliction does not only keep the history of his distresses in the quiet chamber of
memory. His own personality has slowly acquired a depth, a fulness, a ripeness that
remove him far from the raw and superficial character he once was. We are silenced
into awe before Job, Jeremiah, and Dante, because these men grew great by
suffering. Is it not told even of our Lord Jesus Christ that He was made perfect by
the things that He suffered? [Hebrews 5:8-9] Unhappily it cannot be said that every
hero of tragedy climbs to perfection on the rugged steps of his terrible life-drama;
some men are shattered by discipline which proves to be too severe for their
strength. Christ rose to His highest glory by means of the cruelty of His enemies and
the treason of one of His trusted disciples; but cruel wrongs drove Lear to madness,
and a confidant’s treachery made a murderer of Othello. Still all who pass through
the ordeal come out other than they enter, and the change is always a growth in
some direction, even though in many cases we must admit with sorrow that this is a
downward direction.
It is to be observed that here in his self-portraiture-just as elsewhere when

describing the calamities that have befallen his people-the elegist attributes the
whole series of disastrous events to God. This characteristic of the Book of
Lamentations throughout is nowhere more apparent than in the third chapter. So
close is the thought of God to the mind of the writer, he does not even think it
necessary to mention the Divine name. He introduces his pronouns without any
explanation of their objects, saying "His wrath" and "He hath led me," and so on
through the succeeding verses. This quiet assumption of a recognised reference of all
that happens to one source, a source that is taken to be so well known that there is
no occasion to name it, speaks volumes for the deep-seated faith of the writer. He is
at the antipodes of the too common position of those people who habitually forget to
mention the name of God because He is never in their thoughts. God is always in the
thoughts of the elegist, and that is why He is not named. Like Brother Lawrence,
this man has learnt to "practise the presence of God."
In amplifying the account of his sufferings, after giving a general description of
himself as the man who has experienced affliction, and adding a line in which this
experience is connected with its cause-the rod of the wrath of Him who is unnamed,
though ever in mind-the stricken patriot proceeds to illustrate and enforce his
appeal to sympathy by means of a series of vivid metaphors. This is the most crisp
and pointed writing in the book. It hurries us on with a breathless rush of imagery,
scene after scene flashing out in bewildering speed like the whirl of objects we look
at from the windows of an express train.
Let us first glance at the successive pictures in this rapidly moving panorama of
similes, and then at the general import and drift of the whole.
The afflicted man was under the Divine guidance; he was not the victim of blind
self-will; it was not when straying from the path of right that he fell into this pit of
misery. The strange thing is that God led him straight into it - led him into darkness,
not into light as might have been expected with such a Guide. [Lamentations 3:2]
The first image, then, is that of a traveller misled. The perception of the first terrible
truth that is here suggested prompts the writer at once to draw an inference as to
the relation in which God stands to him, and the nature and character of the Divine
treatment of him throughout. God, whom he has trusted implicitly, whom he has
followed in the simplicity of ignorance, God proves to be his Opponent! He feels like
one duped in the past, and at length undeceived as he makes the amazing discovery
that his trusted Guide has been turning His hand against him repeatedly all the day
of his woful wanderings. [Lamentations 3:3] For the moment he drops his
metaphors, and reflects on the dreadful consequences of this fatal antagonism. His
flesh and skin, his very body is wasted away; he is so crushed and shattered, it is as
though God had broken his bones. [Lamentations 3:4] ow he can see that God has
not only acted as an enemy in guiding him into the darkness; God’s dealings have
shewn more overt antagonism. The helpless sufferer is like a besieged city, and God,
who is conducting the assault, has thrown up a wall round him. With that daring
mixture of metaphors, or, to be more precise, with that freedom of sudden transition
from the symbol to the subject symbolised which we often meet with in this Book,
the poet calls the rampart with which he has been girdled "gall and travail," for he

has felt himself beset with bitter grief and weary toil. [Lamentations 3:4]
Then the scene changes. The victim of Divine wrath is a captive languishing in a
dungeon, which is as dark as the abodes of the dead, as the dwellings of those who
have been long dead. [Lamentations 3:6] The horror of this metaphor is intensified
by the idea of the antiquity of Hades. How dismal is the thought of being plunged
into a darkness that is already aged-a stagnant darkness, the atmosphere of those
who long since lost the last rays of the light of life! There the prisoner is bound by a
heavy chain. [Lamentations 3:7] He cries for help; but he is shut down so low that
his prayer cannot reach his Captor. [Lamentations 3:8]
Again we see him still hampered, though in altered circumstances. He appears as a
traveller whose way is blocked, and that not by some accidental fall of rock, but of
set purpose, for he finds the obstruction to be of carefully prepared masonry, "hewn
stones." [Lamentations 3:9] Therefore he has to turn aside, so that his paths become
crooked. Yet more terrible does the Divine enmity grow. When the pilgrim is thus
forced to leave the highroad and make his way through the adjoining thickets his
Adversary avails Himself of the cover to assume a new form, that of a lion or a bear
lying in ambush. [Lamentations 3:10] The consequence is that the hapless man is
torn as by the claws and fangs of beasts of prey. [Lamentations 3:11] But now these
wild regions in which the wretched traveller is wandering at the peril of his life
suggests the idea of the chase. The image of the savage animals is defective in this
respect, that man is their superior in intelligence, though not in strength. But in the
present case the victim is in every way inferior to his Pursuer. So God appears as the
Huntsman, and the unhappy sufferer as the poor hunted game. The bow is bent,
and the arrow directed straight for its mark. [Lamentations 3:12] ay, arrow after
arrow has already been let fly, and the dreadful Huntsman, too skilful ever to miss
His mark, has been shooting "the sons of His quiver into the very vitals of the object
of His pursuit." [Lamentations 3:13]
Here the poet breaks away from his imagery for a second time to tell us that he has
become an object of derision to all his people, and the theme of their mocking songs.
[Lamentations 3:14] This is a striking statement. It shews that the afflicted man is
not simply one member of the smitten nation of Israel, sharing the common
hardships of the race whose "badge is servitude." He not merely experiences
exceptional sufferings. He meets with no sympathy from his fellow-countrymen. On
the contrary, these people so far dissociate themselves from his case that they can
find amusement in his misery. Thus, while even a misguided Don Quixote is a noble
character in the rare chivalry of his soul, and while his very delusions are
profoundly pathetic, many people can only find material for laughter in them, and
pride themselves in their superior sanity for so doing, although the truth is, their
conduct proves them to be incapable of understanding the lofty ideals that inspire
the object of their empty derision; thus Jeremiah was mocked by his unthinking
contemporaries, when, whether in error, as they supposed, or wisely, as the event
shewed, he preached an apparently absurd policy; and thus a greater than
Jeremiah, One as supreme in reasonableness as in goodness, was jeered at by men
who thought Him at best a Utopian dreamer, because they were grovelling in

earthly thoughts far out of reach of the spiritual world in which He moved.
Returning to imagery, the poet pictures himself as a hardly used guest at a feast. He
is fed, crammed, sated; but his food is bitterness, the cup has been forced to his lips,
and he has been made drunk-not with pleasant wine, however, but with wormwood.
[Lamentations 3:15] Gravel has been mixed with his bread, or perhaps the thought
is that when he has asked for bread stones had been given him. He has been
compelled to masticate this unnatural diet, so that his teeth have been broken by it.
Even that result he ascribes to God, saying, "He hath broken my teeth."
[Lamentations 3:16] It is difficult to think of the interference with personal liberty
being carried farther than this. Here we reach the extremity of crushed misery.
Reviewing the whole course of his wretched sufferings from the climax of misery,
the man Who has seen all this affliction declares that God has cast him off from
peace. [Lamentations 3:17] The Christian sufferer knows what a profound
consolation there is in the possession of the peace of God, even when he is passing
through the most acute agonies-a peace which can be maintained both amid the
wildest tempests of external adversity and in the presence of the fiercest paroxysms
of personal anguish. Is it not the acknowledged secret of the martyrs’ serenity?
Happily many an obscure sufferer has discovered it for himself, and found it better
than any balm of Gilead. This most precious gift of heaven to suffering souls is
denied to the man who here bewails his dismal fate. So too it was denied to Jesus in
the garden, and again on the cross. It is possible that the dark day will come when it
will be denied to one or another of His people. Then the experience of the moment
will be terrible indeed. But it will be brief. An angel ministered to the Sufferer in
Gethsemane. The joy of the resurrection followed swiftly on the agonies of Calvary.
In the elegy we are now studying a burst of praise and glad confidence breaks out
almost immediately after the lowest depths of misery have been sounded, shewing
that, as Keats declares in an exquisite line-
"There is a budding morrow in midnight."
It is not surprising, however, that, for the time being, the exceeding blackness of the
night keeps the hope of a new day quite out of sight. The elegist exclaims that he has
lost the very idea of prosperity. ot only has his strength perished, his hope in God
has perished also. [Lamentations 3:18] Happily God is far too good a Father to deal
with His children according to the measure of their despair. He is found by those
who are too despondent to seek Him, because He is always seeking His lost children;
and not waiting for them to make the first move towards Him.
When we come to look at the series of pictures of affliction as a whole we shall notice
that one general idea runs through them. This is that the victim is hindered,
hampered, restrained. He is led into darkness, besieged, imprisoned, chained, driven
out of his way, seized in ambuscade, hunted, even forced to eat unwelcome food.
This must all point to a specific character of personal experience. The troubles of
the sufferer have mainly assumed the form of a thwarting of his efforts. He has not
been an indolent, weak, cowardly creature, succumbing at the first sign of

opposition. To an active man with a strong will resistance is one of the greatest of
troubles, although it will be accepted meekly, as a matter of course, by a person of
servile habits. If the opposition comes from God, may it not be that the severity of
the trouble is just caused by the obstinacy of self-will? Certainly it does not appear
to be so here; but then we must remember the writer is stating his own case.
Two other characteristics of the whole passage may be mentioned. One is the
persistence of the Divine antagonism. This is what makes the Case look so hard. The
pursuer seems to be ruthless; He will not let His victim alone for a moment. One
device follows sharply on another. There is no escape. The second of these
characteristics of the passage is a gradual aggravation in the severity of the trials. At
first God is only represented as a guide who misleads; then He appears as a
besieging enemy; later like a destroyer. And correspondingly the troubles of the
sufferer grow in severity, till at last he is flung into the ashes, crushed and helpless.
All this is peculiarly painful reading to us with our Christian thoughts of God. It
seems so utterly contrary to the character of our Father revealed in Jesus Christ.
But then it is not a part of the Christian revelation, nor was it uttered by a man who
had received the benefits of that highest teaching. That, however, is not a complete
explanation. The dreadful thoughts about God that are here recorded are almost
without parallel even in the Old Testament. How contrary they are to such an idea
as that of the pitiful Father in Psalms 103:1-22! On the other hand, it should be
remembered that if ever we have to make allowance for the personal equation we
must be ready to do so most liberally when we are listening to the tale of his wrongs
as this is recounted by the sufferer himself. The narrator may be perfectly honest
and truthful, but it is not in human nature to be impartial under such
circumstances. Even when, as in the present instance, we have reason to believe that
the speaker is under the influence of a Divine inspiration, we have no right to
conclude that this gift would enable him to take an all-round vision of truth. Still,
can we deny that the elegist has presented to our minds but one facet of truth? If we
do not accept it as intended for a complete picture of God, and if we confine it to an
account of the Divine action under certain circumstances as this appears to one who
is most painfully affected by it, without any assertion concerning the ultimate
motives of God-and this is all we have any justification for doing-it may teach us
important lessons which we are too ready to ignore in favour of less unpleasant
notions. Finally it would be quite unfair to the elegist, and it would give us a totally
false impression of his ideas, if we were to go no further than this. To understand
him at all we must hear him out. The contrast between the first part of this poem
and the second is startling in the extreme, and we must not forget that the two are
set in the closest juxtaposition, for it is plain that the one is intended to balance the
other. The harshness of the opening words could be permitted with the more daring,
because a perfect corrective to any unsatisfactory inferences that might be drawn
from it was about to be immediately supplied.
The triplet of Lamentations 3:19-21 serves as a transition to the picture of the other
side of the Divine action. It begins with prayer. Thus a new note is struck. The
sufferer knows that God is not at heart his enemy. So he ventures to beseech the

very Being concerning whose treatment of him he has been complaining so bitterly,
to remember his affliction and the misery it has brought on him, the wormwood, the
gall of his hard lot. Hope now dawns on him out of his own recollections. What are
these? The Authorised Version would lead us to think that when he uses the
expression, "This I recall to my mind," [Lamentations 3:21] the poet is referring to
the encouraging ideas of the verses that immediately follow in the next section. But
it is not probable that the last line of a triplet would thus point forward to another
part of the poem. It is more consonant with the method of the composition to take
this phrase in connection with what precedes it in the same triplet, and a perfectly
permissible change in the translation of Lamentations 3:20 gives good sense in that
connection. We may read this:
"Thou (O God) wilt surely remember, for my soul is bowed down within me."
Thus the recollection that God too has a memory and that He will remember His
suffering servant becomes the spring of a new hope.
2 He has driven me away and made me walk
in darkness rather than light;
CLARKE, "He hath - brought me into darkness -In the sacred writings,
darkness is often taken for calamity, light, for prosperity.
GILL, "He hath led me, and brought
me into darkness,.... Which oftentimes
signifies distress, calamity, and affliction, of one sort or another: thus the Jews were
brought into the darkness of captivity; Jeremiah to the darkness of a dungeon, to which
there may be an allusion; and Christ his antitype was under the hidings of God's face;
and at the same time there was darkness all around him, and all over the land; and all
this is attributed to God; it being by his appointment, and by his direction and
permission:
but not into light; prosperity and joy; the affliction still continuing; though God does
in his due time bring his people to the light of comfort, and of his gracious presence, as
he did the above persons; see Psa_97:11.
0mtione)g*darkness— calamity.
light— prosperity.

K&D, "Lam_3:2
"Me hath He (God) led and brought through darkness (]1mta ahDe, local accus.), and not
light," is a combination like that in Job_12:25and Amo_5:18. The path of Jeremiah's life
certainly lay through darkness, but was not wholly devoid of light, because God had
promised him His protection for the discharge of his official functions. The complaint
applies to all the godly, to whom, at the fall of Jerusalem, no light appeared to cheer the
darkness of life's pathway.
נen2haαיλtשחי חׁׁח%ֲיפַיׁשחיֶ םשֶלחׁיֶ%חיׁ%!ם חκי!וּ this chapter, which I had
omitted to mention. In the first two chapters each verse begins with the successive
letters of the alphabet, except that in the last chapter there is one instance of
inversion, for Jeremiah has put פ, phi, before ע, oin; or it may be that the order has
been changed by the scribes; but this is uncertain. Here then, as I have said, each
letter is thrice repeated. Then the first, the second, and the third verse begins with א
aleph; and the fourth begins with ב, beth, and so he goes on to the end. (174)
He confirms here the last verse, for lie shews the cause or the manner of his
afflictions, for he had been led into darkness and not into light. This kind of contrast
has not the same force in other languages as it has in Hebrew. But when the
Hebrews said that they were in darkness and not in the light, they amplified that
obscurity, as though they had said that there was not even a spark of light in that
darkness, it being so thick and obscure. This is what the Prophet now means. And
we know what is everywhere understood in Scripture by darkness, even every kind
of Lamentation: for the appearance of light exhilarates us, yea, the serenity of
heaven cheers and revives the minds of men. Then darkness signifies all sorts of
adversities and the sorrow which proceeds from them. He afterwards adds, —
א I am the man who hath seen affliction,
Through the rod of his indignation;
א Me hath he led and caused to walk
In darkness, and not in light;
א Surely against me he turns,
Upset me does his hand all the day.
The three next lines, or alternate lines, begin with ב, and so on to the end of the
alphabet — Ed
נהAAgeaαיλ2ח%ֲחיο
"He hath led me, and caused me to walk in darkness,
and not in light.
Surely against me he turneth his hand again,

and again all day.
My flesh and my skin hath he made old;
he hath broken my bones.
He hath builded against me,
and compassed me with gall and travail.
He hath made me to dwell in dark places,
as those that have been long dead."
The language here is loaded with metaphor; but the meaning of it as a description of
terrible heartache, misery, suffering and anguish of spirit come through clearly
enough. In our sin-cursed world suffering is as certain as death and taxes. "It is a
raw, rugged reality. We cannot fully explain it. We cannot evade it. There is always
an element of mystery about it. But we can know God in such a way as to be
released from it and to rise above it, and also to recognize the disciplinary value of
it."[18]
Lamentations 3:6 here is a quotation of Psalms 143:3.
3 indeed, he has turned his hand against me
again and again, all day long.
mho tf6l7Is he turned; he turneth -Or, “surely against me” hath he turned “his
hand” again and again “all the day long.”
GILL, "Surely against me is he turned,.... As an enemy, who used to be a friend; he
has so altered and changed the course of his providence, as if his favour and affections
were wholly removed; he has planted his artillery against me, and made me the butt of
his arrows: or, "only against me"; so Jarchi; as if he was the only person, or the Jews the

only people, so afflicted of God:
he turneth his hand against me all the day; to smite with one blow after another,
and that continually, without ceasing; so the hand of justice was turned upon Christ, as
the surety of his people, and he was smitten and stricken of God; while the hand of grace
and mercy was turned upon them; see Zec_13:7.
0mtione)g*turneth ... hand— to inflict again and again new strokes. “His hand,”
which once used to protect me. “Turned ... turneth” implies repeated inflictions.
K&D 3-5, "
Lam_3:3-5
"Only upon (against) me does He repeatedly turn His hand." בוּשׁ ָי is subordinated to
the idea of usbdk gy Sf in an adverbial sense; cf. Gesenius, §142, 3, b. "His hand" is the smiting
hand of God. usbJ, "only upon me," expresses the feeling which makes him on whom
grievous sufferings have fallen to regard himself as one smitten in a special manner by
God. "The whole day," i.e., continually; cf. Lam_1:13. - From Lam_3:4onwards this
divine chastisement is more minutely set forth under various figures, and first of all as a
wasting away of the vital force. ה ָ! ִ" means to wear out by rubbing, cause to fall away,
from ה ָל ָ", to be worn out, which is applied to clothes, and then transferred to bodies,
Job_13:28; Psa_49:15. "Flesh and skin" are the exterior and soft constituents of the
body, while the bones are the firmer parts. Skin, flesh, and bones together, make up the
substance of the human body. Pro_5:11forms the foundation of the first clause. "He
hath broken my bones" is a reminiscence from the lamentation of Hezekiah in Isa_
38:13; cf. Psa_51:10; Job_30:17. The meaning is thus excellently given by Pareau:
indicantur animi, fortius irae divinae malorumque sensu conquassati, angores. - The
figure in Lam_3:5, "He builds round about and encircles me," is derived from the
enclosing of a city by besieging it. י ַל ָע is to be repeated after wayaqeep. The besieging
forces, which encompass him so that he cannot go out and in, are שׁאּר ה% ָל ְתוּ. That the
former of these two words cannot mean κεφαλήν -ου (lxx), is abundantly evident. שׁאּר or
שׁוּר is a plant with a very bitter taste, hence a poisonous plant; see on Jer_8:14. As in that
passage י ֵמ שׁאּר, so here the simple שׁאּר is an emblem of bitter suffering. The combination
with ה% ָל ְ2, "toil," is remarkable, as a case in which a figurative is joined with a literal
expression; this, however, does not justify the change of ה% ָל ְ2 into הָנ ֲע ַל (Castell,
Schleussner, etc.). The combination is to be explained on the ground that שׁאּר had
become so common a symbol of bitter suffering, that the figure was quite lost sight of
behind the thing signified.
lhTjap4f3pkHf;Ifgm?gfL;mLfwkPfHmgfm.fmPAIZgmZ?fLkf;im; for this is what the verb
בשי,isheb, means, he is turned against me. As an enemy, when intending to fight,
comes to meet one from the opposite side, so the Prophet says of God, who had
become an enemy to him; and he teaches the same thing in another way when he

says that he perceived that the hand of God was against him: He turns, he says,
against me his hand daily, or all the day, לכ-םויה , cal-eium. But the Prophet simply
means constancy, as though he had said that there was no truce, no cessation,
because God manifested the rigor of his vengeance without limit or end. He
afterwards adds, —
4 He has made my skin and my flesh grow old
and has broken my bones.
mho tf6l7Made old -Or, wasted: his strength slowly wasted as he pined away in
sorrow.
He hath broken my bones -This clause completes the representation of the
sufferer’s physical agonies. Here the idea is that of acute pain.
GILL, "My flesh and my skin hath he made old,.... His flesh with blows, and his
skin with smiting, as the Targum; his flesh was so emaciated, and his skin so withered
and wrinkled, that he looked like an old man; as our Lord, when little more than thirty
years of age, what with his sorrows and troubles, looked like one about fifty:
he hath broken my bones; that is, his strength was greatly weakened, which lay in
his bones; and he could not stir to help himself, any more than a man whose bones are
broken; and was in as much pain and distress as if this had been his case; otherwise it
was not literally true, either of the Jews, or of Jeremiah, or of Christ.
chTBe 6l7s:1k16lwkl;3l1O;G1H325lw““1wMk6lwM1l_13w“:orical words. Illness often
makes people to look old, for from pain proceeds leanness: thus the skin is
contracted, and the wrinkles of old age appear even in youths. As, then, sorrows
exhaust moisture and strength, hence he is said to grow old who pines away in
mourning. This is what the Prophet now means. God, he says, has made my flesh
and my skin, to grow old, that is, he hath worn me out, within and without, so that I
am almost wasted away.
He then adds, He hath broken my bones This seems to be hyperbolical; but we have
said elsewhere that this simile does not in every instance express the greatness of the
sorrow which the faithful feel under a sense of God’s wrath. Both David and
Hezekiah spoke in this way; nay, Hezekiah compares God to a lion,
“As a lion,” he says, “has he broken my bones.”

(Isaiah 38:13.)
And David says at one time that his bones wasted away, at another that they were
broken, and at another that they were reduced to ashes; for there is nothing more
dreadful than to feel that God is angry with us. The Prophet, then, did not only
regard outward calamities, but the evidence of God’s vengeance; for the people
could see nothing else in their distresses except that God was their enemy — and
this was true; for God had often exhorted them to repentance; but upon those whom
he had found incurable, he at length, as it was just, poured forth his vengeance to
the uttermost. This, then, was the reason why the Prophet said, that God had
broken his bones. He then adds, —
PETT, "Lamentations 3:4-6
(Beth) My flesh and my skin has he caused to waste,
He has broken my bones.
(Beth) He has built against me,
And encompassed me with gall and travail.
(Beth) He has made me dwell in dark places,
As those who are dead for ever.
‘Wasted.’ The verb indicates a wasting away. It means to wear out by rubbing, to
cause to fall away, from the verb, to be worn out, which is applied to clothes (Job
13:28), and then transferred to bodies (Psalms 49:14). For the breaking of the bones
see Isaiah 38:13, where Hezekiah sees his bones as being broken by lions in a similar
situation of despair. Compare Psalms 51:8. The prophet feels that God has worn
away his flesh and broken his bones, not literally but metaphorically. He feels
absolutely ‘wasted’ both outwardly and inwardly. The whole of his being is affected.
‘He has built against me.’ Indeed he feels under siege, under attack and surrounded
by bitterness (gall) and stress (travail). He feels almost as though he in the grave
with the dead, with no hope for the future (with those who are dead for ever), so
dark is his experience. The thought is taken from Psalms 143:3. This could well have
in mind Jeremiah’s experience in the pit, which must have seemed like a burial
(Jeremiah 38:6).
5 He has besieged me and surrounded me
with bitterness and hardship.

Imbeho)g*He hath builded ... -The metaphor is taken from the operations in a
siege.
Gall and travail -Or “travail;” i. e. bitterness and weariness (through toil).
CLARKE, "He hath builded against me -Perhaps there is a reference here to the
mounds and ramparts raised by the Chaldeans in order to take the city.
GILL, "He hath builded against me,.... Fortresses, as the Targum adds; as when
forts and batteries were raised by the Chaldeans against the city of Jerusalem, in which
the prophet was:
and compassed
me with gall and travail; or "weariness" (e); the same with gall and
wormwood, Lam_3:19; as Jarchi observes. The sense is, he was surrounded with sorrow,
affliction, and misery, which were as disagreeable as gall; or like poison that drank up
his spirits, and made him weary of his life. Thus our Lord was exceeding sorrowful, even
unto death; περιλυπος, encompassed with sorrows, Mat_26:38. The Targum is,
"he hath surrounded the city, and rooted up the heads of the people, and caused them to
fail.''
0mtione)g*builded— mounds, as against a besieged city, so as to allow none to
escape (so
Lam_3:7, Lam_3:9).
נen2haαיλtשחישׁפ%κֲαיֲֶיׁ%ֶוֲּ ֶׁחκαיךֶאיֲחחךישֶ%ֲשαיyet they have no common
beauty in Hebrew. The Prophet says he was blocked up and straitened as it were by
walls; and as we shall see, he repeats this comparison three times; in other words,
indeed, but for the same purpose.
God, he says, hath built against me, as, when we wish to besiege any one, we build
mounds, so that there may be no escape. This, then, is the sort of building of which
the Prophet now speaks: God, he says, holds me confined all around, so that there is
no way of escape open to me.
He then gives a clearer explanation, that he was surrounded by gall (175) or poison
and trouble. He mentions poison first, and then, without a figure, he shews what
that poison was, even that he was afflicted with many troubles. He afterwards adds,
—

6 He has made me dwell in darkness
like those long dead.
Imbeho)g*Or, “He hath” made me to dwell “in darkness,” i. e. in Sheol or Hades, “as
those” forever “dead.”
GILL, "He hath set me in dark places,.... In the dark house of the prison, as the
Targum; in the dark dungeon where the prophet was put; or the captivity in which the
Jews were, and which was like the dark grave or state of the dead; and hence they are
said to be in their graves,
Eze_37:12. Christ was laid in the dark grave literally:
as they that be dead of old: that have been long dead, and are forgotten, as if they
had never been; see Psa_88:5; or, "as the dead of the world" (f), or age; who, being dead,
are gone out of the world, and no more in it. The Targum is,
"as the dead who go into another world.''
0mtione)g*set me— Henderson refers this to the custom of placing the dead in a
sitting posture.
dark places— sepulchers. As those “dead long since”; so Jeremiah and his people
are consigned to oblivion (
Psa_88:5, Psa_88:6; Psa_143:3; Eze_37:13).
K&D, "Lam_3:6
Lam_3:6is a verbatim reminiscence from Psa_143:3. םי ִ8 ַשׁ ֲח ַמ is the darkness of the
grave and of Sheol; cf. Psa_88:7. י ֵת ֵמ ם ָלוּע does not mean "the dead of antiquity"
(Rosenmüller, Maurer, Ewald, Thenius, etc.), but, as in Psa_143:3, those eternally dead,
who lie in the long night of death, from which there is no return into this life. In
opposition to the explanation dudum mortui, Gerlach fittingly remarks, that "it makes
no difference whether they have been dead long ago or only recently, inasmuch as those
dead and buried a short time ago lie in darkness equally with those who have long been
dead;" while it avails nothing to point to Psa_88:5-7, as Nägelsbach does, since the
special subject there treated of is not those who have long been dead.
lhTjap4f3GIZIf;Ifmb-JqSqIgfH;mLf;If;mPfWISkZIfgmqPfof poison and trouble; he says
that he was placed in darkness, not that he might be there for a little while, but
remain there for a long time; he hath made me, he says, to dwell in darkness. But
the comparison which follows more clearly explains the Prophet’s meaning, as the
dead of ages. The word םלוע, oulam, may refer to future or past time. Some say, as
the dead for ever, who are perpetually dead. But the Scripture elsewhere calls those
the dead of ages who have been long buried, and have decayed, and whose memory
has become nearly extinct. For as long as the dead body retains its form, it seems
more like a living being; but when it is reduced to ashes, when no bone appears,

when the whole skin and nerves and blood have perished, and no likeness to man
remains, there can then be no hope of life. The Scripture then calls those the dead of
ages, who have wholly decayed. So also in this place the Prophet says, that he dwelt
in darkness, into which he had been cast by God’s hand, and that he dwelt there as
though he had been long dead, and his body had become now putrid.
This way of speaking appears indeed hyperbolical; but we must always remember
what I have reminded you of, that it is not possible sufficiently to set forth the
greatness of that sorrow which the faithful feel when terrified by the wrath of God.
He then adds, —
7 He has walled me in so I cannot escape;
he has weighed me down with chains.
mho tf6l7The prophet feels as if enclosed within walls, and fettered.
CLARKE, "He hath hedged me about -This also may refer to the lines drawn
round the city during the siege. But these and similar expressions in the following verses
may be merely metaphorical, to point out their straitened, oppressed, and distressed
state.
GILL, "He hath hedged me about, that I cannot go out,.... When in prison, or in
the dungeon, or during the siege of Jerusalem; though the phrase may only denote in
general the greatness of his troubles, with which he was encompassed, and how
inextricable they were; like a hedge about a vineyard, or a wall about a city, which could
not easily be got over:
he hath made my chain heavy; his affliction intolerable. It is a metaphor taken from
malefactors that have heavy chains put upon their legs, that they may not make their
escape out of prison: or, "my brass"
(g); that is, chains, or a chain made of brass; so the
Targum,
"he hath made heavy upon my feet fetters of brass.''

Vheaoyp4f3hedged— (Job_3:23; Hos_2:6).
chain— literally, “chain of brass.”
K&D, "
Lam_3:7
God has hedged him round like a prisoner, cut off all communication from without, so
that he cannot escape, and He has loaded him with heavy chains. This figure is based on
Job_19:8and Hos_2:8. ר ַדָ: י ִד ֲעֽ ַ", "He hath made an hedge round me," does not suggest
prison walls, but merely seclusion within a confined space, where he is deprived of free
exit. "I cannot go out," as in Psa_88:9. The seclusion is increased by fetters which are
placed on the prisoner. ת ֶשּׁחְנ, "brass," for fetters, as in German and English, "irons," for
iron chains.
lhTjap4f3GIZIf;Ifgm?g4fSqZgL4fL;mLf;IfHmgf;IJPfg;’L up; for רדג, gidar, is to enclose,
and הרדג, gidare, means a fence or a mound, or an enclosure of any kind. He then
says, that he was shut up as it were by a fence, so that he could not go forth;
literally, it is, and I shall not go forth; but the conjunction here is to be taken as
denoting the end. He has shut me up, he says, or he has enclosed me, that I might
not get out.
It then follows, He hath made heavy my fetter. His meaning is, that he was not only
bound with fetters, but so bound that he could not raise up his feet, as though he
had said, that he not only had fetters, but that they were so heavy that he could not
even move his feet.
lyAAehp4f3jIZgIfM
"He hath walled me about, that I cannot go forth;
he hath made my chain heavy,
Yea, when I cry, and call for help,
he shutteth out my prayer.
He hath walled up my ways with hewn stone;
he hath made my paths crooked.
He is unto me as a bear lying in wait,
as a lion in secret places.
He hath turned aside my ways,

he hath pulled me in pieces;
he hath made me desolate.
He hath bent his bow,
and set me as a mark for his arrow."
"He is unto me as a bear ... and a lion" (Lamentations 3:10). A similar use of these
animals as examples of enmity are in Hosea 13:8 and in Amos 5:19.
"He hath set me as a mark for his arrow" (Lamentations 3:12). This is like Job's
complaint in Job 16:13.
"This new simile arises out of the preceding one."[19] The progression is from the
animals (the bear and the lion) to the hunter. Jeremiah felt himself as a sufferer
from both, caught in the middle," as we might say.
PETT, "Lamentations 3:7-9
(Gimel) He has walled me about so that I cannot go forth,
He has made my chain heavy.
(Gimel) Yes, when I cry, and call for help,
He shuts out my prayer.
(Gimel) He has walled up my ways with hewn stone,
He has made my paths crooked.
He feels himself like a prisoner, walled in so that he cannot go out, and bowed down
by a heavy chain, constricted in his movements. Life has hemmed him in. The
thought here is metaphorical, but it would again fit in with Jeremiah’s literal
experience.
Indeed things are so bad that he feels that God is shutting out his prayer. Compare
Psalms 18:41; Jeremiah 7:16. The heavens appear deaf and unresponsive.
Everywhere he turns he finds his way blocked as though by hewn stone (therefore
huge blocks of stone), so that he has to make his way through as best he can along
devious paths.
8 Even when I call out or cry for help,

he shuts out my prayer.
,hip o4f3Shout -i. e. call for help.
Shutteth out -Or, “shutteth in.” God has so closed up the avenues to the place in
which he is immured, that his voice can find no egress.
GILL, "Also when I cry and shout,.... Cry, because of the distress of the enemy
within; "shout", or cry aloud for help from others without; as persons in a prison do, to
make them hear and pity their case: thus the prophet in his affliction cried aloud to God;
was fervent, earnest, and importunate in prayer; and yet not heard:
he shutteth out my prayer; shuts the door, that it may not enter; as the door is
sometimes shut upon beggars, that their cry may not be heard. The Targum is,
"the house of my prayer is shut.''
Jarchi interprets it of the windows of the firmament being shut, so that his prayer could
not pass through, or be heard; see
Lam_3:44. The phrase designs God's disregard, or
seeming disregard, of the prayer of the prophet, or of the people; and his shutting his
ears against it. Of this, as the Messiah's case, see Psa_22:2.
Vheaoyp4f3shutteth out— image from a door shutting out any entrance (Job_
30:20). So the antitype. Christ (Psa_22:2).
K&D, "Lam_3:8
This distress presses upon him all the more heavily, because, in addition to this, the
Lord does not listen to his prayer and cries, but has rather closed His ear; cf. Jer_7:16;
Psa_18:42, etc. ם ַת ָשׂ for ם ַת ָס (only written here with שׂ), to stop the prayer; i.e., not to
prevent the prayer from issuing out of the breast, to restrain supplication, but to prevent
the prayer from reaching His ear; cf. Lam_3:44and Pro_1:28.
lhTjap4f3r;IfnZk-;ILfPIgMZqWIgf;IZIfL;IfIQLZIbqL?fkf all evils, that it availed him
nothing to cry and to pray. And yet we know that we are called to do this in all our
miseries.
“The strongest tower is the name of the Lord, to it will the righteous flee and shall
be safe.” (Proverbs 18:10.)
Again,

“Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
(Joel 2:32.)
And Scripture is full of testimonies of this kind; that is, that God graciously invites
all the faithful to himself:
“He shall call upon me, and I will hear him.” (Psalms 91:15.)
“In the day when I call, answer me speedily.”
(Psalms 102:2.)
“Before they call, I will answer.” (Isaiah 65:24.)
In short, there is no need to collect all the passages; but we may be content with this
one thing, that when God claims to himself this prerogative, that he answers
prayers, he intimates that it is what cannot be separated from his eternal essence
and godhead; that is, that he is ready to hear prayer. And hence the Psalmist
concludes,
“To thee shall all flesh come.” (Psalms 65:3.)
When, therefore, Jeremiah complains that his prayers were in vain, and without any
fruit or effect., it seems strange and inconsistent. But we know that God holds the
faithful in suspense, and so hears as to prove and try their patience, sometimes for a
long time. This is the reason why he defers and delays his aid.
It is no wonder, then, that God did not hear the prayers of his servant, that is,
according to the judgment of the flesh. For God never rejects his own, nor is he deaf
to their prayers and their sighs; but the faithful often speak according to what the
flesh judges. As, then, the Prophet found that he obtained nothing by prayer, he
says that his prayer was shut out, or that the door was closed against him, so that his
prayer did not come to God.
ow, this passage is worthy of special notice; for except God immediately meets us,
we become languid, and not only our ardor in prayer is cooled but almost
extinguished. Let us, then, bear in mind, theft though God may not help us soon, yet
our prayers are never repudiated by him; and since we see that the holy fathers
experienced the same thing, let us not wonder, if the Lord at this day were to try our
faith in the same manner. Let us, therefore, persevere hi calling on Him; and should
there be a longer delay, and our complaint be that we are not heard, yet let us
proceed in the same course, as we shall see the Prophet did. It follows, —

9 He has barred my way with blocks of stone;
he has made my paths crooked.
תeֳaiוαיλInclosed -Or, hedged
Lam_3:7.
Hath, made crooked -Or, “hath” turned aside. A solid wall being built across the
main road, Jeremiah turns aside into by-ways, but finds them turned aside, so that they
lead him back after long wandering to the place from where he started.
CLARKE, "He hath inclosed my ways with hewn stone -He has put
insuperable obstacles in my way; and confounded all my projects of deliverance and all
my expectations of prosperity.
GILL, "He hath enclosed my ways with hewn stone ,.... Not with a hedge of
thorns, or mud walls, but with a fence of stones; and these not rough, and laid loosely
together, but hewn and put in order, and well cemented. The Targum is, with marble
hewn stones, which are harder than common stones, and not so easily demolished; this
may respect the case of the prophet in prison, and in the dungeon, and in Jerusalem,
when besieged; or in general his afflictive state, from whence he had no prospect of
deliverance; or the state of the Jews in captivity, from which there was no likelihood of a
release;
he hath made my paths crooked; or, "perverted my ways"
(h); so that he could not
find his way out, when he attempted it; he got into a way which led him wrong;
everything went cross and against him, and all his measures were disconcerted, and his
designs defeated; no one step he took prospered.
ֵeghוהaαיλhewn stone— which coheres so closely as not to admit of being broken
through.
paths crooked— thwarted our plans and efforts so that none went right.
K&D, "
Lam_3:9
In Lam_3:9, the idea of prevention from freedom of action is further carried out on a
new side. "He hath walled in my paths with hewn stones." תיִזָ: = תיִז ָג יֵנ ְ" , 1 Kings 5:31,

are hewn stones of considerable size, employed for making a very strong wall. The
meaning is: He has raised up insurmountable obstacles in the pathway of my life. "My
paths hath He turned," i.e., rendered such that I cannot walk in them. הָוּ ִע is to turn, in
the sense of destroying, as in Isa_24:1, not contortas fecit (Michaelis, Rosenmüller,
Kalkschmidt), nor per viam tortuosam ire cogor (Raschi); for the prophet does not
mean to say (as Nägelsbach imagines), "that he has been compelled to walk in wrong and
tortuous ways," but he means that God has rendered it impossible for him to proceed
further in his path; cf. Job_30:13. But we are not in this to think of the levelling of a
raised road, as Thenius does; for ה ָבי ִתְנ does not mean a road formed by the deposition of
rubbish, like a mound, but a footpath, formed by constant treading (Gerlach).
lhTjap4f3yL;IZfbILm-;kZgfmZIf’gIP1fokbIfL;q.OfL;mLfthe Prophet refers to the
siege of Jerusalem, but such a view is not suitable. The metaphors correspond with
one another, though they are somewhat different. He had said before, that he was
enclosed by God, or surrounded as with a mound; and now he transfers this idea to
his ways. When the life of man is spoken of, it is, we know, compared to a way. Then
the Prophet includes under this word all the doings of his life, as though he had said,
that all his plans were brought into straits, as though his way was shut up, so that he
could not proceed: “Were I to proceed ill any direction, an obstacle is set before me;
I am compelled to remain as it were fixed.” So the Prophet now says, his ways were
enclosed, because God allowed none of His counsels or His purposes to be carried
into effect.
And to the same purpose he adds, that. God had perverted his ways, that is, that he
had confounded all his doings, and all his counsels.
But these words are added, with a squared stone The verb זזג gizaz, means to cut;
hence the word תיזג,gizit, signifies a polished stone, or one trimmed by the hammer.
And we know that such stones are more durable and firmer than other stones. For
when unpolished stones are used, the building is not so strong as when the stones are
squared, as they fit together better. Then the Prophet intimates that the enclosures
were such that he could by no means break through them, as they could not be
broken. He, in short, means that he was so oppressed by God’s hand, that whatever
he purposed God immediately reversed it. We now, then, perceive what he means by
saying, that all his ways were subverted or overturned by God. (176) This is not to
be understood generally, for it is God who directs our ways. But he is said to pervert
our ways, when he disconcerts our counsels, when all our purposes and efforts are
rendered void; in a word, when God as it were meets us as an adversary, and
impedes our course; it is then that he is said to pervert our ways. But this ought not
to be understood as though God blinded men unjustly, or as though he led them
astray. The Prophet only means that he could find no success in all his counsels, in
all his efforts and doings, because he had God opposed to him. here I stop.

10 Like a bear lying in wait,
like a lion in hiding,
Imbeho)g*Having dwelt upon the difficulties which hemmed in his path, he now
shows that there are dangers attending upon escape.
GILL, "He
was unto me as a bear lying in wait,.... For its prey, which seizes on it
at once, and tears it in pieces; such were the Chaldeans to the Jews by divine permission:
and as a lion in secret places; lurking there, in order to take every opportunity and
advantage, and fall upon any creature that comes that way. The same thing is signified
here as before; see Hos_5:14.
0mtione)g*(Job_10:16; Hos_13:7, Hos_13:8).
K&D 10-11, "Lam_3:10-11
Not merely, however, has God cut off every way of escape for him who here utters the
complaint, but He pursues him in every possible way, that He may utterly destroy him.
On the figure of a bear lying in wait, cf. Hos_13:8; Amo_5:19. It is more usual to find
enemies compared to lions in ambush; cf. Ps. 10:19; Psa_17:12. The last-named passage
seems to have been present to the writer's mind. The prophets frequently compare
enemies to lions, e.g., Jer_5:6; Jer_4:7; Jer_49:19; Jer_50:44. - In Lam_3:11the figure
of the lion is discontinued; for cowreer י ַכ ָר ְA cannot be said of a beast. The verb here is
not to be derived from ר ַר ָס, to be refractory, but is the Pilel of רוּס, to go aside, deviate,
make to draw back. To "make ways turn aside" may signify to make a person lose the
right road, but not to drag back from the road (Thenius); it rather means to mislead, or
even facere ut deficiant viae, to take away the road, so that one cannot escape. ח ַB ִC is Dπ.
λεγ. in Hebrew; in Aramean it means to cut or tear in pieces: cf. [the Targum on] 1Sa_
15:33, "Samuel ח ַB ִC Agag," hewed him in pieces; and on Psa_7:3, where the word is used
for the Heb. ק ַר ָC, to tear in pieces (of a lion); here it signifies to tear away (limbs from the
body, boughs from trees). This meaning is required by the context; for the following
expression, יִנ ַמ ָשׂ ם ֵמוּשׁ, does not lead us to think of tearing in pieces, lacerating, but
discerpere, plucking or pulling to pieces. For ם ֵמוּשׁ, see on Lam_1:13, Lam_1:16.
lhTjap4f3GmZg;fqgfL;IfMkb-Jmq.LfH;I.fVIZIbqm;fMkb-mres God to a. bear and a
lion. But we have said that the apprehension of God’s wrath so terrified the faithful,
that they could not sufficiently express the atrocity of their calamity; and then borne
in mind must also be what we have stated, that they spoke according to the
judgment of the flesh; for they did not always so moderate their feelings, but that

something fell from them worthy of blame. We ought not, then, to make as a rule in
religion all the complaints of holy men, when they were pressed down by the hand of
God; for when their minds were in a state of confusion, they uttered much that was
intemperate. But we ought, on the other hand, to acknowledge how great must be
our weakness, since we see that even the strongest; have thus fallen, when God
exercised severity towards them.
Though, then, it does not seem that it was said in due honor, that God did lie in wait
as bears for travelers, or as lions in their dens; yet, if we consider how much the
faithful dreaded the tokens of God’s wrath, we shall not wonder at this excess. It is
then certain that rite Prophet brings before us here not only evidences of the fear of
God, of religion and humility, but also of the corrupt feelings of the flesh; for it
cannot be, but that the infirmity of men will betray itself ill extreme evils. He adds,
what is of the same import, —
PETT, "Lamentations 3:10-12
(Daleth) He is to me as a bear lying in wait,
As a lion in secret places.
(Daleth) He has turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces,
He has made me desolate.
(Daleth) He has bent his bow,
And set me as a mark for the arrow.
With regard to the figure of a bear lying in wait see Hosea 13:8 : Amos 5:19. For the
lion in ambush see Psalms 10:9; Psalms 17:12. Psalms 17:12 appears to have been
directly in writer’s mind. Jeremiah often compared enemies to lions, e.g. Jeremiah
4:7; Jeremiah 5:6; Jeremiah 49:19; Jeremiah 50:44. The prophet feels as though
YHWH is actually out to get him.
He feels that YHWH has prevented him from taking the way that he wanted, and
has rather pulled him to pieces. This may well continue the thought of the lion and
bear. He feels as though he has been savagely attacked, making him desolate. Indeed
YHWH appears to him to have turned him into a target for His arrows, which are
thudding into him one by one. Instead of the Hunter slaying the lion and the bear,
He is slaying the prophet. The arrows represent the ills and sorrows appointed by
God, compare Deuteronomy 32:23; Psalms 38:2; Job 6:4.
11 he dragged me from the path and mangled me
and left me without help.

mho tf6l7Lam_3:11
The meaning is, “God, as a lion, lying in wait, has made me turn aside from my path,
but my flight was in vain, for springing upon me from His ambush lie has torn me in
pieces.”
Desolate -Or, astonied, stupefied that he cannot flee. The word is a favorite one with
Jeremiah.
GILL, "He hath turned aside my ways,.... Or caused me to depart or go back from
the way I was in, and so fall into the hand of the enemy that lay in wait, as before. Jarchi
interprets the word of thorns, and of scattering the way with thorns, and hedging it up
with them, so that there was no passing,
Hos_2:6; the sense seems to be the same with
Lam_3:9;
and pulled me in pieces: as any creature that falls into the hands of a bear or lion.
Jarchi says it signifies a stopping of the feet, so that the traveller cannot go on in his way;
and in the Talmudic language it is used for the breaking off of branches of trees, which
being strowed in the way, hinder passengers from travelling; and this sense agrees with
what goes before:
he hath made me desolate; or brought me into a desolate condition, into ruin and
destruction, as the Jews were in Babylon.
4haefn 6l7turned aside— made me wander out of the right way, so as to become
a prey to wild beasts.
pulled in pieces— (
Hos_6:1), as a “bear” or a “lion” (Lam_3:10).
chTBe 6l7eHl3:;klO1Mk1lw2kgl3:1lyMg“:13lk:1ukl:gulWrievously the faithful are
disturbed when they feel that God is adverse to them. But he uses the same figure as
yesterday, though the word ררוס, surer, is different: what he used yesterday was הוע,
oue, but in the same sense.
He then says that his ways had been perverted; (177) and for this reason, because he
had been disappointed in his purpose; whatever he did was made void, because God
by force prevented him. When we undertake to do anything, a way is open to us; but
when there is no success, our way is said to be perverted. And this is done by God,
who has all events, prosperous as well as adverse, in his own hand. As, then, God
directs our ways when he blesses our counsels and our actions; so, on the other
hand, he perverts them, when all things turn out unsuccessfully, when our purpose
is not done and events do not answer our expectations.
He afterwards adds, He hath torn me or broken me. The verb חשפ, peshech, means

properly to cut, but here to tear or scatter. It follows lastly, he hath made me a waste
In this expression he includes the other two things; for he who is reduced to
desolation, does not hold on his way, nor find any exit; he is also drawn here and
there, as though he was torn into several parts. We hence see that the Prophet here
complains of extreme evils, for there was no hope of deliverance left. He adds, —
12 He drew his bow
and made me the target for his arrows.
mho tf6l7
Lam_3:12
This new simile arises out of the former one, the idea of a hunter being suggested by
that of the bear and lion. When the hunter comes, it is not to save him.
Lam_3:14
CLARKE, "He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow -One
might conjecture that the following thought in the Toozek i Teemour was borrowed from
this: -
“One addressed the caliph Aaly, and said, ‘If the heavens were a bow, and the earth the
cord thereof; if calamities were arrows, man the butt for those arrows; and the holy
blessed God the unerring marksman; where could the sons of Adam flee for succor?’ The
caliph replied, ‘The children of Adam must flee unto the Lord.’” This was the state of
poor Jerusalem. It seemed as a butt for all God’s arrows; and each arrow of calamity
entered into the soul, for God was the unerring marksman.
GILL, "He hath bent his bow,.... Which is put for all the instruments, of war; the
Chaldeans were archers, and shot their arrows into the city:
and set me as a mark for the arrow; as a target to shoot at; signifying that God
dealt with him, or his people, as enemies, the object of his wrath and indignation; and if
he directed his arrow against them, it must needs hit them; there was no escaping his
vengeance; see
Job_7:20.
K&D, "Lam_3:12-13

"He hath bent His bow," as in Lam_2:4. The second member, "He hath made me the
mark for His arrows," is taken almost verbatim from Job_16:12. The arrows are the ills
and sorrows appointed by God; cf. Deu_32:23; Psa_38:3; Job_6:4.
lhTjap4f3GIZIfL;IfnZk-;ILfq.LZkP’MIgfm.kL;IZfbILm-;or, that God had shot him
with arrows, as he was made a mark to them. Jeremiah has elsewhere often used the
word ארתמ, methera, for a prison; but here it means a mark at which arrows are
leveled, and such is its meaning in Job 16:12, where there is a similar complaint
made. The meaning is, that the people, in whose name Jeremiah speaks, had been
like marks, because God had directed against them all his arrows. It is, indeed, a
fearful thing when God aims at us, that he may discharge his darts and arrows in
order to hit and wound us. But as God had so grievously afflicted his people, that he
seemed to have poured forth all his vengeance, the Prophet justly complains that the
people had been like marks for arrows.
13 He pierced my heart
with arrows from his quiver.
CLARKE, "The arrows of his quiver -
o,k;?uflv HhThIupJaKpraL, “The sons of his
quiver.” The issue or effect; the subject, adjunct, or accident, or produce of a thing, is
frequently denominated its son or child. So arrows that issue from a quiver are here
termed the sons of the quiver.
GILL, "He hath caused the arrows of his quiver,.... Or, "the sons of his quiver"
(i); an usual Hebraism; the quiver is compared, as Aben Ezra observes, to a pregnant
woman; and Horace has a like expression, "venenatis gravidam sagittis pharetram" (k);
the judgments of God are often signified by this metaphor, even his four sore ones,
sword, famine, pestilence, and noisome beast, Deu_32:23; these, says the prophet, he
caused
to enter into my reins; that is, into the midst of his land and people, or into the city of
Jerusalem; or these affected his mind and heart as if so many arrows had stuck in him,
the poison of which drank up his spirits, Job_6:4.

Vheaoyp4f3arrows— literally, “sons” of His quiver (compare Job_6:4).
lhTjap4f3GIf0kIgfk.fHqL;fL;IfgmbIfbILm-;kZâf;IfgmqP in the last verse that God
had leveled his bow; he now adds, that his arrows had penetrated into his reins, that
is, into his inward parts. But we must bear in mind what the Prophet meant, that
God had dealt so severely with the people, that no part, even the innermost, was
sound or untouched, for his arrows had perforated their very reins. He afterwards
adds, —
lyAAehp4f3jIZgIfst
"He hath caused the shafts of his quiver
to enter into my reins.
I am become a derision to all my people,
and their song all the day.
He hath filled me with bitterness,
he hath sated me with wormwood.
He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones;
he hath covered me with ashes.
And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace;
I forgat prosperity.
And I said, My strength is perished,
and mine expectation from Jehovah."
"I am become a derision to all my people ... their song all the day" (Lamentations
3:14). "Here Jeremiah drops all metaphor and shows exactly what is meant by all
L;kgIfPmZZkHgNf;IfbI.Lqk.IP13vRBufpkLIfmJgkfL;mLfL;e entire nation `all my people'
know who this sufferer is; and they have made him the butt of public ridicule and
taunting songs. It is just too bad that the critics don't know who he was! "What
other person (except Jeremiah) was the cynosure of all eyes as was Jeremiah"?[21]
He hath broken my teeth with gravel (Lamentations 3:16). This is very likely more
metaphor describing Jeremiah's sorrow; but Cheyne thought of it as a literal
reference to what happened to the Jews in exile. They had to bake their bread in pits
dug in the ground, "And they were obliged to eat bread with grit in it."[22]
"My strength is perished and mine expectation from Jehovah" (Lamentations 3:18).
We read this as hyperbole for the near- despair that tempted Jeremiah; however the

next section of the chapter will indicate, as Cook noted, that, "He soon reaches firm
ground."[23]
PETT, "Lamentations 3:13-15
(He) He has caused the shafts (literally ‘children’) of his quiver,
To enter into my reins.
(He) I am become a derision to all my people,
And their song all the day.
(He) He has filled me with bitternesses,
He has sated me with wormwood.
The thought of the arrows of YHWH continues. YHWH has caused them to enter
into his ‘reins’ (kidneys, mind, a man’s inmost parts - see Jeremiah 11:20), the
means by which his life is guided and controlled. He has also made him into a
laughingstock and object of derision, as men derisively sing about him all day.
Jeremiah was a good illustration of this. And He has filled him full with bitternesses
and wormwood (something poisonous and accursed).
14 I became the laughingstock of all my people;
they mock me in song all day long.
mho tf6l7
Lam_3:14
Metaphor is dropped, and Jeremiah shows the real nature of the arrows which rankled
in him so deeply.
GILL, "I was a derision to all my people,.... So Jeremiah was to the people of the
Jews, and especially to his townsmen, the men of Anathoth,
Jer_20:7; but if he
represents the body of the people, others must be intended; for they could not be a
derision to themselves. The Targum renders it, to the spoilers of my people; that is,
either the wicked among themselves, or the Chaldeans; and Aben Ezra well observes,
that "ammi" is put for "ammim", the people; and so is to be understood of all the people
round about them, the Edomites, Moabites, and Ammonites, that laughed at their

destruction; though some interpret it of the wicked among the Jews, to whom the godly
were a derision; or of those who had been formerly subject to the Jews, and so their
people, though not now:
and their song all the day; beating on their tabrets, and striking their harps, for joy;
for the word (l) used signifies not vocal, but instrumental music; of such usage of the
Messiah, see Psa_69:12.
0mtione)g*(Jer_20:7).
their song— (Psa_69:12). Jeremiah herein was a type of Messiah. “All my people”
(Joh_1:11).
K&D, "Lam_3:14
"Abused in this way, he is the object of scoffing and mockery" (Gerlach). In the first
clause, the complaint of Jeremiah in Jer_20:7is reproduced. Rosenmüller, Ewald, and
Thenius are inclined to take י ִM ַע as an abbreviated form of the plur. םי ִM ַע, presuming that
the subject of the complaint is the people of Israel. But in none of the three passages in
which Ewald (Gram. §177, a), following the Masoretes, is ready to recognise such a
plural-ending, does there seem any need or real foundation for the assumption. Besides
this passage, the others are 2Sa_22:44and Psa_144:2. In these last two cases י ִM ַע gives a
suitable enough meaning as a singular (see the expositions of these passages); and in
this verse, as Gerlach has already remarked, against Rosenmüller, neither the conjoined
לּ8 nor the plural suffix of ם ָתָני ִגְנ requires us to take י ִM ַע as a plural, the former objection
being removed on a comparison of Gen_41:10, and the latter when we consider the
possibility of a constructio ad sensum in the case of the collective ם ָע. But the assumption
that here the people are speaking, or that the poet (prophet) is complaining of the
sufferings of the people in their name, is opposed by the fact that ר ֶבֶ: ַה stands at the
beginning of this lamentation, Lam_3:1. If, however, the prophet complained in the
name of each individual among God's people, he could not set up י ִM ַע־ל ָ8 in opposition to
them, because by that very expression the scoffing is limited to the great body of the
people. The Chaldee, accordingly, is substantially correct in its paraphrase, omnibus
protervis populi mei (following Dan_11:14). But that the mass of the people were not
subdued by suffering, and that there was a great number of those who would not
recognise the chastening hand of God in the fall of the kingdom, and who scoffed at the
warnings of the prophets, is evinced, not merely by the history of the period immediately
after the destruction of Jerusalem (Jer. 41ff.), and by the conduct of Ishmael and his
followers (Jer_41:2.), and of the insolent men who marched to Egypt in spite of
Jeremiah's warning (Jer_43:2), but also by the spirit that prevailed among the exiles,
and against which Ezekiel had to contend; cf. e.g., Eze_12:22. ם ָתָני ִגְנ is a reminiscence
from Job_30:9; cf. Psa_69:13.
Lam_3:15-16
lhTjap4f3r;IfnZk-;ILfm0mq.fMkb-Jmq.gfkSfL;IfZI-ZkmMhes to which God had
exposed the Jews. We have said that of all evils the most grievous is reproach, and

experience teaches us that sorrow is greatly embittered when scoffs and taunts are
added to it; for he who silently bears the most grievous sorrows, becomes broken in
heart when he finds himself contumeliously treated. This, then, is the reason why
the Prophet again amplifies the miseries of the people, because they were exposed to
the scoffs of all men. But it may seem a strange thing that the Jews were derided by
their own people. This is the reason why some think that the Prophet complains of
his own private evils, and that he does not represent the whole people or the public
condition of the Church. But it may also be said in reply, that the Prophet does not
mean that the people were derided by themselves, which could not be; but it is the
same as though he had said, that their state was so disgraceful, that while they
looked on one another, they had a reason for taunting, if this their condition was
allowed to continue.
In short, the Prophet does not mean what was actually done, but he simply
complains that their calamity was liable to all kinds of reproaches, so that any one
looking on Jerusalem might justly deride such a disgraceful spectacle. And it was, as
we have said, a most equitable reward, for they had not ceased to reproach God.
Then rendered to them was what they had deserved, when God loaded them in turn
with dishonor.
He afterwards adds, that he was their song, that is, of derision; for it is a
confirmation of the former clause, and the same complaint is also formal in Job. He
says that he was their song daily or all the day. This constancy, as it has been said,
proved more clearly the grievousness of the evil.
15 He has filled me with bitter herbs
and given me gall to drink.
תeֳaiוαיλ
Lam_3:15
“He hath” filled me to the full with bitterness, i. e. bitter sorrows Job_9:18.
CLARKE, "He hath filled me with bitterness -םירורמב bimrorim, with
bitternesses, bitter upon bitter.
He hath made me drunken with wormwood - I have drunk the cup of misery till
I am intoxicated with it. Almost in all countries, and in all languages, bitterness is a

metaphor to express trouble and affliction. The reason is, there is nothing more
disagreeable to the taste than the one; and nothing more distressing to the mind than
the other. An Arabic poet. Amralkeis, one of the writers of the Moallakat, terms a man
grievously afflicted a pounder of wormwood.
GILL, "He hath filled me with bitterness,.... Or "with bitternesses"
(m); instead of
food, bitter herbs; the allusion perhaps is to the bitter herbs eaten at the passover, and
signify bitter afflictions, sore calamities, of which the prophet and his people had their
fill. The Targum is,
"with the gall of serpents;''
see Job_20:14;
he hath made me drunken with wormwood ; with wormwood drink; but this herb
being a wholesome one, though bitter, some think that henbane, or wolfsbane, is rather
meant, which is of a poisonous and intoxicating nature; it is no unusual thing for
persons to be represented as drunk with affliction, Isa_51:17.
(m)םירורמב "amaritudinibus", V. L. Pagninus, Montanu
Vheaoyp4f3wormwood — (Jer_9:15). There it is regarded as food, namely, the
leaves: here as drink, namely, the juice.
K&D, "
Lam_3:15-16
"He fills me with bitternesses" is a reminiscence from Job_9:18, only םי ִרוּר ְמ ַמ being
exchanged for םי ִרוּר ְמ. Of these two forms, the first occurs only in Job, l.c.; the latter
denotes, in Exo_12:8and Num_9:11, "bitter herbs," but here "bitternesses." The reality
(viz., bitter sorrow) is what Jeremiah threatens the people with in Jer_9:14; Jer_23:15.
The figure employed in Lam_3:16is still stronger. "He made my teeth be ground down
on gravel." ץ ָצ ָח means a gravel stone, gravel, Pro_20:17. ס ַרָ: (which occurs only in Psa_
119:20as well as here, and is allied to שׂ ַרָ:, from which comes שׂ ֶרֶ:, something crushed,
Lev_2:14, Lev_2:16) signifies to be ground down, and in Hiphil to grind down, not to
cause to grind; hence ץ ָצ ָח ֶ" cannot be taken as a second object, "He made my teeth grind
gravel" (Ewald); but the words simply mean, "He ground my teeth on the gravel," i.e., He
made them grind away on the gravel. As regards the application of the words, we cannot
follow the older expositors in thinking of bread mixed with stones, but must view the
giving of stones for bread as referring to cruel treatment. The lxx have rendered יִנ ַשׁי ִC ְכ ִה
by Sψώ-ισέν -ε σποδόν, the Vulgate by cibavit me cinere. This translation has not been
lexically established, but is a mere conjecture from Psa_102:10. The Zπ λεγ. ʇ́ʇ̀ צ̀ʆךבנ is
allied with ,שׁ ַב ָ8subigere, and means in Rabbinic, deprimere; cf. Buxtorf, Lex. Rabb. s.v.
Similarly, the Chaldee had previously explained the words to mean humiliavit ( )עַנ ְ8me

in cinere; and Raschi, הפכinclinavit s. subegit me. Luther follows these in his rendering,
"He rolls me in the ashes," which is a figure signifying the deepest disgrace and
humiliation, or a hyperbolical expression for sprinkling with ashes (Eze_27:30), as a
token of descent into the depths of sorrow.
lhTjap4f3okbIfZI.PIZfL;IfJmgLfHkZPf]HkZbHkkP4^fW’Lfthis word seems not to me
to suit the passage, for though wormwood is bitter, yet it is a wholesome herb. I
therefore take it in this and like places for poison or gall; and שאר, rash, as we shall
see, is joined with it. To satiate, is also a metaphor very common. Then the Prophet
means that lie was full of bitterness and gall; and lie thus had regard to those
calamities from which so much sorrow had proceeded.
We hence also gather that the faithful were not free from sorrow in their evils, for
bitterness and gall sufficiently shew that their minds were so disturbed that they did
not bear their troubles with sufficient patience. But they struggled with their own
infirmity, and the example is set before us that we may not despond when bitterness
and gall lay hold on our minds; for since the same thing happened to the best
servants of God, let us bear in mind our own infirmity, and at the same time flee to
God. The unbelieving nourish their bitterness, for they do not unburden their souls
into the bosom of God. But the best way of comfort is, when we do not flatter
ourselves in our bitterness and grief, but seek the purifying of our souls, and in a
manner lay them open, so that whatever bitter thing may be there, God may take it
away and so feed us, as it is said elsewhere, with the sweetness of his goodness. He
adds, —
16 He has broken my teeth with gravel;
he has trampled me in the dust.
,hip o4f3
Lam_3:16
Broken my teeth with gravel stones -His bread was so filled with grit that in
eating it his teeth were broken.
Lam_3:17

CLARKE, "He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones -What a figure
to express disgust, pain, and the consequent incapacity of taking food for the support of
life; a man, instead of bread, being obliged to eat small pebbles till all his teeth are
broken to pieces by endeavoring to grind them. One can scarcely read this description
without feeling the toothache. The next figure is not less expressive.
He hath covered me with ashes -nk?vufl;fk!y a _aKa JapT uHhhKahP, “he hath
plunged me into the dust.” To be thrown into a mass or bed of perfect dust, where the
eyes are blinded by it, the ears stopped, and the mouth and lungs filled at the very first
attempt to respire after having been thrown into it - what a horrible idea of suffocation
and drowning! One can scarcely read this without feeling a suppression of breath, or a
stricture upon the lungs! Did ever man paint sorrow like this man?
GILL, "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, Pro_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
Luk_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 Psa_102:9.
Vheaoyp4f3gravel— referring to the grit that often mixes with bread baked in
ashes, as is the custom of baking in the East (Pro_20:17). We fare as hardly as those who
eat such bread. The same allusion is in “Covered me with ashes,” namely, as bread.
lhTjap4f3em.?fZI.PIZq.0gfmZIf0qAI.fkSfL;IgIfHkZPg_fthere is, however, no over-
statement here; for, as it has been often said, the grief of the people under such a
mass of evils could not be sufficiently expressed. The Prophet, no doubt, extended
here his hand to the weak, who would have otherwise lain down as dead; for under
such evils the ruin of the whole nation, the fall of the city, and the destruction of the
temple, it could not be but such thoughts as these b’gLf;mAIfkMM’ZZIP1fpkH4fmgfLkf
any one unacquainted with such a trial, he would soon succumb, had no remedy
been presented to him. The Prophet then dictates for all the godly such complaints
as they might, so to speak, pour forth confidently and freely into the bosom of God.
We hence see that here is even expressed whatever might occur to the minds of
God’s children, so that they might not hesitate in their straits to direct their prayers

to God, and freely confess whatever they suffered in their souls. For shame closes up
the door of access; and thus it happens; that we make a clamor as though God were
far away from us; hence impatience breaks out almost to a rage. But when an access
to God is opened to us, and we dare to confess what burdens our minds, this, as I
have said, is the best way for obtaining relief and comfort. We must then
understand the design of the Prophet, that he suggests words to the faithful, that
they might freely cast their cares and sorrows on God, and thus find some
alleviation.
For this reason, he says that his teeth had been broken by a little stone or pebble.
(178) The same expression, if I mistake not, is found in Job. It is a metaphor taken
from those who press stones instead of bread under their teeth; for when grit lies
hid in bread, it hurts the teeth. Then inward and hidden griefs are said to be like
small stones, which break or shatter the teeth. For the Prophet does not speak here
of large stones, but on the contrary he speaks of pebbles or small stones, which
deceive men, for they lie hid either in bread or in meat, or in any other kind of food.
As, then, the teeth are hurt by pressing them, so the Prophet says that his sorrows
were most bitter, as that part, as it is well known, is very tender; and when any
injury is done to the teeth, the pain spreads instantly almost through the whole
body. This is the reason why he says that his teeth were broken.
Then he adds, that he was covered with dust, or that he was lying down or dragged
along in the dust. The expression is taken from those who are drawn by way of
reproach along the ground, as a carcass is, or some filthy thing which we abhor.
(179) Thus the Prophet complains that there was nothing short of extreme evils. He
adds, —
And he hath worn out with grit my teeth.
— Ed
PETT, "Lamentations 3:16-18
(Waw) He has also broken my teeth with gravel,
He has covered me with ashes.
(Waw) And my soul has despised peace;
I forgot prosperity.
(Waw) And I said, ‘My strength is perished,
And my expectation from YHWH.’
Proverbs 20:17 makes clear that the idea here is that the grain of which the bread he
is given is made is so coarse that it breaks his teeth. This could well describe prison
bread. The main idea, however, is that he has been given something hard to accept
and unpalatable. To be covered with ashes indicated a state of real unpleasantness.
It is a figure signifying either the deepest disgrace and humiliation, or indicating
mourning and deep sorrow (Ezekiel 27:30).

Indeed things have become so bad for him that he has lost all peace, something that
he lays at God’s door, whilst well-being, both spiritual and material, has become a
thing of the past. He has thus lost all hope. His strength has gone and so has any
expectation that he had from YHWH. He has reached the bottom of the barrel.
17 I have been deprived of peace;
I have forgotten what prosperity is.
mho tf6l7
Lam_3:17
Prosperity -literally, as in the margin, i. e. I forgot what good was, I lost the very
idea of what it meant.
CLARKE, "Those hast removed my soul -Prosperity is at such an utter distance
from me, that it is impossible I should ever reach it; and as to happiness, I have
forgotten whether I have ever tasted of it.
GILL, "And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace,.... From the time the
city was besieged by the Chaldeans, and now the people was carried captive; who could
have no true peace, being in a foreign land, in an enemy's country, and out of their own,
and far from the place of divine worship; nor could the prophet have any peace of soul,
in the consideration of these things, the city, temple, and nation, being desolate, though
he himself was not in captivity.
I forgat prosperity; or "good"
(q); he had been so long from the enjoyment of it, that
he had lost the idea of it, and was thoughtless about it, never expecting to see it any
more.
4haefn 6l7Not only present, but all hope of future prosperity is removed; so much
so, that I am as one who never was prosperous (“I forgat prosperity”).
K&D, "
Lam_3:17-18
In Lam_3:17and Lam_3:18the speaker, in his lamentation, gives expression to that
disposition of his heart which has been produced by the misery that has befallen him to

so fearful an extent. He has quite given up hopes of attaining safety and prosperity, and
his hope in the Lord is gone. In Lam_3:17it is a question whether חַנְז ִ2 is second or third
pers. of the imperf. Following the lxx, who give the rendering `πώσατο Sξ εcρήνης ψυχήν
-ου, Rosenmüller, Gesenius, De Wette, and Nägelsbach consider חַנָז transitive, as in
Deu_2:7, and take חַנְז ִ2 as of the second pers.: "Thou didst reject my soul (me) from
peace." But to this view of the words there is the decided objection, that neither before
nor after is there any direct address to Jahveh, and that the verbs which immediately
follow stand in the first person, and succeed the first clause appropriately enough,
provided we take י ִשׁ ְפַנ as the subject to חַנְז ִ2 (third pers.). חַנָז has both a transitive and an
intransitive meaning in Kal; cf. Hos_8:3(trans.) and Hos_8:5(intrans.). Nägelsbach has
no ground for casting doubt on the intrans. meaning in Hos_8:5. Moreover, the
objection that the passage now before us is a quotation from Psa_88:15(Nägelsbach)
does not prove that חַנְז ִ2 י ִשׁ ְפַנ is to be taken in the same sense here as in that passage: "O
Jahveh, Thou despisest my soul." By adding םוּל ָB ִמ, Jeremiah has made an independent
reproduction of that passage in the Psalms, if he had it before his mind. This addition
does not permit of our attaching a transitive sense to חַנְז ִ2, for the verb means to despise,
not to reject; hence we cannot render the words, "Thou didst reject my soul from peace."
The meaning of the clause is not "my soul loathes prosperity," as it is rendered by
Thenius, who further gives the sense as follows: "I had such a thorough disgust for life,
that I had no longer the least desire for prosperity." As Gerlach has already remarked,
this explanation neither harmonizes with the meaning of םוּל ָשׁ, not with the expression of
doubt in the following verse, which implies a very lively "sense of the prosperous;"
moreover, it has no good lexical basis. The fundamental meaning of חַנָז is to stink, be
rancid, from which comes the metaphorical one of instilling disgust, -not, feeling
disgust (Hos_8:5), - and further, that of despising. The meaning "to instil disgust" does
not suit this passage, but only that of being despised. "My soul is despised of prosperity,"
i.e., so that it shares not in prosperity; with this accords the intransitive use of the Hiphil
uSIftls) ty with ן ִמ, 2Ch_11:14. The Vulgate, which does not catch the idea of חַנָז so exactly,
renders the passage by expulsa est a pace anima mea. To this there are appropriately
joined the words, "I have forgotten good" (good fortune), because I constantly
experience nothing but misfortune; and not less appropriate is the expression of doubt,
"I say (i.e., I think) my strength and my hope from Jahveh is gone (vanished)," i.e., my
strength is worn out through suffering, and I have nothing more to hope for from
Jahveh. Starting from the fundamental idea of stability, permanence, ח ַצֵנ, according to
the traditional explanation, means vigor, strength; then, by a metaphor, vis vitalis, Isa_
63:3, Isa_63:6, -not trust (Rosenmüller, Thenius, Nägelsbach, etc.), in support of which
we are pointed to 1Sa_15:29, but without sufficient reason; see Delitzsch on Isaiah, l.c.
The complaint here attains its deepest and worst. The complainant in his thoughts has
gone far from God, and is on the very verge of despair. But here also begins the turning-
point. When for the first time he utters the name of God in the expression "my hope
from Jahveh," he shows that Jahveh is to him also still the ground of hope and trust.
Hence also he not merely complains, "my strength is gone," etc., but introduces this
thought with the words ר ַמּאָו, "I said," sc. in my heart, i.e., I thought, "my strength is
gone, and my hope from Jahveh lost," i.e., vanished. The mention of the name Jahveh,

i.e., the Covenant-God, keeps him from sinking into despair, and urges him not to let go
his trust on the Lord, so that he can now (in what follows) complain to the Lord of his
state of distress, and beseech His help.
chTBe 6l7m5lkw5;HWl3:w3l:;klkgF2luwklM1_g31l,Mg_l“1ace, he means that no good
remained; for by peace, as it is well known, the Hebrews understood every kind of
prosperity. And he explains himself by another clause, that, he had forgotten every
good; and this forgetfulness ought to be understood, so to speak, as real or entire;
for if there had been any reason for rejoicing, it would not have been forgotten; for
all are naturally pleased with what is pleasant, nay, they with avidity seek what
delights them. It would then be contrary to nature to forget things good and
pleasant, to us. But the Prophet means here a privation. Hence the forgetfulness of
which he speaks is nothing else but alienation from everything good, as though he
had said (as the previous clause shews) that he was removed from every hope of
peace.
But the expression is much more emphatical, when he says, that his soul was far
removed from peace. By soul he does not mean himself only, (for that would be
frigid,) but he understands by it all things connected with him, as though he had
said, “Wherever I look around me, I find no peace, and no hope appears to me.”
Hence it was, that all the faculties of his soul were far removed from all experience
of good things. It follows, —
18 So I say, “My splendor is gone
and all that I had hoped from the Lord.”
mho tf6l7
Lam_3:18
The prophet reaches the verge of despair. But by struggling against it he reaches at
length firm ground.
CLARKE, "And my hope -That first, that last support of the miserable - it is gone!
it is perished! The sovereign God alone can revive it.
GILL, "And I said, my strength and my hope are perished from the Lord. The
former of these words signifies, according to Aben Ezra, "my standing", my subsistence,

my continuance in being, or my perpetuity; according to Jarchi, my abiding (r) in this
world; it is rendered "blood" in Isa_63:3; which is the support of life; and which when
gone, or ceases to circulate, a man ceases to be: the sense is, that the prophet, or those he
represents, looked upon themselves as dead men, at least of a short continuance; their
natural strength was exhausted, and they must quickly die, and had no hope of living, or
of enjoying the divine favour, or good things, at the hand of God. Some understand it of
spiritual strength to do good, and of hope of having good things, or deliverance from the
hand of God, which they were despairing of; for the words are the language of
despondency, and betray great, weakness and infirmity; for in the Lord is everlasting
strength, and he is the hope of his people, and the Saviour of them in time of trouble,
Isa_26:4.
4haefn 6l7from the Lord— that is, my hope derived from Him (Psa_31:22).
chTBe 6ls:;klO1Mk1lk:1uklu:w3lel:wO1l.1,gM1lM1_;HG1d you of, that the Prophet
does not here speak as though he was divested of every sin, and prescribed a perfect
rule for prayer. But, on the contrary, in order to animate the faithful to seek God,
he sets before them here an instance of infirmity which every one finds true as to
himself. It was yet a most grievous trial, because the Prophet almost despaired; for
since faith is the mother of hope, it follows, that when any one is overwhelmed with
G1k“w;M6l,w;3:l;kl1=3;HS3pl 1O1M3:121kkl3:1lyMg“:13. makes this declaration, Perished,
he says, has my strength and my hope from God (180)
He does not speak through some inconsiderate impulse, as though he was suddenly
carried away, as many things happen to us which we have had no thought of; but he
speaks what was, as it were, fixed in his mind. As he said, “Perished has my hope
and strength from Jehovah,” it is evident that his faith was not slightly shaken, but
had wholly failed’ but the expression,I said, renders the thing still stronger; for it
means, as it is well known, a settled conviction. The Prophet was then fully
persuaded that he was forsaken by God; but what does this mean? We ought indeed
to maintain this, that faith sometimes is so stifled, that even the children of God
think that they are lost, and that it is all over with their salvation. Even David
confesses the same thing; for it was an evidence of despair, when he declared,
“I said in my haste, Vanity is every man.” (Psalms 116:11.)
He had almost failed, and he was not master of himself when he was thus agitated.
There is no doubt but that the Prophet also expressly reminded the faithful that they
ought not to despair, though despair laid hold on their minds, or though the devil
tempted them to despair, but that they ought then especially to struggle against it.
This is indeed, I allow, a hard and perilous contest, but the faithful ought not to
faint, even when such a thing happens to them, that is, when it seems to be all over
with them and no hope remains; but, on the contrary, they ought nevertheless to go
on hoping, and that, indeed, as the Scripture says elsewhere, against hope, or above
hope. (Romans 4:18.)
Let us then learn from this passage, that the faithful are not free from despair, for it
enters into their souls; but that there is yet no reason why they should indulge

despair; on the contrary, they ought courageously and firmly to resist it; for when
the Prophet said this, he did not mean that. he succumbed to this trial, as though he
had embraced what had come to his mind; but lie meant, that lie was as it were
overwhelmed for a short time. Were any one to ask, How can it be that hope and
despair should reside in the same man? the answer is, that when faith is weak, that
“wM3lg,l3:1lkgF2l;kl1_“356lu:;S:lwG_;3klG1k“w;Mpl gw, faith is sometimes not only
enfeebled, but is also nearly stifled. This, indeed, does not happen daily, but there is
no one whom God deeply exercises with temptations, who does not feel that his faith
is almost extinguished. It is often no wonder, that despair then prevails; but it is for
a moment. In the meantime, the remedy is, immediately to flee to God and to
complain of this misery, so that he may succor and raise up those who are thus
fallen. He then adds, —
And I said, Perished hath my excellency,
And my expectation from Jehovah.
Whatever he had that was excellent had perished; and perished also had every good
he expected from Jehovah. The meaning is not, that these things perished from
Jehovah, but that his excellency and his expectation from Jehovah had perished. —
Ed.
19 I remember my affliction and my wandering,
the bitterness and the gall.
mho tf6l7Remembering -Or, as in the margin. It is a prayer to Yahweh.
My misery -Or, “my” homelessness (
Lam_1:7note).
GILL, "Remembering mine affliction and my misery ,.... The miserable affliction
of him and his people; the remembrance of which, and poring upon it continually,
caused the despondency before expressed: though it may be rendered imperatively,
"remember my affliction, and my misery" (s); so the Vulgate Latin and Syriac versions;
and Aben Ezra observes, that the words may be considered as a request to God, and so
they seem to be; the prophet, and the people he represents, were not so far gone into

despair, as to cast off prayer before God; but once more looked up to him, beseeching
that he would, in his great mercy and pity, remember them in their distressed condition,
and deliver out of it; for none could do it but himself:
the wormwood and the gall; figurative expressions of bitter and grievous afflictions,
Lam_3:5.
Vheaoyp4f3This gives the reason why he gave way to the temptation to despair. The
Margin, “Remember” does not suit the sense so well.
wormwood ... gall— (Jer_9:15).
K&D, "Consideration of God's compassion and His omnipotence as displayed at
critical junctures in the affairs of men. C. B. Michaelis has correctly perceived, and thus
set forth, the transition from the complaint, bordering on despair, to hope, as given in
Lam_3:19: luctatur hic contra desperationis adfectum, quo tentatus fuerat, Lam_3:18,
mix inde per fidem emersurus. In like manner it is said in the Berleburger Bibel, "In
Lam_3:19he struggles with despair, to which he had been tempted, and in the following
verse soars up once more into the region of faith." By the resumption of יִנ ֳע from Lam_
3:1, and of הָנ ֲע ַל and שׁאּר from Lam_3:15and Lam_3:5, the contents of the whole
preceding lamentation are given in a summary, and by רּכְז are presented to God in
prayer. "Mine affliction" is intensified by the addition of "my persecution" (see on Lam_
1:7), and the contents of the lamentation thereby more plainly pointed out. This
connection of the verse has been misunderstood in many ways. An old interpretation of
the words, still maintained by Böttcher and Thenius, makes רּכְז an infinitive; according
to this view, Lam_3:19would require to be conjoined with the preceding, and the inf.
without usW would stand for the ground, recordando, "while I think of," - which is
grammatically impossible.
(Note: Seb. Münster long since said: Secundum quosdam estרּכְזinfinit., ut sit
sensus: periit spes mea, recordante me afflictionis meae. Calvin also gives the
preference to this view, with the remark: Videtur enim hic propheta exprimere,
quomodo fere a spe exciderit, ut nihil reperiret amplius fortitudinis in Deo, quia
scilicet oppressus erat malis; in support of which he affirms that it is valde
absurdum, eos qui experti sunt aliquando Dei misericordiam, sic omnem spem
abjicere, ut non statuant amplius sibi esse refugium ad Deum.)
The same remark applies to the assumption that רּכְז is an infinitive which is resumed in
Lam_3:20: "it thinks of my misery...yes, my soul thinks thereon" (Böttcher, Thenius).
Gerlach very properly remarks concerning this view that such a construction is
unexampled, and, as regards the change in the form of the infinitive (constr. and abs.),
would be unintelligible. The objection of Thenius, however, that the imperative meaning
usually attached to רּכְז is against the whole context, and quite inappropriate here, is
connected with the erroneous assumption that Lam_3:19and Lam_3:20form a
continuation of what precedes, and that the idea of the speaker's being completely
overwhelmed by the thought of all that he had suffered and still suffers, forms the
proper conclusion of the first part, after which, from Lam_3:21onwards, there follows

relief. Gerlach has rightly opposed to these arguments the following considerations: (1)
That, after the outburst of despair in Lam_3:18, "my strength is gone, and my hope from
Jahveh," the words "my soul is bowed down in me" form far too feeble a conclusion; (2)
That it is undoubtedly more correct to make the relief begin with a prayer breathed out
through sighs (Lam_3:19), than with such a reflection as is expressed in Lam_3:21.
Ewald also is right in taking רּכְז as an imperative, but is mistaken in the notion that the
speaker addresses any one who is ready to hear him; this view is shown to be erroneous
by the simple fact that, in what precedes and succeeds, the thoughts of the speaker are
directed to God only.
נen2haαיλtשחי:ח%ליךֶאילחי"פוֲּ!κח%חκיֲֶיֶוּי!ךםח%ֶׁ!:e; it is an infinitive mood,
but it is often taken in Hebrew as an imperative. Thus, many deem it a prayer,
Remember my affliction and my trouble, the gall and the poison This might be
admitted; but what others teach I prefer: that this verse depends on the last. For the
Prophet seems here to express how he had almost fallen away from hope, so that he
no longer found strength from God, even because he was overwhelmed with evils;
for it is very unreasonable to think, that those who have once experienced the mercy
of God should cast away hope, so as not to believe that they are to flee to God any
more. What seems then by no means congruous the Prophet here in a manner
excuses, and shews that it was not strange that he succumbed under extreme evils,
for he had been so pressed down by afflictions and troubles, that his soul became as
it were filled with poison and gall. (181)
But in the meantime, he shews by the word remember, how such a trial as this,
when it comes, lays hold on our minds, that is, when we think too much of our evils.
For the faithful ought to hold a middle course in their afflictions, lest they contract a
torpor; for as hence indifference and stupidity arise, they ought to rouse themselves
to a due consideration of their evils; but moderation ought to be observed, lest
sorrow should swallow us up, as Paul also warns us (2 Corinthians 2:7.) They then
who fix their minds too much on the remembrance of their evils, by degrees open
the door to Satan, who may fill their hearts and all their thoughts with despair. The
Prophet then describes here the fountain of evils, when he says, that he remembered
his affliction and trouble; and suitable to this is what immediately follows, —
נהAAgeaαיλ2ח%ֲחיְp
II
ֵiֳigheνיֳigigתiֳויָהּיhaיνhוינֳעיAהֳיνinר
(Lamentations 3:19-39)
"Remember mine affliction and my misery,
the wormwood and the gall.
My soul hath them still in remembrance,

and is bowed down within me.
This I recall to my mind;
therefore have I hope."
"Remember" (Lamentations 3:19). This should be understood as an appeal to God.
Certainly, Jeremiah was not asking Israel to remember his afflictions. Israel's king
had inflicted them upon the prophet. It was the remembrance of God's past mercies
and blessings that he mentioned in Lamentations 3:20 as the basis of his hope.
"Knowing that God hears the prayers of the contrite, Jeremiah begins to hope."[24]
ISBET, "SHADOW AD SUSHIE
‘The wormwood and the gall … the Lord’s mercies.’
Lamentations 3:19; Lamentations 3:22
I. Speaking for himself, the prophet personifies his people (Lamentations 3:1-21).—
His description of the miseries through which they were passing is very pitiful—the
wrinkled skin, the broken bones, the darkness as of the grave, the lofty walls that
encompassed them, the penetration of the sharp arrows into their flesh, the derision
of the people, the grit of the coarse flour that broke his teeth, the wormwood and the
gall of his cup.
II. Full suddenly he draws out another stop in the organ, a stream of hope and
comfort pours upon the ear (Lamentations 3:22-33).—It is as though he had caught
the cadence of some angel minstrelsy. His heart forgets its grief, as he dwells on the
Lord’s mercies and unfailing compassions. Every morning of those dark days
witnessed some new provision of God’s care. Forlorn as might be his lot, he could
still reckon upon the faithfulness of his never-failing Friend. And the conclusion of
his soul amid all his trouble was that God was good. Hold to that, soul, in spite of all
appearances, and dare to believe that the Lord is good. Say it to thyself a thousand
times. He will not cast off. Though He may have caused grief, yet is His compassion
in proportion to the multitude of His mercies.
III. As our confessions and petitions ascend to God, as we search and try our ways
and turn again to Him, we shall become conscious that He is drawing near
(Lamentations 3:57).—‘Thou saidst, Fear not.’ How often God will utter those
words as the years pass! When dreaded evils assail and threaten to overwhelm, as
the waves the barque on the Lake of Galilee, that voice, mightier than the noise of
many waters, will reassure, and, finally, as we pass into the gate of eternity, our first
utterance will be, ‘O Lord, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul; Thou hast
redeemed my life.’
Illustration
‘There is nothing like the Lamentations of Jeremiah in the whole world. There has
been plenty of sorrow in every age, and in every land; but such another preacher
and author as Jeremiah, with such a heart for sorrow, has never again been born.

Dante comes next to Jeremiah, and we know that Jeremiah was that great exile’s
favourite prophet. Both prophet and poet were full to all the height and depth of
their great hearts of the most thrilling sensibility; while, at the same time, they were
both “high towers,” and “brazen walls,” and “iron pillars” against all
unrighteousness of men. And they were alike in this also, that, just because of their
combined strength, and sternness, and sensibility, no man in their day sympathised
with them. They made all men’s causes of suffering and sorrow their own, till all
men hated them and put a price on their heads.’
PETT, "Verses 19-39
The Prophet Prays His Way Through To Confidence In YHWH (Lamentations
3:19-39).
When our souls have reached their lowest point there is only one thing to do, and
that is to cast ourselves on God. That is what the prophet now does. He remembers
past times of affliction and misery and how God has kept him through them, and
this gives him the confidence that he can hope in God again.
Lamentations 3:19-21
(Zayin) Remember my affliction and my misery,
The wormwood and the gall.
(Zayin) My soul has them still in remembrance,
And is bowed down within me.
(Zayin) This I recall to my mind,
Therefore have I hope.
The prophet calls to mind his past experiences of affliction and misery, and of
extreme bitterness, ‘of the wormwood and the gall’. He still remembers them and is
bowed down by them. But he recalls to mind that he had experienced them and
survived them, and this enables him to express hope. Alternately ‘bowed down’
might indicate a humble submission to YHWH, the idea being that he remembers in
the past how affliction had caused him to bow down to YHWH.
20 I well remember them,
and my soul is downcast within me.
CLARKE, "By soul - is humbled in me -It is evident that in the preceding verses
there is a bitterness of complaint against the bitterness of adversity, that is not becoming
to man when under the chastising hand of God; and, while indulging this feeling, all

hope fled. Here we find a different feeling; he humbles himself under the mighty hand of
God, and then his hope revives, Lam_3:21.
GILL, "My soul hath them still in remembrance,.... That is, according to our
version, affliction and misery, compared to wormwood and gall: but the words, "my
soul", are fetched from the next clause, where they ought to stand, and this to be
rendered, "in remembering thou wilt remember" (t); or, "thou wilt surely remember",
and so expresses the confidence of the prophet, and his firm belief, his faith and hope
increasing in prayer, that God would in much mercy remember his people, and their
afflictions, and save them out of them:
and is humbled in me; both under the afflicting hand of God, and in view and hope of
his mercy: though rather it should be rendered, "and" or "for my soul meditateth within
me" (u); says or suggests such things to me, that God will in wrath remember mercy; see
Psa_77:7. So Jarchi makes mention of a Midrash, that interprets it of his soul's waiting
till the time that God remembers.
0mtione)g*As often as my soul calls them to remembrance, it is humbled or bowed
down in me.
K&D, "
Lam_3:20-23
The view taken of this verse will depend on the answer to the question whether רּכְז ִ2 is
second or third pers. fem. Following in the wake of Luther ("Thou wilt assuredly think
thereon"), C. B. Michaelis, Pareau, Rosenmüller, and Kalkschmidt take it as second
pers.: "Think, yea, think wilt Thou, that my soul is bowed down in me," or "that my soul
is at rest within me" (Nägelsbach). But it is impossible to maintain either of these views
in the face of the language employed. To take the ו before uSIf tH wj in the meaning of quod is
characterized by Nägelsbach as an arbitrary procedure, unwarranted either by Gen_
30:27or Eze_13:11; but neither can the meaning of resting, being at east, which is
attributed to uSI.H or uSIf tH by that writer, be established. The verb means to sink down, Pro_
2:18, and metaphorically, to be bowed down, Psa_44:26. The latter meaning is required
in the present passage, from the simple fact that the sentence undeniably refers to Psa_
42:6.
(Note: Luther's translation, "for my soul tells me," is founded on the circumstance
that the lxx have mistaken uSIf tH for uSIf tO: καταδολεσχήσει Sπ ʆ S-g h ψυχή -ου.)
uSIf tH wjso expresses the consequence of רּכָז רּכְז ִ2, which therefore can only be the third pers.,
and "my soul" the subject of both clauses; for there is no logical consecution of the
meaning given by such a rendering as, "If Thou wilt remember, my soul shall be bowed
within me." The expression, "If my soul duly meditates thereon (on the deep suffering),
it becomes depressed within me," forms the foundation of the request that God would
think of his distress, his misery; and Lam_3:21, "I will lay this to heart," connects itself
with the leading thought set forth in Lam_3:19, the reason for which is given in Lam_
3:20, viz., that my soul is only bowed down within me over the thought of my distress,

and must complain of it to God, that He may think of it and alleviate it: This will I lay to
heart and set my hope upon. ן ֵ8־ל ַע is a strong inferential expression: "therefore," because
God alone can help, will I hope. This self-encouragement begins with Lam_3:22,
inasmuch as the prophet strengthens his hope by a consideration of the infinite
compassion of the Lord. (It is) י ֵד ְס ַח, "the mercies of God," i.e., proofs of His mercy (cf.
Psa_89:2; Psa_107:43; Isa_63:7), "that we are not utterly consumed," as Luther and
similarly our English translators have excellently rendered וּנ ְמ ָ2. This form stands for וּנוּM ַ2
, as in Jer_44:18; Num_17:1-13:28, not for וּM ַ2, third pers., as Pareau, Thenius,
Vaihinger, and Ewald, referring to his Grammar, §84, b, would take it. The proofs of the
grace of God have their foundation in His compassion, from which they flow. In Lam_
3:23we take י ֵד ְס ַח as the subject of םי ִשׁ ָד ֲח; it is the proofs of the grace of God that are new
every morning, not "His compassions," although the idea remains the same. םי ִר ָק ְ" ַל,
every morning, as in Isa_33:2; Psa_73:14. Ubi sol et dies oritur, simul et radii hujus
inexhaustae bonitatis erumpunt (Tarnovius in Rosenmüller). The consciousness of this
constant renewal of the divine favour impels to the prayerful exclamation, "great is Thy
faithfulness;" cf. Psa_36:6.
lhTjap4f3r;IfnZk-;ILfgIIbgfq.fkL;IZfHkZPgfLkfMk.SqZm what he had said, even
that the memory of afflictions overwhelmed his soul. For the soul is said to be
humbled in or upon man, when he lies down under the burden of despair. It is the
soul that raises man up, and as it were revives him; but when the soul is cast as it
were on man, it is a most grievous thing; for it is better to lie down a dead body than
to have this additional burden, which makes the case still worse. A dead body might
indeed lie on the ground without strength and motion, but it may still retain its own
place; but when the soul is thus cast down, it is said to press down man, though
lifeless, more and more. This then is what the Prophet means. And yet he says that
he was so occupied with this remembrance, that he could not thence withdraw his
mind.
There is no doubt but that he also intended here to confess his own infirmity, and
that of all the faithful; and the reason of this we have already explained. Then
relying on this doctrine, even when all our thoughts press us down, and not only
lead us to despair, but also hurry us on and cast us headlong into it, let us learn to
flee even then to God and to lay before him all our complaints, and let us not be
ashamed, because we see that this mode of proceeding is suggested to us by the Holy
Spirit. It follows, —
21 Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:

,hip o4f3This I recall -Rather, “This will I bring back to my heart, therefore will I
hope.” Knowing that God hears the prayer of the contrite, he begins again to hope.
GILL, "This I recall to my mind,.... Not affliction and misery, but the Lord's
remembrance of his people; what he had been used to do, and would do again; and
particularly what follows, the abundant mercy of God, and his great faithfulness; these
things the prophet fetched back to his mind; and revolved them in his heart; says he,
and therefore have I hope; this revived his hope, which he was ready to say was
perished from the Lord, and there was no foundation for it; but now he saw there was,
and therefore took heart, and encouraged himself in the grace and mercy of God.
G pic4f3Here the clouds begin to disperse and the sky to clear up; the complaint
was very melancholy in the former part of the chapter, and yet here the tune is altered
and the mourners in Zion begin to look a little pleasant. But for hope, the heart would
break. To save the heart from being quite broken, here is something called to mind,
which gives ground for hope (
Lam_3:21), which refers to what comes after, not to what
goes before. I make to return to my heart (so the margin words it); what we have had in
our hearts, and have laid to our hearts, is sometimes as if it were quite lost and
forgotten, till God by his grace make it return to our hearts, that it may be ready to us
when we have occasion to use it. “I recall it to mind; therefore have I hope, and am kept
from downright despair.” Let us see what these things are which he calls to mind.
Vheaoyp4f3This— namely, what follows; the view of the divine character (
Lam_
3:22, Lam_3:23). Calvin makes “this” refer to Jeremiah’s infirmity. His very weakness
(Lam_3:19, Lam_3:20) gives him hope of God interposing His strength for him
(compare Psa_25:11, Psa_25:17; Psa_42:5, Psa_42:8; 2Co_12:9, 2Co_12:10).
lhTjap4f3BIfgIIf;IZIfH;mLfaf;mAIfmJZImP?fgLmLIP4fL;at if we struggle against
temptations, it will be a sure remedy to us, because our faith will at length emerge
again, and gather strength, yea, it will in a manner be raised up from the lowest
depths. This is what the Prophet now shews. I will recall this, he says, to my heart,
and therefore will I hope How can despair produce hope from itself? This would be
contrary to nature. What then does the Prophet mean here, and what does he
understand by the pronoun this, תאז,zat? Even that being oppressed with evils, he
was almost lost, and was also nearly persuaded that no hope of good anymore
remained. As then he would recall this to mind, he says that he would then have new
ground of hope, that is, when he had recourse to God; for all who devour their own
sorrows, and do not look to God, kindle more and more the hidden fire, which at
length suddenly turns to fury. Hence it comes that they clamor against God, as
though they were doubly insane. But he who is conscious of his own infirmity, and
directs his prayer to God, will at length find a ground of hope.
When therefore we recall to mind our evils, and also consider how ready we are to
despair, and how apt we are to succumb under it, some hope will then arise and aid

us, as the Prophet here says. (182)
It must still be observed, that we ought to take heed lest we grow torpid in our evils;
for hence it happens that our minds become wholly overwhelmed. Whosoever then
would profit by his evils, should consider what the Prophet says here came to his
mind, for he at length came to himself, and surmounted all obstacles. We see then
that God brings light out of darkness, when he restores his faithful people from
despair to a good hope; yea, he makes infirmity itself to be the cause of hope. For
whence is it that the unbelieving east away hope? even because security draws them
away from God; but a sense of our own infirmity draws us even close to him; thus
hope, contrary to nature, and through the incomprehensible and wonderful
kindness of God, arises from despair. It follows, —
19.Remember my affliction and my abasement,
The wormwood and the gall.
20.Remembering thou wilt remember them,
For bowed down within me is my soul:
21.This I recall to my mind;
Therefore will I hope.
He prays, then he expresses his confidence that God would hear his prayer; and
“this” refers to the assurance he felt that God would remember his afflicted state,
and on this ground he entertained hope. In the next verse he states what confirmed
this hope: — Ed.
22 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not
consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
mho tf6l7Verses 22-42 are the center of the present poem, as it also holds the
central place in the whole series of the Lamentations. In them the riches of God’s grace
and mercy are set forth in the brightest colors, but no sooner are they ended than the
prophet resumes the language of woe.
That we -He is speaking as the representative of all sufferers.

CLARKE, "It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed -Being thus
humbled, and seeing himself and his sinfulness in a proper point of view, he finds that
God, instead of dealing with him in judgment, has dealt with him in mercy; and that
though the affliction was excessive, yet it seas less than his iniquity deserved. If, indeed,
any sinner be kept out of hell, it is because God’s compassion faileth not.
GILL, "
It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed,.... It was true of
the prophet, that he died not in prison, or in the dungeon; and of the people of the Jews,
who though many of them perished by the sword, famine, and pestilence, yet God did
not make a full end of them, according to his gracious promise, Jer_30:11; but left them
a seed, a remnant, from whence the Messiah, the mercy promised, should come, and to
which it was owing they were not utterly cut off for their sins: nor are any of the Lord's
special people ever consumed; their estates may be consumed, and so may their bodies
by wasting diseases, and at last by death; but not their souls, not only as to their being,
but as to their well being, here and hereafter; though their peace, joy, and comfort, may
be gone for a while, through temptation, desertion, and the prevalence of corruption;
and they may be in declining circumstances, as to the exercise of grace, yet the principle
itself can never be lost; faith, hope, and love, will abide; nor can they eternally perish, or
be punished with an everlasting destruction: all which is to be ascribed not to their own
strength to preserve themselves, nor to any want of desert in them to be destroyed, or of
power in God to consume them; but to his "mercies" and "goodnesses", the multitude of
them; for there is an abundance of mercy, grace, and goodness in God, and various are
the instances of it; as in the choice of his people to grace and glory; in the covenant of
grace, and the blessings of it they are interested in; in redemption by Christ; in
regeneration by his Spirit; in the forgiveness of their sins; and in their complete
salvation; which are all so many reasons why they are not, and shall not be, consumed.
The words may be rendered, "the mercies" or "goodnesses of the Lord, for they are not
consumed", or, "that the mercies of the Lord", &c. (w) Jarchi observes, that "tamnu" is
as "tammu"; the "nun" being inserted, according to Aben Ezra, instead of doubling the
letter "mem"; and the former makes the sense to be this, in connection with the Lam_
3:21; "this I recall to mind the mercies of the Lord, that they are not consumed"; to
which agrees the Targum,
"the goodnesses, of the Lord, for they cease not;''
and so the Septuagint, "the mercies of the Lord, for they have not left me"; and to the
same sense the Syriac version is, "the mercies of the Lord, for they have no end", and
Aben Ezra's note on the text is almost in the same words,
"for there is no end to the mercies of God;''
because his compassions fail not; or, "his tender mercies" (x); of which he is full,
and which are bestowed in a free and sovereign way, and are the spring of all good
things, and a never failing one they are; and this is another reason why the Lord's people
are not consumed, and never shall, because of the mercies of the Lord, since these shall
never fail; for though they are, yet should they fail, they might be consumed; but these
are from everlasting to everlasting, and are kept with Christ their covenant head; see
Psa_103:17.

G pic4f3 That, bad as things are, it is owing to the mercy of God that they are not
worse. We are afflicted by the rod of his wrath, but it is of the lord's mercies that we are
not consumed,Lam_3:22. When we are in distress we should, for the encouragement of
our faith and hope, observe what makes for us as well as what makes against us. Things
are bad but they might have been worse, and therefore there is hope that they may be
better. Observe here, 1. The streams of mercy acknowledged: We are not consumed.
Note, The church of God is like Moses's bush, burning, yet not consumed; whatever
hardships it has met with, or may meet with, it shall have a being in the world to the end
of time. It is persecuted of men, but not forsaken of God, and therefore, though it is cast
down, it is not destroyed (2Co_4:9), corrected, yet not consumed, refined in the furnace
as silver, but not consumed as dross. 2. These streams followed up to the fountain: It is
of the Lord's mercies. here are mercies in the plural number, denoting the abundance
and variety of those mercies. God is an inexhaustible fountain of mercy, the Father of
mercies. Note, We all owe it to the sparing mercy of God that we are not consumed.
Others have been consumed round about us, and we ourselves have been in the
consuming, and yet we are not consumed; we are out of the grave; we are out of hell.
Had we been dealt with according to our sins, we should have been consumed long ago;
but we have been dealt with according to God's mercies, and we are bound to
acknowledge it to his praise.
II. That even in the depth of their affliction they still have experience of the tenderness
of the divine pity and the truth of the divine promise. They had several times complained
that God had not pitied (Lam_2:17, Lam_2:21), but here they correct themselves, and
own, 1. That God's compassions fail not; they do not really fail, no, not even when in
anger he seems to have shut up his tender mercies. These rivers of mercy run fully and
constantly, but never run dry. No; they are new every morning; every morning we have
fresh instances of God's compassion towards us; he visits us with them every morning
(Job_7:18); every morning does he bring his judgment to light,Zep_3:5. When our
comforts fail, yet God's compassions do not. 2. That great is his faithfulness. Though the
covenant seemed to be broken, they owned that it still continued in full force; and,
though Jerusalem be in ruins, the truth of the Lord endures for ever. Note, Whatever
hard things we suffer, we must never entertain any hard thoughts of God, but must still
be ready to own that he is both kind and faithful.
lhTjap4f3r;IfSqZgLfMJm’gIfbm?fWIfIQ-Jmq.IPfq.fLHkfHays: The view commonly
taken is, that it ought to be ascribed to God’s mercy that the faithful have not been
often consumed. Hence a very useful doctrine is elicited — that God succors his own
people, lest they should wholly perish. But if we attend to the context, we shall see
that another sense is more suitable, even that the mercies of God were not
consumed, and that his compassion’s had not failed The particle יכ,ki, is inserted,
but ought to be taken as an affirmative only, surely the mercies of God are not
consumed; (183) and then, — surely his compassion’s have not failed. And he
afterwards adds, —
22.The mercies of Jehovah, verily they have no end,
For his compassion’s never fail.

23.Renewed (are they) in the morning;
Great is thy faithfulness.
“Renewed” refers to “mercies,” i.e., blessings, the fruit of mercy; and God’s mercies
have no end, because his compassion’s ever continue. “In the morning,” that is, after
a night of affliction. If the rendering be made literal, “in the mornings,” the
meaning is the same; they follow the previous nights of trouble. Blessings, being as it
were suspended or withheld during the night, are again renewed in the morning. —
Ed.
COFFMA, "Verse 22
"It is of Jehovah's lovingkindness that we are not consumed,
because his compassions fail not.
They are new every morning;
great is thy faithfulness.
Jehovah is my portion, saith my soul;
therefore will I hope in him.
Jehovah is good unto them that wait for him,
to the soul that seeketh him.
It is good that a man should hope
and quietly wait for the salvation of Jehovah.
It is good for the man
that he bear the yoke in his youth."
"Because his compassions fail not" (Lamentations 3:22). "Indeed, if any man
escapes hell, it is because God's compassions fail not."[25]
This section through Lamentations 3:39 (or Lamentations 3:42) carries an
expression of full assurance in God's unfailing mercies; and that such is found in
Lamentations is indeed remarkable and carries its own rich consolations."[26] "It is
interesting that the author, himself a sufferer, here becomes an advisor as well. He
gives counsel from the wisdom he has learned, so that the nation could learn from
it."[27] This section is not merely the heart of this chapter, it is also the heart of
Lamentations. "This is the focal point of the whole book; it is a central core of hope
of restoration for Israel in God's own good time; and there is a symmetry in the
book that highlights this central core. There is also an inherent assurance here that

the cry for mercy will be heard."[28] "These verses teach that God is good,
especially to those who, being in adversity, can yet wait in confidence upon his
mercy."[29]
EXPOSITOR'S BIBLE COMMETARY, "Verses 22-24
THE UFAILIG GOODESS OF GOD
Lamentations 3:22-24
ALTHOUGH the elegist has prepared us for brighter scenes by the more hopeful
tone of an intermediate triplet, the transition from the gloom and bitterness of the
first part of the poem to the glowing rapture of the second is among the most
startling effects in literature. It is scarcely possible to conceive of darker views of
Providence, short of a Manichaean repudiation of the God of the physical universe
as an evil being, than those which are boldly set forth in the opening verses of the
elegy; we shudder at the awful words, and shrink from repeating them, so near to
the verge of blasphemy do they seem to come. And now those appalling utterances
are followed by the very choicest expression of confidence in the boundless goodness
of God! The writer seems to leap in a moment out of the deepest, darkest pit of
misery into the radiance of more than summer sunlight. How can we account for
this extraordinary change of thought and temper?
It is not enough to ascribe the sharpness of the contrast either to the clumsiness of
the author in giving utterance to his teeming fancies just as they occur to him,
without any consideration for their bearings one upon another; or to his art in
designedly preparing an awakening shock. We have still to answer the question,
How could a man entertain two such conflicting currents of thought in closest
juxtaposition?
In their very form and structure these touching elegies reflect the mental calibre of
their author. A wooden soul could never have invented their movements. They
reveal a most sensitive spirit, a spirit that resembles a finely strung instrument of
music, quivering in response to impulses from all directions. People of a mercurial
temperament live in a state of perpetual oscillation between the most contrary
moods, and the violence of their despair is always ready to give place to the
enthusiasm of a new hope. We call them inconsistent; but their inconsistency may
spring from a quick-witted capacity to see two sides of a question in the time
occupied by slower minds with the contemplation of one. As a matter of fact,
however, the revulsion in the mind of the poet may not have been so sudden as it
appears in his work. We can scarcely suppose that so elaborate a composition as this
elegy was written from beginning to end at a single sitting. Indeed, here we seem to
have the mark of a break. The author composes the first part in an exceptionally
gloomy mood, and leaves the poem unfinished, perhaps for some time. When he
returns to it on a subsequent occasion he is in a totally different frame of mind, and
this is reflected in the next stage of his work. Still the point of importance is the
possibility of the very diverse views here recorded.

or is this wholly a matter of temperament. Is it not more or less the case with all of
us, that since absorption with one class of ideas entirely excludes their opposites,
when the latter are allowed to enter the mind they will rush in with the force of a
pent-up flood? Then we are astonished that we could ever have forgotten them. We
build our theories in disregard of whole regions of thought. When these occur to us
it is with the shock of a sudden discovery, and in the flash of the new light we begin
at once to take very different views of our universe. Possibly we have been oblivious
of our own character, until suddenly we are awakened to our true state, to be
overwhelmed with shame at an unexpected revelation of sordid meanness, of
despicable selfishness. Or perhaps the vision is of the heart of another person, whose
quiet, unassuming goodness we have not appreciated, because it has been so
unvarying and dependable that we have taken it as a matter of course, like the daily
sunrise, never perceiving that this very constancy is the highest merit. We have been
more grateful for the occasional lapses into kindness with which habitually churlish
people have surprised us. Then there has come the revelation, in which we have
been made to see that a saint has been walking by our side all the day. Many of us
are very slow in reaching a similar discovery concerning God. But when we begin to
take a right view of His relations to us we are amazed to think that we had not
perceived them before, so rich and full and abounding are the proofs of His
exceeding goodness.
Still it may seem to us a strange thing that this most perfect expression of a joyous
assurance of the mercy and compassion of God should be found in the Book of
Lamentations of all places. It may well give heart to those who have not sounded the
depths of sorrow, as the author of these sad poems had done, to learn that even he
had been able to recognise the merciful kindness of God in the largest possible
measure. A little reflection, however, should teach us that it is not so unnatural a
thing for this gem of grateful appreciation to appear where it is. We do not find, as a
rule, that the most prosperous people are the foremost to recognise the love of God.
The reverse is very frequently the case. If prosperity is not always accompanied by
callous ingratitude-and of course it would be grossly unjust to assert anything so
harsh-at all events it is certain that adversity is far from blinding our eyes to the
brighter side of the revelation of God. Sometimes it is the very means by which they
are opened. In trouble the blessings of the past are best valued, and in trouble the
need of God’s compassion is most acutely felt. But this is not all. The softening
influence of sorrow seems to have a more direct effect upon our sense of Divine
goodness. Perhaps, too, it is some compensation for melancholy, that persons who
are afflicted with it are most responsive to sympathy. The morbid, despondent poet
Cowper has written most exquisitely about the love of God. Watts is enthusiastic in
his praise of the Divine grace; but a deeper note is sounded in the Olney hymns, as,
for example, in that beginning with the line-
"Hark, my soul, it is the Lord."
While reading this hymn today we cannot fail to feel the peculiar thrill of personal
emotion that still quivers through its living words, revealing the very soul of their
author. This is more than joyous praise; it is the expression of a personal experience

of the compassion of God in times of deepest need. The same sensitive poet has given
us a description of the very condition that is illustrated by the passage in the
Hebrew elegist we are now considering, in lines which, familiar as they are, acquire
a fresh meaning when read in this association-the lines-
"Sometimes a light surprises
The Christian while he sings:
It is the Lord who rises
With healing in His wings".
"When comforts are declining,
He grants the soul, again,
A season of clear shining,
To cheer it after rain."
We may thank the Calvinistic poet for here touching on another side of the subject.
He reminds us that it is God who brings about the unexpected joy of renewed trust
in His unfailing mercy. The sorrowful soul is, consciously or unconscionsly, visited
by the Holy Spirit, and the effect of contact with the Divine is that scales fall from
the eyes of the surprised sufferer. If it is right to say that one portion of Scripture is
more inspired than another we must feel that there is more Divine light in the
second part of this elegy than in the first. It is this surprising light from Heaven that
ultimately accounts for the sudden revolution in the feelings of the poet.
In his new consciousness of the love of God the elegist is first struck by its amazing
persistence. Probably we should follow the Targum and the Syriac version in
rendering the twenty-second verse thus-
"The Lord’s mercies, verily they cease not," etc.
instead of the usual English rendering-
"It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed," etc.
There are two reasons for this emendation. First, the momentary transition to the
plural "we" is harsh and improbable. It is true the author makes a somewhat
similar change a little later; [Lamentations 3:40-48] but there it is in an extended
passage, and one in which he evidently wishes to represent his people with ideas that
are manifestly appropriate to the community at large. Here, on the other hand, the
sentence breaks into the midst of personal reflections. Second- and this is the
principal consideration-the balance of the phrases, which is so carefully observed

throughout this elegy, is upset by the common rendering, but restored by the
emendation. The topic of the triplet in which the disputed passage occurs is the
amazing persistence of God’s goodness to His suffering children. The proposed
alteration is in harmony with this.
The thought here presented to us rests on the truth of the eternity and essential
changelessness of God. We cannot think of Him as either fickle or failing; to do so
would be to cease to think of Him as God. If He is merciful at all He cannot be
merciful only spasmodically, erratically, or temporarily. For all that, we need not
regard these heart-stirring utterances as the expressions of a self-evident truism.
The wonder and glory of the idea they dilate upon are not the less for the fact that
we should entertain no doubt of its truth. The certainty that the character of God is
good and great does not detract from His goodness or His greatness. When we are
assured that His nature is not fallible our contemplation of it does not cease to be an
act of adoration. On the contrary, we can worship the immutable perfection of God
with fuller praises than we should give to fitful gleams of less abiding qualities.
As a matter of fact, however, our religious experience is never the simple conclusion
of bare logic. Our feelings, and not these only, but also our faith need repeated
assurances of the continuance of God’s goodness, because it seems as though there
were so much to absorb and quench it. Therefore the perception of the fact of its
continuance takes the form of a glad wonder that God’s mercies do not cease. Thus
it is amazing to us that these mercies are not consumed by the multitude of the
sufferers who are dependent upon them-the extent of God’s family not in any way
cramping His means to give the richest inheritance to each of His children; nor by
the depth of individual need-no single soul having wants so extreme or so peculiar
that His aid cannot avail entirely for them; nor by the shocking ill-desert of the most
unworthy of mankind-even sin, while it necessarily excludes the guilty from any
present enjoyment of the love of God, not really quenching that love or precluding a
future participation in it on condition of repentance; nor by the wearing of time,
beneath which even granite rocks crumble to powder.
The elegist declares that the reason why God’s mercies are not consumed is that His
compassions do not fail. Thus he goes behind the kind actions of God to their
originating motives. To a man in the condition of the writer of this poem of personal
confidences the Divine sympathy is the one fact in the universe of supreme
importance. So will it be to every sufferer who can assure himself of the truth of it.
But is this only a consolation for the sorrowing? The pathos, the very tragedy of
human life on earth, should make the sympathy of God the most precious fact of
existence to all mankind. Portia rightly reminds Shylock that "we all do look for
mercy"; but if so, the spring of mercy, the Divine compassion, must be the one
source of true hope forevery soul of man. Whether we are to attribute it to sin alone,
or whether there may be other dark, mysterious ingredients in human sorrow, there
can be no doubt that the deepest need is that God should have pity on His children.
The worship of heaven among the angels may be one pure song of joy; but here,
even though we are privileged to share the gladness of the celestial praises, a
plaintive note will mingle with our anthem of adoration, because a pleading cry

must ever go up from burdened spirits; and when relief is acknowledged our
thanksgiving must single out the compassion of God for deepest gratitude. It is
much, then, to know that God not only helps the needy-that is to say, all mankind-
but that He feels with His suffering children. The author of the Epistle to the
Hebrews has taught us to see this reassuring truth most clearly in the revelation of
God in His Son, repeatedly dwelling on the sufferings of Christ as the means by
which He was brought into sympathetic, helpful relations to the sufferings of
mankind. [Hebrews 2:18;, Hebrews 4:15]
Further, the elegist declares that the special form taken by these unceasing mercies
of God is daily renewal. The love of God is constant-one changeless Divine attribute;
but the manifestations of that love are necessarily successive and various according
to the successive and various needs of His children. We have not only to praise God
for His eternal, immutable goodness, vast and wonderful as that is; to our
perceptions, at all events, His immediate, present actions are even more significant
because they shew His personal interest in individual men and women, and His
living activity at the very crisis of need. There is a certain aloofness, a certain
chillness, in the thought of ancient kindness, even though the effects of it may reach
to our own day in full and abundant streams. But the living God is an active God,
who works in the present as effectually as He worked in the past. There is another
side to this truth. It is not sufficient to have received the grace of God once for all If
"He giveth more grace," it is because we need more grace. This is a stream that
must be ever flowing into the soul, not the storage of a tank filled once for all and
left to serve for a lifetime. Therefore the channel must be kept constantly clear, or
the grace will fail to reach us, although in itself it never runs dry.
There is something cheering in the poet’s idea of the morning as the time when these
mercies of God are renewed. It has been suggested that he is thinking of renewals of
brightness after dark seasons of sorrow, such as are suggested by the words of the
psalmist-
"Weeping may come in to lodge at even But joy cometh in the morning." {Psalms
30:5. R. V Marg.}
This idea, however, would weaken the force of the passage, which goes to shew that
God’s mercies do not fail, are not interrupted. The emphasis is on the thought that
no day is without God’s new, mercies, not even the day of darkest trouble; and
further, there is the suggestion that God is never dilatory in coming to our aid. He
does not keep us waiting and wearying while He tarries. He is prompt and early
with His grace. The idea may be compared with that of the promise to those who
seek God early, literally, in the morning. [Proverbs 8:17] Or we may think of the
night as the time of repose, when we are oblivious of God’s goodness, although even
through the hours of darkness He who neither slumbers nor sleeps is constantly
watching over His unconscious children. Then in the morning there dawns on us a
fresh perception of His goodness. If we are to realise the blessing sought in Sir
Thomas Browne’s prayer, and

"Awake into some holy thought, "
no more holy thought can be desired than a grateful recognition of the new mercies
on which our eyes open with the new day. A morning so graciously welcomed is the
herald of a day of strength and happy confidence.
To the notion of the morning renewal of the mercies of God the poet appends a
recognition of His great faithfulness. This is an additional thought. Faithfulness is
more than compassion. There is a strength and a stability about the idea that goes
further to insure confidence. It is more than the fact that God is true to His word,
that He will certainly perform what He has definitely promised. Fidelity is not
confined to compacts-it is not limited to the question of what is "in the bond"; it
concerns persons rather than phrases. To be faithful to a friend is more than to keep
one’s word to him. We may have given him no pledge; and yet we must confess to an
obligation to be true-to be true to the man himself. ow while we are called upon to
be loyal to God, there is a sense in which we may venture without irreverence to say
that He may be expected to be faithful to us. He is our Creator, and He has placed
us in this world by His own will; His relations with us cannot cease at this point. So
Moses pleaded that God, having led His people into the wilderness, could not desert
them there; and Jeremiah even ventured on the daring prayer-
"Do not disgrace the throne of Thy glory." [Jeremiah 14:21]
It is because we are sure the just and true God could never do anything so base that
His faithfulness becomes the ground of perfect confidence. It may be said, on the
other hand, that we cannot claim any good thing from God on the score of merit,
because we only deserve wrath and punishment. But this is not a question of merit.
Fidelity to a friend is not exhausted when we have treated him according to his
deserts. It extends to a treatment of him in accordance with the direct claims of
friendship, claims which are to be measured by need rather than by merit.
The conclusion drawn from these considerations is given in an echo from the
Psalms-
"The Lord is my portion.". [Psalms 73:26]
The words are old and well-worn; but they obtain a new meaning when adopted as
the expression of a new experience. The lips have often chanted them in the worship
of the sanctuary. ow they are the voice of the soul, of the very life. There is no
plagiarism in such a quotation as this, although in making it the poet does not turn
aside to acknowledge his obligation to the earlier author who coined the immortal
phrase. The seizure of the old words by the soul of the new writer makes them his
own in the deepest sense, because under these circumstances it is not their literary
form, but their spiritual significance, that gives them their value. This is true of the
most frequently quoted words of Scripture. They are new words to every soul that
adopts them as the expression of a new experience.

It is to be observed that the experience now reached is something over and above the
conscious reception of daily mercies. The Giver is greater than His gifts. God is first
known by means of His actions, and then being thus known He is recognised as
Himself the portion of His people, so that to possess Him is their one satisfying joy in
the present and their one inspiring hope for the future.
ISBET, "Verse 22-23
‘EW EVERY MORIG’
The Lord’s mercies … are new every morning.
Lamentations 3:22-23
In the classical myths, Tithonus, a son of Laomedon, king of Troy, was so fair and
winsome a youth that Eos, or Aurora, goddess of the morning, fell in love with him,
and therefore prayed the gods to grant him immortality, in order that she might
have him as her husband always. Her request was granted; but in asking
immortality for Tithonus, Eos did not also ask eternal youth for him, hence he grew
old and decrepit, so that death itself would have been a blessing; but that he could
not have, and finally he was changed into a grasshopper as the symbol of
unattractive and helpless age.
This myth involves the universal truth that, with our world as it is, the waste and
decay which are a sure accompaniment of prolonged activity and progress would
make life itself a hopeless burden, unless there be given with it a possibility of
continued freshness, or of some periodic renewal of youth and strength. So the
human heart yearns unceasingly for an ever-renewed beginning, when the tirelessly
exhausting forces of life may rise from their lower ebb and take a fresh start
onward. This yearning it is that has been the impulse in all the storied searchings
for the fabled Fountain of Youth, and that gives a fancied sense of gain in the very
suggestion of a mid-winter ‘ew Year’s’ morning. This it is that prompts the heart
to join in the thought of the dying Old Year, and of an incoming ew Year.
I. If only the ‘ew Year’ were a new year.—If only the old were really made new at
that time; if old things had then actually passed away, and all things had become
new; if all the sins and the sorrows, all the mistakes and the disappointments, of our
lives hitherto, were for ever done away with—in themselves and in their
consequences—at that anniversary boundary of the passing time; if then there was
to us an absolutely new start, with new strength and new hope and new possibilities
at every point of our former failure and of our former loss—what a season the ew
Year would be to us in fact, instead of in fancy! But, as it is, the ew Year is but an
empty name to so many who greet its coming with fond imaginings, only to find so
quickly that the old is in the new, and that, indeed, the new is older than the old.
II. Human wisdom gives no more help toward the attainment of immortal youth and
of constantly renewing freshness than was supplied by classic mythology. This ‘ew
Year’ may be to you truly a new year, Its newness may be to you ‘new every
morning.’ To make it new, you have but to trust Him Who maketh all things new.
Restful trust in Him will give you continual renewal of strength and hope and joy.

Illustration
‘Came orth, and South, and East, and West,
Four sages to a mountain-crest,
Each pledged to search the world around
Until the wondrous well he found.
‘Before a crag they made their seat,
Pure bubbling waters at their feet.
Said one, “This well is small and mean,
Too petty for a village green!”
Another said, “So small and dumb,
From earth’s deep centre can it come?”
The third, “This water seems not rare;
ot even bright, but pale as air!”
The fourth, “Thick crowds I looked to see;
Where the true well is, these must be.”
‘They rose and left the mountain-crest,—
One orth, one South, one East, one West.
O’er many seas and deserts wide
They wandered, thirsting till they died.
‘The simple shepherds by the mountain dwell,
And dip their pitchers in the wondrous well.’
PETT, "Lamentations 3:22-24
(Cheth) It is due to YHWH’s covenant loves that we are not consumed,
Because his compassions fail not.
(Cheth) They are new every morning,
Great is your faithfulness.
(Cheth) YHWH is my portion, says my soul,
Therefore will I hope in him.
He recognises that the very reason that he has survived his experiences, and that
part of the nation has survived, is because of YHWH’s ‘covenant loves’ (His
mercies), the plural expressing intensity. That is why he has hope. He recognises
that he has survived because of it. It is because ‘His compassions fail not and are
new every morning’. For in spite of the circumstances YHWH is still faithful to
those who look to Him. Indeed his compassions are new every morning because
great is His faithfulness. othing has happened that He had not said would happen.
That is why the prophet can say that YHWH is still his portion, the One in Whom
he has confidence and to whom he gives his loyalty, and it is because of that that he
can have hope in Him.
‘YHWH is my portion, says my soul.’ This idea is based on umbers 18:20. See also
Psalms 16:5; Psalms 73:26; Psalms 119:57; Psalms 142:5. It is declaring that YHWH
is all that the prophet wants, and that He is his all-sufficiency.
SIMEO, "THE VIEWS OF A SAIT I HIS AFFLICTIOS

Lamentations 3:22-23. It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because
his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
IT is in affliction chiefly that the children of God attain to any considerable
eminence in religion. By trouble, they are led to realize their principles; and to seek
at the fountain-head those consolations which the broken cisterns of this world are
no longer able to supply. If David had never been an object of persecution to his
enemies, we may well doubt whether he would ever have soared as he did in
heavenly contemplations, or evinced such transcendent piety as glows throughout
his Psalms. Jeremiah was a man deeply conversant with trouble; as he says: “I am
the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath [ote: ver. 1.].” But what
sublime lessons does he teach us in the words which we have just read! Truly we
may see in these words,
I. The views of a saint under affliction—
A man undisciplined in the school of affliction pores over his troubles, and thereby
greatly disquiets his own soul. But a man who is taught of God will have his mind
very differently occupied. He will delight rather in contemplating,
1. The lightness of his affliction, in comparison of his deserts—
[Who, that calls to mind the multitude of his past transgressions, must not justify
God in all his dispensations, however painful they may be to flesh and blood? “Shall
a living man complain, (he will say,) a man for the punishment of his sins [ote: ver.
39.]?” o: he will acknowledge that hell itself is his proper portion; and that any
thing short of that is far “less than his iniquities have deserved [ote: Ezra 9:13.].”
Instead, therefore, of complaining, like Cain, that “his punishment is greater than
he can bear [ote: Genesis 4:13.],” he will say, “It is of the Lord’s mercies that I am
not utterly consumed, even because his compassions fail not.”]
2. The multitude of the mercies yet continued to him—
[An ungodly man, because lie is bereaved of some comforts, will overlook all the
others which he is still privileged to possess. But a real saint will think how much
worse his state might have been, and how man y blessings are still continued to him.
He will say, My troubles are few; but my mercies are greatly multiplied: “they are
new every morning.” His rest by night, his comforts by day, and, above all, his
constant access to God in prayer, and the rich Communications of grace and peace
received from him, these things, I say, will fill him with holy gratitude, and turn all
his sorrows into joy.]
3. The unchangeableness of God under all his dispensations—
[The saint will not regard God as an arbitrary Governor, that orders every thing
from caprice; but as a covenant God, who has engaged to provide for his people

whatever may conduce to their best interests. Hence, under the pressure of his
troubles, he will call to mind that God has said, He would “correct his people in
measure, and not leave them altogether unpunished [ote: Jeremiah 30:11.].” In
this view, lie acknowledges that “God in very faithfulness has afflicted him [ote:
Psalms 119:75.].” Indeed, the faithfulness of God is that which, in such seasons, he
contemplates with peculiar delight: “Why art thou cast clown, O my soul? and why
art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise Him, who is
the health of my countenance, and my God [ote: Psalms 42:5; Psalms 42:11;
Psalms 43:5. thrice.].”]
In opening to you these views, I wish particularly to mark,
II. The beauty of religion as displayed in them—
Philosophy will do much to produce a resignation to the will of God. Indeed,
common sense teaches us that it is in vain to murmur and repine at our troubles,
and that the more patiently we bear our trials, the more we diminish their force. But
the views which we have been considering, produce far more exalted effects. Behold,
1. How they compose the mind—
[You see in this afflicted saint a meek submission, far different from any that
philosophy can produce. Behold how he kisses the rod, and blesses the hand that
smites him; and sees nothing but mercy, where an ungodly man would have noticed
nothing but severity and wrath. Thus “he enjoys a light in the midst of darkness
[ote: Micah 7:8-9.];” and realizes the parable of Samson; “Out of the eater he
brings forth meat, and out of the strong he brings forth sweet.”]
2. How they elevate the soul—
[Behold the prophet, how he soars above self, and rises superior to all the dictates of
sense! He forgets, as it were, his trials, in the contemplation of his mercies; and
overlooks the chastisement, by reason of the love from whence it proceeds. This is a
nobility of mind to which no philosopher ever could attain, and an elevation of
sentiment which nothing but divine grace could ever inspire.]
3. How they honour God—
[Here the darkest dispensations are acknowledged, as the fruits of a wisdom that
cannot err, of a love that knows no bounds, of a fidelity that can never change.
Methinks, if there were no other end for which afflictions were sent, this were
sufficient to reconcile us unto all; for if they lead to such discoveries of God, and
such an ascription of praise to him, they more than compensate for all the pain that
they occasion during the pressure of them on our minds.]
Address—

1. To those who know but little of affliction—
[A slight and superficial religion may satisfy you at present; but you will find it of
little service when you come into trouble: nothing but deep piety will support you
then. If you would be prepared for trials, you must get a sense of your own
exceeding sinfulness, and of the wonderful mercies vouchsafed to you through the
sufferings of the Son of God. Then the heaviest trials will appear light, yea, as
nothing in comparison of your deserts, and nothing in comparison of the obligations
conferred upon you.]
2. To those who have been brought into deep waters—
[Look not on your afflictions as tokens of God’s wrath, but rather as expressions of
his love. There is a need for them, else they never would have been sent; and if they
operate to purify your souls from dross, you will have reason to be thankful for
them to all eternity. Be not, then, so anxious for the removal of your trials, as for the
sanctification of them to your souls. Make but the improvement of them which is
suggested in my text, and you will have reason to adore God for them as the richest
blessings that could be conferred upon you.]
23 They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
CLARKE, "They are new every morning -Day and night proclaim the mercy
and compassion of God. Who could exist throughout the day, if there were not a
continual superintending Providence? Who could be preserved in the night, if the
Watchman of Israel ever slumbered or slept?
GILL, "
They are new every morning,.... That is, the tender mercies or compassions
of God are, which prove that they fail not; there are instances of them every day, not only
in a temporal, but in a spiritual sense; they are ever new, always fresh and vigorous,
constant and perpetual; such are the love, grace, and mercy of God, though of old, yet

daily renewed in the manifestations thereof; and which make a morning of spiritual
light, joy, and comfort; and whenever it is morning with the saints, they have new
discoveries of the love of God to them; and these indeed are a bright morning to them, a
morning without clouds;
great is thy faithfulness; some render it "thy faith concerning thee" (y); this is a great
grace, it is the gift of God, the operation of his Spirit, and to exercise it is a great thing; to
this purpose is Jarchi's note,
"great is thy promise, and a great thing it is to believe in thee, that it shall be performed,
and that thou wilt observe or keep what thou hast promised to us;''
but the attribute of God's faithfulness is rather meant; which is another reason why the
people of God are not consumed, since that never fails; God is faithful to himself, and
cannot deny himself; he is faithful to his counsels and purposes, which shall be truly
accomplished; and to his covenant and promises, which shall be fulfilled; and to his Son,
the surety and Saviour of his people.
chTBe 6l7s:;klO1Mk1lSgH,;M_klu:w3lel:wO1lkw;G6l3:w3 the same truth is here
repeated by the Prophet, that God’s mercies were not consumed, nor had his
compassion’s failed. How so? Because they were new, or renewed, every day; but he
puts morning, and that in the plural number. I am surprised at the hour striking so
soon; I hardly think that I have lectured a whole hour.
24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him.”
Imbeho)g*The Lord is my portion - “My portion is Yahweh,” see
Num_18:20;
Psa_16:5ff.
Therefore will I hope in him -A more full expression of the confidence present in
the prophet’s mind in Lam_3:21, but based now upon God’s faithfulness in showing
mercy.
CLARKE, "The Lord is my portion -See on
Psa_119:67(note).

GILL, "The Lord is my portion, saith my soul,.... The prophet, or the church,
whom he represents, rises and increases in the exercise of faith; from considering the
mercies, compassions, and faithfulness of God, concludes a sure and firm interest in
him, as a portion and inheritance. The Lord is the portion of his people in life and in
death, in time and to eternity; all he is, and has, is theirs; they are heirs of him, and shall
enjoy him for ever, and therefore shall not be consumed; he is a portion large and full,
inexpressibly rich and great, a soul satisfying one, and will last for ever. And happy are
those, who from their hearts, and with their souls, under a testimony of the Spirit of God
to their spirits, and through a gracious experience of him, can say he is their portion and
exceeding great reward, as the church here did; and these may say with her, as follows:
therefore will I hope in him: for deliverance from all evils and enemies; for present
supplies of grace; and for the enjoyment of future glory and happiness.
,hebw)g*. That God is, and ever will be, the all-sufficient happiness of his people,
and they have chosen him and depend upon him to be such (
Lam_3:24): The Lord is my
portion, saith my soul; that is, 1. “When I have lost all I have in the world, liberty, and
livelihood, and almost life itself, yet I have not lost my interest in God.” Portions on
earth are perishing things, but God is portion for ever.2. “While I have an interest in
God, therein I have enough; I have that which is sufficient to counterbalance all my
troubles and make up all my losses.” Whatever we are robbed of our portion is safe. 3.
“This is that which I depend upon and rest satisfied with: Therefore will I hope in him. I
will stay myself upon him, and encourage myself in him, when all other supports and
encouragements fail me.” Note, It is our duty to make God the portion of our souls, and
then to make use of him as our portion and to take the comfort of it in the midst of our
lamentations.
0mtione)g*(
Num_18:20; Psa_16:5; Psa_73:26; Psa_119:57; Jer_10:16). To have
God for our portion is the one only foundation of hope.
K&D, "
Lam_3:24-28
"My portion is Jahveh:" this is a reminiscence from Psa_16:5; Psa_73:26; Psa_142:6;
cf. Psa_119:57, where the expression found here is repeated almost verbatim. The
expression is based on Num_18:20, where the Lord says to Aaron, "I am thy portion and
thine inheritance;" i.e., Jahveh will be to the tribe of Levi what the other tribes receive in
their territorial possessions in Canaan; Levi shall have his possession and enjoyment in
Jahveh. The last clause, "therefore will I hope," etc., is a repetition of what is in Lam_
3:21, as if by way of refrain.
This hope cannot be frustrated, Lam_3:25. The fundamental idea of the section
contained in Lam_3:25-33is thus stated by Nägelsbach: "The Lord is well disposed
towards the children of men under all circumstances; for even when He smites them, He
seeks their highest interest: they ought so to conduct themselves in adversity, that it is
possible for Him to carry out His designs." On Lam_3:25, cf. Psa_34:9; Psa_86:5; and
on the general meaning, also Psa_25:3; Psa_69:7. If the Lord is kind to those who hope
in Him, then it is good for man to wait patiently for His help in suffering. Such is the
mode in which Lam_3:26is attached to Lam_3:25. בוּט, Lam_3:26and Lam_3:27,
followed by ur#dat., means to be good for one, i.e., beneficial. Some expositors (Gesenius,

Rosenmüller, Maurer, Nägelsbach) take לי ִח ָי as a noun-form, substantive or adjective;
ם ָמוּA is then also taken in the same way, and ו-ו as correlative: "it is good both to wait
and be silent." But although there are analogous cases to support the view that לי ִח ָי is a
noun-form, the constant employment of ם ָמוּA as an adverb quite prevents us from taking
it as an adjective. Moreover, "to be silent for the help of the Lord," would be a strange
expression, and we would rather expect "to be silent and wait for;" and finally, waiting
and silence are so closely allied, that the disjunctive ו-וet - et appears remarkable. We
prefer, then, with Ewald (Gram. §235, a) and others, to take לי ִח ָי as a verbal form, and
that, too, in spite of the i in the jussive form of the Hiphil for ל ֵח ָי, from לוּח, in the
meaning of ל ַח ָי, to wait, tarry. "It is good that he (man) should wait, and in silence too
(i.e., without complaining), for the help of the Lord." On the thought presented here, cf.
Psa_38:7and Isa_30:15. Hence it is also good for man to bear a yoke in youth (Lam_
3:27), that he may exercise himself in calm waiting on the help of the Lord. In the
present context the yoke is that of sufferings, and the time of youth is mentioned as the
time of freshness and vigour, which render the bearing of burdens more easy. He who
has learned in youth to bear sufferings, will not sink into despair should they come on
him in old age. Instead of וי ָרוּעְנ ִ", Theodotion has Sκ νεότητος αjτοk, which is also the
reading of the Aldine edition of the lxx; and some codices have וי ָרוּעְl ִמ. But this reading is
evidently a correction, prompted by the thought that Jeremiah, who composed the
Lamentations in his old age, had much suffering to endure from the time of his call to
the prophetic office, in the earlier portion of his old age; nor is it much better than the
inference of J. D. Michaelis, that Jeremiah composed this poem when a youth, on the
occasion of King Josiah's death. - In Lam_3:28-30, the effect of experience by suffering
is set forth, yet not in such a way that the verses are to be taken as still dependent on י ִ8
in Lam_3:27(Luther, Pareau, De Wette, Maurer, and Thenius): "that he should sit alone
and be silent," etc. Such a combination is opposed to the independent character of each
separate alphabetic strophe. Rather, the result of early experience in suffering and
patience is developed in a cohortative form. The connection of thought is simply as
follows: Since it is good for man that he should learn to endure suffering, let him sit still
and bear it patiently, when God puts such a burden on him. Let him sit solitary, as
becomes those in sorrow (see on Lam_1:1), and be silent, without murmuring (cf. Lam_
3:26), when He lays a burden on him. There is no object to ל ַטָנ expressly mentioned, but
it is easily understood from the notion of the verb (if He lays anything on him), or from
לּע in Lam_3:27(if He lays a yoke on him). We are forbidden to consider the verbs as
indicatives ("he sits alone and is silent;" Gerlach, Nägelsbach) by the apocopated form ן ֵ2 ִי
in Lam_3:29, Lam_3:30, which shows that ב ֵשׁ ֵי and םּA ִי are also cohortatives.
lhTjap4f3r;IfnZk-;ILfq.LqbmLIgfq.fL;qgfAIZgIfL;mLfHe cannot stand firm in
adversities, except we be content with God alone and his favor; for as soon as we
depart from him, any adversity that may happen to us will cause our faith to fail. It
is then the only true foundation of patience and hope to trust in God alone; and this
is the case when we are persuaded that his favor is sufficient for our perfect safety.
In this sense it is that David calls God his portion. (Psalms 16:5.) But there is in the

words an implied contrast, for most men seek their happiness apart from God. All
desire to be happy, but as the thoughts of men wander here and there, there is
nothing more difficult than so to fix all our hopes in God so as to disregard all other
things.
This then is the doctrine which the Prophet now handles, when he says, that those
alone could hope, that is, persevere in hope and patience, who have so received God
as their portion as to be satisfied with him alone, and to seek nothing else besides
him. But he speaks emphatically, that his soul had thus said. Even the unbelieving
are ashamed to deny what we have stated, that the whole of our salvation and
happiness is found in God alone. Then the unbelieving also confess that God is the
fountain of all blessings, and that they ought to acquiesce in him; but with the
mouth only they confess this, while they believe nothing less. This then is the reason
why the Prophet ascribes what he says to his soul, as though he had said, that lie did
not boast, like hypocrites, that God was his portion, but that of this lie had a
thorough conviction. My soul has said, that is, I am fully convinced that God is my
portion; therefore will I hope in him. We now understand the meaning of this
passage.
It remains for us to make an application of this doctrine. That we may not then fail
in adversities, let us bear in mind this truth, that all our thoughts will ever wander
and go astray, until we are fully persuaded that God alone is sufficient for us, so
that lie may become alone our heritage. For all who are not satisfied with God alone,
are immediately seized with impatience, whenever famine oppresses them, or sword
threatens them, or any other grievous calamity. And for this reason Paul also says,
“If God be for us, who can be against us? I am persuaded that neither famine, nor
nakedness, nor sword, nor death, nor life, can separate me from the love of God,
which is in Christ.”
(Romans 8:31.)
Then Paul lays hold of the paternal favor of God as a ground of solid confidence; for
the words in Christ sufficiently show that those are mistaken interpreters who take
this love passively, as though he had said, that the faithful would never cease to love
God, though he exercised them with many afflictions. But Paul meant that the
faithful ought so to fix their minds on God alone, that whatever might happen, they
would not yet cease to glory in him. Why? because God is their life in death, their
light in darkness, their rest in war and tumult, their abundance in penury and want.
It is in the same sense our Prophet now says, when lie intimates that none hope in
God but those who build on his paternal favor alone, so that they seek nothing else
but to have him propitious to them. It afterwards follows, —
ISBET, "Verse 24
THE BEST PORTIO
‘The Lord is my portion, saith my soul.’
Lamentations 3:24
I. The Lord is the portion of His people.

(1) The object of their supreme love.
(2) The object of their entire confidence.
(3) The object of their chiefest joy.
II. The qualities of the portion.
(1) It is suitable.
(2) It is adequate.
(3) It is enduring. ‘Flesh and heart shall faint and fail, but He is the strength of my
heart and my portion for ever.’
25 The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;
Imbeho)g*In these three verses, each beginning in the Hebrew with the word good,
we have first the fundamental idea that Yahweh Himself is good, and if good to all, then
especially is He so to those who being in adversity can yet wait in confidence upon His
mercy.
GILL, "The Lord
is good to them that wait for him,.... For the enjoyment of him
as their portion in this world, and in that to come; for his presence here and hereafter;
which they are sometimes now deprived of, but should wait patiently for it; since he has
his set time to arise and favour them with it; to such is he "good" communicatively, and
in a special way and manner. They that wait for him shall not be ashamed, or
disappointed of what they expect; they shall renew their spiritual strength, and grow
stronger and stronger; they shall inherit the earth, the new heavens and the new earth;
enjoy many blessings now, and have good things laid up for them hereafter, eye has not
seen, nor ear heard, Isa_49:23; perhaps some regard may be had to the coming of Christ
in the flesh, which the saints then expected, and were waiting for in faith and hope; to
whom the Lord was good and gracious in due time, by performing the mercy promised
them, Isa_25:9;

to the soul that seeketh him; that seeketh him aright; that seeks him by prayer and
supplication; that seeks him in his house and ordinances, where he is to be found; that
seeks him early, in the first place, and above all things else; that seeks him earnestly,
diligently, with his whole spirit, heart, and soul; that seeks his face, his favour, grace,
and glory, and all in Christ, through whom all are to be enjoyed. God is good to such
souls; he is a rewarder of them in a way of grace; with himself, as their shield and
exceeding great reward; with his Son, and all things freely with him; with his Spirit and
graces, and with eternal glory and happiness; such find what they seek for, Christ, his
grace, and eternal fire; the Lord never forsakes them, nor the work of his hand in them,
and they shall live spiritually and eternally; see Heb_11:6.
,hebw)g*That those who deal with God will find it is not in vain to trust in him; for,
1. He is good to those who do so, Lam_3:25. He is good to all; his tender mercies are
over all his works; all his creatures taste of his goodness. But he is in a particular
manner good to those that wait for him, to the soul that seeks him. Note, While trouble
is prolonged, and deliverance is deferred, we must patiently wait for God and his
gracious returns to us. While we wait for him by faith, we must seek him by prayer: our
souls must seek him, else we do not seek so as to find. Our seeking will help to keep up
our waiting. And to those who thus wait and seek God will be gracious; he will show
them his marvellous lovingkindness.2. Those that do so will find it good for them
(Lam_3:26): It is good (it is our duty, and will be our unspeakable comfort and
satisfaction) to hope and quietly to wait for the salvation of the Lord, to hope that it will
come, thought eh difficulties that lie in the way of it seem insupportable, to wait till it
does come, though it be long delayed, and while we wait to be quiet and silent, not
quarrelling with God nor making ourselves uneasy, but acquiescing in the divine
disposals. Father, thy will be done. If we call this to mind, we may have hope that all will
end well at last.
0mtione)g*The repetition of “good” at the beginning of each of the three verses
heightens the effect.
wait— (
Isa_30:18).
lhTjap4f3GIfMk.Lq.’IgfL;IfgmbIfg’W!IMLFf;If;kHIAIZfadds now something to it,
even that God always deals mercifully with his servants, who recumb on him, mid
who seek him. We hence see that the last verse is confirmed, where he said that he
was content with God alone, while suffering all kinds of adversity: How so? for God,
he says, is good to those who wait for him. (184) It might have been objected and
said, that adversities produce sorrow, weariness, sadness, and anguish, so that it
cannot be that they retain hope who only look to God alone; and it is no doubt true
that, when all confess that they hope in God, they afterwards run here and there;
and the consequence is, that they fail in their adversities. As, then, this might have
been objected to the Prophet, he gives indirectly this answer, that God is good to
those who wait for him, as though he had said, that the confidence which recumbs
on God alone cannot disappoint us, for God will at length shew his kindness to all
those who hope in him. In short, the Prophet teaches us here, that the blessings of
God, by which he exhilarates his own children, cannot be separated from his mercy
or his paternal favor. Such a sentence as this, “Whatever can be expected is found in

God,” would be deemed frigid by many; for they might object and say, as before
stated, that they were at the same time miserable. Hence the Prophet reminds us
here that God’s blessings flow to us from his favor as from a fountain, as though he
had said, “As a perennial fountain sends forth water, so also God’s goodness
manifests and extends itself.”
We now, then, understand the Prophet’s meaning. He had indeed said, that we
ought to acquiesce in God alone; but now he adds, by way of favor, regarding the
infirmity of men, that God is kind and bountiful to all those who hope in him. The
sum of what he states is, as I have said, that God’s goodness brings forth its own
fruits, and that the faithful find by experience, that nothing is better than to have all
their thoughts fixed on God alone. God’s goodness, then, ought to be understood, so
to speak, as actual, even what is really enjoyed. As, then, God deals bountifully with
all who hope in him, it follows that they cannot be disappointed, while they are
satisfied with him alone, and thus patiently submit to all adversities. In short, the
Prophet teaches here what the Scripture often declares, that hope maketh not
ashamed. (Romans 5:5.)
But the second clause must be noticed: for the Prophet defines what it is to hope in
God, when he says that he is good to the soul that seeks him. Many indeed imagine
hope to be I know not what — a dead speculation; and hypocrites, when God spares
them, go on securely and exult, but their confidence is mere ebriety, very different
from hope. We must then remember what the Prophet says here, that they alone
hope hi God who from the heart seek him, that is, who acknowledge how greatly
they need the mercy of God, who go directly to him whenever any temptation
harasses them, and who, when any danger threatens them, flee to his aid, and thus
prove that they really hope in God. It now follows, —
EXPOSITOR'S BIBLE COMMETARY, "Verses 25-36
QUIET WAITIG
Lamentations 3:25-36
HAVIG struck a rich vein, our author proceeds to work it with energy. Pursuing
the ideas that flow out of the great truth of the endless goodness of God, and the
immediate inference that He of whom so wonderful a character can be affirmed is
Himself the soul’s best possession, the poet enlarges upon their wider relations. He
must adjust his views of the whole world to the new situation that is thus opening
out before him. All things are new in the light of the splendid vision before which his
gloomy meditations have vanished like a dream. He sees that he is not alone in
enjoying the supreme blessedness of the Divine love. The revelation that has come to
him is applicable to other men if they will but fulfil the conditions to which it is
attached.
In the first place, it is necessary to perceive clearly what those conditions are on
which the happy experience of God’s unfailing mercies may be enjoyed by any man.

The primary requisite is affirmed to be quiet waiting. [Lamentations 3:26] The
passivity of this attitude is accentuated in a variety of expressions. It is difficult for
us of the modern western world to appreciate such teaching. o doubt if it stood by
itself it would be so one-sided as to be positively misleading. But this is no more than
must be said of any of the best lessons of life. We require the balancing of separate
truths in order to obtain truth, as we want the concurrence of different impulses to
produce the resultant of a right direction of life. But in the present case the opposite
end of the scale has been so much overweighted that we sorely need a very
considerable addition on the side to which the elegist here leans. Carlyle’s gospel of
work-a most wholesome message as far as it went-fell on congenial Anglo-Saxon
soil; and this and the like teaching of kindred minds has brought forth a rich
harvest in the social activity of modern English life. The Church has learnt the duty
of working - which is well. She does not appear so capable of attaining the
blessedness of waiting. Our age is in no danger of the dreaminess of quietism. But
we find it hard to cultivate what Wordsworth calls "wise passiveness." And yet in
the heart of us we feel the lack of this spirit of quiet. Charles Lamb’s essay on the
"Quakers’ Meeting" charms us, not only on account of its exquisite literary style,
but also because it reflects a phase of life which we own to be most beautiful.
The waiting here recommended is more than simple passiveness, however, more
than a bare negation of action. It is the very opposite of lethargy and torpor.
Although it is quiet, it is not asleep. It is open-eyed, watchful, expectant. It has a
definite object of anticipation, for it is a waiting for God and His salvation; and
therefore it is hopeful. ay, it has a certain activity of its own, for it seeks God. Still,
this activity is inward and quiet; its immediate aim is not to get at some visible
earthly end, however much this may be desired, nor to attain some inward personal
experience, some stage in the soul’s culture, such as peace, or purity, or power,
although this may be the ultimate object of the present anxiety; primarily it seeks
God-all else it leaves in His hands. Thus it is rather a change in the tone and
direction of the soul’s energies than a state of repose. It is the attitude of the
watchman on his lonely tower-calm and still, but keen-eyed and alert, while down
below in the crowded city some fret themselves with futile toil and others slumber in
stupid indifference.
To this waiting for Him and definite seeking of Him God responds in some special
manifestation of mercy. Although, as Jesus Christ tells us, our Father in heaven
"maketh His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the just and
the unjust," [Matthew 5:45] the fact here distinctly implied, that the goodness of
God is exceptionally enjoyed on the conditions now laid down, is also supported by
our Lord’s teaching in the exhortations, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and
ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you; forevery one that asketh
receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened."
St. James adds, "Ye have not because ye ask not." [James 4:2] This, then, is the
method of the Divine procedure. God expects His children to wait on Him as well as
to wait for Him. We cannot consider such an expectation unreasonable. Of course it
would be foolish to imagine God piquing Himself on His own dignity, so as to
decline aid until He had been gratified by a due observance of homage. There is a

deeper motive for the requirement. God’s relations with men and women are
personal and individual; and when they are most happy and helpful they always
involve a certain reciprocity. It may not be necessary or even wise to demand
definite things from God whenever we seek His assistance; for He knows what is
good, while we often blunder and ask amiss. But the seeking here described is of a
different character. It is not seeking things; it is seeking God. This is always good.
The attitude of trust and expectancy that it necessitates is just that in which we are
brought into a receptive state. It is not a question of God’s willingness to help; He is
always willing. But it cannot be fitting that He should act towards us when we are
distrustful, indifferent, or rebellious, exactly as He would act if He were approached
in submission and trustful expectation.
Quiet waiting, then, is the right and fitting condition for the reception of blessing
from God. But the elegist holds more than this. In his estimation the state of mind he
here commends is itself good for a man. It is certainly good in contrast with the
unhappy alternatives-feeble fussiness, wearing anxiety, indolent negligence, or
blank despair. It is good also as a positive condition of mind. He has reached a
happy inward attainment who has cultivated the faculty of possessing his soul in
patience. His eye is clear for visions of the unseen. To him the deep fountains of life
are open. Truth is his, and peace and strength also. When we add to this calmness
the distinct aim of seeking God we may see how the blessedness of the condition
recommended is vastly enhanced. We are all insensibly moulded by our desires and
aims. The expectant soul is transformed into the image of the hope it pursues. When
its treasure is in heaven its heart is there also, and therefore its very nature becomes
heavenly.
To his reflections on the blessedness of quiet waiting the elegist adds a very definite
word about another experience, declaring that "it is good for a man that he bear the
yoke in his youth." [Lamentations 3:27] This interesting assertion seems to sound an
autobiographical note, especially as the whole poem treats of the writer’s personal
experience. Some have inferred that the author must have been a young man at the
time of writing. But if, as seems probable, he is calling to mind what he has himself
passed through, this may be a recollection of a much earlier period of his life. Thus
he would seem to be recognising, in the calm of subsequent reflection, what perhaps
he may have been far from admitting while bearing the burdens, that the labours
and hardships of his youth prove to have been for his own advantage. This truth is
often perceived in the meditations of mature life, although it is not so easily
acknowledged in the hours of strain and stress.
It is impossible to say what particular yoke the writer is thinking about. The
persecutions inflicted on Jeremiah have been cited in illustration of this passage;
and although we may not be able to ascribe, the poem to the great prophet, his toils
and troubles will serve as instances of the truth of the words of the anonymous
writer, for undoubtedly his sympathies were quickened while his strength was
ripened by what he endured. If we will have a definite meaning the yoke may stand
for one of three things-for instruction, for labour, or for trouble. The sentence is
true of either of these forms of yoke. We are not likely to dispute the advantages of

youthful education over that which is delayed till adult age; but even if the
acquisition of knowledge is here suggested, we cannot suppose it to be book
knowledge, it must be that got in the school of life. Thus we are brought to the other
two meanings. Then the connection excludes the notion of pleasant, attractive work,
so that the yoke of labour comes near to the burden of trouble. This seems to be the
essential idea of the verse. Irksome work, painful toil, forced labour partaking of the
nature of servitude-these ideas are most vividly suggested by the image of a yoke.
And they are what we most shrink from in youth. Inactivity is then by no means
sought or desired. The very exercise of one’s energies is a delight at the time of their
fresh vigour. But this exercise must be in congenial directions, in harmony with
one’s tastes and inclinations, or it will be regarded as an intolerable burden. Liberty
is sweet in youth; it is not work that is dreaded, but compulsion. Youth emulates the
bounding energies of the war horse, but it has a great aversion to the patient toil of
the ox. Hence the yoke is resented as a grievous burden; for the yoke signifies
compulsion and servitude. ow, as a matter of fact, this yoke generally has to be
borne in youth. People might be more patient with the young if they would but
consider how vexatious it must be to the shoulders that are not yet fitted to wear it,
and in the most liberty-loving age. As time passes custom makes the yoke easier to
be borne; and yet then it is usually lightened. In our earlier days we must submit
and obey, must yield and serve. This is the rule in business, the drudgery and
restraint of which naturally attach themselves to the first stages. If older persons
reflected on what this must mean at the very time when the appetite for delight is
most keen, and the love of freedom most intense, they would not press the yoke with
needless harshness.
But now the poet has been brought to see that it was for his own advantage that he
was made to bear the yoke in his youth. How so? Surely not because it prevented
him from taking too rosy views of life, and so saved him from subsequent
disappointment. othing is more fatal to youth than cynicism. The young man who
professes to have discovered the hollowness of life generally is in danger of making
his own life a hollow and wasted thing. The elegist could never have fallen to this
miserable condition, or he would never have written as he has done here. With faith
and manly courage the yoke has the very opposite effect. The faculty of cherishing
hope in spite of present hardships, which is the peculiar privilege of youth, may
stand a man in stead at a later time, when it is not so easy to triumph over
circumstances, because the old buoyancy of animal spirits, which means so much in
early days, has vanished; and then if he can look back and see how he has been
cultivating habits of endurance through years of discipline without his soul having
been soured by the process, he may well feel profoundly thankful for those early
experiences which were undoubtedly very hard in their rawness.
The poet’s reflections on the blessedness of quiet waiting are followed by direct
exhortations to the behaviour which is its necessary accompaniment-for such seems
to be the meaning of the next triplet, Lamentations 3:28-30. The Revisers have
corrected this from the indicative mood, as it stands in the Authorised Version, to
the imperative-"Let him sit alone," etc., "Let him put his mouth in the dust," etc.,
"Let him give his cheek to him that smiteth him," etc. The exhortations flow

naturally out of the preceding statements, but the form they assume may strike us as
somewhat singular. Who is the person thus indirectly addressed? The grammar of
the sentences would invite our attention to the "man" of the twenty-seventh verse.
[Lamentations 3:27] If it is good for everybody to bear the yoke in his youth, it
might be suggested further that it would be well for everybody to act in the manner
now indicated-that is to say, the advice would be of universal application. We must
suppose, however, that the poet is thinking of a sufferer similar to himself.
ow the point of the exhortation is to be found in the fact that it goes beyond the
placid state just described. It points to solitude, silence, submission, humiliation,
non-resistance. The principle of calm, trustful expectancy is most beautiful; and if it
were regarded by itself it could not but fascinate us, so that we should wonder how
it would be possible for anybody to resist its attractions. But immediately we try to
put it in practice we come across some harsh and positively repellent features. When
it is brought down from the ethereal regions of poetry and set to work among the
gritty facts of real life, how soon it seems to lose its glamour! It can never become
mean or sordid; and yet its surroundings may be so. Most humiliating things are to
be done, most insulting things endured. It is hard to sit in solitude and silence - a
Ugolino in his tower of famine, a Bonnivard in his dungeon; there seems to be
nothing heroic in this dreary inactivity. It would be much easier to attempt some
deed of daring, especially if that were in the heat of battle. othing is so depressing
as loneliness-the torture of a prisoner in solitary confinement. And yet now there
must be no word of complaint because the trouble comes from the very Being who is
to be trusted for deliverance. There is a call for action, however, but only to make
the submission more complete and the humiliation more abject. The sufferer is to
lay his mouth in the dust like a beaten slave. [Lamentations 3:29] Even this he might
brace himself to do, stifling the last remnant of his pride because he is before the
Lord of heaven and earth. But it is not enough. A yet more bitter cup must be drunk
to the dregs. He must actually turn his cheek to the smiter, and quietly submit to
reproach. [Lamentations 3:30] God’s wrath may be accepted as a righteous
retribution from above. But it is hard indeed to manifest the same spirit of
submission in face of the fierce malignity or the petty spite of men. Yet silent waiting
involves even this. Let us count the cost before we venture on the path which looks
so beautiful in idea, but which turns out to be so very trying in fact.
We cannot consider this subject without being reminded of the teaching and-a more
helpful memory-the example also of our Lord. It is hard to receive even from His
lips the command to turn the other cheek to one who has smitten us on the right
cheek. But when we see Jesus doing this very thing the whole aspect of it is changed.
What before looked weak and cowardly is now seen to be the perfection of true
courage and the height of moral sublimity. By His own endurance of insult and
ignominy our Lord has completely revolutionised our ideas of humiliation. His
humiliation was His glorification. What a Roman would despise as shameful
weakness He has proved to be the triumph of strength. Thus, though we may not be
able to take the words of the Lamentations as a direct prophecy of Jesus Christ, they
so perfectly realise themselves in the story of His Passion, that to Christendom they
must always be viewed in the light of that supreme wonder of a victory won through

submission; and while they are so viewed they cannot fail to set before us an ideal
conduct for the sufferer under the most trying circumstances.
This advice is not so paradoxical as it appears. We are not called upon to accept it
merely on the authority of the speaker. He follows it up by assigning good reasons
for it. These are all based on the assumption which runs through the elegies, that the
sufferings therein described come from the hand of God. They are most of them the
immediate effects of man’s enmity. But a Divine purpose is always to be recognised
behind the human instrumentality. This fact at once lifts the whole question out of
the region of miserable, earthly passions and mutual recriminations. In apparently
yielding to a tyrant from among his fellow men the sufferer is really submitting to
his God.
Then the elegist gives us three reasons why the submission should be complete and
the waiting quiet. The first is that the suffering is but temporary. God seems to have
cast off His afflicted servant. If so it is but for a season. [Lamentations 3:31-32] This
is not a case of absolute desertion. The sufferer is not treated as a reprobate. How
could we expect patient submission from a soul that had passed the portals of a hell
over which Dante’s awful motto of despair was inscribed? If they who entered were
to "forsake all hope" it would be a mockery to bid them "be still." It would be more
natural for these lost souls to shriek with the fury of madness. The first ground of
quiet waiting is hope. The second is to be found in God’s unwillingness to afflict.
[Lamentations 3:33] He never takes up the rod, as we might say, con amore.
Therefore the trial will not be unduly prolonged. Since God Himself grieves to
inflict it, the distress can be no more than is absolutely necessary. The third and last
reason for this patience of submission is the certainty that God cannot commit an
injustice. So important is this consideration in the eyes of the elegist that he devotes
a complete triplet to it, illustrating it from three different points of Lamentations
3:34-36. We have the conqueror with his victims, the magistrate in a case at law, and
the private citizen in business. Each of these instances affords an opportunity for
injustice. God does not look with approval on the despot who crushes all his
prisoners-for ebuchadnezzar’s outrages are by no means condoned, although they
are utilised as chastisements; nor on the judge who perverts the solemn process of
law, when deciding, according to the Jewish theocratic idea, in place of God, the
supreme Arbitrator, and, as the oath testifies, in His presence; nor on the man who
in a private capacity circumvents his neighbour. But how can we ascribe to God
what He will not sanction in man? "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?"
[Genesis 18:25] exclaims the perplexed patriarch; and we feel that his plea is
unanswerable. But if God is just we can afford to be patient. And yet we feel that
while there is something to calm us and allay the agonising terrors of despair in this
thought of the unswerving justice of God, we must fall back for our most satisfying
assurance on that glorious truth which the poet finds confirmed by his daily
experience, and which he expresses with such a glow of hope in the rich phrase,
"Yet will He have compassion according to the multitude of His mercies."
[Lamentations 3:32]
PETT, "Lamentations 3:25-27

(Teth) Good is YHWH to those who wait for him,
To the soul who seeks him.
(Teth) Good is it that a man should hope,
And quietly wait for the salvation of YHWH.
(Teth) Good is it for a man that he bear the yoke,
During his youth.
For while God’s judgment has come upon Jerusalem, YHWH is still good to those
who wait for Him, who are trusting in His faithfulness, and seeking Him with all
their hearts. So it is a good thing that a man should hope and quietly wait (‘wait in
silence’) for YHWH to deliver, not complaining and not trying to hurry God up.
Just as it is good for him to bear the yoke of suffering during his youth, so that he
will thereby be strengthened and fitted for what might lie ahead. Patient endurance
and confidence in God should be man’s response to YHWH’s goodness.
SIMEO, "THE GOODESS OF GOD TO SUPPLIATS
Lamentations 3:25. The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that
seeketh him.
“THE earth,” we are told, “is full of the goodness of the Lord [ote: Psalms 33:5.]:”
and indeed it is not possible to behold the universe at large, or to inspect with
accuracy any thing that is contained in it, without being convinced that God is good
to all, and that his tender mercy is over all his works [ote: Psalms 145:9.]” But to
the humble suppliant he manifests his goodness in a more especial manner, as we
are informed in the words before us: from which we shall take occasion to notice,
I. The character here given of the Deity—
The humble suppliant is an object of his peculiar regard. To him he will pay
attention,
1. In a way of merciful acceptance—
[He may have sinned grievously, and for a long season; yea, he may have equalled
even Manasseh himself in his iniquities, and yet find mercy with the Lord, provided
he seek for it in humble, earnest, and believing prayer [ote: 2 Chronicles 33:12-13.]
— — — He may have even backslidden from God, and fallen grievously, after
having long professed himself a servant of God; and yet, on his repentance, God will
heal his backslidings, and love him freely [ote: Jeremiah 3:22. Psalms 32:5.] — —
— There are no bounds to the mercy of God towards returning penitents [ote:
Isaiah 1:18.] — — —]
2. In a way of friendly communication—
[Let any soul “draw nigh to God, and God will draw nigh unto him [ote: James
4:8.]:” and let him “open his mouth ever so wide, God will fill it [ote: Psalms

81:10.].” Does he need direction in difficulties? God will cause him to “hear a voice
behind him, saying, This is the way; walk thou in it [ote: Isaiah 30:21.].” Is he in
deep affliction? God will afford him such a measure of support and consolation as
his necessities shall require [ote: Isaiah 51:3.]. Does he need peculiar supplies of
grace and strength? God will give him “grace sufficient for him [ote: 2
Corinthians 12:9.],” and “strength according to his day [ote: Deuteronomy
33:25.].”]
3. In a way of gracious recompence—
[ot a sigh or groan shall pass unheeded by Almighty God [ote: Psalms 12:5.], nor
a tear fall without being treasured up in his vials [ote: Psalms 56:8.]. And at the
last day he will bear testimony to all the efforts which the contrite soul has made
[ote: Isaiah 66:2.], and will compensate it with an eternal weight of glory; not
indeed as a reward of debt, but as a reward of grace, which he has promised to all
who seek him in his Son’s name [ote: John 6:37. Romans 4:5.].]
And now what language will be sufficient to express,
II. The encouragement afforded by it—
To enter fully into this would occupy us too long. I will confine myself therefore to
the hints suggested in my text. Surely this view of the Deity may encourage all of us,
1. To seek him with earnestness—
[Were God regardless of the prayers of the poor destitute, we night well sit down in
despair. But “he invites to him the weary and heavy-laden;” and says, “Call upon
me in the time of trouble, and I will bear thee, and thou shalt glorify me [ote:
Psalms 50:15.]” We may well therefore go to him, and “pour out our hearts before
him,” and plead with him, yea, and “wrestle with him,” as Jacob did, determining
“not to let him go until he bless us.” This, so far from offending him, will rather be
most acceptable to his Divine Majesty; because he bids us “seek him with our whole
hearts” and with our whole souls [ote: 1 Chronicles 22:19. Psalms 119:2.] — — —]
2. To wait for him with patience—
[God may have many wise and gracious reasons for deferring his answers to our
prayers: he may wish to embitter sin to us; to humble our souls move deeply; to
make us more sensible of our need of mercy, and of our entire dependence on his
grace. He may choose this way of weaning us from the world, of quickening us in all
our duties, of advancing our attainments in the divine life, and of fitting us for
greater usefulness to our fellow-sinners. He may delay his answers, so long as to
make us doubt whether he has not “forgotten to be gracious unto us, and shut up his
loving-kindness from us in displeasure.” But, knowing his character, we should
never abandon ourselves to despair, but “tarry his leisure;” and determine, if we
perish, to perish at the foot of the cross, crying for mercy in Jesu’s name. However

long “the vision may tarry, we should wait for it,” in a full and perfect confidence
that “it shall not tarry” one single moment beyond what God in his wisdom sees to
.1l3:1l,;331k3l3;_1ld g31Fl8w.wjjFjl0FipLpln,l3:;klwe may assure ourselves, that
“none shall ever seek his face in vain.”]
Application—
1. Let none of us, then, neglect the duty of prayer—
[Prayer is indispensably required, in order to our obtaining of the Divine favour
d g31Flaw33:1ulMFM9IpLl> > >lhHGl];,lu1l:wO1lHg36l;3lis either because we ask not,
gMl.1SwFk1lu1lwkjlw_;kkld g31Fl4w_1klGF09ipLplmM13:ren, remember, I pray you, what
you have at stake; and trifle not in your approaches to the Most High God, as if he
could be deceived by formal and heartless petitions. Could it once be said of you,
“Behold, he prayeth!” we should have a good hope respecting you: but if you live
not nigh to God, in the exercise of fervent prayer, we must declare to you, that
God’s goodness, so far as it respects you, will speedily come to an end, and be turned
into wrathful indignation: for he has said, that “he will pour out his fury upon all
who restrain prayer before him, and call not on hislHw_1ld g31Fl41M1_;w:lrDF0JpLp^L
2. Let us, in particular, exercise faith in prayer—
[A man “who asks with a wavering mind, can receive Hg3:;HWlg,l3:1lTgMGld g31Fl
James 1:6-7.].” Believe that “he is good,” according as he has said, to all who “call
upon him in spirit and in truth.” You are authorized to expect at his hands
whatever you ask, provided the conferring of it will tend to your welfare, and to the
:gHgFMlg,l:;klHw_1ld g31Flrl4g:HlJFrG9rJpLpl8;kl“Mgmise to you is, “All things,
whatsoever ye shall ask, believing, ye shall receiv1ld g31Flaw33:1ul0rF00pLp^l]m1l
strong, then, in faith, giving glory to him;” and “never be straitened in yourselves,
since you need never fear that ye shall be straitened in him:” for, as he is able, so is
he also willing, to give you exceeding abundantly above all that you can ask or even
think.”]
26 it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.
mho tf6l7
Lam_3:26
And quietly wait -literally, “and be in silence,” i. e. abstain from all complaining.

CLARKE, "It is good that a man should both hope -Hope is essentially
necessary to faith; he that hopes not, cannot believe; if there be no expectation, there can
be no confidence. When a man hopes for salvation, he should not only waft for it, but use
every means that may lead to it; for hope cannot live, if there be no exercise. If hope
become impatient, faith will be impossible: for who can believe for his salvation when
his mind is agitated? He must therefore quietly wait. He must expect, and yet be dumb,
as the words imply; ever feeling his utter unworthiness; and, without murmuring,
struggle into life.
GILL, "
It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait,.... This follows
from the former; for if God is good to such, it must be good for them to hope and wait
for him; it is both their duty and their interest: and it may be observed, that hope is the
ground of patient waiting, and is here promised to it; where there is no hope of a thing,
there will be no waiting for it, much less quietly: hope is of things unseen, future,
difficult, and yet possible, or there would be no hope; and where there is that, there will
be waiting; for "if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it",
Rom_8:25; here in the original text it is, "hope, and be silent" (z); or, "a good man will
both hope" or "wait, and be silent" (a); that is, under the present dispensation, though
an afflictive one; men should be still, as David exhorts, and be dumb, as he was; and hold
their peace, as Aaron did, at such seasons: not that they should indulge a stoical apathy,
or be insensible of their condition, and disregard the rod, and him that has appointed it,
or be altogether silent and speechless; but should own the hand of God, and their
deserts, cry to him for deliverance, be thankful it is no worse, and speak of the gracious
dealings of God with them; yet should not murmur and complain, or charge God
foolishly; but be resigned to his will, and wait the issue of Providence quietly, even wait
for the salvation of the Lord; for temporal deliverance from outward evils and
present afflictions, and for spiritual and eternal salvation. The saints, under the Old
Testament, waited for Christ, the author of salvation, appointed and promised by the
Lord. He is come, and has obtained salvation, which is published in the Gospel. Sensible
sinners are made acquainted with their need of it, and see the fulness and suitableness of
it, and are earnestly desirous of knowing their interest in it; this is not immediately had;
it is good to wait quietly for it, in an attendance on the word and ordinances; and this
being come at, still the complete enjoyment is yet behind: saints are now heirs of it, are
kept unto it; it is nearer them than when they believed; Christ will appear unto it, and it
becomes them to wait patiently for it; which will be a salvation from the very being of
sin; from the temptations of Satan; from all troubles inward and outward; from all
troublesome persons and things; from all doubts, fears, darkness, and unbelief; and will
consist in perfect happiness and glory, and is worth waiting for.
0mtione)g*quietly wait— literally, “be in silence.” Compare
Lam_3:28and Psa_
39:2, Psa_39:9, that is, to be patiently quiet under afflictions, resting in the will of God
(Psa_37:7). So Aaron (Lev_10:2, Lev_10:3); and Job (Job_40:4, Job_40:5).
chTBe 6l7e3l;k6l;HG11G6lwHlw.MF“3l“:Mwk1lu:1Hl:1lkwys, Good and he will wait; for
these words are without a subject; but as it is a general statement, there is no
ambiguity. The Prophet means that it is good to hope and to be silent as to the
salvation, of God. Then the verbs in the future tense ought to be rendered its

subjunctives, as though it was said, “It is good when any one hopes in the salvation
of Jehovah, and is silent, that is, bears patiently all his troubles until God succors
him.” (185)
But; the Prophet here reminds us, that we are by no means to require that God
should always appear to us, and that his paternal favor should always shine forth on
our life. This is, indeed, a condition sought for by all; for the flesh inclines us to this,
and hence we shun adversities. We, then, naturally desire God’s favor to be
manifested to us; how? In reality, so that all things may go on prosperously, that no
trouble may touch us, that we may be tormented by no anxiety, that no danger may
be suspended over us, that no calamity may threaten us: these things, as I have said,
we all naturally seek and desire. But in such a case faith would be extinguished, as
Paul tells us in his Epistle to the Romans,
“For we hope not,” he says, “for what appears, but we hope for what, is hidden.”
(Romans 8:24.)
It is necessary in this world that the faithful should, as to outward things, be
miserable, at one time exposed to want, at another subject to various dangers — at;
one time exposed to reproaches and calumnies, at another harassed by losses: why
so? because there would be no occasion for exercising hope, were our salvation
complete. This is the very thing which the Prophet now teaches us, when he declares
that it is good for us to learn in silence to wait for the salvation of God.
But to express more clearly his mind, he first says, He will wait, or hope. He teaches
the need of patience, as also the Apostle does, in Hebrews 10:36; for otherwise there
can be no faith. It hence appears, that where there is no patience, there is not even a
spark of faith in the heart of man; how so? because this is our happiness, to wait or
to hope; and we hope for what is hidden. But in the second clause he explains
himself still more clearly by saying, and will be silent To be silent means often in
Scripture to rest, to be still; and here it signifies no other thing than to bear the
troubles allotted to us, with a calm and resigned mind. He is then said to be silent to
God, who remains quiet even when afflictions supply occasion for clamoring; and
hence this quietness is opposed to violent feelings; for when some trouble presses on
us, we become turbulent, and are carried away by our fury, at one time we quarrel
with God, at another we pour forth various complaints. The same thing also
happens, when we see some danger, for we tremble, and then we seek remedies here
and there, and that with great eagerness. But he who patiently bears his troubles, or
who recumbs on God when dangers surround him, is said to be silent or to rest
quietly; and hence the words of Isaiah, “In hope and silence;” for he there exhorts
the faithful to patience, and shews where strength is, even when we trust in God, so
as willingly to submit to His will, and to be ready to bear his chastisements, and then
when we doubt not but that he will be ready to bring us help when we are in danger.
(Isaiah 30:15.)
We now perceive what the Prophet means when he says, that it. is good if we wait
and be silent as to the salvation of God; even because our happiness is hid, and we

are also like the dead, as Paul says, and our life is hid in Christ. (Colossians 3:3.) As
then it is so, we must necessarily be silent as to God’s salvation, and cherish hope
within, though surrounded with many miseries. It follows, —
Good it is when he hopes and waits quietly
For the salvation of Jehovah.
The ו may often be rendered when. This verse, the preceding, and following, begin
with “good,” which renders the passage very striking, —
25.Good is Jehovah to him who waits for him,
To the soul who seeks him:
26.Good it is when he hopes and waits quietly
For the salvation of Jehovah:
27.Good it is for man
That he bears the yoke in his youth.
— Ed
ISBET, "Verse 26
HOPE AD PATIECE
‘It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the
Lord.’
Lamentations 3:26
The organ at Freiburg, one of the most beautiful in the world, after the storm has
vented itself, breaks into an exquisitely sweet refrain, ‘The Song of the Cows’; and
in this portion of his Lamentations, the prophet breaks forth into one of the most
lovely passages in the Bible, each clause of which is well worthy of prayerful heed.
To all who are passing through times of anxiety, to those who are nervously
awaiting cablegram or letter, to any to whom this day is one of fateful importance
because it will bring the verdict of the physician or the results of the examination,
we would reiterate the prophet’s advice.
I. It is good, because anxiety is useless.—It only wastes the nervous tissue, hinders
quiet sleep, and unfits for the hour when decision and action will be required. How
often, after days and hours of fearful suspense, during which we have conjured up
the worst possible explanations or anticipations, we have discovered that none of
them were true, and that all our forebodings were groundless. Anxiety kills; it is
good to hope and wait and trust.
II. It is good, because we have a good God, Who is working for us.—‘The Lord is
good unto them that wait for Him, to the soul that seeketh Him.’ He is behind the
scenes, bringing up reinforcements, making all things work together for good, and
working for those who wait for Him. He is doing better for you than the tenderest or

wisest friend.
III. It is good, because the calm, strong heart inspires confidence.—If you are
perturbed and flurried, you will spread a nervous dread in those who surround you
and see your careworn looks. Cast your burden on the Lord, leave it with Him,
anoint your head with the oil of joy, and come out to be a Greatheart to Mr. Fearing
and Miss Much-afraid.
Illustration
‘The little herb Patience does not grow in everybody’s garden. But we are
admonished to seek it, because (1) it is a very precious virtue, and a part of the
service we owe to God, according to the first table. (2) It contains in itself another
virtue, namely, hope in God. (3) It is easier for us to practise it, if we accustom
ourselves to it from our youth. (4) It can overcome many wrongs, abuses, and
outrages. (5) Misfortune will not continue for ever (Isaiah 54:7). (6) At all events, the
end will be favourable. (7) God does not willingly afflict us (from His heart), but
always designs something different and better for us, and dearly wishes that He
might not punish us at all (Hosea 11:9).’
27 It is good for a man to bear the yoke
while he is young.
Imbeho)g*
Lam_3:27
The yoke -Or, a “yoke.” By bearing a yoke in his youth, i. e. being called upon to
suffer in early age, a man learns betimes the lesson of silent endurance, and so finds it
more easy to be calm and patient in later years.
CLARKE, "That he bear the yoke in his youth -Early habits, when good, are
invaluable. Early discipline is equally so. He who has not got under wholesome restraint
in youth will never make a useful man, a good man, nor a happy man.
GILL, "
It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. Either the yoke
of the commandments, as the Targum; or of correction, as Aben Ezra; of afflictions, as
fatherly chastisements; both senses may be retained. It is good to bear the yoke of the

moral law, or the commandments of God, as they are in the hands of Christ, a rule of
walk and conversation; a yoke obliging all mankind, and especially saints; it is the duty
of all to submit their necks to this yoke; it is but their reasonable service to love the Lord
their God, and their neighbour as themselves; as must be judged by all but sons of Belial,
who are without this yoke, having cast it off; and especially it is "good" to bear the yoke
of Christ, to embrace his doctrines, and profess them, and submit to his ordinances,
since his yoke is easy, and leads to true rest, Mat_11:29; it is commendable so to do;
since it is a following Christ, and those who through faith and patience have inherited
the promises; and, besides, is both pleasant and profitable, being the means of
increasing spiritual strength, light, and joy: and it is right to do this "in youth"; which is
the choices, time of life, and most acceptable to Christ, and when a man is capable of
doing him most service; and especially, if men do not take upon them this yoke in the
day of their espousals, and while their first love lasts, it is much if they ever do it after,
and therefore should not neglect it: and so it is good to bear the yoke of afflictions,
though disagreeable to flesh and blood, to take up the cross, and bear it after Christ,
willingly, and cheerfully, and patiently; this is "good", for hereby souls are brought to a
sense of sin, to be humbled for it, and confess it; it is a means of purging from it, and
preventing it; hereby the graces of the Spirit are tried, exercised, and become brighter;
saints are instructed in many useful lessons in the word of God, in humility faith, and
fear; herein they enjoy much of the presence of God, and all work for their good,
spiritual and eternal. And as there is a close connection between a profession of faith in
Christ, and submission to his ordinances, and suffering reproach and persecution for the
same; it is good for a than to bear the one, as well as the other, "in his youth"; this will
serve to keep him humble, and hide pride from him, which youth are addicted to; to
wean him from the world, the lusts and pleasures of it, which are ensnaring to that age;
to prevent many sins and evils such might be tempted to go into; and to inure them to
hardships, and make them good soldiers of Christ.
G picfRMxtB4f3That afflictions are really good for us, and, if we bear them aright,
will work very much for our good. it is not only good to hope and wait for the salvation,
but it is good to be under the trouble in the mean time (
Lam_3:27): It is good for a man
that he bear the yoke in his youth. Many of the young men were carried into captivity.
To make them easy in it, he tells them that it was good for them to bear the yoke of that
captivity, and they would find it so if they would but accommodate themselves to their
condition, and labour to answer God's ends in laying that heavy yoke upon them. It is
very applicable to the yoke of God's commands. it is good for young people to take that
yoke upon them in their youth; we cannot begin too soon to be religious. it will make our
duty the more acceptable to God, and easy to ourselves, if we engage in it when we are
young. But here it seems to be meant of the yoke of affliction. Many have found it good
to bear this in youth; it has made those humble and serious, and has weaned them from
the world, who otherwise would have been proud and unruly, and as a bullock
unaccustomed to the yoke. But when do we bear the yoke so that it is really good for us
to bear it in our youth? He answers in the following verses, 1. When we are sedate and
quiet under our afflictions, when we sit alone and keep silence, do not run to and fro into
all companies with our complaints, aggravating our calamities, and quarrelling with the
disposals of Providence concerning us, but retire into privacy, that we may in a day of
adversity consider, sit alone, that we may converse with God and commune with our
own hearts, silencing all discontented distrustful thoughts, and laying our hand upon
our mouth, as Aaron, who, under a very severe trial, held his peace. We must keep
silence under the yoke as those that have borne it upon us, not wilfully pulled it upon our
own necks, but patiently submitted to it when God laid it upon us. When those who are

afflicted in their youth accommodate themselves to their afflictions, fit their necks to the
yoke and study to answer God's end in afflicting them, then they will find it good for
them to bear it, for it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who are thus
exercised thereby.2. When we are humble and patient under our affliction. He gets good
by the yoke who puts his mouth in the dust, not only lays his hand upon his mouth, in
token of submission to the will of God in the affliction, but puts it in the dust, in token of
sorrow, and shame, and self-loathing, at the remembrance of sin, and as one perfectly
reduced and reclaimed, and brought as those that are vanquished to lick the dust,Psa_
72:9. And we must thus humble ourselves, if so be there may be hope, or (as it is in the
original) peradventure there is hope. If there be any way to acquire and secure a good
hope under our afflictions, it is this way, and yet we must be very modest in our
expectations of it, must look for it with an it may be, as those who own ourselves utterly
unworthy of it. Note, Those who are truly humbled for sin will be glad to obtain a good
hope, through grace, upon any terms, though they put their mouth in the dust for it; and
those who would have hope must do so, and ascribe it to free grace if they have any
encouragements, which may keep their hearts from sinking into the dust when they put
their mouth there. 3. When we are meek and mild towards those who are the
instruments of our trouble, and are of a forgiving spirit, Lam_3:30. He gets good by the
yoke who gives his cheek to him that smites him, and rather turns the other cheek (Mat_
5:39) than returns the second blow. Our Lord Jesus has left us an example of this, for he
gave his back to the smiter,Isa_50:6. he who can bear contempt and reproach, and not
render railing for railing, and bitterness for bitterness, who, when he is filled full with
reproach, keeps it to himself, and does not retort it and empty it again upon those who
filled him with it, but pours it out before the Lord (as those did, Psa_123:4, whose souls
were exceedingly filled with the contempt of the proud), he shall find that it is good to
bear the yoke, that it shall turn to his spiritual advantage. The sum is, If tribulation
work patience, that patience will work experience, and that experience a hope that
makes not ashamed.
Vheaoyp4f3yoke— of the Lord’s disciplinary teaching (
Psa_90:12; Psa_119:71).
Calvin interprets it, The Lord’s doctrine (Mat_11:29, Mat_11:30), which is to be received
in a docile spirit. The earlier the better; for the old are full of prejudices (Pro_8:17; Ecc_
12:1). Jeremiah himself received the yoke, both of doctrine and chastisement in his
youth (Jer_1:6, Jer_1:7).
lhTjap4f3r;qgfAIZgIfmPbqLgfkSfLHkfbIm.q.0gâfSkZfL;I word yoke may be explained
as signifying teaching, or the scourges of God. We, indeed, undertake or bear in two
ways the yoke of God, even when we are taught to receive his doctrine, or when we
are resigned when he chastises us, when we are not obstreperous, but willingly
submit to his corrections. As then some take the word לוע, for the yoke of
instruction, and others for the yoke of chastisement, two explanations, as I have
said, are given; and both are admissible. It is indeed truly said, that it is good for
man to be accustomed from his youth to God’s corrections; but Jeremiah seems
rather to speak of that obedience generally, which the faithful render to God when
they submit to his will. It is then our true happiness when we acknowledge that we
are not our own, and allow God, by his sovereign power, to rule us as he pleases.
But we ought to begin with the law of God. Hence, then, it is, that we are said to
bear the yoke of God, when we relinquish our own judgment, and become wise
through God’s word, when, with our affections surrendered and subdued, we hear

what God commands us, and receive what he commands. This, then, is what
Jeremiah means by bearing the yoke.
And he says, in youth. For they who have lived unrestrained throughout their life,
can hardly bear to be brought into any order. We indeed know, that, the aged are
less tractable than the young; nay, whether we refer to the arts or to the liberal
sciences, the youthful age is the most flexible. The aged are also much slower; and
added to this is another evil, they are very obstinate, and will hardly bear to be
taught the first rudiments, being imbued with a false notion, as though they must
have lived long in vain. As, then, the disposition in the old is not easily changed, the
Prophet says that it is good for us to be formed from childhood to bear the yoke.
And this is also seen in brute animals; when a horse is allowed full liberty in the
fields, and not in due time tamed, he will hardly ever bear the curb, he will be
always refractory. The oxen, also, will never be brought to bear the yoke, if they be
put under it in the sixth or eighth year. The same is found to be the case with men.
Jeremiah, then, does not say, without reason, that it is good for every one to be
trained from his youth in the service of God; and thus he exhorts children and youth
not to wait for old age, as it is usually the case. For it has been a common evil, in all
ages, for children and youth to leave the study of wisdom to the old. “Oh! it will be
time enough for me to be wise, when I arrive at a middle age; but some liberty must
be given to childhood and youthful days.” And for this reason, Solomon exhorts all
not to wait for old age, but duly to learn to fear God in childhood. So also our
Prophet declares that it is good for one to bear the yoke in his childhood. It then
follows. —
COKE, "Lamentations 3:27. It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his
youth— We observed in the introduction to this book, that there are some
commentators, and Michaelis among the rest, who conceive "that it was composed
upon the death of king Josiah." They allege, that on an attentive perusal it will be
found, that there is nothing in this book which might not have been written on the
death of Josiah, which was a great calamity to his country: for Jerusalem, together
with her new king, fell into the hands of the victor about three months after this
misfortune, and was obliged to submit to a foreign prince, and to receive a tributary
king from him; all which cannot be supposed to have passed without a siege, and the
ruin of the walls of Jerusalem. The author of the second book of Chronicles
expressly asserts, 2 Chronicles 35:25 that Jeremiah lamented the death of Josiah,
together with other poets; and that his Lamentations and their elegies were reserved
for the use of posterity. Why should we therefore doubt that this book contains
those identical lamentations which are mentioned by the author of the book of
Chronicles? Or, what reason is there for referring them to another calamity, which,
it does not appear, or at least we are not sure, that he ever celebrated? To this we
may add, that there are some things in the book of Lamentations which do not seem
reconcileable to the time of ebuchadrezzar, and to the time of the conflagration of
the city and temple; especially when he attempts to beguile or sooth his troubles, in
the words of the present verse, It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his
youth. This expression is proper only for a young man, not for one who was

advanced in years, as Jeremiah was in the 11th year of Zedekiah. As for the
complaint, chap. Lamentations 5:7. Our fathers have sinned, and are not, and we
have borne their iniquities, Jeremiah could not have made use of it in the person of
those who lived in the time of Zedekiah, without impeaching his piety; for that race
was far more vicious and depraved than their progenitors, and being deservedly
punished for their personal crimes, there was no necessity to trace their calamities
so far backward. This expression might with some justice, if ever it could, have been
made use of by the Jews in the reign of Josiah, who was a very pious king, a reviver
of true religion, and who brought back his people to the worship of Jehovah, who
had been offended by the sins of their forefathers, especially by those of Manasseh.
In confirmation of this opinion, the reader is desired to refer to 2 Kings 23:25-26.
Such are the proofs by which Michaelis and others support their opinion. The
reader will consider what has been advanced on the other side, and judge for
himself. We shall take notice of chap. Lamentations 5:7 when we come to it. As to
the present verse, the argument drawn from it does not appear to carry great
weight. The plain meaning of it seems to be, that it is useful and advantageous for a
man to have been inured, even from his earliest days, to those restraints which arise
from the sense of the duty we owe to God, and of the obedience we ought to pay to
his laws, as well as to those afflictions which are the school of virtues holiness, and
piety.
SIMEO, "THE BEEFIT OF EARLY AFFLICTIOS
Lamentations 3:27-29. It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. He
sitteth alone, and keepeth silence, because he hath borne it upon him. He putteth his
mouth in the dust, if so be there may be hope.
THERE are in the Holy Scriptures many passages which appear strange and
paradoxical, but which do indeed contain the most important truths. “It is better to
go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting,” says Solomon: and again,
“Sorrow is better than laughter [ote: Ecclesiastes 7:2-3.].” These, taken in
conjunction with our text, “It is good for a man that be bear the yoke in his youth,”
are as much opposed to the general sense of mankind, as any assertions can be: yet,
the more they are considered, the more just and important will they be found. The
truth is, that men judge of things only by their reference to time; but God’s estimate
is formed with a more; immediate reference to eternity. If we consider only the
operation of natural causes, we may see that the declaration in our text is just: for it
is a common proverb, that ‘practice makes easy;’ and the earlier we are initiated
into any art or science, the greater progress in it may be expected: but trials are
indispensably necessary for the exercise of many of the Christian virtues: faith is
called forth by difficulties; meekness and patience by provocations; forgiveness by
injuries: so that a growth in these graces may be considered as materially advanced
by early and long-continued occasions for their exercise. But, such is the corruption
of our nature, that we need trials to purge it away: it is by fire that even good men
must be refined from their dross: and, if we are called to experience afflictions in
early life, we may hope our improvement will be proportionably great. In

confirmation of this sentiment, we propose to shew the benefit of early afflictions.
I. In a general point of view—
David, who had had a long and early experience of troubles, confessed “it was good
for him that he had been afflicted [ote: Psalms 119:71.].” And beyond a doubt,
much benefit may be reaped,
1. From temporal afflictions—
[The loss of health, of friends, of property, are heavy afflictions — — — yet, if duly
improved, they may become real blessings to the soul. Illness in early life, though in
many respects to be lamented and deprecated, tends exceedingly to counteract the
vanity of the youthful mind, and the ardour of youthful passions. It renders a
person sober, thoughtful, temperate, and willing to listen to subjects of a more
serious cast; and keeps him from innumerable snares and difficulties, to which a
buoyant spirit and a vigorous constitution would have exposed him.
Bereavements also (whether of friends or property), and disappointments in life,
give us an early taste of the emptiness of the world, and the vanity of all created
enjoyments. They have a tendency to direct the mind to higher pursuits, and to
make us seek satisfaction, where alone it can be found, in the knowledge, the service,
and the enjoyment, of God. The more we are made to feel that the creature is only a
broken cistern, the more shall we be disposed to seek our consolation in the fountain
of living waters.]
2. From spiritual afflictions—
[These are far heavier than any which mere temporal things can ever produce. “A
man may sustain any trial respecting earthly things; but a wounded spirit who can
bear?” Yet are the groans and mournings of a deserted soul far preferable to the
mirth and gaiety of a thoughtless sinner. A fear of God’s wrath, though so
distressing to the soul, has indeed a kindly influence upon us. How does it embitter
to us the remembrance of former sins! How does it dispose us to desire true
repentance, and to long for an interest in the Saviour! What a different aspect does
the sacred volume bear under such a state of mind! and how tremendous its
threatenings; how glorious its promises! how happy they to whom those promises
are made! In a word, an apprehension of God’s wrath assimilates the mind thus far
to the mind of God himself; since it invariably inspires this thought, “Happy art
thou, O Israel, O people saved by the Lord!”]
3. From afflictions for righteousness’ sake—
[These are often very deeply felt. A person who has embraced the Gospel feels in
himself a change that should rather recommend him to the favour of the world: his
tempera, his dispositions, his habits, his conduct, are all greatly improved; and yet
he finds, that he is become an object of dislike, perhaps too of indignation and

abhorrence. This is painful to the young disciple: when he begins to love his fellow-
creatures, then he himself begins to be hated by then. His former habits, if ever so
licentious, exposed him to a little blame perhaps, but not to hatred: but his love to
the Gospel exposes him to all manner of hatred and contempt. This, I say, is painful;
but yet it is very beneficial to his soul. He would be ready, like Lot, to linger in
Sodom; but these persecutions tend to drive him out. They serve in a very peculiar
manner to confirm in his mind the principles of the Gospel; because he is taught in
that very Gospel to expect the treatment which he has received, and to bear his cross
after Christ. He find too in the Gospel, that to suffer for righteousness’ sake is a
matter for self-congratulation; that he is to “rejoice in it, and leap for joy;” to
account it the highest honour; and to expect from it the richest reward. Thus a new
set of feelings are brought into his soul; a set of feelings as far superior to any that
he ever before experienced, as the most reined sensations of the soul are above the
lowest appetites of a beast.]
But we will proceed to notice this subject,
II. In that particular view which is specified in the text—
There are two things in particular to which our attention is called, and which are of
the greatest possible advantage to the soul;
1. Seclusion from the world—
[When there is nothing to oppress the mind, we are apt to be off our guard, and to
degenerate into a dead and worldly name. We too easily mix with worldly company,
and are thereby led to adopt their sentiments, and to drink into their spirit. But
when trouble comes upon us, we lose our relish for society: we affect retirement
rather, that we may muse over the subjects of our grief; or, as our text expresses it,
“We sit alone, and keep silence [ote: Jeremiah 15:17.].” O, who can estimate the
benefits arising from this source? By communing with our own hearts in their secret
chamber, we attain a knowledge, which is not to be gained either from men or
books,—the knowledge of our own hearts. In these seasons too we gain such views of
God, of his goodness, his mercy, his power, his grace, as are acquired only in the
school of affliction. It is on these occasions also that the Lord Jesus Christ
particularly endears himself to our souls, and communicates to us the abundance of
his grace. In persons thus instructed there is for the most part a maturity of wisdom
and of spiritual understanding that is rarely found amongst those who have never
experienced the discipline of adversity. In comparison of others, they manifest the
beauty and sweetness of religion in a high degree; excelling others as much as the
experienced mariner does the man who has never combated a storm.]
2. Submission to God—
[“Tribulation worketh patience, experience, and hope.” By directing the thoughts
inwards, it leads us to see, what abundant occasion there is within us for Divine
chastisements, and how much more lenient they are than we deserve; and they

dispose us to say, “I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned
against him [ote: Micah 7:9.].” At first, perhaps, nature revolts, and is impatient;
but after a season, when we have “listened to the rod, and to Him that has appointed
it,” we become desirous only that it may drive out the folly that is hound up in our
hearts. Then “we put our mouths in the dust,” as penitents that are “dumb before
God;” and we wait God’s time, “if so be there may be hope,” and his purpose may
be ultimately accomplished, and the trials be sanctified to our eternal good. What a
blessed state is this! like Aaron,“ to hold our peace;” like Eli, to say, “Let him do
what seemeth him good;” like Job, to bless the Lord; and, like David, to say, “Thou
in very faithfulness hast afflicted me!” Surely to learn such lessons as these in early
life is most desirable: and, if they cannot be learned without affliction, there is no
affliction so severe, but that it will be richly recompensed by such an attainment.]
Address—
1. Those who have experienced no particular affliction—
[Whilst, on account of God’s forbearance towards you, you have reason to be
thankful, you have great reason also to fear: for, “if we are without chastisement, we
are bastards, and not sons.” At all events, there is much danger lest you become sad
witnesses of that truth, “The prosperity of fools destroys them.” Be watchful against
the vanity of your deceitful hearts, and beg of God to augment towards you the
Communications of his grace in proportion to your peculiar necessities.]
2. Those who are called to bear the yoke—
[Remember that your trials are the fruit of God’s love to your souls: for “whom he
loveth, he chasteneth:” and, instead of thinking your lot hard, learn to “glory in
your tribulations.” and to “take pleasure in your distresses [ote: Romans 5:3. 2
Corinthians 12:10.]”. It was not an ignorant or enthusiastic man that said, “We
count them happy that endure;” and who from that conviction exhorts us, “My
brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations [ote: Psalms 94:12.
with James 1:2; James 1:12; James 5:11.].” Only take eternity into the account, and
all your trials will appear light and momentary in the view of that far more
exceeding and eternal weight of glory which they are working out for you [ote: 2
Corinthians 4:17-18.].]
28 Let him sit alone in silence,
for the Lord has laid it on him.

Imbehog.I-s/(g*Translate:
Let him sit alone and keep silence;
For He (God) hath laid the yoke upon him.
Let him place his mouth in the dust;
Perchance there is hope.
Let him offer his cheek to him that smiteth him;
Let him be filled to the full with reproach.
It is good for a man to bear the yoke in his youth, but only if he bear it rightly. To
attain this result, let him learn resignation, remembering who has laid the yoke upon
him. This reverential silence is described Lam_3:29, as putting the mouth in the dust,
and so lying prostrate before the Deity; while Lam_3:30the harder task is imposed of
bearing contumely with meekness (margin reference), and not shrinking from the last
dregs of the cup of reproach. Many who submit readily to God are indignant when the
suffering comes through men.
CLARKE, "He sitteth alone -He has learned that necessary lesson of
independence, that shows him how he is to serve himself; to give no trouble to others;
and keep his troubles, as far as possible, in his own bosom.
GILL, "He sitteth alone,.... Retires from the world, and the men of it, who takes upon
him the yoke of Christ; though he is not alone, but God, Father, Son, and Spirit, are with
him; and he is with the saints, the excellent of the earth, and has communion with them;
and so he is that under the afflicting hand of God bears it patiently, and does not run
from place to place complaining of it, but sits still, and considers the cause, end, and use
of it. Some render the words in connection with the preceding, it is good "that he sit
alone"
(b); it is good for a man to be alone; in his closet, praying to God; in his house or
chamber, reading the word of God; in the field, or elsewhere, meditating upon it, and
upon the works of God, of nature, providence, and grace:
and keepeth silence, because he hath borne it on him: or, "took it on him";
either because he took it upon him willingly, and therefore should bear it patiently; or
because he (God) hath put it upon him (c), and therefore should be silent, and not
murmur and repine, since he hath done it, Psa_39:9.
0mtioneg.I-s/)g*The fruit of true docility and patience. He does not fight against
the yoke (Jer_31:18; Act_9:5), but accommodates himself to it.
alone— The heathen applauded magnanimity, but they looked to display and the
praise of men. The child of God, in the absence of any witness, “alone,” silently submits
to the will of God.
borne it upon him— that is, because he is used to bearing it on him. Rather,

“because He (the Lord, Lam_3:26) hath laid it on him” [Vatablus].
lhTjap4f3GIZIf;Ifg;IHgfL;IfSZ’qLfkSfLImM;mWJI.Iggâffor when God deals severely
with his children, they yet do not rebel, but even then they willingly submit to his
authority. For whence comes it that so much impatience rages in men, except that
they know not what it is to obey God, to prepare themselves to bear the yoke? so,
then, men become furious like wild beasts, never tamed, therefore the Prophet now
says, “Whosoever is thus habituated to the yoke of God, will also be silent in
extreme evils, and remain quiet.” We now perceive what I have just said, that the
fruit of docility and obedience is set forth in this verse.
But when he says that those who are thus trained to obey God will sit apart, he
expresses most fitly the strength and character of patience. For they for the most
part who wish to appear magnanimous make a great display, and think that their
valor is nothing except they appear as on a theater; they allow themselves at the
same time an unbridled liberty when they are alone; for they who seem the most
valorous, except God’s fear and true religion prevail in their souls, rage against God
and champ the bridle in adversities, though they may not make a clamor before
men, for, as I have already said, they regard display. But here a very different
account is given of patience, even that we are to sit alone and be silent, that is, even
were no one present as a witness, whose presence might make us ashamed; were we
even then to sit, and to submit with calm minds to God, and to take his yoke, we
should thus prove our patience. This verse then distiguishes between the simplicity
of the godly and that will display in which they delight who seek to obtain the praise
of courage, patience, and perseverance, from the world; for these also sit and speak
words as from heaven, and as though they had put off the flesh. He who has lost a
son will say, that he had begotten a mortal: he who is stripped of all his goods will
say, “All my things I carry with me.” Thus magnanimously do ungodly men speak,
so that they seem to surpass in fortitude and firmness all the children of God. But
when they give utterance to these swelling words, what they regard is the opinion
which men may form of them. But the faithful, what do they do? They sit apart, that
is, though they might shamelessly clamor against God, yet they are quiet and submit
to his will. We now understand what is meant by sitting apart.
Then he says, because he will carry it on himself Some take לטנ nuthel, in a
transitive sense, “he will cast it upon him.” But this is a forced rendering. It would
be a simpler meaning, were we to say, because he will carry or raise it on himself.
The verb לטנ, nuthel, means not only to carry, but also elevate or raise up. When,
therefore, the Prophet says, that it is an example of real patience when we carry it
on ourselves, he means that we succumb not under our adversities, nor are
overwhelmed by them; for it is patience when it is not grievous to us to undergo any
burdens which God may lay on us; and on this account we are said to regard his
yoke as not grievous — how so? because it is pleasant to us. As, then, meekness thus
extenuates the heaviness of the burden, which would otherwise overwhelm us, the
Prophet says that those who raise up on themselves all their troubles sit apart.
I do not, however, know whether this passage has been corrupted; for the

expression seems not to me natural. Were we to read ולע, olu, his yoke, it would be
more appropriate, and a reason would be given for what goes before, that the
faithful sit apart and are silent before God, because they bear his yoke; for the
pronoun may be referred to God as well as to man. But this is only a conjecture.
(186) It follows, —
COFFMA, "Verse 28
"Let him sit alone and keep silence,
because he hath laid it upon him.
Let him put his mouth in the dust,
if so be there may be hope.
Let him give his cheek to him that smiteth him;
let him be filled full with reproach.
For the Lord will not cast off forever.
For though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion
according to the multitude of his lovingkindness.
For he doth not afflict willingly,
nor grieve the children of men."
Jeremiah repeatedly warned Israel to accept their captivity as something the nation
deserved and for them to submit to Babylonian rule; and these are exactly the
sentiments which are included in these verses.
"Let him keep silence ... put his mouth in the dust ... give his cheek (to the smiter) ...
and be filled with reproach" (Lamentations 3:29-30). We paraphrase. Let Israel not
rebel, let them humble themselves, let them turn the other cheek and accept their
punishment.
Why should Israel submit?
"The Lord will not cast off forever" (Lamentations 3:31). Jeremiah himself had told
them their captivity would end in seventy years. There was from the beginning of it,
a projected end of Israel's captivity.
"Though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion" (Lamentations 3:32). God's
love of Israel and his love for all men were not diminished by his drastic punishment

of Israel.
"He doth not afflict willingly" (Lamentations 3:33). God was greatly grieved at the
necessity of Israel's captivity. He destroyed their evil kingdom and sent the people to
Babylon as a last resort, the only way possible to preserve that `righteous remnant'
who, in time, would deliver the Messiah to mankind.
g31l3:w3l3:1k1l3:M11lO1Mk1klW;O1l3:M11lM1wkgHklu:5 Israel should meekly submit to
the will of God in their terrible punishment.
PETT, "Lamentations 3:28-30
(Yod) Let him sit alone and keep silence,
Because he has laid it on him.
(Yod) Let him put his mouth in the dust,
If so be there may be hope.
(Yod) Let him give his cheek to him who smites him,
Let him be filled full with reproach.
The yoke that the young man should be ready to bear is now described:
· It enables him to sit alone and in silence because it is YHWH’s will for him.
He does not complain or get involved in doubtful activities.
· It makes him ready for complete submission to the will of YHWH because he
knows that in that will is his hope. Prostrating oneself in the dust was a token of
complete submission.
· It makes him ready to accept insults and reproach because he knows that he
is bearing them as a consequence of his faithfulness to God.
29 Let him bury his face in the dust—
there may yet be hope.
CLARKE, "He putteth his mouth in the dust -Lives in a state of deep humility.
If so be there may be hope -Because there is room for hope.

GILL, "He putteth his mouth in the dust,.... Of self-abhorrence; sensible of his
own vileness and nothingness, his unworthiness, and the unprofitableness of all his
duties; ascribing the whole of his salvation to the free grace of God, Job_42:6; humbling
himself under the mighty hand of God; not daring to open his mouth in a complaining
way against him; but prostrating himself before him to the earth, as the manner of the
eastern people in prayer was, to which the allusion is; licking as it were the dust of the
earth, under a sense of the distance and disproportion between God and him, who is but
dust and ashes; so the Targum adds,
"and is prostrate before the Lord:''
if so be there may be hope; or, "peradventure there is hope" (d); for, as some
interpreters observe, these words do not express hesitation and doubt, but hope and
expectation of help, to bear the yoke of God's commandments, and in due time to be
delivered from affliction and distress.
G pic4f3(
Job_42:6). The mouth in the dust is the attitude of suppliant and humble
submission to God’s dealings as righteous and loving in design (compare Ezr_9:6; 1Co_
14:25).
if so be there may be hope— This does not express doubt as to whether GOD be
willing to receive the penitent, but the penitent’s doubt as to himself; he whispers to
himself this consolation, “Perhaps there may be hope for me.”
K&D,
"Let him put his mouth in the dust," i.e., humbly bow beneath the mighty hand of
God. The expression is derived from the Oriental custom of throwing oneself in the most
reverential manner on the ground, and involves the idea of humble silence, because the
mouth, placed in the dust, cannot speak. The clause, "perhaps there is hope," indicates
the frame of mind to be observed in the submission. While the man is to show such
resignation, he is not to give up the hope that God will deliver him from trouble; cf.
Job_
11:18; Jer_31:17.
lhTjap4fGIfMk.Lq.’IgfL;IfgmbIfg’W!IMLâfSkZf;IfPIgMZibes to us men so subdued to
obedience that they are ready to bear whatever God may lay on them. He then says
that the sitting and the silence of which he spoke, so far prevailed, that the children
of God, though in extreme evils, did not yet cease to persevere in their obedience.
For it sometimes happens that those who have made some progress in the fear of
God, give proof of their obedience and patience in some small trial; but when they
are greatly tried, then breaks forth the impatience which they had previously
checked. Then the Prophet teaches us here, that the children of God do not
sufficiently prove their patience, when they bear with a calm mind a moderate
correction, except they proceed to a higher degree of perseverance, so as to remain
quiet and resigned even when the state of things appears hopeless.
By saying that the faithful put their mouth in the dust, he means that they lie down

humbly before God and confess themselves to be as dead. The import of what is said
is this: In time of extreme affliction the wise will put his mouth in the dust, while
seeing things in such confusion that all his thoughts vanish away on account of the
atrocity of evils; and thus he intimates that the wise would have nothing to say. To
put the mouth, then, in the dust is to become mute, as though he had said, that the
faithful shut their mouth, when they do not murmur against God nor abandon
themselves to complaints, when they do not expostulate that injury is done them, nor
allege what the unbelieving usually do when God deals severely with them. In short,
to put the mouth in the dust, means to bring no complaints, and so to check
ourselves that no clamorous words proceed from our mouth. Thus another phrase is
used to set forth the silence mentioned before.
And that the Prophet here speaks of extreme trials, may be easily gathered from the
next clause, If so be that there is hope; not that the faithful doubt whether God
would give them hope, for they have no doubt but that God, who shines in darkness
itself by his word, would at length by, the effect prove that he is not unfaithful. But
the particle ילוא auli, as it is well known, expresses what is difficult; for when
anything appears to be incredible, the Hebrews say, If it may be. But here, as I have
said, it does not intimate a doubt; for when the mind of a godly man fluctuates or
doubts, how is it that he puts his mouth in the dust? but the Prophet shews that
those who are taught to obey God, persevere even in extreme trials, so that while
nothing but despair appears, they yet lie down humbly before God, and patiently
wait until some hope shines forth. And here hope is to be taken for the ground or
occasion of hope. (187) It afterwards follows, —
He will lay in the dust his mouth (and say) —
“It may be there is hope.”
It is better to render the verbs here as they are, in the future tense, as all the
versions do; for he describes what is usually the character of the godly under severe
trials. — Ed.
30 Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike
him,
and let him be filled with disgrace.

CLARKE, "He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth -He has that love that is
not provoked. He is not quarrelsome, nor apt to resent injuries; he suffers long and is
kind. Or, it may be rendered, “let him give his cheek.”
He is filled full with reproach -Though all this take place, yet let his “trust be in
God, who will not cast off for ever.” God will take his part, and bring him safely through
all hardships.
GILL, "He giveth
his cheek to him that smiteth him,.... Either to God that afflicts
him, and patiently bears it; see Isa_9:13; or rather to men. To be smitten on the cheek is
always reckoned a very great affront; to turn the cheek to an injurious man is to give him
an opportunity and leave to smite, and signifies the taking of it patiently, and agrees
both with our Lord's advice and example, Mat_5:39;
he is filled full with reproach; has many reproaches, and the reproaches of many
upon him; as such must expect, that take Christ's yoke upon them; see Psa_123:3; and
yet revile not again, but esteem reproaches for Christ's sake great riches, and wear them
as crowns, and bind them about their necks as chains of gold; esteeming it an honour
and a happiness to suffer shame for his name.
0mtione)g*Messiah, the Antitype, fulfilled this; His practice agreeing with His
precept (
Isa_50:6; Mat_5:39). Many take patiently afflictions from God, but when man
wrongs them, they take it impatiently. The godly bear resignedly the latter, like the
former, as sent by God (Psa_17:13).
K&D, "Lam_3:30-36
Let him also learn patiently to bear abuse and reviling from men. Let him present his
cheek to him who smites him, as was done by Job (Job_16:10) and the servant of Jahveh
(Isa_50:6); cf. Mat_5:39. On Lam_3:30, cf. Psa_88:4; Psa_123:3, etc. There is a certain
gradation in the three verses that it quite unmistakeable. The sitting alone and in silence
is comparatively the easiest; it is harder to place the mouth in the dust, and yet cling to
hope; it is most difficult of all to give the cheek to the smiter, and to satiate oneself with
dishonour (Nägelsbach). In Lam_3:31-33follow the grounds of comfort. The first is in
Lam_3:31: the sorrow will come to an end; the Lord does not cast off for ever; cf. Jer_
3:5, Jer_3:12. The second is in Lam_3:32: when He has caused sorrow, He shows pity
once more, according to the fulness of His grace. Compassion outweighs sorrow. On this
subject, cf. Psa_30:6; Job_5:18; Isa_54:8. The third ground of comfort is in Lam_3:33:
God does not send affliction willingly, as if it brought Him joy (cf. Jer_32:41), but
merely because chastisement is necessary to sinful man for the increase of his spiritual
prosperity; cf. Act_14:22; 2Co_4:17. הֶ:ַmַו is for הֶ: ַי ְיַו: cf. Ewald, §232, f; Gesenius, §69, 3,
Rem. 6.
That he may bring home to the hearts of God's people the exhortation to bear suffering
with patience and resignation, and that he may lead them to see that the weight of
sorrow under which they are sighing has been sent from the Lord as a chastisement for
their sins, the prophet carries out the thought, in Lam_3:34-39, that every wrong
committed upon earth is under the divine control (Lam_3:34-36), and generally that
nothing happens without God's permission; hence man ought not to mourn over the

suffering that befalls him, but rather over his sins (Lam_3:37-39).
נen2haαיλνח%חישחיךחוּׁ!פוֲּיֶוּפׁשח%יַ%8!ׁיפַיםֶׁ!חוּ"ח, that the faithful, even when
injuries are done to them by the wicked, would yet be calm and resigned. For there
are many who submit to God when they perceive his hand; as, for instance, when
any one is afflicted with a disease, he knows that it is a chastisement that proceeds
from God; when pestilence happens, or famine, from the inclemency of the weather,
the hand of God appears to them; and many then conduct themselves in a suitable
manner: but when an enemy meets one, and when injured, he instantly says, “I have
now nothing to do with God, but that wicked enemy treats me disgracefully.”
It is then for this reason that the Prophet shews that the patience of the godly ought
to extend to injuries of this kind; and hence he says, He will give the cheek to the
smiter, and will be filled with reproaches (188) There are two kinds of injuries; for
the wicked either treat us with violence, or assail us with reproaches; and reproach
is the bitterest of all things, and inflicts a most grievous wound on all ingenuous
minds. The Prophet, then, here declares that the children of God ought meekly to
suffer when they are violently assailed, and not only so, but when they are dealt with
reproachfully by the wicked. This, then, he says ofיםֶׁ!חוּ"חφיaפשׁיַפ פשֲׁיֶוּפׁשח%י
confirmation, —
31 For no one is cast off
by the Lord forever.
תeֳaiוαיλReasons for the resignation urged in the previous triplet.
CLARKE, "The Lord -
ינדא Adonai; but one of my ancient MSS. has הוהי Jehovah.
The above verse is quoted in reference to our Lord’s passion, by Mat_26:62.
GILL, "For the Lord will not cast off for ever. Which is not to be understood of all
his creatures; for there are some he does cast off for ever, as the angels that sinned;
reprobate men, profligate and abandoned sinners, that live and die impenitent; and
unbelievers, carnal professors, and apostates; but not his own special and peculiar

people, the people whom he has foreknown and loved with an everlasting love, his
spiritual Israel; or, as the Targum supplies it, "his servants"; see Psa_94:14; he may
seem for a while to reject them, but not in reality and for ever; as when he hides his face
from them, lays his afflicting hand on them, or suffers then, to be afflicted by others, and
defers his help, and does not immediately appear to their deliverance and salvation; but
in reality he never rejects them from being his people, his servants, and his sons; they
have always a place in his heart, and are ever under his eye and care; they continue in his
covenant, and abide in his family; and though they may be cast down in their souls, and
cast out by men, yet are not cast off by God, neither in youth nor old age, in time or
eternity; his love is unchangeable; his purposes firm and unalterable; his counsel,
covenant, oath, and promise, immutable; and they are his jewels, his portion, and
inheritance; and this is a ground and reason of bearing patiently all afflictions, injuries,
and reproaches; for though men cast off, God will not.
G picftsxtR4f3 That God will graciously return to his people with seasonable
comforts according to the time that he has afflicted them,
Lam_3:31, Lam_3:32.
Therefore the sufferer is thus penitent, thus patient, because he believes that God is
gracious and merciful, which is the great inducement both to evangelical repentance and
to Christian patience. We may bear ourselves up with this, 1. That, when we are cast
down, yet we are not cast off; the father's correcting his son is not a disinheriting of him.
2. That though we may seem to be cast off for a time, while sensible comforts are
suspended and desired salvations deferred, yet we are not really cast off, because not
cast off for ever; the controversy with us shall not be perpetual. 3. That, whatever
sorrow we are in, it is what God has allotted us, and his hand is in it. It is he that causes
grief, and therefore we may be assured it is ordered wisely and graciously; and it is but
for a season, and when need is, that we are in heaviness,1Pe_1:6. 4. That God has
compassions and comforts in store even for those whom he has himself grieved. We
must be far from thinking that, though God cause grief, the world will relieve and help
us. No; the very same that caused the grief must bring in the favour, or we are undone.
Una eademque manus vulnus opemque tulit-The same hand inflicted the wound and
healed it. he has torn, and he will heal us, Hos_6:1. 5. That, when God returns to deal
graciously with us, it will not be according to our merits, but according to his mercies,
according to the multitude, the abundance, of his mercies. So unworthy we are that
nothing but an abundant mercy will relieve us; and from that what may we not expect?
And God's causing our grief ought to be no discouragement at all to those expectations.
Vheaoyp4f3True repentance is never without hope (
Psa_94:14).
lhTjap4f3aLfqgfMIZLmq.fL;mLfL;IZIfHqJJfWIf.kf-mLqI.ce, except there be hope, as it has
already appeared. As, then, patience cherishes hope, so hope is the foundation of
patience; and hence consolation is, according to Paul, connected with patience.
(Romans 15:4.) And this is the doctrine which the Prophet now handles, — that the
faithful bear the yoke with meek and calm minds, because they believe that God will
at length be propitious to them: hence also arises patience; for the faithful are
persuaded that all adversities are temporary, and that there will be a happy end,
because God will at length be reconciled to them, though he gives them new
evidences of his wrath. (189) The rest to-morrow.
31.For not reject perpetually

Will the Lord:
32.For though he afflicts, yet he will shew compassion
According to the multitude of his mercies:
33.For he does not depress from his heart,
or afflict the children of men.
All these particulars explain and elucidate the truth, that God is good. “From his
heart,” does not mean “willingly,” but at his will, that is, arbitrarily, without reason,
but when constrained by man’s wickedness. — Ed.
PETT, "Lamentations 3:31-33
(Kaph) For he will not be cast off for ever,
By the Lord.
(Kaph) For though he cause grief,
Yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his lovingkindnesses
(covenant loves).
(Kaph) For he does not afflict willingly,
or grieve the children of men.
And such a man can have the above attitudes because he knows that he will not be
cast off for ever by the Lord (see Psalms 77:7). For though the Lord might make
him endure grief, He will have compassion on him in accordance with the multitude
of His lovingkindnesses and mercies, His covenant love. For He never afflicts men
willingly, nor does He gladly grieve the children of men.
Such a recollection does, of course, very much have a bearing on what had
happened to Jerusalem. It made clear that what had happened was YHWH’s
chastisement, and that beyond it there was hope.
SIMEO, "Verses 31-33
DISCOURSE: 1094
COMFORT FOR THE AFFLICTED
Lamentations 3:31-33. The Lord will not cast off for ever: but though he cause grief,
yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies. For he doth
not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men.
THE Prophet Jeremiah was, perhaps, above all other prophets, a man of sorrows,
and acquainted with grief. It is possible, indeed, that in this chapter he may speak in
part as a representative of the Hebrew nation; but still there is so much which has
an immediate reference to himself, that we cannot but consider it as a record of his
own experience [ote: ver. 1–20.]. At all events, the consolations which he
administers, whether they refer to himself in his individual capacity, or to the people
collectively, are suited to every person under heaven, whilst under the pressure of

any trouble. To enlarge upon all the various topics which he adduces, would lead me
too far, and would be the work of a large volume rather than of a single discourse. I
shall content myself with noticing the subject so far only as it presents itself to us in
the words which I have read: wherein you see,
Beyond a doubt, it is “God who causes grief”—
[It is remarkable that the prophet does not merely affirm this (though that would be
an ample security for the truth of the position); but he takes it for granted; “Though
he cause grief (which it must be acknowledged he does), yet will he have
compassion.” To this truth the whole Scripture bears record. God expressly asserts
it: “I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord
do all these things [ote: Isaiah 45:7.].” Yea, so plain and undeniable is this truth,
that the Prophet Amos appeals to us respecting it: “Is there evil in the city, and the
Lord hath not done it [ote: Amos 3:6.]?” Whatever we may imagine, “affliction
comes not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring from the ground [ote: Job
5:6.]:” but, whoever be the instrument that brings it upon us, God is in reality the
Author of it; all creatures being only “as the axe or saw in the hands of Him that
uses it,” for the effecting of his own purposes [ote: Isaiah 10:15.].]
It is no less our duty than our privilege to acknowledge this—
[It is our duty: for we are not to conceive of any thing as left to chance. This would
be no better than Atheism. In fact, no man can for a moment indulge such a conceit,
but through a total ignorance of God; leading him to imagine, that to attend to such
numerous and minute concerns would be a trouble to God: whereas, He is as able to
order every thing in heaven and earth, as he was to create the universe at first. And
surely to have such a view of him, is an inestimable privilege; because, if nothing be
done but by a God of infinite wisdom and goodness, nothing can be done which shall
not issue in his glory and his people’s good. Whoever, then, be the immediate agent,
it is our wisdom to trace every thing to the first great Cause of all; even as Job did,
when, under all his complicated afflictions, he said, “The Lord gave, and the Lord
hath taken away: blessed be the name of the Lord [ote: Job 1:21.]”!]
On this truth depends,
II. The consolation that is provided for us under it—
This is stated, as it were,
1. In answer to our fears—
[When our trials are heavy and accumulated, we are ready to fear that they are sent
in anger and will issue in our destruction. But God assures us, that “he does not
afflict willingly, or grieve the children of men” without necessity. There is, if I may
so speak, a “needs be” for them [ote: 1 Peter 1:6.]; some evil to be corrected, or
some good to be administered. Earthly parents are sometimes led by caprice, and

“correct their children for their pleasure:” but God never does it but “for our profit,
that we may be partakers of his holiness [ote: Hebrews 12:10.].”
As for our trials issuing in our destruction, the very reverse is God’s intent in
sending them: he sends them “to humble us, and to prove us, and to do us good at
our latter end [ote: Deuteronomy 8:16.].” Did he intend “to cast us off for ever,”
he would rather say, “They are joined to idols: let them alone [ote: Hosea 4:17.].”
But it is not so that God deals with his people. “He will not cast off his people,
because it hath pleased him to make them his people [ote: 1 Samuel 12:22.].”. “He
will visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes: but his
loving-kindness will he not utterly take from them, nor suffer his faithfulness to fail:
for once has he sworn, by his holiness, that he will not lie unto David,” the great
Head and Representative of all his people [ote: Psalms 89:32-35.].]
2. In accordance with our hopes—
[What does the afflicted soul desire but this, that “though God cause grief, yet will
he have compassion?” This is what God does in the midst of the very chastisements
he inflicts. “His soul was grieved for the misery of Israel,” even when for their
iniquities he had delivered them into the hand of their enemies [ote: Judges
10:16.]. or will he measure out his compassion according to our merits, but
“according to the multitude of his own mercies.” othing less than this, indeed, will
satisfy the afflicted soul: nor, indeed, will any thing less satisfy our compassionate
God, who “in all our afflictions is himself afflicted; and who, in his love and in his
pity, will effect our complete redemption [ote: Isaiah 63:9.].” The entire view of his
dealings with us may be seen in his conduct towards his people of old: “Many times
did he deliver them: but they provoked him with their counsel, and were brought
low for their iniquity. evertheless, he regarded their affliction when he heard their
cry: and he remembered for them his covenant, and repented according to the
multitude of his mercies [ote: Psalms 106:43-45.].” “In a little wrath, he may hide
his face from us for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will he have mercy
upon us [ote: Isaiah 54:7-10.].”]
Application—
Let us endeavour,
1. To get just views of the Divine character—
[There can be no comfort to the soul whilst we new God as a vindictive Judge. As
long as a we are really desiring his favour, we are authorized to regard him as a
loving Father, who seeks only the welfare of our souls. If we see a husbandman
prune his vine, or a workman chisel his stone, or a goldsmith put his gold into the
fire, we are at no loss to account for their conduct, even though, to the eye of sense,
it may appear severe: to improve the vine, to beautify the stone, to purify the gold,
to bring forth from the furnace a vessel meet for the Master’s use, are, in our minds,
an ample vindication of the apparent severity. Let us, then, conceive of God as wise,

and good, and gracious, and as personally interested in our welfare; and then we
shall never murmur at any of his dispensations; but shall say, under the most
painful trials, “It is the Lord; let him do what seemeth him good.”]
2. To make a suitable improvement of afflictive dispensations—
[Every “rod has a voice, which we ought to hear, as well as Him also that has
w““g;H31Gl;3ld g31Fla;Sw:lLFKpLp^lBgF2Glu1l.F3l2;k3en attentively to God speaking to
Fkl;Hl3:1lH;W:39k1wkgHlg,lw,,2;S3;gHld g31Flykw2_kl16:7.], verily, we should learn many
invaluable lessons. We often acquire a more just and comprehensive and endearing
knowledge of God in one hour of adversity, than we had previously gained in whole
51wMklg,l“Mgk“1M;35ld g31Fl4g.liLFI9rDpLpls:gk1lu:g are accustomed to behold fine
paintings, know that there is a point of view, in which if we are placed, we shall see
every figure, as it were, standing out of the canvakkpl gulbgGl;klkg_13;_1kl“21wk1Gl
to call us to this point, that we may have richer views of his Divine character. The
ascent to the place may be difficult, and attended with pain; but the subsequent
views will richly repay all our labour. Let us then especially seek to improve in our
knowledge of God, and in an admiration of his adorable perfections. And if there be
in us any evil, which God has discovered to our view, let us put it away, though it be
dear to us as a right eye, or apparently necessary to us as a right hand. If our
afflictions do but “yield us the peaceable fruits of righteousness, we shall never have
reason to complain, however much we may have been e=1MS;k1Gl.5l3:1_ld g31Fl
Hebrews 12:11.].” Only let them “purge away our drokklwHGlgFMl3;Hld g31Flekw;w:l
1:25.],” and we shall bless God for the furnace by which this blessed change has
been effected. “The trials that have been productive of so great a blessing will issue
in praise and honour and glory, at the appearing ofl41kFklc:M;k3ld g31Flrly131MlrFL9
MpL6^lwHGl3:MgFW:l3:1lSgFH321kklwW1klg,l131MH;35ld ote: Revelation 7:13-17.].]
32 Though he brings grief, he will show
compassion,
so great is his unfailing love.
GILL, "But though he cause grief,.... As he sometimes does in his own people; by
convincing them of sin, and producing in them godly sorrow, which worketh repentance
unto life, not to be repented of; by correcting and chastising them for it, and by hiding
his face from them; all which are grievous to them:

yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies; his
mercies are many, both temporal and spiritual, and his compassion is answerable; which
he shows to his people by an application of pardoning grace, through the blood of Christ,
by sympathizing with them under their afflictions, and delivering from them; by
granting them his gracious presence, and restoring to them the joys of his salvation; all
which is not according to their merits, but his mercies.
4haefn 6l7The punishments of the godly are but for a time.
chTBe 6l7B1lkwul;Hl3:1l2wk3lT1S3FM1l3:w3l3:1l.1k3lwnd the only true remedy for
sorrows is, when the faithful are convinced that they are chastised only by the
paternal hand of God, and that, the end of all theiMl1O;2klu;22l.1l.21kk1Gpl gul3:;kl
they cannot of themselves assume; but God comes to their aid, and declares that he
will not be angry for ever with his children. For this promise extends generally to
the whole Church,
“For a moment I afflicted thee, in the time of mine indignation, but with perpetual
mercies will I follow thee,” (Isaiah 54:7)
and again,
“I will visit their iniquities with a rod, yet my mercy I will not take away from
them”
(Psalms 89:0 33, 84.)
When therefore the faithful feel assured that their punishment is only for a time,
then they lay hold on hope, and thus receive invaluable comfort in all their evils.
Jeremiah now pursues the same subject, even that God will shew compassion
according to the multitude of his mercies, though he causes sorrow to men. This may
indeed be generally explained as to all mankind; but, as we have said, God has
promised this to his own Church. All miseries, regarded in themselves, are tokens of
the wrath and curse of God; but as all things turn out for good and for salvation to
the children of God, when they embrace this truth, that God, as the Prophet
Habakkuk says, remembers mercy in wrath, (Habakkuk 3:2,) so they restrain
themselves and do not despond, nor are they overwhelmed with despair. We now
then understand the Prophet’s object in saying, that though God afflicts he yet
remembers mercy.
But we must at the same time bear in mind what I have before shewed, that the
faithful are exposed to various evils, because it is profitable for them to be chastised
by God’s hand. Hence appears the necessity of this doctrine, for were we exempt
frown all adversities, this admonition would be superfluous. But as it cannot be but
that God will smite us with his rods, not only because we deserve to be smitten, but
also because it is expedient, it is necessary to flee to this consolation which is offered

to us, even that God having afflicted us with grief will again shew us compassion,
even according to the multitude of his mercies He confirms the truth of what he
alleges by a reference to the very nature of God himself. Hence, that the faithful
might not debate with themselves whether God would be propitious to them, after
having inflicted on them a temporary punishment, the Prophet comes to their aid,
and sets before them the mercy of God, or rather mercies, in the plural number; as
though he had said, that it could not be that God should deny himself, and that
therefore he would be always merciful to his people; for otherwise his mercy would
be obliterated, yea, that mercy which is inseparable from his eternal essence and
divinity.
And hence, when God is pleased briefly to shew what he is, he sets forth his mercy
and patience; for except his goodness and mercy meet us, when we come to him,
dread would immediately absorb all our thoughts; but when God comes forth as if
clothed and adorned with mercy, we may then entertain hope of salvation; and
though conscious of evil, yet while we recumb on God’s mercy, we shall never lose
the hope of salvation. We not: apprehend the Prophet’s meaning. It follows, —
33 For he does not willingly bring affliction
or grief to anyone.
CLARKE, "For he doth not afflict willingly -It is no pleasure to God to afflict
men. He takes no delight in our pain and misery: yet, like a tender and intelligent parent,
he uses the rod; not to gratify himself, but to profit and save us.
GILL, "For he doth not afflict willingly,.... Or, "from his heart"
(e); he does afflict;
for all afflictions are from God, but they do not come from the mere motion of his heart,
or are the effects of his sovereign will and pleasure, as the good things he bestows upon
his people do, without any respect to any cause or occasion in them; but sin is the cause
and occasion of these, as Jarchi well observes: it is with reluctance the Lord afflicts his
people; he is as it were forced to it, speaking after the manner of men; see Hos_11:8; he
does not do it with delight and pleasure; he delights in mercy, but judgment is his
strange act; nor does he do it with all his heart and soul, with all his might and strength;
he does not stir up all his wrath: for then the spirit would fail before him, and the souls

that he has made; and especially he does not do it out of ill will, but in love, and for their
good:
nor grieve the children of men: that is, he does not from his heart, or willingly,
grieve the children of men, by, afflicting them; which must be understood of those sons
of men whom he has loved, and made his sons and heirs; those sons of men that
wisdom's delights were with from everlasting, Pro_8:31.
G pic4f3. That, when God does cause grief, it is for wise and holy ends, and he takes
not delight in our calamities, Lam_3:33. he does indeed afflict, and grieve the children
of men; all their grievances and afflictions are from him. But he does not do it willingly,
not from the heart; so the word is. 1. He never afflicts us but when we give him cause to
do it. He does not dispense his frowns as he does his favours, ex mero motu-from his
mere good pleasure. If he show us kindness, it is because so it seems good unto him;
but, if he write bitter things against us, it is because we both deserve them and need
them. 2. He does not afflict with pleasure. he delights not in the death of sinners, or the
disquiet of saints, but punishes with a kind of reluctance. He comes out of his place to
punish, for his place is the mercy-seat. He delights not in the misery of any of his
creatures, but, as it respects his own people, he is so far from it that in all their afflictions
he is afflicted and his soul is grieved for the misery of Israel. 3. He retains his kindness
for his people even when he afflicts them. If he does not willingly grieve the children of
men, much less his own children. However it be, yet God is good to them (Psa_73:1),
and they may by faith see love in his heart even when they see frowns in his face and a
rod in his hand.
Vheaoyp4f3He does not afflict any willingly (literally, “from His heart,” that is, as if
He had any pleasure in it,
Eze_33:11), much less the godly (Heb_12:10).
lhTjap4f3r;qgfqgfm.kL;IZfMk.SqZbmLqk.fkSfL;IfgmbIfLruth, that God takes no
delight in the evils or miseries of men. It is indeed a strong mode of speaking which
the Prophet adopts, but very suitable. God, we know, puts on, as it were, our form
or manner, for he cannot be comprehended in his inconceivable glory by human
minds. Hence it is that he transfers to himself what properly can only apply to men.
God surely never acts unwillingly nor feignedly: how then is that suitable which
Jeremiah declares, — that God does not afflict from his heart? But God, as already
said, does here assume the character of man; for though he afflicts us with sorrow as
he pleases, yet true it is that he delights not in the miseries of men; for if a father
desires to benefit his own children, and deals kindly with them, what ought we to
think of our heavenly Father?
“Ye,” says Christ, “who are evil,
know how to do good to your children,” (Matthew 7:11;)
what then are we to expect from the very fountain of goodness? As, then, parents
are not willingly angry with their children, nor handle them roughly, there is no
doubt but that God never punishes men except when he is constrained. There is, as I
have said, an impropriety in the expression, but it is enough to know, that God

derives no pleasure from the miseries of men, as profane men say, who utter such
blasphemies as these, that we are like balls with which God plays, and that we are
exposed to many evils, because God wishes to have as it were, a pleasant and
delectable spectacle in looking on the innumerable afflict, ions, and at length on the
death of men.
That such thoughts, then, might not tempt us to unbelief, the Prophet here puts a
check on us, and declares that God does not afflict from his heart, that is, willingly,
as though he delighted in the evils of men, as a judge, who, when he ascends his
throne and condemns the guilty to death, does not do this from his heart, because he
wishes all to be innocent, and thus to have a reason for acquitting them; but. yet he
willingly condemns the guilty, because this is his duty. So also God, when he adopts
severity towards men, he indeed does so willingly, because he is the judge of the
world; but he does not do so from the heart, because he wishes all to be innocent —
for far away from him is all fierceness and cruelty; and as he regards men with
paternal love, so also he would have them to be saved, were they not as it were by
force to drive him to rigor. And this feeling he also expresses in Isaiah,
“Ah! I will take consolation from mine adversaries.”
(Isaiah 1:24.)
He calls them adversaries who so often provoked him by their obstinacy; yet he was
led unwillingly to punish their sins, and hence he employed a particle expressive of
grief, and exclaimed Ah! as a father who wishes his son to be innocent, and yet is
compelled to be severe with him.
But however true this doctrine may be, taken generally, there is yet no doubt but
that the Prophet here addresses only the faithful; and doubtless this privilege
peculiarly belongs to God’s children, as it has been shown before. It follows, —
34 To crush underfoot
all prisoners in the land,
u.dheprnüInä2r"Neither does God approve of wanton cruelty inflicted by one man
on another. Three examples are given: the treatment of prisoners of war; the procuring
an unjust sentence before a legal tribunal acting in the name of God (see
Exo_21:6); and
the perversion of justice generally.

CLARKE, "To crush under his feet -He can neither gain credit nor pleasure in
trampling upon those who are already bound, and in suffering; such he knows to be the
state of man here below. From which it most assuredly follows, that God never afflicts us
but for our good, nor chastises but that we may be partakers of his holiness.
All the prisoners of the earth -By the prisoners of the earth, or land, Dr. Blayney
understands those insolvent debtors who were put in prison, and there obliged to work
out the debt. Yet this is mercy in comparison with those who put them in prison, and
keep them there, when they know that it is impossible, from the state of the laws, to
lessen the debt by their confinement.
In Lam_3:34, Lam_3:35, and Lam_3:36, certain acts of tyranny, malice, and injustice
are specified, which men often indulge themselves in the practice of towards one
another, but which the Divine goodness is far from countenancing or approving by any
similar conduct. - Blayney.
GILL, "To crush under his feet all the prisoners of the earth. These words,
with what follow in
Lam_3:35; either depend upon the preceding, and are to be
connected with them, "he doth not afflict", &c. Lam_3:33; though he lays his hand on
men, he do not crush them under his feet, or break them in pieces, and utterly destroy
them, even such, and all such, as are bound in affliction and iron; or, in a spiritual sense,
such as are prisoners to sin, Satan, and the law, as all men by nature are; he does not
crush these to pieces, though they deserve it, at least not "all" of them; for he proclaims
in the Gospel liberty to the captives, and says, by the power of his grace, to the prisoners,
go forth, and encourages the prisoners of hope to turn to their strong hold: and also,
though he afflicts, he does no injustice to them, does not turn aside their right, or
subvert their cause, Job_8:3; or rather these depend upon, and are to be connected
with, the last clause of Lam_3:36; "the Lord approveth not": as he does not do these
things himself, he do not approve of them in others; that they should use captives
cruelly, trample upon them like mire in the streets, or as the dust of their feet;
particularly regard may be had to the Jews in Babylon, used ill by those that detained
them; for though it was by the will of God they were carried captive, yet the Chaldeans
exceeded due bounds in their usage of them, and added affliction to the
G picftGxtL4f3 That though he makes use of men as his hand, or rather
instruments in his hand, for the correcting of his people, yet he is far from being pleased
with the injustice of their proceedings and the wrong they do them,
Lam_3:34-36.
Though God serves his own purposes by the violence of wicked and unreasonable men,
yet it does no therefore follow that he countenances that violence, as his oppressed
people are sometimes tempted to think. Hab_1:13, Wherefore lookest thou upon those
that deal treacherously? Two ways the people of God are injured and oppressed by their
enemies, and the prophet here assures us that God does not approve of either of them: -
1. If men injure them by force of arms, God does not approve of that. he does not himself
crush under his feet the prisoners of the earth, but he regards the cry of the prisoners;
nor does he approve of men's doing it; nay, he is much displeased with it. It is barbarous
to trample on those that are down, and to crush those that are bound and cannot help
themselves. 2. If men injure them under colour of law, and in the pretended

administration of justice, - if they turn aside the right of a man, so that he cannot
discover what his rights are or cannot come at them, they are out of his reach, - if they
subvert a man in his cause, and bring in a wrong verdict, or give a false judgment, let
them know, (1.) That God sees them. It is before the face of the Most High (Lam_3:35);
it is in his sight, under his eye, and is very displeasing to him. They cannot but know it is
so, and therefore it is in defiance of him that they do it. he is the Most High, whose
authority over them they contemn by abusing their authority over their subjects, not
considering that he that is higher than the highest regardeth,Ecc_5:8. (2.) That God
does not approve of them. More is implied than is expressed. The perverting of justice,
and the subverting of the just, are a great affront to God; and, though he may make use
of them for the correction of his people, yet he will sooner or later severely reckon with
those that do thus. Note, However God may for a time suffer evil-doers to prosper, and
serve his own purposes by them, yet he does not therefore approve of their evil doings.
Far be it from God that he should do iniquity, or countenance those that do it.
Vheaoyp4f3This triplet has an infinitive in the beginning of each verse, the
governing finite verb being in the end of
Lam_3:36, “the Lord approveth not,” which is
to be repeated in each verse. Jeremiah here anticipates and answers the objections
which the Jews might start, that it was by His connivance they were “crushed under the
feet” of those who “turned aside the right of a man.” God approves (literally, “seeth,”
Hab_1:13; so “behold,” “look on,” that is, look on with approval) not of such
unrighteous acts; and so the Jews may look for deliverance and the punishment of their
foes.
K&D 34-36, "
Lam_3:34-36
These verses form one connected sentence: while the subject and predicate for the
three infinitival clauses do not follow till the words יָנּד ֲא אּל ה% ָר, the infinitives with their
objects depend on ה% ָר. If there were any foundation for the assertion of Böttcher in his
Aehrenlese, that ה% ָר never occurs in construction with usW, we could take the infinitives
with usW as the objects of ה% ָר, in the sense, "As to the crushing of all the prisoners," etc. But
the assertion is devoid of truth, and disproved by 1Sa_16:7, ם ָד% ָה ה ֶא ְר ִי םִיַני ֵע ְל הוהיו ה ֶא ְר ִי. In
the three infinitival clauses three modes of unjust dealing are set forth. The treading
down to the earth of all prisoners under his (the treader's) feet, refers to cruel treatment
of the Jews by the Chaldeans at the taking of Jerusalem and Judah, and generally to
deeds of violence perpetrated by victors in war. This explains לּ8, which Kalkschmidt and
Thenius incorrectly render "all captives of the land (country)." Those intended are
prisoners generally, who in time of war are trodden down to the earth, i.e., cruelly
treated. The other two crimes mentioned, vv. 35 and 36, are among the sins of which
Judah and Israel have been guilty, - the former being an offence against the proper
administration of justice, and the latter falling under the category of unjust practices in
the intercourse of ordinary life. "To pervert the right of a man before the face of the Most
High" does not mean, in general, proterve, et sine ullâ numinis inspectantis reverentiâ
(C. B. Michaelis, Rosenmüller); but just as תוּט ַה ט ָC ְשׁ ִמ is taken from the law (Exo_23:6;
Num_16:19, etc.), so also is ד ֶגֶנ יֵנ ְC ןוּי ְל ֶע to be explained in accordance with the directions
given in the law (Exo_22:7, Exo_22:9), that certain clauses were to be brought before

םי ִהּל ֱאֽ ָה, where this word means the judge or judges pronouncing sentence in the name of
God; cf. Psa_82:6, where the judges, as God's representatives, are called םי ִהּל ֱא and יֵנ ְ"
םי ִהּל ֱא. "Before the face of the Most High" thus means, before the tribunal which is held
in the name of the Most High. "To turn aside a man in his cause" means to pervert his
right in a dispute (cf. Job_8:3; Job_34:12, etc.), which may also be done in contested
matters that do not come before the public tribunal. The meaning of the three verses
depends on the explanation given of יָנּד ֲא אּל ה% ָר, which is a disputed point. ה% ָר with usW, "to
look on something," may mean to care for it, be concerned about it, but not to select,
choose, or to resolve upon, approve (Michaelis, Ewald, Thenius). Nor can the prophet
mean to say, "The Lord does not look upon the treading down of the prisoners, the
perversion of justice." If any one be still inclined, with Rosenmüller and others, to view
the words as the expression of a fact, then he must consider them as an exception taken
by those who murmur against God, but repelled in Lam_3:37. Moreover, he must, in
some such way as the following, show the connection between Lam_3:33and Lam_
3:34, by carrying out the idea presented in the exhortation to hope for compassion: "But
will any one say that the Lord knows nothing of this - does not trouble Himself about
such sufferings?" Whereupon, in Lam_3:37, the answer follows: "On the contrary,
nothing happens without the will of God" (Gerlach). But there is no point of attachment
that can possibly be found in the words of the text for showing such a connection; we
must therefore reject this view as being artificial, and forced upon the text. The difficulty
is solved in a simple manner, by taking the words יָנּד ֲא אּל as a question, just as has been
already done in the Chaldee paraphrase: fierine potest ut in conspectu Jovae non
reveletur? The absence of the interrogative particle forms no objection to this, inasmuch
as a question is pretty often indicated merely by the tone. Lam_3:38must also be taken
interrogatively. Böttcher and Thenius, indeed, think that the perfect ה% ָר is incompatible
with this; but the objection merely tells against the rendering, "Should not the Lord see
it?" (De Wette, Maurer, Kalkschmidt), which of course would require ה ֶא ְר ִי. But the idea
rather is, "Hath not the Lord looked upon this?" The various acts of injustice mentioned
in the three verses are not set forth merely as possible events, but as facts that have
actually occurred.
lhTjap4f3em.?fq.LIZ-ZILIZgfL;q.OfL;mLfL;IgIfL;ZIIfAerses are connected with the
previous doctrine, and show the connection thus, — that God does not see, that is,
does not know what it is to pervert the good cause of a man, and to oppress the
innocent; and, doubtless, God is said not to know what iniquity is, because he
abhors all evil; for what is the nature of God but the perfection of justice? It may
then be truly said, that. God knows not what it is to turn man aside in judgment.
Others take not to see, as meaning, not to approve.
If we subscribe to the opinion of those who say that injustice is contrary to the
nature of God, there is here an exhortation to patience; as though the Prophet had
said that afflictions ought to be borne with resignation, because the Jews had fully
deserved them. For the liberty taken to complain arises from this, that men imagine
that they are without fault; but he who is convicted dares not thus to rise up against
God; for the chief thing in humility is the acknowledgment of sin. This, then, is one
meaning. But they who give this explanation, that God does not approve of those

who pervert judgment, think that there is here a ground of consolation, because
God would at length succor the miserable who were unjustly oppressed. And
doubtless it avails not a little to encourage patience when we are persuaded that God
will be an avenger, so that he will at length help us, after having for a time suffered
us to be severely treated.
But these expositions seem to me to be too remote; we may give a correcter
explanation by supposing a concession to be made, as though the Prophet had said,
“It is indeed true that the wicked take much license, for they imagine that God is
blind to all evil deeds.” For this madness is often ascribed to the ungodly, that they
think that they can sin with impunity, because God, as they suppose, cares not for
the affairs of men. They then imagine that God is asleep, and in a manner dead, and
hence they break out into all kinds of wickedness. And for this reason it was that
David so vehemently rebuked them:
“He who has formed the ear, will he not hear? He who has created the heaven, will
he not see?” (Psalms 94:9.)
This explanation also I cannot approve of, it being forced and not obvious.
I therefore think that the reference is to the impious words of those who complain
that God is not moved by any compassion. For this thought almost lays hold on us
wheel pressed down by adversities, — that God has forgotten us, that he is either
asleep or lies down inactive. In short, there is nothing more difficult to be assured of
than this truth, that God governs the world by his counsel, and that nothing
happens without a design. This is indeed what almost all confess; but when a trial
comes, this doctrine vanishes, and every one is carried away by some perverted and
erroneous thoughts, even that all things roll round fortuitously through blind fate,
that men are not the objects of God’s care. or is there a doubt but that in
Jeremiah’s time words of this kind were flying about; and it appears evident from
the context that those Jews were reproved who thought that their miseries were
disregarded by God, and hence they clamored; for men are necessarily carried away
into a furious state of mind, when they do not believe that they have to do with God.
The Prophet, then, refers to such impious words, or if they dared not to express in
language what they thought, he refers to what was believed almost by all, — that the
wicked perverted the judgment of man, that they turned aside a man in his cause,
that they tore under their feet all the bound of the earth; (190) that is, that all those
things were done by the connivance of God. The plain meaning, then, is, that
judgment is perverted before the face of the Most High, — that the bound of the
earth such as are helpless, are despised, trodden under foot by the wicked, — that a
man in his cause is unjustly dealt with, and that all this is done because God does
not see (191) We now, then, perceive what the Prophet means.
But whence came such madness? even because the Jews, as I have said, would not
humble themselves under the mighty hand of God; for hypocrisy had so blinded
them, that they proudly clamored against God, thinking that they were chastised
with unjust severity,. As then, they thus flattered themselves in their sins, this

expostulation arose which the Prophet mentions, that man’s judgment was
perverted, that the innocent failed in a good cause, that the miserable were trodden
under foot; and whence all this? because God did not see, or did not regard these
things. ow follows the reproof of this delirious impiety, —
There is a difficulty as to the antecedent to the pronoun “his, before “feet.” It seems
to refer to “man” in the last verse; for the words are, “the sons (or children) of
man,” not of “men.” The verb האר, when followed by ל, means to look on, at, or
simply to see. Psalms 64:5. Then the literal rendering of the passage would be as
follows, —
On the tearing under his feet
Of all the bound of the land,
On the diverting of a man’s judgment,
In the presence of the most High,
On the wronging of a person in his cause
The Lord doth not look.
Or if the “on” be dropped, the last line may be,
The Lord doth not see.
This is manifestly the saying of unbelieving men, or of those weak in faith, as proved
by the next verse, when rightly rendered. — Ed.
COFFMA, "Verse 34
"To crush underfoot all the prisoners of the earth,
To turn aside the right of a man
before the face of the Most High,
To subvert a man in his cause,
the Lord approveth not.
Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass,
when the Lord commandeth it not?
Out of the mouth of the Most High
cometh there not evil and good?
Wherefore doth a living man complain,
a man for the punishment of his sins?"

"To crush under foot ... the prisoners" (Lamentations 3:34). "This refers to the
harsh cruelties of the Babylonians."[30] The purpose of this being mentioned here is
to indicate God's disapproval of men's atrocities. "We have here a short catalogue
of the oppressions visited upon God's people by their conquerors."[31] The word
that applies to all of these things is, "The Lord approveth not" (Lamentations 3:36).
The fact of God's strong disapproval of the cruel and sadistic actions of Israel
conquerors carried with it also a pledge of the ultimate severe punishment and
destruction of those oppressors.
"Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not"
(Lamentations 3:37). "It is true that God does not desire our misfortunes; but it is
equally true that they do not happen without his permission (Isaiah 45:7; Amos
3:6)."[32]
"Wherefore doth a living man complain ... for the punishment of his sins"
(Lamentations 3:39)? "othing can happen without the permission of the Most
High. Then why should a man complain when he is punished for his sins? ot
suffering, but sins should be lamented. Let us not murmur against God for that
which we have brought upon ourselves."[33] In America today, it would be much
closer to what is right for aids sufferers to be lamenting the homosexuality that lies
as the root cause of so much of their suffering, instead of their complaining and
screaming to high heaven for billions of dollars to be spent in an effort to cure them.
Sin should be lamented, not the consequences of it.
COKE, "Lamentations 3:34. All the prisoners of the earth— All the prisoners of the
land. By "the prisoners of the land," I am persuaded are meant the poor insolvent
debtors, whom their creditors among the Jews, as well as among other nations, were
empowered to cast into prison, and oblige to work out the debt; a power too often
exerted with great rigour and inhumanity. See Matthew 18:30; Matthew 18:34. The
sufferings of these persons seem to be alluded to Isaiah 58:3 where the people asking
with surprise, why their voluntary fastings and acts of self-mortification were so
little noticed and regarded by God, receive for answer, that while they laid
themselves under restraint in one point, they indulged their vicious passions and
inclinations of different kinds, and shewed not that forbearance in their treatment
of others, which they hoped to experience at the hand of God.
PETT, "Lamentations 3:34-36
(Lamed) To crush under foot,
All the prisoners of the earth,
(Lamed) To turn aside the right of a man,
Before the face of the Most High,
(Lamed) To subvert a man in his cause,
The Lord approves not.
For there are three things of which the Lord does not approve:

o He does not approve of the crushing underfoot of the prisoners of the earth.
They have a right for their needs to be considered and to compassion.
o He does not approve of the turning aside of the rights of a man before the
face of the Most High (Elyon). All should be allowed full access to Him, and be given
justice when their cases are tried before Him. And He does not approve of injustice
and false dealings with regard to those who bring their cases to the lower judiciary.
For above all God is a God of justice.
SIMEO, "Verses 54-57
DISCOURSE: 1095
THE EFFICACY OF PRAYER
Lamentations 3:54-57. Waters flowed over mine head; then I said, I am cut off. I
called upon thy name, O Lord, out of the low dungeon. Thou hast heard my voice:
hide not thine ear at my breathing, at my cry. Thou drewest near in the day that I
called upon thee: thou saidst, Fear not.
THE Prophet Jeremiah was inferior to none in a compassionate regard for his
country, whose calamities he bitterly deplored: yet was there no one more
injuriously treated than he. He might well say of himself, “I am the man that hath
seen affliction by the rod of his wrath [ote: ver. 1.].” Of his grief, on account of his
country’s sufferings, and of the sad returns which his enemies made to him, he
speaks in the preceding context, and in terms peculiarly tender and pathetic: “Mine
eye runneth down with rivers of water, for the destruction of the daughter of my
people. Mine eye trickleth down, and ceaseth not, without any intermission, till the
Lord look down from heaven. Mine eye afflicted mine heart, because of all the
daughters of my city. [Yet] mine enemies chased me sore, like a bird, without cause.
They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and cast a stone upon me.” The working of
his mind, in this afflictive situation, he delineates in the words of our text: from
which we may notice,
I. To what a state God’s most favoured servants may be reduced—
[Jeremiah, for his fidelity in declaring God’s purposes respecting that rebellious
people, was cast into a dungeon, where he sunk in the mire, and was left to perish
[ote: Jeremiah 38:4-6.]. And in this situation he altogether despaired of life, and
said, “I am cut off,” “I am cut off out of the land of the living!” Distressing as this
situation was, it may yet be expected to be endured by the faithful ministers of God
in every age. Peter, in his day, was laden with chains in an inner prison, without the
slightest hope of surviving the day appointed for his execution [ote: Acts 12:6.].
Paul and Silas also, with their backs lacerated with scourges, and their feet made
fast in the stocks, “had the sentence of death in themselves,” and expected nothing
but a speedy and a cruel death [ote: Acts 16:23-24.]. And we, too, are warned by
our blessed Lord, that we must be ready to lay down our lives for him; and that on
no other condition can we hope for a favourable acceptance with him in the last day.

But there are other troubles yet more afflictive than these, to which every child of
God is exposed, and under which he may be brought into the depths of
despondency. There are seasons of temptation and spiritual desertion, in which the
soul is led to say, with Heman, “My soul is full of troubles; my life draweth nigh
unto the grave. Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps. Thy
wrath lieth hard upon me; thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves. Lord, Why
castes thou off my soul? why hides thou thy face from me? I am afflicted, and ready
to die. While I suffer thy terrors, I am distracted. Thy fierce wrath goeth over me;
thy terrors have cut me off [ote: Psalms 88:3; Psalms 88:6-7; Psalms 88:14-16.]”
Here was a man of consummate piety, and yet thus bereft of consolation, and almost
of hope. And such afflictive visitations are experienced by many at the present day.
When the spirits have been broken by a long train of misfortunes, and disease of
body has still further enfeebled the mind, it is not uncommon for Satan to make a
fierce assault upon the soul, and, by his fiery darts, to inflict on it a deadly wound,
such as causes it to despair even of life. The Saviour himself, in the depths of
dereliction, cried, “My God, my God! why hast thou forsaken me?” It is not to be
wondered at, therefore, if his followers also be called to taste of that cup which he
drank even to the dregs.]
In the Prophet’s experience, however, we see,
II. What remedy is open to them—
[“I called upon thy name, O Lord, out of the low dungeon: hide not thine ear at my
breathing and my cry.” Affliction drove him not from God, but to him: and though
his overwhelming calamities disqualified him for that kind of orderly address
which, in a season of calm reflection, he might have presented at the throne of grace,
yet, by sighs and cries, he made known his desires to the Lord, who understands the
language of the heart, though not expressed in clear and appropriate terms by the
lips. To the same effect David says, “I opened my mouth and panted; for I longed
for thy commandments [ote: Psalms 119:131.]:” by which I understand, that his
desire to fulfil the commands of God was too great for utterance; so that he was
constrained to express it only by deep sighs and ardent aspirations. Thus it was with
the prophet at this time, when looking to his God with humble breathings and with
fervent cries. Like Jonah at the bottom of the sea, he cried, “I am cast out of thy
sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple [ote: Jonah 2:4.].”
ow, this is our proper remedy at all seasons: “Call upon me in the time of trouble,
saith the Lord; and I will hear thee; and thou shalt glorify me.” or need we be
discouraged because we are not able so to compose our minds as to pour out our
hearts in fluent and connected petitions. Abrupt cries are fitly suited to occasions of
great extremity. Our blessed Lord himself, when in an agony in the garden of
Gethsemane, cried thrice to his heavenly Father, repeating the same words [ote:
Matthew 26:44.]. It is not the fluency of our expressions that God regards, but the
sincerity of our hearts: and, for the most part, when “his blessed Spirit makes
intercession in us” with more than ordinary power, it is not by diversified and

rhetorical language, but “by groans which cannot be uttered [ote: Romans 8:26.].”
Whatever therefore our trouble be, and however desperate our condition, let us
“give ourselves unto prayer [ote: Psalms 109:4.];” and not doubt but that God,
who “heareth the ravens,” will “hear the voice of our weeping [ote: Psalms 6:8.],”
and “fulfil the desire of our hearts [ote: Psalms 145:19.].” If we do but “look unto
him, we shall be lightened [ote: Psalms 34:5.].”]
The answer he received will lead us to contemplate,
III. The efficacy of that remedy, whensoever applied—
[In his despondency, the prophet had said, “Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud,
that our prayer should not pass through [ote: ver. 44.].” But he found to his joy,
that nothing could intercept either his communion with God, or his communications
from God: for “God drew nigh to him, and said, Fear not.” What marvellous
condescension was here! Whilst man was treating him as “the offscouring and
refuse of the people [ote: ver. 45.],” God regarded him with all the tenderness of a
Father, and bade him to fear nothing that man could do against him. And will God
be less gracious to us, in our extremities? o: “he will surely hear the cry of the poor
destitute, and will not despise their prayer [ote: Psalms 102:17.].” Hear the
experience of David, and in him of the Messiah also: “Save me, O God! for the
waters are come in unto my soul. I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I
am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me. I am weary of my crying:
my throat is dry: mine eves fail while I wait for my God. Deliver me out of the mire,
and let me not sink: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep
waters. Let not the water-flood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up;
and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me. I am poor and sorrowful: let thy
salvation, O God, set me up on high.” Having thus pleaded with God, and obtained
an answer of peace, he adds, for the encouragement of all future suppliants, “The
humble shall see this, and be glad; and your heart shall live that seek God: for the
Lord heareth the poor, and despiseth not his prisoners [ote: Psalms 69:1-3; Psalms
69:14-15; Psalms 69:29; Psalms 69:32-33.].” “Hear ye this,” then, all ye who, from
whatever circumstances, are brought into deep waters! “Call upon the Lord out of
the depths [ote: Psalms 130:1.];” and you shall soon he able to adopt the grateful
recollections of David, and say, “The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods
of ungodly men made me afraid. The sorrows of hell compassed me about; the
snares of death prevented me. In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried unto
my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even
into his ears.”
But let me more particularly call your attention to the consolatory voice of God in
my text: “Fear not.” Were you really in the hands of your enemies, you might well
fear: but they, as well as you, are in the hands of God, who can “make even the
wrath of man to praise him.” Here is “a weapon formed against you,” and “a
waster” ready to wield it for your destruction: but they can effect nothing without
God; since the very smith who formed the weapon, and the waster that threatens
your destruction, are the work of his hands, and owe to him all the skill and power

of which they are possessed. What then can they do against Him; or against those
H;kfmZIf’.PIZf;qgf-ZkLIMLqk.fvpkLIFfagmqm;fJGFsJxsM.]? Know, that to every soul that
trusteth in him is this word addressed; “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not
dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will
uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”
35 to deny people their rights
before the Most High,
CLARKE, "To turn aside the right of a man -To make a man lose his right,
because one of the higher orders opposes him. Dr. Blayney thinks that
ןוילע elyon,
instead of being referred to God, should be considered as pointing out one of the chief of
the people. I do not see that we gain any thing by this. The evil fact is, turning aside the
right of a man; and the aggravation of it is, doing it before the face of the Most High; that
is, in a court of justice, where God is ever considered to be present.
GILL, "To turn aside the right of a man,.... The Targum is, of a poor man; not to
do him justice in a court of judicature; to cause judgment to incline to the wrong side; to
give the cause against a man, to give a wrong sentence; this is disapproved of by the
Lord, and forbidden by him:
before the face of the most High; either before the most high God, he being present
and among the gods, the judges, when they pass sentence; and yet, to pass a wrong one
in his presence, without any regard to him, or fear of him, must be provoking to him: or,
"before a superior"
(f), as some render it; before a judge that sits upon the bench;
endeavouring by unjust charges, wrong pleas, and false witnesses, to deprive a man of
his right; see Ecc_5:8.
Vheaoyp4f3before ... face of ... most High— Any “turning aside” of justice in
court is done before the face of God, who is present, and “regardeth,” though unseen
(Ecc_5:8).
lhTjap4f3

36 to deprive them of justice—
would not the Lord see such things?
CLARKE, "To subvert a man in his cause -To prevent his having justice done
him in a lawsuit, etc., by undue interference, as by suborning false witnesses, or exerting
any kind of influence in opposition to truth and right. - Blayney.
The Lord approved not -Instead of
ינדא Adonai, seventeen MSS., of Kennicott’s,
and one ancient of my own, have הוהי Yehovah. Approveth not, OyP]yb sLLP e, doth not
see, turns away his face from it, abhors it.
GILL, "To subvert a man in his cause,.... A poor man, as the Targum, which
aggravates it; as by courses and methods taken in an open court, so by secret underhand
ways, to get the cause from him, and injure him in his property:
the Lord approveth not; or, "seeth not"
(g); which some understand as spoken by
wicked men, who do the above things, and flatter themselves that God sees not, and
takes no notice of them, Eze_9:9; and others read it interrogatively, "doth not the Lord
see?" (h) he does; he sees all the actions of men, nothing is hid from him; but he sees not
with approbation; he do not look upon such things with delight and pleasure, but with
abhorrence, Hab_1:13. The Targum is,
"is it possible that it should not be revealed before the Lord?''
37 Who can speak and have it happen
if the Lord has not decreed it?
תeֳaiוαיλ
Lam_3:37

Literally, “Who is this that spake and it was done, though ינדא 'ădonāy commanded it
not?”
GILL, "Who
is he that saith, and it cometh to pass?.... Or, "who that says this
shall be, and it cometh to pass?" or, "who is he that saith this shall come to pass?"
(i) this, or that, or the other thing, he wills and desires, and his heart is set upon:
when the Lord commandeth it not? has not willed and decreed it, but determined
the contrary; for nothing escapes his knowledge and foreknowledge; or can resist his
will; or control his power; or frustrate his councils, and counterwork his designs;
whatever schemes men form to get riches, obtain honour, do mischief to others, prolong
life to themselves, and perpetuate their names to posterity, being contrary to the
purpose of God, never succeed; whenever they do succeed in any of the above instances,
it is because God has commanded, or he has determined, it should be so; as in the
instances of Joseph's brethren, in their usage of him; and of the Jews, in the crucifixion
of Christ, Pro_16:9. The Targum is,
"who is the man that saith, and evil is done in the world; but because they have done
what was not commanded from the mouth of the Lord?''
,hebwgsM-sI)g*That we may be entitled to the comforts administered to the afflicted
in the foregoing verses, and may taste the sweetness of them, we have here the duties of
an afflicted state prescribed to us, in the performance of which we may expect those
comforts.
I. We must see and acknowledge the hand of God in all the calamities that befal us at
any time, whether personal or public,
Lam_3:37, Lam_3:38. This is here laid down as a
great truth, which will help to quiet our spirits under our afflictions and to sanctify them
to us. 1. That, whatever men's actions are, it is God that overrules them: Who is he that
saith, and it cometh to pass (that designs a thing and bring his designs to effect), if the
Lord commandeth it not? Men can do nothing but according to the counsel of God, nor
have any power or success but what is given them from above. A man's heart devises his
way; he projects and purposes; he says that he will do so and so (Jam_4:13); but the
Lord directs his steps far otherwise than he designed them, and what he contrived and
expected does not come to pass, unless it be what God's hand and his counsel had
determined before to be done, Pro_16:9; Jer_10:23. The Chaldeans said that they would
destroy Jerusalem, and it came to pass, not because they said it, but because God
commanded it and commissioned them to do it. Note, Men are but tools which the great
God makes use of, and manages as he pleases, in the government of this lower world;
and they cannot accomplish any of their designs without him. 2. That, whatever men's
lot is, it is God that orders it: Out of the mouth of the Most High do not evil and good
proceed? Yes, certainly they do; and it is more emphatically expressed in the original: Do
not this evil, and this good, proceed out of the mouth of the Most High? Is it not what he
has ordained and appointed for us? Yes, certainly it is; and for the reconciling of us to
our own afflictions, whatever they be, this general truth must thus be particularly
applied. This comfort I receive from the hand of God, and shall I not receive that evil
also? so Job argues, Lam_2:10. Are we healthful or sickly, rich or poor? Do we succeed
in our designs, or are we crossed in them? It is all what God orders; every man's
judgment proceeds from him. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; he forms
the light and creates the darkness, as he did at first. Note, All the events of divine

Providence are the products of a divine counsel; whatever is done God has the directing
of it, and the works of his hands agree with the words of his mouth; he speaks, and it is
done, so easily, so effectually are all his purposes fulfilled.
Vheaoyp4f3Who is it that can (as God,
Psa_33:9) effect by a word anything, without
the will of God?
K&D 37-39, "
Lam_3:37-39
Lam_3:37brings the answer to this question in a lively manner, and likewise in an
interrogative form: "Who hath spoken, and it came to pass, which the Lord hath not
commanded?" The thought here presented reminds us of the word of the Creator in
Gen_1:3. The form of the expression is an imitation of Psa_33:9. Rosenmüller gives the
incorrect rendering, Quis est qui dixit: factum est (i.e., quis audeat dicere fieri
quicquam), non praecipiente Deo; although the similar but more free translation of
Luther, "Who dares to say that such a thing happens without the command of the Lord?"
gives the sense in a general way. The meaning is as follows: Nothing takes place on the
earth which the Lord has not appointed; no man can give and execute a command
against the will of God. From this it further follows (Lam_3:38), that evil and good will
proceed from the mouth of the Lord, i.e., be wrought by Him; on this point, cf. Isa_45:7;
Amo_3:6. אּל א ֵצ ֵת gives no adequate meaning unless it be taken interrogatively, and as
indicating what is usual - wont to be. And then there is established from this, in Lam_
3:39, the application of the general principle to the particular case in question, viz., the
grievous suffering of individuals at the downfall of the kingdom of Judah. "Why does a
man sigh as long as he lives? Let every one [sigh] for his sins." Man is not to sigh over
suffering and sorrow, but only over his sin. ןֵנוּא ְת ִה occurs only here and in Num_11:1, and
signifies to sigh, with the accessory notion of murmuring, complaining. י ָח appended to
ם ָד% is more of a predicate than a simple attributive: man, as long as he lives, i.e., while
he is in this life. The verse is viewed in a different light by Pareau, Ewald, Neumann, and
Gerlach, who combine both members into one sentence, and render it thus: "Why doth a
man complain, so long as he lives, - a man over the punishment of his sins?" [Similar is
the rendering of our "Authorized" Version.] Neumann translates: "A man in the face of
[Ger. bei] his sins." But this latter rendering is lexically inadmissible, because W ScuhJxp in
this connection cannot mean "in view of." The other meaning assigned is improbable,
though there is nothing against it, lexically considered. For though א ְט ֵח, sin, may also
signify the punishment of sin, the latter meaning does not suit the present context,
because in what precedes it is not said that the people suffer for their sins, but merely
that their suffering has been appointed by God. If, then, in what follows, there is an
exhortation to return to the Lord (Lam_3:40.), and in Lam_3:42a confession of sins
made; if, moreover, Lam_3:39forms the transition from Lam_3:33-38to the
exhortation that succeeds (Lam_3:40.); then it is not abstinence from murmuring or
sighing over the punishment of sins that forms the true connecting link of the two lines
of thought, but merely the refraining from complaint over sufferings, coupled with the
exhortation to sigh over their won sins. Tarnov also has viewed the verse in this way,
when he deduces from it the advice to every soul labouring under a weight of sorrows:
est igitur optimus ex malis emergendi modus Deum excusare et se ipsum accusare.

CALVI, "The Prophet, after having mentioned the blasphemy which prevailed
everywhere at that time, strongly condemns so gross a stupidity. Who is this? he
says. He checks such madness by a sharp rebuke — for the question implies an
astonishment, as though the Prophet had said, that it was like a prodigy to find men
who imagined that God was content with his own leisure, and exercised no care over
the world; for this was to annihilate him altogether. God is not a dead being, he is
not a spectre; what then? God is the judge of the world. We hence see that it was a
monstrous thing, when men entertained the notion that God is idle or forgetful, that
he gives up the world to chance. This is the reason why the Prophet asks as of a
thing absurd and extremely disgraceful. Who is this? he says; Could it be that men
should give themselves up to such a degree of madness? for when they said, that
anything could happen without God’s command, it was the same as if they denied
his power; for what is God without his judgment?
The other verse may be explained in two ways; but as to the meaning, there is but
little difference. It may, then, be read as a question, “Cannot good and evil proceed
from the mouth of the most High?” or it may be rendered thus, “As though good
and evil should not proceed from the mouth of God.” As to the substance of what is
said, we see that there is no need of disputing, for the Prophet confirms what he had
said, that men are to be abhorred who imagine God to be as it were dead, and thus
rob him of his power and of his office as a judge. And, doubtless, except we hold this
truth, no true religion can exist in us; for except all the sayings and doings of men
come to an account before the tribunal of God, and also their motives and thoughts,
there will be first. no faith and, secondly, there will be no integrity, and all prayer to
God will be extinguished. For if we believe that God does not regard what is done in
the world, who will trust in him? and who will seek help from him? besides, who
will hesitate to abandon himself to cruelty, or frauds, or plunder? Extinguished,
then, is every sense of religion by this impious opinion, that God spends his time
leisurely in heaven, and attends not to human affairs. This is the reason why the
Prophet is so indignant against those who said, that anything could be done without
the command of God.
Let us now see how God commands what is wrongly and foolishly done by men.
Surely he does not command the ungodly to do what is wicked, for he would thus
render them excusable; for where God’s authority interposes, there no blame can
be. But God is said to command whatever he has decreed, according to his hidden
counsel. There are, then, two kinds of commands; one belongs to doctrine, and the
other to the hidden judgments of God. The command of doctrine, so to speak, is an
evident approbation which acquits men; for when one obeys God, it is enough that
he has God as his authority, though he were condemned by a hundred worlds. Let
us, then, learn to be attentive to the commands of doctrine, by which we ought to
regulate our life, for they make up the only true rule, from which it is not right to
depart. But God is said to command according to his secret decrees what he does not
approve, as far as men are concerned. So Shimei had a command to curse, and yet
he was not exempt from blame; for it was not his purpose to obey God; nay, he

thought that he had offended God no less than David. (2 Samuel 16:5.) Then this
distinction ought to be understood, that some things are commanded by God, not
that men may have it as a rule of action, but when God executes his secret
judgments by ways unknown to us. Thus, then, ought this passage to be understood,
even that nothing is carried on without God’s command, that is, without his decree,
and, as they say, without his ordination.
It hence appears, that those things which seem contingent, are yet ruled by the
certain providence of God, so that nothing is done at random. And what
philosophers call accident, or contingent, ( ἐνδεχόtενον) is necessary as to God; for
God decreed before the world was made whatever he was to do; so that there is
nothing now done in the world which is not directed by his counsel. And true is that
saying in the Psalms, that our God is in heaven, and doeth whatsoever he pleaseth,
(Psalms 116:3;) but this would not be true, were not all things dependent on God’s
counsel. We hence see that nothing is contingent, for everything that takes place
flows from the eternal and immutable counsel of God. It. is indeed true, that those
things which take place in this or that manner, are properly and naturally called
contingencies, but what is naturally contingent, is necessary, as far as it is directed
by God; nay, what is carried on by the counsel and will of men is necessary.
Philosophers think that all things are contingent ( ἐνδεχόtενα) and why? because
the will of man may turn either way. They then, conclude, that whatever men do is
contingent, because he who wills may change his will. These things are true, when
we consider the will of man in itself, and the exercise of it; but when we raise our
eyes to the secret providence of God, who turns and directs the counsels of men
according to his own will, it is certain that how much soever men may change in
their purposes, yet God never changes.
Let us then hold this doctrine, that nothing is done except by God’s command and
ordination, and, with the Holy Spirit, regard with abhorrence those profane men
who imagine that God sits idly as it were on his watch-tower and takes no notice of
what is done in the world, and that human affairs change at random, and that men
turn and change independently on any higher power. othing is more diabolical
than this delirious impiety; for as I have said, it extinguishes all the acts and duties
of religion; for there will be no faith, no prayer, no patience, in short;, no religion,
except we believe and know that God exercises such care over the world, of which he
is the Creator, that nothing happens except through his certain and unchangeable
decree.
ow they who object, and say that God is thus made the author of evils, may be
easily refuted; for nothing is more preposterous than to measure the
incomprehensible judgment of God by our contracted minds. The Scripture cries
aloud that the judgments of God are a great deep; it exhorts us to reverence and
sobriety, and Paul does not in vain exclaim that the ways of God are unsearchable.
(Romans 11:33.) As, then, God’s judgments in their height far surpass all our
thoughts, we ought to beware of audacious presumption and curiosity; for the more
audacious a man becomes, the farther God withdraws from him. This, then, is our
wisdom, to embrace only what the Scripture teaches. ow, when it teaches us that

nothing is done except through the will of God, it does not speak indiscriminately, as
though God approved of murders, and thefts, and sorceries, and adulteries; what
then? even that God by his just and righteous counsel so orders all things, that he
still wills not iniquity and abhors all injustice. When, therefore, adulteries, and
murders, and plunders are committed, God applies, as it were, a bridle to all those
things, and how much soever the most; wicked may indulge themselves in their
vices, he still rules them; this they themselves acknowledge; but for what end does
he rule them? even that he may punish sins with sins, as Paul teaches us, for he says
that; God gives up to a reprobate mind those who deserve such a punishment, that
he gives them up to disgraceful lusts, that he blinds more and more the despisers of
his word. (Romans 1:28; 2 Thessalonians 2:10.) And then God has various ways,
and those innumerable and unknown to us.
Let us then learn not to subject; God to our judgment, but adore his judgments,
though they surpass our comprehension; and since the cause of them is hid from us,
our highest wisdom is modesty and sobriety.
Thus we see that God is not the author of evils, though nothing happens but by his
nod and through his will, — for far different is his design from that of wicked men.
Then absurd would it be to implicate him as all associate ill the same crime, when a
murderer, or a thief, or an adulterer is condemned, — and why? because God has
no participation in thefts and adulteries; but the vices of men are in a way
wonderful and incomprehensible as his judgments. In a word, as far as the heavens
are from the earth, so great is the difference between the works of God and the
deeds of men, for the ends, as I have said, are altogether different. (192)
Who-he-saying (i.e., Who is he who says,) That thou art Lord, ordering not, (i.e.,
who dost not order, or command.)
Then the following verse contains a continuation of what the objector said, —
From the mouth of the Highest
Cometh not the evil and the good.
The answer of the Prophet is in Lamentations 3:39, in which he intimates that God
orders evil as a punishment for sin.
The objector’s declaration, that God as a Lord or Sovereign does not command or
order events, and for this reason, because both evil and good cannot come from him,
is a proof that not to see in Lamentations 3:36, is not to regard or notice the affairs
of men. — Ed.
EXPOSITOR'S BIBLE COMMETARY, "Verses 37-39
GOD AD EVIL
Lamentations 3:37-39

THE eternal problem of the relation of God to evil is here treated with the keenest
discrimination. That God is the supreme and irresistible ruler, that no man can
succeed with any design in opposition to His will, that whatever happens must be in
some way an execution of His decree, and that He, therefore, is to be regarded as the
author of evil as well as good-these doctrines are so taken for granted that they are
neither proved nor directly affirmed, but thrown into the form of questions that can
have but one answer, as though to imply that they are known to everybody, and
cannot be doubted for a moment by any one. But the inference drawn from them is
strange and startling. It is that not a single living man has any valid excuse for
complaining. That, too, is considered to be so undeniable that, like the previous
ideas, it is expressed as a self-answering question. But we are not left in this
paradoxical position. The evil experienced by the sufferer is treated as the
punishment of his sin. What right has he to complain of that? A slightly various
rendering has been proposed for the thirty-ninth verse [Lamentations 3:39], so as to
resolve into a question and its answer. Read in this way, it asks, why should a living
man complain? and then suggests the reply, that if he is to complain at all it should
not be on account of his sufferings, treated as wrongs. He should complain against
himself, his own conduct, his sin. We have seen, however, in other cases, that the
breaking of a verse in this way is not in harmony with the smooth style of the elegiac
poetry in which the words occur. This requires us to take the three verses of the
triplet as continuous, flowing sentences.
Quite a number of considerations arise out of the curious juxtaposition of ideas in
this passage. In the first place, it is very evident that by the word "evil" the writer
here means trouble and suffering, not wickedness, because he clearly distinguishes it
from the sin the mention of which follows. That sin is a man’s own deed, for which
he is justly punished. The poet, then, does not attribute the causation of sin to God;
he does not speculate at all on the origin of moral evil. As far as he goes in the
present instance, he would seem to throw back the authorship of it upon the will of
man. How that will came to turn astray he does not say. This awful mystery remains
unsolved through the whole course of the revelation of the Old Testament, and even
through that of the ew also. It cannot be maintained that the story of the Fall in
Genesis is a solution of the mystery. To trace temptation back to the serpent is not to
account for its existence, nor for the facility with which man was found to yield to it.
When, at. a later period, Satan appears on the stage, it is not to answer the
perplexing question of the origin of evil. In the Old Testament he is nowhere
connected with the Fall-his identification with the serpent first occurring in the
Book of Wisdom, (2:23 ff.) from which apparently it passed into current language,
and so was adopted by St. John in the Apocalypse. [Revelation 12:9] At first Satan is
the adversary and accuser of man, as Job 1:6-12;, Job 2:1-7 and Zechariah 3:1-2.
then he is recognised as the tempter, in 1 Chronicles 21:1, for example. But in no
case is he said to be the primary cause of evil. o plummet can sound the depths of
that dark pit in which lurks the source of sin.
Meanwhile a very different problem, the problem of suffering, is answered by
attributing this form of evil quite unreservedly and even emphatically to God. It is

to be remembered that our Lord, accepting the language of his contemporaries,
ascribes this to Satan, speaking of the woman afflicted with a spirit of infirmity as
one whom Satan had bound [Luke 13:16] and that similarly St. Paul writes of his
thorn in the flesh as a messenger of Satan, [2 Corinthians 12:7] to whom he also
assigns the hindrance of a projected journey. [1 Thessalonians 2:18] But in these
cases it is not in the least degree suggested that the evil spirit is an irresistible and
irresponsible being. The language only points to his immediate agency. The absolute
supremacy of God is never called in question. There is no real concession to Persian
dualism anywhere in the Bible. In difficult cases the sacred writers seem more
anxious to uphold the authority of God than to justify His actions. They are
perfectly convinced that those actions are all just and right, and not to be called in
question, and so they are quite fearless in attributing to His direct commands
occurrences that we should perhaps think more satisfactorily accounted for in some
other way. In such cases theirs is the language of unfailing faith, even when faith is
strained almost to breaking.
The unquestionable fact that good and evil both come from the mouth of the Most
High is based on the certain conviction that He is the Most High. Since it cannot be
believed that His decrees should be thwarted, it cannot be supposed that there is any
rival to His power. To speak of evil as independent of God is to deny that He is God.
This is what a system of pure dualism must come to. If there are two mutually
independent principles in the universe neither of them can be God. Dualism is as
essentially opposed to the idea we attach to the name "God" as polytheism. The
gods of the heathen are no gods, and so also are the imaginary twin divinities that
divide the universe between them, or contend in a vain endeavour to suppress one
another. "God," as we understand the title, is the name of the Supreme, the
Almighty, the King of kings and Lord of lords. The Zend-Avesta escapes the logical
conclusion of atheism by regarding its two principles, Ormuzd and Ahriman, as two
streams issuing from a common fountain, or as two phases of one existence. But then
it saves its theism at the expense of its dualism. In practice, however, this is not
done. The dualism, the mutual antagonism of the two powers, is the central idea of
the Parsee system; and being so, it stands in glaring contrast to the lofty monism of
the Bible.
evertheless, it may be said, although it is thus necessary to attribute evil as well as
good to God if we would not abandon the thought of His supremacy, a thought that
is essential to our conception of His very nature, this is a perplexing necessity, and
not one to be accepted with any sense of satisfaction. How then can the elegist
welcome it with acclamation and set it before us with an air of triumph? That he
does so is undeniable, for the spirit and tone of the poem here become positively
exultant.
We may reply that the writer appears as the champion of the Divine cause. o
attack on God’s supremacy is to be permitted. othing of the kind, however, has
been suggested. The writer is pursuing another aim, for he is anxious to still the
murmurs of discontent. But how can the thought of the supremacy of God have that
effect? One would have supposed the ascription to God of the trouble complained of

would deepen the sense of distress and turn the complaint against Him. Yet it is just
here that the elegist sees the unreasonableness of a complaining spirit.
Of course the uselessness of complaining, or rather the uselessness of attempting
resistance, may be impressed upon us in this way. If the source of our trouble is
nothing less than the Almighty and Supreme Ruler of all things it is stupid to dream
of thwarting His purposes. If a man will run his head like a battering-ram against a
granite cliff the most he can expect by his madness will be to bespatter the rock with
his brains. It may be necessary to warn the rebel against Providence of this danger
by shewing him that what he mistakes for a flimsy veil or a shadowy cloud is an
immovable wall. But what will he find to exult over in the information? The
hopelessness of resistance is no better than the consolation of pessimism, and its goal
of despair. Our author, on the other hand, evidently intends to be reassuring.
ow, is there not something reassuring in the thought that evil and good come to us
from one and the same source? For, consider the alternative. Remember, the evil
exists as surely as the good. The elegist does not attempt to deny this, or to minimise
the fact. He never calls evil good, never explains it away. There it stands before us,
in all its ugly actuality, speculations concerning its origin neither aggravating the
severity of its symptoms nor alleviating them. Whence, then, did this perplexing fact
arise? If we postulate some other source than the Divine origin of good, what is it? A
dreadful mystery here yawns at our feet. If evil came from an equally potent origin
it would contend with good on even terms, and the issue would always hang in the
balance. There could be nothing reassuring in that tantalising situation. The fate of
the universe would be always quivering in uncertainty. And meanwhile we should
have to conclude, that the most awful conflict with absolutely doubtful issues was
raging continually. We could only contemplate the idea of this vast schism with
terror and dismay. But now assuredly there is something calming in the thought of
the unity of the power that distributes our fortunes; for this means that a man is in
no danger of being tossed like a shuttlecock between two gigantic rival forces. There
must be a singleness of aim in the whole treatment of us by Providence, since
Providence is one. Thus, if only as an escape from an inconceivably appalling
alternative, this doctrine of the common source of good and evil is truly reassuring.
We may pursue the thought further. Since good and evil spring from one and the
same source, they cannot be so mutually contradictory as we have been accustomed
to esteem them. They are two children of a common parent; then they must be
brothers. But if they are so closely related a certain family likeness may be traced
between them. This does not destroy the actuality of evil. But it robs it of its worst
features. The pain may be as acute as ever in spite of all our philosophising. But the
significance of it will be wholly changed. We can now no longer treat it as an
accursed thing. If it is so closely related to good, we may not have far to go in order
to discover that it is even working for good.
Then if evil and good come from the same source it is not just to characterise that
source by reference to one only of its effluents. We must not take a rose-coloured
view of all things, and relapse into idle complacency, as we might do if we confined

our observation to the pleasant facts of existence, for the unpleasant facts-loss,
disappointment, pain, death-are equally real, and are equally derived from the
highest Authority. either are we justified in denying the existence of. the good
when overwhelmed with a sense of the evil in life. At worst we live in a very mixed
world. It is unscientific, it is unjust to pick out the ills of life and gibbet them as
specimens of the way things are going. If we will recite the first part of such an elegy
as that we are now studying, at least let us have the honesty to read on to the second
part, where the surpassingly lovely vision of the Divine compassion so much more
than counterbalances the preceding gloom. Is it only by accident that the poet says
"evil and good," and not, as we usually put the phrase, "good and evil"? Good shall
have the last word. Evil exists; but the finality and crown of existence is not evil, but
good.
The conception of the primary unity of causation which the Hebrew poet reaches
through his religion is brought home to us today with a vast accumulation of proof
by the discoveries of science. The uniformity of law, the co-relation of forces, the
analyses of the most diverse and complex organisms into their common chemical
elements, the evidence of the spectroscope to the existence of precisely the same
elements among the distant stars, as well as the more minute homologies of nature in
the animal and vegetable kingdoms, are all irrefutable confirmations of this great
truth. Moreover, science has demonstrated the intimate association of what we
cannot but regard as good and evil in the physical universe. Thus, while carbon and
oxygen are essential elements for the building up of all living things, the effect of
perfectly healthy vital functions working upon them is to combine them into
carbonic acid, which is a most deadly poison; but then this noxious gas becomes the
food of plants, from which the animal life in turn derives its nourishment. Similarly
microbes, which we commonly regard as the agents of corruption and disease, are
found to be not only nature’s scavengers, but also the indispensable ministers of life,
when, clustering round the roots of plants in vast crowds, they convert the organic
matter of the soil, such as manure, into those inorganic nitrates which contain
nitrogen in the form suitable for absorption by vegetable organisms. The mischief
wrought by germs, great as it is, is infinitely outweighed by the necessary service
existences of this kind render to all life by preparing some of its indispensable
conditions. The inevitable conclusion to be drawn from facts such as these is that
health and disease, and life and death, interact, are inextricably blended together,
and mutually transformable-what we call disease and death in one place being
necessary for life and health in another. The more clearly we understand the
processes of nature the more evident is the fact of her unity, and therefore the more
impossible is it for us to think of her objectionable characteristics as foreign to her
being-alien immigrants from another sphere. Physical evil itself looks less dreadful
when it is seen to take its place as an integral part of the complicated movement of
the whole system of the universe.
But the chief reason for regarding the prospect with more than satisfaction has yet
to be stated. It is derived from the character of Him to whom both the evil and the
good are attributed. We can go beyond the assertion that these contrarieties spring
from one common origin to the great truth that this origin is to be found in God. All

that we know of our Father in heaven comes to our aid in reflecting upon the
character of the actions thus attributed to Him. The account of God’s goodness that
immediately precedes this ascription of the two extreme experiences of life to Him
would be in the mind of the writer, and it should be in the mind of the reader also.
The poet has just been dwelling very emphatically on the indubitable justice of God.
When, therefore, he reminds us that both evil and good come from the Divine Being,
it is as though he said that they both originated in justice. A little earlier he was
expressing the most fervent appreciation of the mercy and compassion of God. Then
these gracious attributes should be in our thoughts while we hear that the mixed
experiences of life are to be traced back to Him of whom so cheering a view can be
taken.
We know the love of God much more fully since it has been revealed to us in Jesus
Christ. Therefore we have a much better reason for building our faith and hope on
the fact of the universal Divine origin of events. In itself the evil exists all the same,
whether we can trace its cause or not, and the discovery of the cause in no way
aggravates it. But this discovery may lead us to take a new view of its issues. If it
comes from One who is as just and merciful as He is mighty we may certainly
conclude that it will lead to the most blessed results. Considered in the light of the
assured character of its purpose, the evil itself must assume a totally different
character. The child who receives a distasteful draught from the hand of the kindest
of parents knows that it cannot be a cup of poison, and has good reason for
believing it to be a necessary medicine.
The last verse of the triplet startles the reader with an unexpected thought. The
considerations already adduced are all meant to check any complaint against the
course of Providence. ow the poet appends a final argument, which is all the more
forcible for not being stated as an argument. At the very end of the passage, when
we are only expecting the language to sink into a quiet conclusion, a new idea
springs out upon us, like a tiger from its lair. This trouble about which a man is so
ready to complain, as though it were some unaccountable piece of injustice, is
simply the punishment of his sin! Like the other ideas of the passage, the notion is
not tentatively argued; it is boldly taken for granted. Once again we see that there is
no suspicion in the mind of the elegist of the perplexing problem that gives its theme
to the Book of Job. But do we not sometimes press that problem too far? Can it be
denied that, to a large extent, suffering is a direct consequence and the natural
punishment of sin? Are we not often burnt for the simple reason that we have been
playing with fire? At all events, the whole course of previous prophecy went to shew
that the national sins of Israel must be followed by some dreadful disasters; and
when the war-cloud was hovering on the horizon Jeremiah saw in it the herald of
approaching doom. Then the thunderbolt fell; and the wreck it caused became the
topic of this Book of Lamentations. After such a preparation, what was more
natural, and reasonable, and even inevitable, than that the elegist should calmly
assume that the trouble complained of was no more than was due to the afflicted
people? This is clear enough when we think of the nation as a whole. It is not so
obvious when we turn our attention to individual cases; but the bewildering
problem of the sufferings of innocent children, which constitutes the most

prominent feature in the poet’s picture of the miseries of the Jews, is not here
revived.
We must suppose that he is thinking of a typical citizen of Jerusalem. If the guilty
city merited severe punishment, such a man as this would also merit it; for the
deserts of the city are only the deserts of her citizens. It will be for everybody to say
for himself how far the solution of the mystery of his own troubles is to be looked
for in this direction. A humble conscience will not be eager to repudiate the
possibility that its owner has not been punished beyond his deserts whatever may be
thought of other people, innocent children in particular. There is one word that may
bring out this aspect of the question with more distinctness-the word "living." The
poet asks. "Wherefore doth a living man complain?" Why does he attach this
attribute to the subject of his question? The only satisfactory explanation that has
been offered is that he would remind us that while the sufferer has his life preserved
to him he has no valid ground of complaint. He has not been overpaid; he has not
even been paid in full; for it is an Old Testament doctrine which the ew Testament
repeats when it declares that "the wages of sin is death.". [Romans 6:23]
PETT, "Lamentations 3:37-39
(Mem) Who is he who speaks, and it comes about,
When the Lord does not command it?
(Mem) Out of the mouth of the Most High,
Does there not come evil and good?
(Mem) Why does a living man complain,
A man for the punishment of his sins?
Thus no man should complain at his lot, because he should realise that in the end it
has come from God. Whenever someone speaks and brings something about we can
be sure that God is overall, and therefore that He has allowed it. We should see that
it is His purpose. For in the way of things both evil and good do ‘come from out of
the mouth of the Lord’. In other words, He gives permission for them and allows
them to happen, even in some cases stepping in and exerting His own will. This does
not, of course, mean that God is approving of moral evil, but only that He allows
things to happen, some of which are good and beneficial, and some of which are
harmful. And He does this for our good. It is because He is chastening us for our
sinfulness. Thus rather than complaining a man who still has life granted to him
should accept it and rejoice in it, and respond accordingly (compare James 1:2 ff.).
38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
that both calamities and good things come?

GILL, "Out of the mouth of the most High proceed not evil and good?
Certainly they do; they come to pass, both one and the other, as God has pronounced,
and his will determined; even "evils", as it is in the plural number; not the evil of sin, or
of fault; this comes not out of the mouth of God, but is forbidden and condemned by
him; much less is he the author of it, or tempter to it; indeed it is not without his
knowledge, nor in some sense without his will; not with his will of approbation, but by
his permissive will, which he suffers to be, and overrules for good; but evils here design
the judgments of God, or punishment inflicted on sinners, and chastisement on his own
people; the evil of affliction, or adverse dispensations of providence, Isa_45:7; they are
all by his appointment; he has said or determined what shall be the kind and nature of
them; the measure, how far they shall go; and the duration, how long they shall last; and
the end and use of them; see Job_2:10; and so all good comes from God, who is
goodness itself; all created good, as every creature of God is good; every good thing in
providence; all temporal good things; as to have a being; to be preserved in it; to have a
habitation to dwell in; to have food and raiment, health and long life; these are all by the
appointment of God, and according to the determination of his will: all spiritual good
things are purposed, promised, and prepared by him in council and covenant; the great
good of all, salvation by Christ; this is what God has appointed his son far, and his
people to, and fixed the time of it, and all things relating to it; the effectual calling of the
redeemed ones is according to his purpose and grace; the persons, thing itself, time,
place, and means; also eternal glory and happiness, which is the kingdom prepared, the
crown laid up, and inheritance reserved in heaven, according to the purpose of God; all
good things, in time and eternity, are as God has pronounced them.
Vheaoyp4f3evil ... good—Calamity and prosperity alike proceed from God (
Job_
2:10; Isa_45:7; Amo_3:6).
lhTjap4f3r;IfnZk-;ILfgm?gfL;mLfSZkbfL;Ifbk’L;fkSfL;e most High proceed good
and evil By “mouth” he means his decree. God indeed does not always declare that
he is a judge; he has often executed punishment on the wicked, as it were, in silence;
for there were no prophets among the heathens to proclaim the judgments he
brought on them. But though God does not always speak when he punishes the
wickedness of men, it is yet said that good and evil proceed from his mouth; because
he allots to men their punishment as it seems good to him; and then he spares others
or bears with them for a time. It follows, —
pao, r4f3jIZgIgftIxGB
rGiyRwGfi n prhpl fryfAharG
Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not evil and good? Wherefore doth a
living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins? Let us search and try
our ways, and turn again to the Lord.’
Lamentations 3:38-40
pkL;q.0fMk’JPfWIfbkZIfPqgbmJfL;m.fL;Ifk-I.q.0fkSfL;is third lament over the ruin

which had befallen the Holy City, and the dire calamities which had overtaken her
people; but there is some radiant shining at the heart of it. The author sings from
the heart of a fiery experience of his own, as well as that which he has shared with
his nation. He has been through deep waters. He has ‘seen affliction’ and ‘walked in
darkness.’ He comprehends the depths, if not the heights, of human experience, and
yet he has ‘kept the faith.’ He can still declare that the Lord is his portion, and that
his mercies are a ‘multitude,’ ‘new every morning.’
‘Is God the Father of my poor sisters in Whitechapel?’ a woman once asked, whose
heart had been torn by the daily sight of her sisters’ anguish. Certainly He is, we
must believe, or the world would go to pieces for our ‘poor sisters in Whitechapel,’
aye, and for all of us. But if we have taken a light, skimming view of life, if we have
lived where it is ‘always afternoon,’ it become us to be silent, or to speak only in the
name of those who have faced the sternest realities, and have yet believed. The
Hebrew singer is one with the great prophets in this, that he is in no confusion about
the source and meaning of Israel’s trouble. He does not find the good hand of God
in His deliverances alone. There is mercy even in the exile; in the sweeping disasters
which have overtaken the nation. He Who has been with His people in the calm is
with them in the storm. ay, He creates the storm, causes the grief, and the living
man has no ground of complaint though he be punished for his sins, for ‘the wages
of sin is death,’ and it is ‘of the Lord’s mercies’ that he is not consumed.
I. And here is the key to the man’s faith.—These are not songs of sorrow alone; they
are songs of confession and repentance, and therefore of hope. Here are the Jews in
Babylon, far away from the city they love. Their hearts are broken and their eyes
are dimmed with tears; but they are tears of remorse leading to a searching of heart
and a trying of their ways. The author would have them believe that exile is the
outcome of their sin. It is not faithfulness that has compassed their downfall. The
Lord has afflicted Zion not ‘willingly,’ but ‘for the multitude of her transgressions.’
There is some suffering, it does not need to be said, that is not for punishment. The
sharpest pang of the singer as he thinks of the miseries of Israel comes from the cry
of suffering children. Some of the noblest and saintliest lives have been shaped in
affliction. It is the accent of self-righteousness that finds in all your suffering the
punishment of sin. A man whose heart has never been broken should have little to
say to another man of his sins. And yet, surely, no man need ask why he suffers. If
you have sinned, your own heart will tell you plainly what is the sin for which you
suffer. If you have not sinned, you will have something still to do with your sorrow.
There were some devout Jews who were not the cause of Israel’s exile, and they too
had lessons to learn which have enriched all posterity. But the lesson for all of us is
this: that transgression leads to exile; that the broad way narrows; that to the man
who persists in sin there must come a day when he will be confronted by fearful
threatenings and apprehensions, and when the judgments of the Most High will
breathe within him their Divine protest against his sin. Oh, listen! there is suffering
which is for sin. This man is speaking of facts; addressing living men, conscious of
grievous wrongdoing, bidding them take all the punishment honestly and humbly,
and count it a mercy ‘new every morning’ that a throbbing heart and beating pulse

are God’s assurance that He will have compassion, if they will return to the Lord.
II. The one hope of our coming to this faith in His compassions is in confession and
repentance.—The Gospel of forgiveness and peace will never find the man who does
not know the bitterness and guilt of sin. The experiences we have with conscience
are to produce in us that ‘godly sorrow’ which ‘worketh repentance unto salvation.’
This, indeed, is the Gospel for all of us. Whatever be our trouble, repentance is our
first need. You may not be able to trace your sorrow to any particular sin. It may
not be due to any sin of yours at all; but I tell you, the one spirit to which God’s
reason for causing any grief is never revealed, is the spirit that has not known, and
will not know repentance. Who are we, the best of us, to say that this or that trial of
life has nothing to do with our sin?
elugF2GlHg3lGwM1l3gl“wkkl@FGW_1H3lF“gHl5gFpl gl_wHlhas a right to cast the stone of
condemnation unless he be ‘without sin’; but for myself, when the iron has entered
my soul, and it shall come my turn to stand in the darkness, may I have the humility
to search and test my ways and turn to the Lord! It is only to the penitent soul that
the secret of the Lord’s compassions can be revealed.
Illustration
‘When Jeremiah says, Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord;
let us lift up our hearts with our hands unto God in the heavens, he reminds us of
the proper method to be observed in prayer, namely, sincere confession of sin and
repentance must precede our petitions. For we know that God does not hear
impenitent sinners (St. John 9:31). This method God Himself also has taught us to
observe, since He says in Isaiah 1:15, If ye make many prayers, I will not hear you.
Why! For your hands are full of blood. But He immediately adds good counsel:
Wash and make yourselves clean, put away your evil doings from before Mine eyes,
then come, and let us reason together.’
39 Why should the living complain
when punished for their sins?
mho tf6l7
Lam_3:39
So long as God spares a man’s life, why does he complain? The chastisement is really
for his good; only let him use it aright, and he will be thankful for it in the end.

A man for the punishment of his sins -Translate: Let “each man sigh for,” i. e.
because of, “his sins.” Instead of complaining because God sends him sorrow, let him
rather mourn over the sins which have made punishment necessary. The sense of the
King James Version is, Why does a man ... complain “for his sins?” i. e. for the necessary
results of them in chastisement.
CLARKE, "Wherefore doth a living man complain -He who has his life still
lent to him has small cause of complaint. How great soever his affliction may be, he is
still alive; therefore, he may seek and find mercy unto eternal life. Of this, death would
deprive him; therefore let not a living man complain.
GILL, "Wherefore doth a living man complain?.... Or murmur, or fret and vex, or
bemoan himself; all which the word
(k) may signify; as the prophet had done in his own
person; or as representing the church, Lam_3:1; and here checks himself for it; and
especially since the mercies and compassions of God never fail, and are daily renewed;
and the Lord himself is the portion of his people, Lam_3:23; and seeing he is good to
them that seek him, and it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of God, and to bear
the yoke patiently, Lam_3:25; and because of the unwillingness of God to afflict men,
and his sympathy and compassion towards them under affliction, Lam_3:32; and
especially since all is from the sovereignty of God, who does according to his will; and
from whom all good and evil come, Lam_3:37; he is not to be complained of, or against,
for anything he does; or to be murmured at; nor should men vex and fret themselves at
their own adversity, or at the prosperity of others; or bemoan themselves, as if no case
was like theirs, or so bad. It does not become "a man", a reasonable creature, a man
grown up, to behave in this manner; as such should quit themselves like men, and
conduct as such; a "man" that God is so mindful of, and cares for, and visits every
moment, and follows with his goodness continually; a "man", sinful man, that has
rendered himself unworthy of the least favour; and yet such is the lovingkindness,
favour, and good will of God to man, that he has provided his own Son to be his Saviour;
and therefore man, of all God's creatures, has no reason to complain of him; and is a
"living" man too, in a natural sense; is upheld in life by the Lord, and has the common
mercies of life; is in health, or however in the land of the living; out of hell, where he
deserves to be; and therefore should praise, and not complain, Isa_38:19; especially if he
is a living man in a spiritual sense; has a principle of spiritual life implanted in him;
Christ lives in him, and his life is hid with him in God, and has a right and title to eternal
life:
a man for the punishment of his sins? the word "punishment" is not in the text;
but, admitting the supplement, if a man is a wicked man (and so the Targum interprets
it), and is punished for his sins, no injustice is done him; he has no reason to complain;
and especially of his punishment in this world, which is greatly less than his sins
deserve, Ezr_9:13; and if he is a good man, and is chastised for his sins, he ought not to
complain "for the chastisement" of them; since it is the chastisement of a father, is in
love, and for his good: but the words may be rendered literally, "a man for", or "of his
sins" (l); and be considered as a distinct clause, and as an answer to the former, so
Jarchi; if a man will complain, let him complain of his sins; of the corruptions of his
heart; of the body of sin and death he carries about with him of his daily iniquities; let
him mourn over them, and bemoan himself for them; and if he does this in an evangelic

manner, he is happy; for he shall be comforted.
G pic4f3We must not quarrel with God for any affliction that he lays upon us at any
time (Lam_3:39): Wherefore does a living man complain? The prophet here seems to
check himself for the complaint he had made in the former part of the chapter, wherein
he seemed to reflect upon God as unkind and severe. “Do I well to be angry? Why do I
fret thus?” Those who in their haste have chidden with God must, in the reflection, chide
themselves for it. From the doctrine of God's sovereign and universal providence, which
he had asserted in the verses before, he draws this inference, Wherefore does a living
man complain? What God does we must not open our mouths against, Psa_39:9. Those
that blame their lot reproach him that allotted it to them. The sufferers in the captivity
must submit to the will of God in all their sufferings. Note, Though we may pour out our
complaints before God, we must never exhibit any complaints against God. What! Shall
a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins? The reasons here urged
are very cogent. 1. We are men; let us herein show ourselves men. Shall a man
complain? And again, a man! We are men, and not brutes, reasonable creatures, who
should act with reason, who should look upward and look forward, and both ways may
fetch considerations enough to silence our complaints. We are men, and not children
that cry for every thing that hurts them. We are men, and not gods, subjects, not lords;
we are not our own masters, not our own carvers; we are bound and must obey, must
submit. We are men, and not angels, and therefore cannot expect to be free from
troubles as they are; we are not inhabitants of that world where there is no sorrow, but
this where there is nothing but sorrow. We are men, and not devils, are not in that
deplorable, helpless, hopeless, state that they are in, but have something to comfort
ourselves with which they have not. 2. We are living men. Through the good hand of our
God upon us we are alive yet, though dying daily; and shall a living man complain? No;
he has more reason to be thankful for life than to complain of any of the burdens and
calamities of life. Our lives are frail and forfeited, and yet we are alive; now the living, the
living, they should praise, and not complain (Isa_38:19); while there is life there is
hope, and therefore, instead of complaining that things are bad, we should encourage
ourselves with the hope that they will be better. 3. We are sinful men, and that which we
complain of is the just punishment of our sins; nay, it is far less than our iniquities have
deserved. We have little reason to complain of our trouble, for it is our own doing; we
may thank ourselves. Our own wickedness corrects us, Pro_19:3. We have no reason to
quarrel with God, for he is righteous in it; he is the governor of the world, and it is
necessary that he should maintain the honour of his government by chastising the
disobedient. Are we suffering for our sins? Then let us not complain; for we have other
work to do; instead of repining, we must be repenting; and, as an evidence that God is
reconciled to us, we must be endeavouring to reconcile ourselves to his holy will. Are we
punished for our sins? It is our wisdom then to submit, and to kiss the rod; for, if we still
walk contrary to God, he will punish us yet seven times more; for when he judges he will
overcome. But, if we accommodate ourselves to him, though we be chastened of the
Lord we shall not be condemned with the world.
Vheaoyp4f3living— and so having a time yet given him by God for repentance. If
sin were punished as it deserves, life itself would be forfeited by the sinner.
“Complaining” (murmuring) ill becomes him who enjoys such a favor as life (
Pro_19:3).
for the punishment of his sins— Instead of blaming God for his sufferings, he
ought to recognize in them God’s righteousness and the just rewards of his own sin.

CALVI, "Some explain the verb ןנואתי, itaunen, by giving it the sense of lying,
“Why should man lie?” others, “Why should man murmur?” But I see not what
sense there can be in rendering it lying or murmuring. Others translate thus, “Why
should man harden himself?” but it is a mere conjecture. ow, this verb sometimes
means to weary one’s self, in Hithpael. So in the eleventh chapter of umbers, “The
people murmured,” as some render the words; but I think differently; nor is there a
doubt but that Moses meant that the people were wearied, so that they in a manner
pined away; and this meaning is the most suitable here. For the Prophet had before
rebuked those who imagined that God, having relinquished the care of the world,
led an inactive and easy life in heaven; but now, in order to rouse the minds of all,
he points out the remedy for this madness, even that men should not willingly weary
themselves in their sins, but acknowledge that their wickedness is shewn to them
whenever any adversity comes upon them. And surely men would not be so
infatuated as to exclude God from the government of the world, were they to know
themselves and seriously to call to mind their own deeds and words; for God would
soon exhibit to them sure and notorious examples of his judgment. Whence then
comes it, that we are so dull and stupid in considering the works of God? nay, that
we think that God is like a spectre or an idol? even because we rot in our sins and
contract a voluntary dullness; for we champ the bit, according to the old proverb.
We now, then, perceive why the Prophet joins this sentence, Why does a living man
weary himself? (193) and a man in his sins? for as long as men thus remain in their
own dregs, they will never acknowledge God as the judge of the world, and thus
they always go astray through their own perverse imaginations. If, then, we wish to
dissipate all the mists which prevent us from seeing God’s providence, (that is, by
the eyes of faith,) let every one be his own witness and the judge of his own life, and
carefully examine himself; it will then immediately occur to us, that God is not
without reason angry with us, and that we are afflicted with so many adversities,
because our sins will come forth before us. We here see the cause of that madness
which makes men to exclude God’s providence from human affairs, even because
they look not on themselves, but torment themselves without any benefit and
become wearied in their sins, and do not raise up their eyes to God. The rest,
connected with our subject, I must defer till to-morrow.
39.Why complain should man,
Any man alive, for his sin?
That is, on account of suffering for his sin. Thus God is justified in ordaining or
commanding evil as well as good, that is, the evil of punishment. — Ed.

40 Let us examine our ways and test them,
and let us return to the Lord.
תeֳaiוαיλThe prophet urges men to search out their faults and amend them.
Lam_3:40
And turn again to the Lord -Or, “and return to Yahweh.” The prep. (to) in the
Hebrew implies not half way, but the whole.
CLARKE, "Let us search -How are we to get the pardon of our sins? The prophet
tells us:
1. Let us examine ourselves.
2. “Let us turn again to the Lord.”
3. “Let us lift up our heart;” let us make fervent prayer and supplication for mercy.
4. “Let us lift up our hand;” let us solemnly promise to be his, and bind ourselves in a
covenant to be the Lord’s only: so much lifting up the hand to God implies. Or, let
us put our heart on our hand, and offer it to God; so some have translated this
clause.
5. “We have transgressed;” let our confession of sin be fervent and sincere.
6. And to us who profess Christianity it may be added, Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ as having died for thee; and thou shalt not perish, but have everlasting life.
Lam_3:46, Lam_3:47, Lam_3:48, beginning with פ phe, should, as to the order of the
alphabet, follow Lam_3:49, Lam_3:50, Lam_3:51, which begin with ע ain, which in its
grammatical position precedes the former.
GILL, "Let us search and try our ways,.... stead of murmuring and complaining, let
us search for something that may support and comfort, teach and instruct, under
afflictive providences; let us search into the love of God, which, though it cannot be fully
searched out, it will be found to be from everlasting to everlasting; and that all afflictions
spring from it; and that it continues notwithstanding them: let us search into the
covenant of grace, in which provision is made for afflictions in case of disobedience, and
for supports under them: let us search the Scriptures, which are written for our comfort;
and it is much if we do not find some in the instances, examples, and experiences of
other saints therein recorded: let us search after a greater degree of the knowledge of
Christ, and of his grace; so shall we be more conformable to his sufferings and death,
and patient under our troubles: let us search into our own hearts, and examine
ourselves, whether we have true repentance for sin, true faith in Christ; and whether he
is in us, or not; and we have a part in him, which will make us easy in every state: let us
search into the present dispensation, in order to find out the cause of it, which is sin; and

the end of it, which God has in it for our good: let us search "our ways", and "try them",
by the word of God, the standard of faith and practice; and see what agreement there is
between them: let us try our thoughts, words, and actions, by the law of God, which is
holy, spiritual, just, and good; and we shall see how abundantly short they come of it:
and let us try "our ways", and compare them with the ways of God, which he has
prescribed in his word; and we shall find that the one are holy, the other unholy; the one
plain, the other crooked; the one dark, the other light; the one pleasant, and peace is in
them, the other not; the one lead to life, the other to death; see Isa_55:7;
and turn again to the Lord; by repentance, as the Targum adds; let us turn out of our
sinful ways, upon a search and examination of them; and turn to the Lord, his ways and
worship, from whom we have departed, and against whom we have sinned;
acknowledging our iniquities, who receives graciously, is ready to forgive, and does
abundantly pardon.
G pic4f3We must set ourselves to answer God's intention in afflicting us, which is
to bring sin to our remembrance, and to bring us home to himself,
Lam_3:40. These are
the two things which our afflictions should put us upon. 1. A serious consideration of
ourselves and a reflection upon our past lives. Let us search and try our ways, search
what they have been, and then try whether they have been right and good or no; search
as for a malefactor in disguise, that flees and hides himself, and then try whether guilty
or not guilty. Let conscience be employed both to search and to try, and let it have leave
to deal faithfully, to accomplish a diligent search and to make an impartial trial. Let us
try our ways, that by them we may try ourselves, for we are to judge of our state not by
our faint wishes, but by our steps, not by one particular step, but by our ways, the ends
we aim at, the rules we go by, and the agreeableness of the temper of our minds and the
tenour of our lives to those ends and those rules. When we are in affliction it is
seasonable to consider our ways (Hag_1:5), that what is amiss may be repented of and
amended for the future, and so we may answer the intention of the affliction. We are apt,
in times of public calamity, to reflect upon other people's ways, and lay blame upon
them; whereas our business is to search and try our own ways. We have work enough to
do at home; we must each of us say, “What have I done? What have I contributed to the
public flames?” that we may each of us mend one, and then we should all be mended. 2.
A sincere conversion to God: “Let us turn again to the Lord, to him who is turned
against us and whom we have turned from; to him let us turn by repentance and
reformation, as to our owner and ruler. We have been with him, and it has never been
well with us since we forsook him; let us therefore now turn again to him.” This must
accompany the former and be the fruit of it; therefore we must search and try our ways,
that we may turn from the evil of them to God. This was the method David took. Psa_
119:59, I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies.
VheaoypfGBxGR4f3us— Jeremiah and his fellow countrymen in their calamity.
search— as opposed to the torpor wherewith men rest only on their outward
sufferings, without attending to the cause of them (Psa_139:23, Psa_139:24).
K&D 40-42, "Confession of sins, and complaint against the cruelty of enemies, as well
as over the deep misery into which all the people have sunk. Lam_3:40-42. The
acknowledgment of guilt implies to prayer, to which also there is a summons in Lam_

3:40, Lam_3:41. The transitional idea is not, "Instead of grumbling in a sinful spirit, let
us rather examine our conduct" (Thenius); for the summons to examine one's conduct is
thereby placed in contrast with Lam_3:39, and the thought, "let every one mourn over
his own sins," transformed into a prohibition of sinful complaint. The real transition link
is given by Rosenmüller: quum mala nostra a peccatis nostris oriantur, culpas nostras
et scrutemur et corrigamus. The searching of our ways, i.e., of our conduct, if it be
entered on in an earnest spirit, must end in a return to the Lord, from whom we have
departed. It is self-evident that ד ַע הוהי does not stand for W m? uwf sf, but means as far as (even
to) Jahveh, and indicates thorough conversion - no standing half-way. The lifting up of
the heart to the hands, also, - not merely of the hands to God, - expresses earnest prayer,
that comes from the heart. םִי ַC ַ8־ל ֶא, to the hands (that are raised towards heaven). "To
God in heaven," where His almighty throne is placed (Psa_2:4), that He may look down
from thence (Lam_3:59) and send help. With Lam_3:42begins the prayer, as is shown
by the direct address to God in the second member. There is no need, however, on this
account, for supplying רּמא ֵל before the first member; the command to pray is
immediately followed by prayer, beginning with the confession of sins, and the
recognition of God's chastisement; cf. Psa_106:6; Dan_9:5. וּנ ְחַנ is contrasted with ה ָ2 .
"Thou hast not pardoned," because Thy justice must inflict punishment.
lhTjap4f3r;IfnZk-;ILf.kHfg;IHgfbkZIfMJImZJ?fH;mLfL;e reproof meant which we
shortly explained yesterday: he said that men act absurdly while they weary
themselves in their sins; he now adds that they would do rightly if they inquired into
their own life, and faithfully examined themselves.
For hence is trouble and weariness, when men feel and deplore their outward evils,
but consider not the cause, that is, when they consider not that they are justly
chastised by God’s hand. Then the examination now mentioned is set in opposition
to the torpor and weariness with which men in vain torment themselves, and in
which they pine away, because they reflect not on their vices. Hence it is that they
attain nothing but weariness — and that is a sorrow to death, as Paul says; but
sorrow to life proceeds from the self-examination to which the Prophet now invites
and exhorts us.
He then says that the only true remedy in adversities is when men carefully examine
themselves, and consider what they deserve. (194) He also mentions conversion; for
they who are really touched with the fear of God do not stop at this examination,
but rise higher; for as God calls them back to the right way, when they acknowledge
that they have departed from him, they flee to his mercy, loathe themselves on
account of their vices, and seek after newness of life. Thus our Prophet prescribes to
us a certain order, — that we are to examine our whole life, and that, being
influenced by the fear of God, we are to return to him; for while he treats us with
severity, he still kindly invites us by ever offering to sinners a free pardon. He
afterwards adds, —
Let us uncover our ways, and search.

The cover was first to be stripped off, and then was a search to be made as to the
character of their ways. — Ed.
COFFMA, "Verse 40
III
A CALL FOR COVERSIO[34]
"Let us search and try our ways
and turn again to Jehovah.
Let us lift up our heart
with our hands unto God in heaven.
We have transgressed and have rebelled;
and thou hast not pardoned."
Jeremiah in these verses makes a plea for Israel to return to God, a tacit admission
that they had indeed turned away from him. Furthermore, it is a heart-felt and
sincere return that is required. "Spreading out the hands is not enough by itself
(Isaiah 1:25)."[35] It is one's heart that must be lifted up to God, not merely his
hands.
EXPOSITOR'S BIBLE COMMETARY, "Verses 40-42
THE RETUR
Lamentations 3:40-42
WHE prophets, speaking in the name of God, promised the exiles a restoration to
their land and the homes of their fathers, it was always understood and often
expressly affirmed that this reversal of their outward fortunes must be preceded by
an inner change, a return to God in penitent submission. Expulsion from Canaan
was the chastisement of apostasy from God; it was only right and reasonable that
the discipline should be continued as long as the sin that necessitated it remained. It
would be a mistake, however, to relegate the treatment of this deadly sin to a
secondary place, as only the cause of a more serious trouble. There could be no more
serious trouble. The greatest evil from which Israel suffered was not the Babylonian
exile; it was her self-inflicted banishment from God. The greatest blessing to be
sought for her was not liberty to return to the hills and cities of Palestine; it was
permission and power to come back to God. It takes us long to learn that sin is
worse than punishment, and that to be brought home to our Father in heaven is a
more desirable good than any earthly recovery of prosperity. But the soul that can
say with the elegist, "The Lord is my portion," has reached the vantage ground
from which the best things can be seen in their true proportions; and to such a soul

no advent of temporal prosperity can compare with the gaining of its one prized
possession. In the triplet of verses that follows the pointed phrase which rebukes
complaint for suffering by attributing it to sin the poet conducts us to those high
regions where the more spiritual truth concerning these matters can be appreciated.
The form of the language here passes into the plural. Already we have been made to
feel that the man who has seen affliction is a representative sufferer, although he is
describing his own personal distresses. The immediately preceding clause seems to
point to the sinful Israelite generally, in its vague reference to a "living man."
[Lamentations 3:39] ow there is a transition in the movement of the elegy, and the
solitary voice gives place to a chorus, the Jews as a body appearing before God to
pour out their confessions in common. According to his usual method the elegist
makes the transition quite abruptly, without any explanatory preparation. The style
resembles that of an oratorio, in which solo and chorus alternate with close
sequence. In the present instance the effect is not that of dramatic variety, because
we feel the vital sympathy that the poet cherishes for his people, so that their
experience is as his experience. It is a faint shadow of the condition of the great Sin-
bearer, of whom it could be said, "In all their affliction He was afflicted." [Isaiah
63:9] Before it is possible to return to God, before the desire to return is even
awakened, a much less inviting action must be undertaken. The first and greatest
hindrance to reconciliation with our Father is our failure to recognise that any such
reconciliation is necessary. The most deadening effect of sin is seen in the fact that it
prevents the sinner from perceiving that he is at enmity with God at all, although by
everything he does he proclaims his rebellion. The Pharisee of the parable cannot be
justified, cannot really approach God at all, because he will not admit that he needs
any justification, or is guilty of any conduct that separates him from God. Just as
the most hopeless state of ignorance is that in which there is a serene
unconsciousness of any deficiency of knowledge, so the most abandoned condition of
guilt is the inability to perceive the very existence of guilt. The sick man who ignores
his disease will not. resort to a physician for the cure of it. If the soul’s quarrel with
her Lord is ever to be ended it must be discovered. Therefore the first step will be in
the direction of self-examination.
We are led to look in this direction by the startling thought with which the previous
triplet closes. If the calamities bewailed are the chastisements of sin it is necessary
for this sin to be sought out. The language of the elegist suggests that we are not
aware of the nature of our own conduct, and that it is only by some serious effort
that we can make ourselves acquainted with it, for this is what he implies when he
represents the distressed people resolving to "search and try" their ways. Easy as it
may seem in words, experience proves that nothing is more difficult in practice than
to fulfil the precept of the philosopher, "Know thyself." The externalism in which
most of our lives are spent makes the effort to look within a painful contradiction of
habit. When it is attempted pride and prejudice face the inquirer, and too often
quite hide the true self from view. If the pursuit is pushed on in spite of these
hindrances the result may prove to be a sad surprise. Sometimes we see ourselves
unexpectedly revealed, and then the sight of so great a novelty amazes us. The
photographer’s proof of a portrait dissatisfies the subject, not because it is a bad

likeness, but rather because it is too faithful to be pleasing. A wonderful picture of
Rossetti’s represents a young couple who are suddenly confronted in a lonely forest
by the apparition of their two selves as simply petrified with terror at the appalling
spectacle.
Even when the effort to acquire self-knowledge is strenuous and persevering, and
accompanied by an honest resolution to accept the results, however unwelcome they
may be, it often fails for lack of a standard of judgment. We compare ourselves with
ourselves-our present with our past. or at best our actual life with our ideals. But
this is a most illusory process, and its limits are too narrow. Or we compare
ourselves with our neighbours-a possible advance, but still a most unsatisfactory
method; for we know so little of them, all of us dwelling more or less like stars apart,
and none of us able to sound the abysmal depths of another’s personality. Even if we
could fix this standard it too would be very illusory, because those people with
whom we are making the comparison, quite as much as we ourselves, may be astray,
just as a whole planetary system, though perfectly balanced in the mutual relations
of its own constituent worlds, may yet be our of its orbit, and rushing on all together
towards some awful common destruction.
A more trustworthy standard may be found in the heart-searching words of
Scripture, which prove to be as much a revelation of man to himself as one of God to
man. This Divine test reaches its perfection in the historical presentation of our
Lord. We discover our actual characters most effectually when we compare our
conduct with the conduct of Jesus Christ. As the Light of the world, He leads the
world to see itself. He is the great touchstone of character. During His earthly life
hypocrisy was detected by His searching glance; but that was not admitted by the
hypocrite. It is when He comes to us spiritually that His promise is fulfilled, and the
Comforter convinces of sin as well as of righteousness and judgment. Perhaps it is
not so eminently desirable as Burns would have us believe, that we should see
ourselves as others see us; but it is supremely important to behold ourselves in the
pure, searching light of the Spirit of Christ.
We may be reminded, on the other hand, that too much introspection is not
wholesome, that it begets morbid ways of thought, paralyses the energies, and
degenerates into insipid sentimentality. o doubt it is best that the general tendency
of the mind should be towards the active duties of life. But to admit this is not to
deny that there may be occasions when the most ruthless self-examination becomes a
duty of first importance. A season of severe chastisement such as that to which the
Book of Lamentations refers, is one that calls most distinctly for the exercise of this
rare duty. We cannot make our daily meal of drugs; but drugs may be most
necessary in sickness. Possibly, if we were in a state of perfectly sound spiritual
health, it might be well for us never to spare a thought for ourselves from our
complete absorption with the happy duties of a full and busy life. But since we are
far from being thus healthy, since we err and fail and sin, time devoted to the
discovery of our faults may be exceedingly well spent.
Then while a certain kind of self-study is always mischievous-the sickly habit of

brooding over one’s feelings-it is to be observed that the elegist does not recommend
this. His language points in quite another direction. It is not emotion but action that
he is concerned with. The searching is to be into our "ways," the course of our
conduct. There is an objectivity in this inquiry, though it is turned inward, that
contrasts strongly with the investigation of shadowy sentiments. Conduct, too, is the
one ground of the judgment of God. Therefore the point of supreme importance to
ourselves is to determine whether conduct is right or wrong. With this branch of
self-examination we are not in so much danger of falling into complete delusions as
when we are considering less tangible questions. Thus this is at once the most
wholesome, the most necessary, and the most practicable process of introspection.
The particular form of conduct here referred to should be noted. The word "ways"
suggests habit and continuity. These are more characteristic than isolated deeds-
short spasms of virtue or sudden falls before temptation. The final judgment will be
according to the life, not its exceptional episodes. A man lives his habits. He may be
capable of better things, he may be liable to worse; but he is what he does
habitually. The world will applaud him for some outburst of heroism in which he
rises for the moment above the sordid level of his everyday life, or execrate him for
his shameful moment of self-forgetfulness; and the world will have this amount of
justice in its action, that the capacity for the occasional is itself a permanent
attribute, although the opportunity for the active working of the latent good or evil
is rare. The startling outburst may be a revelation of old but hitherto hidden
"ways." It must be so to some extent; for no man wholly belies his own nature
unless he is mad-beside himself, as we say. Still it may not be so entirely, or even
chiefly; the surprised self may not be the normal self, often is not. Meanwhile our
main business in self-examination is to trace the course of the unromantic beaten
track, the long road on which we travel from morning to evening through the whole
day of life.
The result of this search into the character of their ways on the part of the people is
that it is found to be necessary to forsake them forthwith; for the next idea is in the
form of a resolution to turn out of them, nay, to turn back, retracing the footsteps
that have gone astray, in order to come to God again. These ways are discovered,
then, to be bad-vicious in themselves, and wrong in their direction. They run down-
hill, away from the home of the soul, and towards the abodes of everlasting
darkness. When this fact is perceived it becomes apparent that some complete
change must be made. This is a case of ending our old ways, not mending them.
Good paths may be susceptible of improvement. The path of the just should "shine
more and more unto the perfect day." But here things are too hopelessly bad for any
attempt at amelioration. o engineering skill will ever transform the path that
points straight to perdition into one that conducts us up to the heights of heaven.
The only chance of coming to walk in the right way is to forsake the wrong way
altogether, and make an entirely new start. Here, then, we have the Christian
doctrine of conversion - a doctrine which always appears extravagant to people who
take superficial views of sin, but one that will be appreciated just in proportion to
the depth and seriousness of our ideas of its guilt. othing contributes more to
unreality in religion than strong language on the nature of repentance apart from a

corresponding consciousness of the tremendous need of a most radical change. This
deplorable mischief must be brought about when indiscriminate exhortations to the
extreme practice of penitence are addressed to mixed congregations. It cannot be
right to press the necessity of conversion upon young children and the carefully
sheltered and lovingly trained youth of Christian homes in the language that applies
to their unhappy brothers and sisters who have already made shipwreck of life. This
statement is liable to misapprehension; doubtless to some readers it will savour of
the light views of sin deprecated above, and point to the excuses of the Pharisee.
evertheless it must be considered if we would avoid the characteristic sin of the
Pharisee, hypocrisy. It is unreasonable to suppose that the necessity of a complete
conversion can be felt by the young and comparatively innocent as it should be felt
by abandoned profligates, and the attempt of the preacher to force it on their
relatively pure consciences is a direct incentive to cant. The fifty-first Psalm is the
confession of his crime by a murderer; Augustine’s "Confessions" are the
outpourings of a man who feels that he has been dragging his earlier life through
the mire; Bunyan’s "Grace Abounding" reveals the memories of a rough soldier’s
shame and folly. o good can come of the unthinking application of such utterances
to persons whose history and character are entirely different from those of the
authors.
On the other hand, there are one or two further considerations which should be
borne in mind. Thus it must not be forgotten that the greatest sinner is not
necessarily the man whose guilt is most glaringly apparent; nor that sins of the heart
count with God as equivalent to obviously wicked deeds committed in the full light
of day; nor that guilt cannot be estimated absolutely, by the bare evil done, without
regard to the opportunities, privileges, and temptations of the offender. Then, the
more we meditate upon the true nature of sin, the more deeply must we be
impressed with its essential evil even when it is developed only slightly in
comparison with the hideous crimes and vices that blacken the pages of history-as,
for example, in the careers of a ero or a Caesar Borgia. The sensitive conscience
does not only feel the exact guilt of its individual offences, but also, and much more,
"the exceeding sinfulness of sin." When we consider their times and the state of the
society in which they lived, we must feel that neither Augustine nor Bunyan had
been so wicked as the intensity of the language of penitence they both employed
might lead us to suppose. It is quite foreign to the nature of heartfelt repentance to
measure degrees of guilt. In the depth of its shame and humiliation no language of
contrition seems to be too strong to give it adequate expression. But this must be
entirely spontaneous; it is most unwise to impose it from without in the form of an
indiscriminate appeal to abject penitence.
Then it is also to be observed that while the fundamental change described in the
ew Testament as a new birth cannot well be regarded as a thing of repeated
occurrence, we may have occasion for many conversions. Every time we turn into
the wrong path we put ourselves under the necessity of turning back if ever we
would walk in the right path again. What is that but conversion? It is a pity that we
should be hampered by the technicality of a term. This may lead to another kind of
error-the error of supposing that if we are once converted we are converted for life,

that we have crossed our Rubicon, and cannot recross it. Thus while the necessity of
a primary conversion may be exaggerated in addresses to the young, the greater
need of subsequent conversions may be neglected in the thoughts of adults. The
"converted" person who relies on the one act of his past experience to serve as a
talisman for all future time is deluding himself in a most dangerous manner. Can it
be asserted that Peter had not been "converted," in the technical sense, when he fell
through undue self-confidence, and denied his Master with "oaths and curses?"
Again-a very significant fact-the return is described in positive language. It is a
coming back to God, not merely a departure from the old way of sin. The initial
impulse towards a better life springs more readily from the attraction of a new hope
than from the repulsion of a loathed evil. The hopeful repentance is exhilarating,
while that which is only born of the disgust and horror of sin is dismally depressing.
Lurid pictures of evil rarely beget penitence. The "ewgate Calendar" is not to be
credited with the reformation of criminals. Even Dante’s "Inferno" is no gospel. In
prosecuting his mission as the prophet of repentance John the Baptist was not
content to declare that the axe was laid at the root of the tree; the pith of his
exhortation was found in the glad tidings that "the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
St. Paul shows that it is the goodness of God that leads us to repentance. Besides, the
repentance that is induced by this means is of the best character. It escapes the
craven slavishness of fear; it is not a merely selfish shrinking from the lash; it is
inspired by the pure love of a worthy end. Only remorse lingers in the dark region
of regrets for the past. Genuine repentance always turns a hopeful look towards a
better future. It is of little use to exorcise the spirit of evil if the house is not to be
tenanted by the spirit of good. Thus the end and purpose of repentance is to be
reunited with God.
Following up his general exhortation to return to God, the elegist adds a particular
one, in which the process of the new movement is described. It takes the form of a
prayer from the heart. The resolution is to lift up the heart with the hands. The
erect posture, with the hands stretched out to heaven, which was the Hebrew
attitude in prayer, had often been assumed in meaningless acts of formal worship
before there was any real approach to God or any true penitence. ow the
repentance will be manifested by the reality of the prayer. Let the heart also be
lifted up. The true approach to God is an act of the inner life, to which in its
entirety-thought, affection, and will-the Jewish metaphor of the heart points.
Lastly, the poet furnishes the returning penitents with the very language of the
heart’s prayer, which is primarily confession. The doleful fact that God has not
pardoned His people is directly stated, but not in the first place. This statement is
preceded by a clear and unreserved confession of sin. Repentance must be followed
by confession. It is not a private matter concerning the offender alone. Since the
offence was directed against another, the amendment must begin with a humble
admission of the wrong that has been done. Thus, immediately the prodigal son is
met by his father he sobs out his confession; [Luke 15:21] and St. John assigns
confession as an essential preliminary to forgiveness, saying: "If we confess our sins,
He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all

unrighteousness.". [1 John 1:9]
PETT, "Verses 40-51
The People Are Called On To Seek YHWH, And They Face Up To The Situation
That They Are In Whilst The Prophet Himself Continues To Plead For Them
(Lamentations 3:40-51).
The prophet now calls on the people to examine themselves and to seek YHWH and
pray sincerely to Him from the heart, not just by lifting up their hands formally.
They are to recognise and acknowledge why He does not hear them. It is because
they have rebelled and transgressed against Him. They are also to recognise their
present position, that He pursues them, slaying and covering His ears against their
cries, while He makes them like refuse among the peoples. This then brings the
prophet himself to tears, as he prays on behalf of his people, contemplating their
destruction. He is determined to go on praying without stopping until YHWH looks
down from Heaven and sees the situation.
Lamentations 3:40-42
(un) Let us search and try our ways,
And turn again to YHWH.
(un) Let us lift up our heart with our hands,
To God in the heavens.
(un) (saying) ‘We have transgressed and have rebelled,
You have not pardoned.’
The prophet calls on the people to seek YHWH, firstly by searching out and putting
to the test their own ways, that is by self-examination, and then by turning to
YHWH and lifting up not only their hands, but also their hearts to God in the
heaven, in other words engaging in genuine and not just formal prayer. They were
to admit that they had rebelled and transgressed against Him, and that He had not
pardoned them. They were being required to face up to the reality of what they had
done. Their hope must be that in spite of the fact that they had transgressed and
rebelled God would hear them.
But as we learn from what follows in their view He did not immediately hear. He did
not pardon. Their punishment went on. They were acknowledging that He had
reached the limits of His patience.

41 Let us lift up our hearts and our hands
to God in heaven, and say:
Imbeho)g*
Lam_3:41
Literally, “Let us lift up our heart unto our hands unto God in heaven;” as if the heart
first lifted up the hands, and then with them mounted up in prayer to God. In real prayer
the outward expression is caused by the emotion stirring within.
GILL, "Let us lift up our heart with
our hands,.... Lifting up of the hands is a
prayer gesture, and is put for prayer itself; see Psa_141:2; but the heart must go along
with it, or it is of no avail; the soul must be lifted up to God; there must be an ascending
of that unto him, in earnest desires after him; in affection and love to him; in faith and
dependence on him; and in hope and expectation of good things from him, Psa_25:1;
this is the way in which men return to God, even by prayer and supplication. The
Targum is,
"let us lift up our hearts, and cast away rapine and prey out of our hands;''
and Jarchi and Abendana mention a Midrash, that paraphrases it,
"let us lift up our hearts in truth to God, as a man washes his hands in purity, and casts
away all filthiness from them;''
see Heb_10:22;
unto God in the heavens; who has made them, and dwells in them; and therefore
prayer must be directed to him, as being there; so our Lord taught his disciples to pray,
Mat_6:9; and which is a very great encouragement to faith in prayer; when it is
considered that God is the Maker and possessor of heaven and earth; and that our help
is in and expected from him who made all these; and besides the saints have a High
Priest, an Advocate with the Father there, to plead their cause for them; and many great
and good things are there laid up for them.
,hebw)g* We must offer up ourselves to God, and our best affections and services, in
the flames of devotion,
Lam_3:41. When we are in affliction, 1. We must look up to God
as a God in the heavens, infinitely above us, and who has an incontestable dominion
over us; for the heavens do rule, and are therefore not to be quarrelled with, but
submitted to. 2. We must pray to him, with a believing expectation to receive mercy from
him; for that is implied in our lifting up our hands to him (a gesture commonly used in
prayer and sometimes put for it, as Psa_141:2, Let the lifting up of my hands be as the
evening sacrifice); it signifies our requesting mercy from him and our readiness to
receive that mercy. (3.) Our hearts must go along with our prayers. We must lift up our
hearts with our hands, as we must pour out our souls with our words. it is the heart that
God looks at in that and every other service; for what will a sacrifice without a heart
avail? If inward impressions be not in some measure answerable to outward expressions,
we do but mock God and deceive ourselves. Praying is lifting up the soul to God (Psa_

25:1) as to our Father in heaven; and the soul that hopes to be with God in heaven for
ever will thus, by frequent acts of devotion, be still learning the way thither and pressing
forward in that way.
Vheaoyp4f3heart with ... hands— the antidote to hypocrisy (
Psa_86:4; 1Ti_2:8).
lhTjap4f3rkfMk.AIZgqk.f;If!kq.gf-Zm?IZâfSkZfHIfMm..ot be reconciled to God
except he buries our sins; nor can repentance and faith be separated. Moreover, to
taste of God’s mercy opens to us the door of prayer. And this ought to be carefully
noticed, because the unbelieving seem at times to be very busy in seeking to return
to God’s favor, but they only attend to the outward change of life; and at the same
time they are not anxious about pardon, but go boldly before God, as though they
were not exposed to his judgment.
And we see under the Papacy that while they make long sermons on repentance,
they hardly ever make any account of faith, as though repentance without faith
were a restoration from death to life.
Hence I said that we ought to notice the mode of teaching which our Prophet
adopts: he begins with self-examination, then he requires conversion; but he does
not separate it from faith. For when he exhorts us to pray, it is the same thing as
though he had set before us the judgment of God, and had also taught us that we
cannot escape death except God be propitious to us. How then is pardon to be
obtained? by prayer: and prayer, as it is well known, must be always founded on
faith.
By telling us to raise up our hearts to God together with our hands, he bids us to
banish all hypocrisy from our prayers. For all without a difference raise up their
hands to God; and nature itself, when we are pressed down with evils, leads us to
seek God. But the greater part stifle this feeling of nature. When affliction comes, it
is a common thing with all to raise up their hands to heaven, though no one should
bid them to do so; but still their hearts remain fixed on the earth, and they come not
to God. And the greater part of men are included in that class mentioned by Isaiah,
“This people come to me with their tongue,
but their heart is far away.” (Isaiah 29:13.)
As, then, men deal thus formally with God, and present a naked ceremony, as
though God had changed and suffered his eyes to be covered, the Prophet bids all
dissimulation to cease from prayer; Let us raise up hands, he says, to God, and also
hearts. Joel speaks somewhat differently, when he says,
“Rend your hearts and not your garments,” (Joel 2:13;)

for he seems to exclude the outward rite, because men, wishing to shew that they
were guilty before God, rent their garments. Joel says that this was superfluous and
useless; and doubtless the rite itself was not so very necessary. But as prayers, when
they are earnest, move the hands, our Prophet refers to that practice as useful. At
the same time he teaches us that the chief thing ought not to be omitted, even to raise
up the hearts to God: Let us, then, he says, raise up our hearts together with our
hands to God; and he adds, to God who is in heaven: for it is necessary that men
should rise up above the world, and to go out of themselves, so to speak, in order to
come to God.
We now then understand the meaning of the Prophet, — that those who repent from
the heart ought not to go before God, as though they were not guilty before his
tribunal, but that on the contrary they ought to be penitent and humble, so that they
may obtain pardon. He afterwards shews that the right way of praying is, when we
not only perform the outward ceremonies, but when we open our hearts and raise
them up as it were to heaven itself. It is, then, the right way of praying, when the
inward feeling corresponds with the external posture. It follows, —
42 “We have sinned and rebelled
and you have not forgiven.
GILL, "We have transgressed, and have rebelled,.... Here begins the prayer, the
sense of which is directed to, though the words are not dictated; and it begins with
confession of sin, as prayer should, especially when in such circumstances as the people
of the Jews now were; and with confession of it, as a transgression of the law of God; and
as rebellion against him, as every sin is, a breach of his law, a contempt of his authority,
and a trampling under foot his legislative power, and an act of hostility against him; and
so downright rebellion; every sin being an overt act of that kind; and which is aggravated
by the favours before acknowledged to have been received:
thou hast not pardoned; as they apprehended; they had not the discovery and
application of pardoning grace and mercy; otherwise pardon of sin with God is past, and
includes all sin present and future, as well as past; but temporal afflictions being upon
them, they concluded their sins were not pardoned; pardon of sin in Scripture often
signifying the removal of such afflictions.
8t o-lG09GG6l7It is easier to chide ourselves for complaining than to chide
ourselves out of it. The prophet had owned that a living man should not complain, as if
he checked himself for his complaints in the former part of the chapter; and yet here the
clouds return after the rain and the wound bleeds afresh; for great pains must be taken

with a troubled spirit to bring it into temper.
I. They confess the righteousness of God in afflicting them (Lam_3:42): We have
transgressed and have rebelled. Note, It becomes us, when we are in trouble, to justify
God, by owning our sins, and laying the load upon ourselves for them. Call sin a
transgression, call it a rebellion, and you do not miscall it. This is the result of their
searching and trying their ways; the more they enquired into them the worse they found
them. Yet,
II. They complain of the afflictions they are under, not without some reflections upon
God, which we are not to imitate, but, under the sharpest trials, must always think and
speak highly and kindly of him.
1. They complain of his frowns and the tokens of his displeasure against them. Their
sins were repented of, and yet (Lam_3:42), Thou hast not pardoned. They had not the
assurance and comfort of the pardon; the judgments brought upon them for their sins
were not removed, and therefore they thought they could not say the sin was pardoned,
which was a mistake, but a common mistake with the people of God when their souls are
cast down and disquieted within them. Their case was really pitiable, yet they complain,
Thou hast not pitied,Lam_3:43. Their enemies persecuted and slew them, but that was
not the worst of it; they were but the instruments in God's hand: “Thou hast persecuted
us, and thou hast slain us, though we expected thou wouldst protect and deliver us.”
They complain that there was a wall of partition between them and God, and, (1.) This
hindered God's favours from coming down upon them. The reflected beams of God's
kindness to them used to be the beauty of Israel; but now “thou hast covered us with
anger, so that our glory is concealed and gone; now God is angry with us, and we do not
appear that illustrious people that we have formerly been thought to be.” Or, “Thou hast
covered us up as men that are buried are covered up and forgotten.” (2.) It hindered
their prayers from coming up unto God (Lam_3:44): “Thou hast covered thyself with a
cloud,” not like that bright cloud in which he took possession of the temple, which
enabled the worshippers to draw near to him, but like that in which he came down upon
Mount Sinai, which obliged the people to stand at a distance. “This cloud is so thick that
our prayers seem as if they were lost in it; they cannot pass through; we cannot obtain
an audience.” Note, The prolonging of troubles is sometimes a temptation, even to
praying people, to question whether God be what they have always believed him to be, a
prayer-hearing God.
Vheaoyp4f3not pardoned— The Babylonian captivity had not yet ended.
lhTjap4f3r;IfSmqL;S’JfPkf.kLf;IZIfIQ-kgL’JmLIfHqL;fGod, but on the contrary
acknowledge that God’s severity was just. That God then had dealt with them
severely, they ascribe to their own sins, This is the substance of what is said.
We hence learn that an ingenuous confession ever accompanies repentance, as also
Paul teaches us, (2 Corinthians 7:11.) For when a sinner is either secure or tries to
cover his wickedness, and flatters himself, as we see but a few who willingly humble
themselves before God, he contracts the hardness of obstinacy. For this reason the
Prophet requires confession; nay, he suggests here the words suitable to be used,
when we desire to obtain pardon from God. We have done wickedly, he says, and
have been rebellious The pronoun, we, is here emphatical, as though the faithful had

taken on themselves the blame of all the evils, which the greater part ever sought to
disown. (195)
Here then the Prophet shews that there is no other way of being reconciled to God,
than by confessing ourselves to be the authors of all our evils; and he also teaches us,
that it is an evidence of true repentance, when we do not allege vain pretences as it is
commonly done, nor flatter ourselves, but confess that we are guilty. He now shows
that guilt ought by no means to be extenuated, so that our confession may be real
and complete: but in this respect the world trifle with God. The most wicked are,
indeed, ashamed to deny that they are sinners; but as they are forced to make some
kind of confession, this they do lightly; and it seems an extorted confession, and is
therefore jejune, or at least not complete. But the Prophet here shews that they who
seek to be reconciled to God, ought not only in words to acknowledge and confess
their guilt, but also ingenuously to open their hearts. Hence he connects
perverseness with sin: as though he had said, “We have not sinned simply or in one
way, but we have exasperated God himself; and by sinning in many ways and
constantly, we have provoked him against us.” He says, in short, that there is then
an access open to us to obtain favor, when we do not murmur against God nor
contend with him as though he had dealt severely with us, but when we confess that
he has been hard and rigid with us, because he had a reason to be so on account of
our sins and wickedness. He adds, —
We, transgressed have we rebelled.
— Ed
43 “You have covered yourself with anger and
pursued us;
you have slain without pity.
u.dhep2r"In verses 43-66, far from pardoning, God is still actively punishing His
people.
Rather, “Thou hast covered” Thyself “with wrath and pursued (
Lam_1:3note) us.” The

covering (here and in Lam_3:44) is that of clothing and enwrapping.
GILL, "Thou hast covered with anger,.... Either himself; not as a tender father,
that cannot bear to see the affliction of a child; this does not suit with anger; but rather
as one greatly displeased, in whose face anger appears, being covered with it; or who
covers his face with it, that he may not be seen, withdrawing his gracious presence; or
hast put anger as a wall between thee and us, as Jarchi: so that there was no coming nigh
to him: or else it means covering his people with it; so the Targum,
"thou hast covered "us" with anger;''
denoting the largeness and abundance of afflictions upon them; they were as it were
covered with them, as tokens of the divine displeasure; one wave and billow after
another passing over them. Sanctius thinks the allusion is to the covering of the faces of
condemned malefactors, as a token of their being guilty:
and persecuted us; the Targum adds, in captivity; that is, pursued and followed us
with fresh instances of anger and resentment; to have men to be persecutors is bad, but
to have God to be a persecutor is dreadful:
thou hast slain, thou hast not pitied; had suffered them to be stain by the sword of
the enemy, and had shown no compassion to them; See Gill on Lam_2:21; here, and in
some following verses, the prophet, or the people he represents, are got to complaining
again; though before he had checked himself for it; so hard it is under afflictions to put
in practice what should be done by ourselves and others.
Vheaoyp4f3covered— namely, thyself (so
Lam_3:44), so as not to see and pity our
calamities, for even the most cruel in seeing a sad spectacle are moved to pity. Compare
as to God “hiding His face,” Psa_10:11; Psa_22:25.
K&D 43-48, "God has not pardoned, but positively punished, the people for their
misdeeds. "Thou hast covered with anger," Lam_3:43, corresponds to "Thou hast
covered with a cloud," Lam_3:44; hence "Thou hast covered" is plainly used both times
in the same meaning, in spite of the fact that usb wW is wanting in Lam_3:43. usb S! wQ means to
"cover," here to "make a cover." "Thou didst make a cover with anger," i.e., Thou didst
hide Thyself in wrath; there is no necessity for taking usb S! wQ as in itself reflexive. This mode
of viewing it agrees also with what follows. The objection of J. D. Michaelis, qui se
obtegit non persequitur alios, ut statim additur, which Böttcher and Thenius have
repeated, does not hold good in every respect, but chiefly applies to material covering.
And the explanation of Thenius, "Thou hast covered us with wrath, and persecuted us,"
is shown to be wrong by the fact that usb S! wQ signifies to cover for protection, concealment,
etc., but not to cover in the sense of heaping upon, pouring upon (as Luther translates
it); nor, again, can the word be taken here in a sense different from that assigned to it in
Lam_3:44. "The covering of wrath, which the Lord draws around Him, conceals under it

the lightnings of His wrath, which are spoken of immediately afterwards" (Nägelsbach).
The anger vents itself in the persecution of the people, in killing them unsparingly. For,
that these two are connected, is shown not merely in Lam_3:66, but still more plainly by
the threatening in Jer_29:18: "I will pursue them with sword, and famine, and
pestilence, and give them for maltreatment to all the kingdoms of the earth." On "Thou
hast slain, Thou hast not spared," cf. Lam_2:21. In Lam_3:44, usb wW is further appended to
ה ָתוּ8 ַס: "Thou makest a cover with clouds for Thyself," round about Thee, so that no
prayer can penetrate to Thee; cf. Psa_55:2. These words form the expression of the
painful conclusion drawn by God's people from their experience, that God answered no
cry for help that came to Him, i.e., granted no help. Israel was thereby given up, in a
defenceless state, to the foe, so that they could treat them like dirt and abuse them. י ִח ְס
(from ה ָח ָס, Eze_26:4), found only here as a noun, signifies "sweepings;" and סוּא ָמ is a
noun, "disesteem, aversion." The words of Lam_3:45, indeed, imply the dispersion of
Israel among the nations, but are not to be limited to the maltreatment of the Jews in
exile; moreover, they rather apply to the conduct of their foes when Judah was
conquered and Jerusalem destroyed. Such treatment, especially the rejection, is further
depicted in Lam_3:46. The verse is almost a verbatim repetition of Lam_2:16, and is
quite in the style of Jeremiah as regards the reproduction of particular thoughts; while
Thenius, from the repetition, is inclined to infer that chs. 2 and 3 had different authors:
cf. Gerlach on the other side. The very next verse might have been sufficient to keep
Thenius from such a precipitate conclusion, inasmuch as it contains expressions and
figures that are still more clearly peculiar to Jeremiah. On ד ַח ַC ת ַח ַפָו, cf. Jer_48:43; ר ֶב ֶשׁ ַה
is also one of the favourite expressions of the prophet. hashee't is certainly Dπ. λεγ., but
reminds one of יֵנ ְ", Num_24:17, for which in Jer_48:45there stands יֵנ ְ" ןוּא ָשׁ. It comes
from ה% ָשׁ, to make a noise, roar, fall into ruins with a loud noise, i.e., be laid waste (cf.
Isa_6:11); and, as Raschi has already observed, it has the same meaning as הָm ִא ְשׁ,
"devastation," Isa_24:12. It is incorrect to derive the word from the Hiphil of א ָשָׁנ (J. D.
Michaelis and Ewald), according to which it ought to mean "disappointment," for the uSy
does not form an essential portion of the word, but is the article, as ר ֶב ֶשׁ ַהְו shows. Still
more erroneous are the renderings yπαρσις (lxx, from א ָשָׂנ) and vaticinatio (Jerome, who
has confounded תא ֵB ַה with א ָz ַמ).
Over this terrible calamity, rivers of tears must be shed, until the Lord looks down
from heaven on it, Lam_3:48-51. The prophet once more utters this complaint in the
first person, because he who has risked his life in his endeavour to keep the people in the
service of God must feel the deepest sympathy for them in their misfortunes. "Rivers of
water" is stronger than "water," Lam_1:16, and "tears like a stream," Lam_2:18; but the
mode of expression is in the main like that in those passages, and used again in Psa_
119:136, but in a different connection. The second member of the verse is the same as in
Lam_2:11.
lhTjap4fhLfL;IfSqZgLfAqIH4fL;qgfMkb-Jmq.Lfbm?fgIIbfto proceed from a bitter heart;
for here the faithful complain that they had been slain, and then that God had

executed his judgment as it were in darkness, without any indulgence; and the next
verse confirms the same thing. But it is a simple acknowledgment of God’s righteous
vengeance for in their extreme calamities the faithful could not declare that God
dealt mercifully with them, for they had been subjected to extreme rigor, as we have
before seen. Had they said that they had been leniently chastised, it would have been
very strange, for the temple had been burnt, the city had been demolished, the
kingdom had been overthrown, the people for the most part had been driven into
exile, the remainder had been scattered, the covenant of God had been in a manner
abolished; for it could not have been thought otherwise according to the judgment
of the flesh. Had, then, the exiles in Chaldea said that God had smitten them
leniently, would not such an extenuation have appeared very strange? and had also
the Prophet spoken in the same strain? For the causes of sorrow were almost
innumerable: every one had been robbed of his goods; then there were many
widows, many orphans; but the chief causes of sorrow were the burning of the
temple and the ruin of the kingdom. o wonder, then, that the faithful set forth here
their aggravated evils: but yet they seek out no other cause than their own sins.
Hence they say now, that God had covered them over in wrath It is a most suitable
metaphor; as though he had said, that God had executed his vengeance in thick
darkness. For an object presented to the eye produces sympathy, and we are easily
inclined to mercy when a sad spectacle is presented to us. Hence it is, that even the
most savage enemies are sometimes softened, for they are led by their eyes to acts of
humanity. The Prophet, then, in order to set forth the horrible vengeance of God,
says that there had been a covering introduced, so that God had punished the
wicked people in an implacable manner. But as I have said, he does not charge God
with cruelty, though he says that he had covered them over in wrath. (196)
He then says, Thou hast pursued us and killed us, and hast not spared They
intimate, in short, that God had been a severe judge; but they at the same time
turned to themselves and sought there the cause, even that they might not, by their
own hardness, provoke God against themselves, as hypocrites are wont to do. And
the consciousness of evil leads us also to repentance; for whence is it that men grow
torpid in their sins, except that they flatter themselves? When, therefore, God
suspends his judgments, or when he moderates them, and does not punish men as
they deserve, then, if there be any repentance, it is yet frigid, and soon vanishes.
This, then, is the reason why God inflicts deadly strokes, because we feel not his
hand except the stroke be as it were deadly. As, then, simple chastisement is not
sufficient to lead us to repentance, the Prophet introduces the faithful as speaking
thus, “Behold, thou hast in wrath covered us over, so as not to look on us,” so that
there might be no opportunity for mercy, that is, that they might be the judges of
themselves, and conclude from the atrocity of their punishment how grievously they
must have provoked the wrath of God. It follows in the same sense, —
Thou hast in wrath enclosed and chased us,
Thou hast slain and not spared.
Then the same verb begins the next verse, —

Thou hast enclosed thyself in a cloud,
That prayer might not pass through.
— Ed
COFFMA, "Verse 43
IV
ISRAEL'S SUFFERIGS FROM THEIR TRASGRESSIOS[36]
"Thou hast covered with anger and pursued us;
thou hast slain, thou hast not pitied.
Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud,
so that no prayer can pass through.
Thou hast made us an offscouring
and a refuse in the midst of the peoples.
All our enemies have opened their mouth wide against us.
Fear and the pit are come upon us,
devastation and destruction.
Mine eye runneth down with streams of water,
for the destruction of the daughter of my people."
"All our enemies have opened their mouth wide against us" (Lamentations 3:46).
This paragraph is a repetition, largely, of previous proclamations of Israel's sorrow.
For example, this verse repeats verbatim Lamentations 2:16.
"Fear and the pit" (Lamentations 3:47). The metaphor in these three words is made
literal in the last three words of the verse.
EXPOSITOR'S BIBLE COMMETARY, "Verses 43-54
GRIEVIG BEFORE GOD
Lamentations 3:43-54
AS might have been expected, the mourning patriot quickly forsakes the patch of

sunshine which lights up a few verses of this elegy. But the vision of it has not come
in vain; for it leaves gracious effects to tone the gloomy ideas upon which the
meditations of the poet now return, like birds of the night hastening back to their
darksome haunts. In the first place, his grief is no longer solitary. It is enlarged in its
sympathies so as to take in the sorrows of others. Purely selfish trouble tends to
become a mean and sordid thing. If we are not yet freed from our own pain some
element of a nobler nature will be imported into it when we can find room for the
larger thoughts that the contemplation of the distresses of others arouses. But a
greater change than this has taken place. The "man who hath seen affliction" now
feels himself to be in the presence of God. Speaking for others as well as for himself
he pours out his lamentations before God. In the first part of the elegy he had only
mentioned the Divine name as that of his great Antagonist; now it is the name of his
close Confidant.
Then the elegist is here giving voice to the people’s penitent confession and prayer.
This is another feature of the changed situation. An unqualified admission of the
truth that the sufferings of Israel are just the merited punishment of the people’s sin
has come between the complaints with which the poem opens, and the renewed
expressions of grief.
Still, when all due allowance is made for these improvements, the renewed outburst
of grief is sufficiently dismal. The people are supposed to represent themselves as
being hunted down like helpless fugitives, and slain without pity by God, who has
wrapped Himself in a mantle of anger, which is as a cloud impenetrable to the
prayers of His miserable victims. [Lamentations 3:44] This description of their
helpless state follows immediately after an. outpouring of prayer. It would seem,
therefore, that the poet conceived that this particular utterance was hindered from
reaching the ear of God. ow in many cases it may be that a feeling such as is here
expressed is purely subjective and imaginary. The soul’s cry of agony passes out
into the night, and dies away into silence, without eliciting a whisper of response.
Yet it is not necessary to conclude that the cry is not heard. The closest attention
may be the most silent. But, it may be objected, this possibility only aggravates the
evil; for it is better not to hear at all than to hear and not to heed. Will any one
attribute such stony indifference to. God? God may attend, and yet He may not
speak to us-speech not being the usual form of: Divine response. He may be helping
us most effectually in silence, unperceived by us, at the very moment when we
imagine that He has completely deserted us. If we were more keenly alive to the
signs of His coming we should be less hasty to despair at the failure of our prayers.
The priests of Baal may scream, "O Baal, hear us!" from morning to night till their
frenzy sinks into despair; but that is no reason why men and women who worship a
spiritual God should come to the conclusion that their inability to wrest a sign from
heaven is itself a sign of desertion by Him to whom they call. The oracle may be
dumb; but the God whom we worship is not limited to the utterance of prophetic
voices for the expression of His will. He hears, even if in silence; and, in truth, He
also answers, though we are too deaf in our unbelief to discern the still small voice of
His Spirit.

But can we say that the idea of the Divine disregard of prayer is always and only
imaginary? Are the clouds that come between us and God invariably earth-born?
Does He never really wrap Himself in the garment of wrath? Surely we dare not say
so much. The anger of God is as real as His love. o being can be perfectly holy and
not feel a righteous indignation in the presence of sin. But if God is angry, and while
He is so, He cannot at the same time be holding friendly intercourse with the people
who are provoking His wrath. Then the Divine anger must be as a thick, impervious
curtain between the prayers of the sinful and the gracious hearing of God. The
universal confession of the need of an atonement is a witness to the perception of
this condition by mankind. Whether we are dealing with the crude notions of
ancient sacrifice, or with the high thoughts that circle about Calvary, the same
spiritual instinct presses for recognition. We may try to reason it down, but it
persistently reasserts itself. Most certainly it is not the teaching of Scripture that the
only condition of salvation is prayer. The Gospel is not to the effect that we are to be
saved by our own petitions. The penitent is taught to feel that without Christ and
the cross his prayers are of no avail for his salvation. Even if they knew no respite
still they would never atone for sin. Is not this an axiom of evangelical doctrine?
Then the prayers that are offered in the old unreconciled condition must fall back
on the head of the vain petitioner, unable to penetrate the awful barrier that he has
himself caused to be raised between his cries and the heavens where God dwells.
Turning from the contemplation of the hopeless failure of prayer the lament
naturally falls into an almost despairing wail of grief. The state of the Jews is
painted in the very darkest colours. God has made them as no better than the refuse
people cast out of their houses, or the very sweepings of the streets-not fit even to be
trampled under foot of men. [Lamentations 3:45] This is their position among the
nations. The poet seems to be alluding to the exceptional severity with which the
obstinate defenders of Jerusalem had been treated by their exasperated conquerors.
The neighbouring tribes had been compelled to succumb beneath the devasting
wave of the Babylonian invasion; but since none of them had offered so stubborn a
resistance to the armies of ebuchadnezzar none of them had been punished by so
severe a scourge of vengeance. So it has been repeatedly with the unhappy people
who have encountered unparalleled persecutions through the long weary ages of
their melancholy history. In the days of Antiochus Epiphanes the Jews were the
most insulted and cruelly outraged victims of Syrian tyranny. When their long
tragedy reached a climax at the final siege of Jerusalem by Titus, the more liberal-
minded Roman government laid on them harsh punishments of exile, slavery,
torture, and death, such as it rarely inflicted on a fallen foe-for with statesmanlike
wisdom the Romans preferred, as a rule, conciliation to extermination; but in the
case of this one unhappy city of Jerusalem the almost unique fate of the hated and
dreaded city of Carthage was repeated. So it was in the Middle Ages, as "Ivanhoe"
vividly shows: and so it is today in the East of Europe, as the fierce Juden-hetze is
continually proving. The irony of history is nowhere more apparent than in the fact
that the "favoured" people, the "chosen" people of Jehovah, should have been
treated so continuously as "the offscouring and refuse in the midst of the peoples."
As privilege and responsibility always go hand in hand, so also do blessing and
suffering-the Jew hated, the Church persecuted, the Christ crucified. We cannot say

that this paradox is simply "a mysterious dispensation of Providence": because in
the case of Israel, at all events in the early ages, the unparalleled misery was traced
to the abuse of unparalleled favour. But this does not exhaust the mystery, for in the
most striking instances innocence suffers. We can have no satisfaction in our view of
these contradictions till we see the glory of the martyr’s crown and the even higher
glory of the triumph of Christ and His people over failure, agony, insult, and death;
but just in proportion as we are able to lift up the eyes of faith to the blessedness of
the unseen world, we shall be able to discover that even here and now there is a pain
that is better than pleasure, and a shame that is truest glory. These truths, however,
are not readily perceived at the time of endurance, when the iron is entering into the
soul. The elegist feels the degradations of his people most keenly, and he represents
them complaining how their enemies rage at them as with open mouths-belching
forth gross insults, shouting curses, like wild beasts ready to devour their hapless
victims. [Lamentations 3:46] There seems to be nothing in store for them but the
terrors of death, the pit of destruction. [Lamentations 3:47]
At the contemplation of this extremity of hopeless misery the poet drops the plural
number, in which he has been personating his people, as abruptly as he assumed it a
few verses earlier, and bewails the dread calamities in his own person.
[Lamentations 3:48] Then, in truly Jeremiah-like fashion, he describes his incessant
weeping for the woes of the wretched citizens of Jerusalem and the surrounding
villages. The reference to "the daughters of my city" [Lamentations 3:51] seems to
be best explained as a figurative expression for the neighbouring places, all of which
it would seem had shared in the devastation produced by the great wave of conquest
which had overwhelmed the capital. But the previous mention of "the daughter of
my people," [Lamentations 3:48] followed as it is by this phrase about "the
daughters of my city," strikes a deeper note of compassion. These places contained
many defenceless women, the indescribable cruelty of whose fate when they fell into
the hands of the brutal heathen soldiery was one of the worst features of the whole
ghastly scene; and the wretchedness of the once proud city and its dependencies
when they were completely overthrown is finely represented so as to appeal most
effectually to our sympathy by a metaphor that pictures them as hapless maidens,
touching us like Spenser’s piteous picture of the forlorn Una, deserted in the forest
and left a prey to its savage denizens. Like Una, too, the daughters in this metaphor
claim the chivalry which our English poet has so exquisitely portrayed as awakened
even in the breast of a wild animal. The woman of Europe is far removed from her
sister in the East, who still follows the ancient type in submitting to the imputation
of weakness as a claim for consideration. But this is because Europe has learnt that
strength of character - in which woman can be at least the equal of man - is more
potent in a community civilised in the Christian way than strength of muscle. Where
the more brutal forces are let loose the duties of chivalry are always in requisition.
Then it is apparent that deference to the claims of women for protection produces a
civilising effect in softening the roughness of men. It is difficult to say it today in the
teeth of the just claims that women are making, and still more difficult in face of
what women are now achieving, in spite of many relics of barbarism in the form of
unfair restrictions, but yet it must be asserted that the feebleness of femininity-in the
old-fashioned sense of the word-pervades these poems, and is their most touching

characteristic, so that much of the pathos and beauty of poetry such as that of these
elegies is to be traced to representations of woman wronged and suffering and
calling for the sympathy of all beholders.
The poet is moved to tears-quite unselfish roars, tears of patriotic grief, tears of
compassion for helpless suffering. Here again the modern Anglo-Saxon habit makes
it difficult for us to appreciate his conduct as it deserves. We think it a dreadful
thing for a man to be seen weeping; and a feeling of shame accompanies such an
outburst of unrestrained distress. But surely there are holy tears, and tears which it
is an honour for any one to be capable of shedding. If mere callousness is the
explanation of dry eyes in view of sorrow, there can be no credit for such a
condition. This is not the restraint of tears. othing is easier than for the unfeeling
not to weep. or can it be maintained that it is always necessary to restrain the
outward expression of sympathy in accordance with its most natural impulses. Our
Lord was strong; yet we could never wish that the evangelist had not had occasion
to write the ever memorable sentence, "Jesus wept." Sufferers lose much, not only
from lack of sympathy, but also from a shy concealment of the fellow-feeling that is
truly experienced. There are seasons of keenest agony, when to weep with those who
weep is the only possible expression of brotherly kindness; and this may be a very
real act of love, appreciably alleviating suffering. A little courage on the part of
Englishmen in daring to weep would knit the ties of brotherhood more closely. At
present a chill reserve rather than any actual coldness of heart separates people who
might be much more helpful to one another if they could but bring themselves to
break down this barrier.
But while the poet is thus expressing his large patriotic grief he cannot forget his
own private sorrows. They are all parts of one common woe. So he returns to his
personal experience, and adds some graphic details that enable us to picture him in
the midst of his misery. [Lamentations 3:52] Though he had never provoked the
enemy, he was chased like a bird, flung into a dungeon, where a stone was hurled
down upon him, and where the water was lying so deep that he was completely
submerged. There is no reason to question that definite statements such as these
represent the exact experience of the writer. At the first glance they call to our
minds the persecutions inflicted on Jeremiah by his own people. But the allusion
would be peculiarly inappropriate, and the cases do not quite fit together.
The poet has been bewailing the sufferings of the Jews at the hands of the
Chaldaeans, and he seems to identify his own troubles in the closest way with the
general flood of calamities that swept over his nation. It would be quite out of place
for him to insert here a reminder of earlier troubles which his own people had
inflicted upon him. Besides, the particulars do not exactly agree with what we learn
of the prophet’s hardships from his own pen. The dungeon into which he was flung
was very foul, and he sank in the mire, but it. is expressly stated that there was no
water in it, and there is no mention of stoning. [Jeremiah 38:6] There were many
sufferers in that dark time of tumult and outrage whose fate was as hard as that of
Jeremiah.

A graphic picture like this helps us to imagine the fearful accompaniments of the
destruction of Jerusalem much better than any general summary. As we gaze at this
one scene among the many miseries that followed the siege - the poet hunted out and
run down, his capture and conveyance to the dungeon, apparently without a shadow
of a trial, the danger of drowning and the misery of standing in the water that had
gathered in a place so utterly unfit for human habitation, the needless additional
cruelty of the stone throwing-there rises before us a picture which cannot but
impress our minds with the unutterable wretchedness of the sufferers from such a
calamity as the siege of Jerusalem. Of course there must have been some special
reason for the exceptionally severe treatment of the poet. What this was we cannot
tell. If the same patriotic spirit burned in his soul in the midst of the war as we now
find at the time of later reflection, it would be most reasonable to conjecture that the
ardent lover of his country had done or said something to irritate the enemy, and
possibly that as he devoted his poetic gifts at a subsequent time to lamenting the
overthrow of his city, he may have employed them with a more practical purpose
among the battle scenes to write some inspiring martial ode in which we may be sure
he would not have spared the ruthless invader. But then he says his persecution was
without a cause. He may have been undeservedly suspected of acting as a spy. It is
only by chance that now and again we get a glimpse of the backwaters of a great
flood such as that which was now devastating the land of Judah; most of the dreary
scene is shrouded in gloom.
Lastly, we must not fail to remember, in reading these expressions of patriotic and
personal grief, that they are the outpourings of the heart of the poet before God.
They are all addressed to God’s ear; they are all part of a prayer. Thus they
illustrate the way in which prayer takes the form of confiding in God. It is a great
relief to be able simply to tell Him everything. Perhaps, however, here we may
detect a note of complaint; but if so it is not a note of rebellion or of unbelief.
Although the evils from which the elegist and his people are suffering so grievously
are attributed to God in the most uncompromising manner, the writer does not
hesitate to look to God for deliverance. Thus in the very midst of his lamentations he
says that his weeping is to continue "till the Lord look down, and behold from
heaven." [Lamentations 3:50] He will not cease weeping until this happens; but he
does not expect to have to spend all the remainder of his days in tears. He is assured
that God will hear, and answer, and deliver. The time of the Divine response is quite
unknown to him; it may be still far off, and there may be much weary waiting to be
endured first. But it will come, arid if no one can tell how long the interval of trial
may be, so also no one can say but that the deliverance may arrive suddenly and
with a surprise of mercy. Thus the poet weeps on, but in undying hope.
This is the right attitude of the Christian mourner. We cannot penetrate the mystery
of God’s times; but that they are in His own hands is not to be denied. Therefore the
test of faith is often given in the necessity for indefinite waiting. To the man who
trusts God there is always a future. Whatever such a man may have to endure he
should find a place in his plaint for the word "until." He is not plunged into
everlasting night. He has but to endure until the day dawn.

COKE, "Lamentations 3:43. Thou hast covered with anger, &c.— Thou hast fenced
about with anger. The verb ֶךכס sakak appears to have this sense, Job 3:23; Job
10:11; Job 38:8. There seems to be a manifest allusion to the manner of hunting wild
beasts in the eastern countries, by surrounding at first a large tract of ground with
toils, which the beasts could not break through; and these being drawn in by
degrees, the bears were driven into a narrower space, where they were killed with
darts and javelins, at the will of the hunters. See Bishop Lowth's ote on Isaiah
24:17-18. Statius gives a description, exactly similar, of the method of inclosing wild
beasts in toils or nets; Achill. l. 459.
PETT, "Lamentations 3:43-45
(Samek) You have covered with anger and pursued us,
You have slain, you have not pitied.
(Samek) You have covered yourself with a cloud,
So that no prayer can pass through.
(Samek) You have made us an off-scouring and refuse,
Among the peoples.
They cried out that YHWH had put on anger as a garment and had pursued them,
slaying without pity. That He had covered Himself with a cloud so that no prayer
could pass through. That He was deaf to their pleas. And that He had made them
like dirt and refuse among the peoples. His chastening was severe so that they would
learn their lesson.
We can view this either as a cry of despair, or as an admission that they were getting
what they deserved. Either way the people were facing up to the realities of their
situation. Being honest with God is very often necessary before we can begin to have
a new hope.
44 You have covered yourself with a cloud
so that no prayer can get through.

GILL, "ou hast covered thyself with a cloud,.... With wrath and anger, as a cloud;
he wrapped up himself in thick darkness, so as not to be seen or come at: sin, when it
appears not pardoned, is as a cloud between God and his people; and this causes him to
show his anger and displeasure; which is the cloud about him, Or the hiding of his face.
The Targum is,
"thou hast covered the heavens with the clouds of thy glory:''
that our prayer should not pass through; in such circumstances God seems to his
people to be inexorable; and not a God hearing and answering prayer, as he is; as if there
was no access unto him, or audience to be had of him, or acceptance of persons and
prayers with him; whereas the throne of grace is always open and accessible: and there is
a new and living way for believers always to approach unto God in; he is on a mercy seat,
ready to receive and hear their prayers.
0mtione)g*(
Lam_3:8). The “cloud” is our sins, and God’s wrath because of them
(Isa_44:22; Isa_59:2).
chTBe 6l7s:1lyMg“:13lSgH,;M_kl3:1lkw_1l3:;HW6l.F3l3he words are different. He
again repeats the word to cover; but, that the metaphor might be clearer and more
fully explained, he says, with a cloud. He simply intimates, that a cloud interposed,
that God might more unrestrainedly punish the Jews, as they had deserved. Isaiah
speaks somewhat otherwise, but for the same purpose:
“The hand of God,” he says, “is not shortened, nor are his ears more deaf; but your
sins have interposed a distance between you and God.” (Isaiah 59:1.)
There is no doubt but that Isaiah meant the same thing as our Prophet, even that
God’s nature never changes; and, therefore, that when he seems to rage against his
people, the cause ought to be ascribed to their sins, because God ever remains like
himself. We know what is said in the Psalms,
“Thou art God who hearest prayer.” (Psalms 65:3.)
God, then, is always ready to hear his people, and he also possesses power sufficient
to help them; but the distance arises from our sins. And so the Prophet now says
that a cloud interposed.
1wM25l3:1lkw_1lk1H31HS1l;kl,gFHGl;Hl3:1l3:;MGlS:w“ter, as we have seen; for there
the Prophet said, in the name of the whole people, that they had become separated
from God, but that it was a separation, not because God had changed his purpose,
but because the people had, in a manner, rejected his favor.Thou hast, then, he says,
covered thyself with a cloud, that is, thou hast made for thyself a covering, that
prayer may not pass through. This seems, indeed, very strange, because God
advances to meet all the miserable, and promises to hear their prayers: what, then,
can this mean, that a cloud interposed that prayer might not go through to him?
even that the Jews did not pray aright, and that they had closed up against

themselves every access by which God could admit them. In short, the faithful do
not here contend with God, as though they had been deceived by his promises, but
confess that they were unworthy to pray to God, and they also acknowledge that
they did not pray aright. (197) And according to this sense they say, that they were
hindered, as though a cloud interposed, so that their prayer could not ascend to
God. It follows, —
45 You have made us scum and refuse
among the nations.
GILL, "Thou hast made us
as the offscouring and refuse in the midst of the
people. Had given them up into the hands of the Gentiles, the Chaldeans, to be treated
as the dirt of the streets, as the sweepings of a house; or the dross of metal; or anything
that is vile, mean, and contemptible. The apostle seems to have some reference to this
passage; and his words may be an illustration of it, 1Co_4:13.
,hebwgGJ-GL)g*They complain of the contempt of their neighbours and the reproach
and ignominy they were under (Lam_3:45): “Thou hast made us as the off-scouring, or
scrapings, of the first floor, which are thrown to the dunghill.” This St. Paul refers to in
his account of the sufferings of the apostles. 1Co_4:13, We are made as the filth of the
world and are the off-scouring of all things. “We are the refuse, or dross, in the midst of
the people, trodden upon by every body, and looked upon as the vilest of the nations,
and good for nothing but to be cast out as salt which has lost its savour. Our enemies
have opened their mouths against us (Lam_3:46), have gaped upon us as roaring lions,
to swallow us up, or made mouths at us, or have taken liberty to say what they please of
us.” These complaints we had before, Lam_2:15, Lam_2:16. Note, It is common for base
and ill-natured men to run upon, and run down, those that have fallen into the depths of
distress from the height of honour. But this they brought upon themselves by sin. If they
had not made themselves vile, their enemies could not have made them so: but therefore
men call them reprobate silver, because the Lord has rejected them for rejecting him.
0mtione)g*So the apostles were treated; but, instead of murmuring, they rejoiced at
it (
1Co_4:13).
lhTjap4f3r;I?fgm?f;IZIfL;mLfL;I?fHIZIfIQ-kgIPfLkfZIproach, so as to become, as it
were, the sweepings of the world. Some render יחס, sachi, “refuse;” some by other
words; and some “filth:” But the word properly means sweepings or scraping’s,
called by the Greeks περιψήtατα. Paul says, that he and his associates were the
offscouring ( περιψήtατα) of the world. (1 Corinthians 4:13.) He means that they
were despised as offscourings or scrapings. The word is derived from sweeping.

Whatever, then, is cleaned off by sweeping or scouring, that is, the filth of the house
or the floor, is called יחס, sachi. What the Prophet had in view is not obscure; for he
means that the degradation of the people was not hidden, but open Go all nations, as
though God had erected a theater in Judea, and there exhibited a remarkable and
an unusual example of his vengeance. To the same purpose is what he adds, —
46 “All our enemies have opened their mouths
wide against us.
GILL, "All our enemies have opened their mouths against us. Like lions and
other beasts of prey, to devour us; or in way of scorn and derision; pouring out their
reproaches upon us, and scoffs at us, for our religion, and the worship of God, and on
account of present miseries and distresses; see
Lam_2:16. The Targum adds,
"to decree against us evil decrees.''
VheaoypfGLxGI4f3Pe is put before Ain (
Lam_3:43, Lam_3:46), as in Lam_2:16,
Lam_2:17; Lam_4:16, Lam_4:17. (Lam_2:16.)
lhTjap4f3GIfZI-ImLgfH;mLf;If;mPfgmqP4fL;mLfL;If-Ik-le were an offscouring, or
scrapings, or sweepings, and also a refuse. The last word is, indeed, in the infinitive
mood, סואמ, maus, but it is to be taken as a noun. They had become all this, because
they had as many enemies as neighbors; for we know that the Jews were hated by
all the neighboring nations. They had become, then, a refuse and filth among all
people, for with an open mouth they spoke furiously against them. For the open
mouth means that they spoke insolently, and took the liberty of cursing them all, as
qLf;mgfWII.fgLmLIPfIJgIH;IZI1fpkHfqLfHmgfL;IfWqLLIZest thing to the miserable people,
when they found that the reproaches and taunts of enemies were added to their
calamities: for we know how grievously does reproach wound those who are already
afflicted.
PETT, "Lamentations 3:46-48
(Pe) All our enemies have opened their mouth,
Wide against us.
(Pe) Fear and the pit are come upon us,

Devastation and destruction.
(Pe) My eye runs down with streams of water,
For the destruction of the daughter of my people.
Their prayer continues as they continue to face up to the facts about their situation.
The opening lines are an acknowledgement that what had been said in
Lamentations 2:16 was true. Their enemies were ‘opening their mouths against
them’, scornfully pointing to what had happened to them, and sneering at them.
They also acknowledge why that is. It is because they have been overcome by ‘terror
and trap’ (in the Hebrew the phrase is alliterative, pachad wa pachath), by
‘devastation and destruction’ (hasseth we hassaber). They are experiencing fear,
and what it was like to be a trapped animal. They are experiencing total
devastation.
The very thought of this destruction of his people causes the prophet to weep, and
his eyes run down like streams of water.
47 We have suffered terror and pitfalls,
ruin and destruction.”
GILL, "Fear and a snare is come upon us,.... Or, "fear and a pit"
(m); the fear of
failing into the pit of ruin and destruction, on the brink of which they saw themselves; or
fear seized us, and caused us to flee; and a snare or pit was prepared for us to fall into; so
that there was no escaping hence:
desolation and destruction; desolation or devastation of their land; and destruction
of their city and temple; and of multitudes of them by the sword, famine, and pestilence;
and the rest carried into captivity, excepting a few left desolate in the land.
G pic4f3They complain of the lamentable destruction that their enemies made of
them (
Lam_3:47): Fear and a snare have come upon us; the enemies have not only
terrified us with those alarms, but prevailed against us by their stratagems, and
surprised us with the ambushes they laid for us; and then follows nothing but desolation
and destruction, the destruction of the daughter of my people (Lam_3:48), of all the
daughters of my city,Lam_3:51. The enemies, having taken some of them like a bird in
a snare, chased others as a harmless bird is chased by a bird of prey (Lam_3:52): My
enemies chased me sorely like a bird which is beaten from bush to bush, as Saul hunted
David like a partridge. Thus restless was the enmity of their persecutors, and yet
causeless. They have done it without cause, without any provocation given them.

Though God was righteous, they were unrighteous. David often complains of those that
hated him without cause; and such are the enemies of Christ and his church, Joh_15:25.
Their enemies chased them till they had quite prevailed over them (Lam_3:53): They
have cut off my life in the dungeon. They have shut up their captives in close and dark
prisons, where they are as it were cut off from the land of the living (as Lam_3:6), or the
state and kingdom are sunk and ruined, the life and being of them are gone, and they are
as it were thrown into the dungeon or grave and a stone cast upon them, such as used to
be rolled to the door of the sepulchres. They look upon the Jewish nation as dead and
buried, and imagine that there is not possibility of its resurrection. Thus Ezekiel saw it,
in vision, a valley full of dead and dry bones. Their destruction is compared not only to
the burying of a dead man, but to the sinking of a living man into the water, who cannot
long be a living man there, Lam_3:54. Waters of affliction flowed over my head. The
deluge prevailed and quite overwhelmed them. The Chaldean forces broke in upon them
as the breaking forth of waters, which rose so high as to flow over their heads; they
could not wade, they could not swim, and therefore must unavoidably sink. Note, The
distresses of God's people sometimes prevail to such a degree that they cannot find any
footing for their faith, nor keep their head above water, with any comfortable
expectation.
Vheaoyp4f3Like animals fleeing in fear, we fall into the snare laid for us.
lhTjap4fr;IfnZk-;ILfJmZ0IJ?fPHIJJgfk.fL;If0ZqIAk’g.ess of the calamity which had
happened. He compares here the anxieties into which the people had been brought,
to a pitfall and dread. There is a striking alliteration in the words דחפ and תחפ,
pechet and peched. But the meaning is, that the people had been reduced to such
straits, that there was no outlet for them; as the case is with us, when we are filled
with dread, and look here and there, and see nothing but pitfalls on every side; then
we are at our wits’ end. Such then was the state of the people, as Jeremiah shews:
filled with dread, they sought refuge, but saw pitfalls on every side.
He afterwards mentions desolation or destruction, and sorrow. It is probably a
mistake in Jerome’s version, where the first; word is rendered “prophesying.” Some
think that he was led astray by the letter ש, shin, which he seems to have read with a
point on the left side; and he took the word as coming from אשנ nusha. But another
conjecture seems more correct, that the transcribers have committed a mistake; for
what I have said is most appropriate to the passage, even that the people were
overwhelmed with all kinds of evils, because there was nothing to be seen but
desolation and sorrow, or bruising, or breach, רבש, shaber. It now follows, —
48 Streams of tears flow from my eyes

because my people are destroyed.
,hip ofGIxJs4f3The deep sympathy of the prophet, which pours itself forth in
abundant tears over the distress of his people.
Lam_3:51
Or, “Mine eye” causeth pain to my soul, i. e. maketh my soul ache, because of the sad
fate of the maidens (Lam_1:4, Lam_1:18, ...).
CLARKE, "Mine eye runneth down -I weep incessantly.
GILL, "Mine eye runneth down with rivers of waters,.... Denoting the greatness
of his grief and trouble at the afflictions of his people, and the vast profusion of tears on
that account. Here the prophet speaks in his own person, expressing the anguish of his
soul he felt, and the floods of tears he shed:
for the destruction of the daughter of my people; for those that were slain of
them, or carried captive; see Jer_9:1. The Targum is,
"for the destruction of the congregation of my people.''
G picfGIxJG4f3 They complain of their own excessive grief and fear upon this
account. (1.) The afflicted church is drowned in tears, and the prophet for her (
Lam_
3:48, Lam_3:49): My eye runs down with rivers of water, so abundant was their
weeping; it trickles down and ceases not, so constant was their weeping, without any
intermission, there being no relaxation of their miseries. The distemper was in continual
extremity, and they had no better day. It is added (Lam_3:51), “My eye affects my heart.
My seeing eye affects my heart. The more I look upon the desolation of the city and
country the more I am grieved. Which way soever I cast my eye, I see that which renews
my sorrow, even because of all the daughters of my city,” all the neighbouring towns,
which were as daughters to Jerusalem the mother-city. Or, My weeping eye affects my
heart; the venting of the grief, instead of easing it, did but increase and exasperate it. Or,
My eye melts my soul; I have quite wept away my spirits; not only my eye is consumed
with grief, but my soul and my life are spent with it,Psa_31:9, Psa_31:10. Great and
long grief exhausts the spirits, and brings not only many a gray head, but many a green
head too, to the grave. I weep, ways the prophet, more than all the daughters of my city
(so the margin reads it); he outdid even those of the tender sex in the expressions of
grief. And it is no diminution to any to be much in tears for the sins of sinners and the
sufferings of saints; our Lord Jesus was so; for, when he came near, he beheld this same
city and wept over it, which the daughters of Jerusalem did not. (2.) She is
overwhelmed with fears, not only grieves for what is, but fears worse, and gives up all for
gone (Lam_3:54): “Then I said, I am cut off, ruined, and see no hope of recovery; I am

as one dead.” Note, Those that are cast down are commonly tempted to think themselves
cast off, Psa_31:22; Jon_2:4.
chTBe 6l7eH31M“M131MklW;O1lG;,,1M1H3l1=“2wHw3;gHklgf the beginning of this verse:
some render it thus, “My eye comes down unto rivers of waters;” others, “My eye
flows down unto rivers of waters,” or, “rivers of waters flow down.” But as I have
explained elsewhere, the Prophet rather means, that his eye came down like rivers;
and to come down, or to descend, is a metaphor for flowing down; for water, as it is
well known, descends when it flows. And there is a change of number when he says,
“My eye descends;” there is also raider-stood the particle of comparison, כ, caph
(198) The meaning is, that his eyes descended or flowed down as rivers. The last:
word properly signifies divisions, but; he means that many streams flowed down, as
though they were so many rivers.
For the bruising, or the breach, of my people: the Prophet speaks here in his own
person, though there is no doubt but that he exhorts all others to join him in his
sorrow. For the faithful would not have prayed to God with sufficient ardor, had
they not been dreadfully broken and confounded; had not the calamity deeply
affected them, as it ought to have done, there would have been no serious attention
to prayer. This is the reason why the Prophet here mentions his own weepings, and
groanings, and tears, even that he might rouse himself to prayer, and lead others
also. It follows, —
Streams of water does mine eyes bring down
For the breach of the daughter of my people,
— Ed
49 My eyes will flow unceasingly,
without relief,
GILL, "Mine eye trickleth down, and ceaseth not,.... From weeping, as the

Targum: the prophet was continually weeping; the distresses of his people were always
uppermost in his mind; and which so affected him, that it drew tears from his eyes,
which constantly trickled down his cheeks:
without any intermission; or, "without intermissions" (n); there were no stops or
pauses in his grief, and in the expressions of it: or it may be rendered, "because there
were no intermissions" (o); that is, of the miseries of his people; so Jarchi,
"because there were no changes and passing away;''
that is of evils; and to the same purpose the Targum,
"because there is none that intermits my distress, and speaks comforts to me.''
0mtione)g*without ... intermission— or else, “because there is no intermission”
[Piscator], namely, of my miseries.
K&D 49-50, "
רַ:ִנ means to be poured out, empty self; cf. 2Sa_14:14; Mic_1:4. "And is
not silent" = and rests not, i.e., incessantly; cf. Jer_14:17. ןי ֵא ֵמ תוּג ֻפ ֲה does not mean, eo
quod non sint intermissiones miseriarum vel fletus (C. B. Michaelis and Rosenmüller,
following the Chaldee), but "so that there is no intermission or drying up." As to תוּג ֻפ ֲה,
which means the same as ה ָגוּC, see on Lam_2:18. "Until the Lord look down from heaven
and examine," in order to put an end to the distress, or to take compassion on His
people. On ףי ִק ְשׁ ַי, cf. Psa_14:2; Psa_102:20.
lhTjap4f3GIfZI-ImLgfL;IfgmbIfq.fkL;IZfHkZPg4f)fL;mL his eyes flowed down with
tears. He still retains the singular number, but this is common in Hebrew. He then
says, that his eye without end flowed down, so that there was no rest But it
afterwards follows —
lyAAehp4f3jIZgIfGK
"Mine eye poureth down, and ceaseth not,
without any intermission.
Till Jehovah look down,
and behold from heaven.
Mine eye affecteth my soul
because of all the daughters of my city.
They have chased me sore like a bird,

they are mine enemies without cause.
They have cut off my life in the dungeon,
and have cast a stone upon me.
Waters flowed over my head; I said, I am cut off."
"They are mine enemies without cause" (Lamentations 3:52). Ash and other
scholars refer to these words as "a puzzle ... because they do not square with
previous confessions of sin."[37] The explanation is simple enough. The particular
enemies here were those of Jeremiah's own people, who were indeed his enemies
`without cause.' Jeremiah had prophesied for them that they should remain in
Jerusalem; but they hated him, refused to obey, and in all probability forced him to
flee with them into Egypt. (We have written a full account of those events in Vol. II
(Jeremiah) of my series of commentaries on the major prophets, pp. 454-458.) Here
again, we find that the acceptance of Jeremiah as the author of Lamentations
answers all the questions that arise.
"They have cut off my life in the dungeon" (Lamentations 3:53). These words are an
accurate description of Jeremiah's imprisonment (Jeremiah 37:17-19).
PETT, "Lamentations 3:49-51
(Ayin) My eye pours down, and ceases not,
Without any intermission,
(Ayin) Till YHWH look down,
And behold from heaven.
(Ayin) My eye affects my soul,
Because of all the daughters of my city.
And he declares that they will continue to do so, without any cessation, until YHWH
looks down from Heaven and beholds their situation. And it is not only his eye that
weeps. His weeping affects him deep inside as he thinks of what has happened to
‘the daughters of my city’. This last almost certainly refers to the women of
Jerusalem who would receive cavalier treatment from the invaders both before and
after the fall of Jerusalem, especially the young virgins who would have suffered the
most. Consider Lamentations 1:4; Lamentations 1:18 and Lamentations 2:20-21,
where the sad fate and wretched conditions of the virgins of the city are mentioned
as peculiarly deplorable, and Lamentations 5:11 where it was defenceless virgins
who were most to be pitied when the city fell. Some, however, refer it to the satellite
cities, towns and villages connected with Jerusalem.
‘My eye affects my soul.’ Literally ‘my eye inflicts an injury on my inner life’, in
context referring to the pain he feels as he contemplates the situation. otice the
connection between this and YHWH looking down from Heaven. He is hoping that
YHWH will be similarly affected.

50 until the Lord looks down
from heaven and sees.
GILL, "Till the Lord look do: on, and behold from heaven. Disperses and
dissipates the cloud that was about him; shines forth and manifests himself, and looks
favourably upon his people, and delivers them out of their troubles: this the prophet was
in hope of, and was waiting for; but, till it came to pass, could have no rest and comfort.
The Targum is,
"till he look and behold my injury;''
as if he had regard to his own personal injury done him; but
G pic4f3 In the midst of these sad complaints here is one word of comfort, by which
it appears that their case was not altogether so bas as they made it,
Lam_3:50. We
continue thus weeping till the Lord look down and behold from heaven. This intimates,
(1.) That they were satisfied that God's gracious regard to them in their miseries would
be an effectual redress of all their grievances. “If God, who now covers himself with a
cloud, as if he took no notice of our troubles (Job_22:13), would but shine forth, all
would be well; if he look upon us, we shall be saved,” Psa_80:19; Dan_9:17. Bad as the
case is, one favourable look from heaven will set all to rights. (2.) That they had hopes
that he would at length look graciously upon them and relieve them; nay, they take it for
granted that he will: “Though he contend long, he will not contend for ever, thou we
deserve that he should.” (3.) That while they continued weeping they continued waiting,
and neither did nor would expect relief and succour from any hand but his; nothing shall
comfort them but his gracious returns, nor shall any thing wipe tears from their eyes till
he look down. Their eyes, which now run down with water, shall still wait upon the
Lord their God until he have mercy upon them,Psa_123:2.
Vheaoyp4f3Till— His prayer is not without hope, wherein it differs from the blind
grief of unbelievers.
look down, etc.— (Isa_63:15).

CALVI, "The Prophet here makes a distinction between his weeping and that
blind sorrow by which the unbelieving are affected and violently agitated: they have
no regard to God. Then the Prophet says here that he not only wept, but that he also
prayed and waited for God to put an end to evils. As I have already said, the
unbelieving grieve abundantly in adversities, nay, they abandon themselves to
sorrow; but they turn away wholly from God, and are like wild beasts. Then the
Prophet points out the right way to mourn: our eyes must flow down to weariness
and without rest, but at the same time we must wait until God be propitious to us.
Therefore this verse connects well with the former, (199) until Jehovah look down
and see from heaven; for otherwise tears would draw us to despair, and despair
would become the cause of fury; for we see that the ungodly murmur against God.
Thus, then, ought we to weep, in order that we may at the same time cherish hope
while we wait for God to look down on us and to see our miseries from heaven. The
word heaven, is not added uselessly, because men in their evils, when they seek God,
are filled with terror, for they do not think that they can ascend to him: hence, then,
it is, that they despond, for they imagine that God is too remote from them. The
Prophet therefore anticipates here this false notion, and says that we ought
nevertheless to wait until God looks down from heaven; which corresponds with
what is said in the Psalms: that God is high and yet has respect to low things.
(Psalms 113:4.) Though, then, the majesty of God is elevated above all the heavens,
yet this does not prevent him familiarly to regard what is low and despised in the
world. At length it follows, —
49.Mine eye hath poured down, and it will not cease,
With any intermissions,
50.Until Jehovah look down
And see from heaven.
To “see” here, as in Lamentations 3:36, means to regard, so as to interfere in the
affairs of men. “with any,” etc., literally, “With no,” etc. But the English language
not admit of the two negatives, though the Welsh will. — Ed.
51 What I see brings grief to my soul
because of all the women of my city.

,hip o4f3Lam_3:51
Or, “Mine eye” causeth pain to my soul, i. e. maketh my soul ache, because of the sad
fate of the maidens (Lam_1:4, Lam_1:18, ...).
CLARKE, "Mine eye affecteth mine heart -What I see I feel. I see nothing but
misery; and I feel, in consequence, nothing but pain. There have been various
translations of the original: but they all amount to this.
The daughters of my city -The villages about Jerusalem.
GILL, "Mine eye affecteth mine heart,.... Seeing the desolation of his country; the
ruins of the city and temple of Jerusalem; and the multitudes of those that were slain,
and carried captive; and the distresses the rest were in; this affected his heart, and filled
it with grief; as his heart also affected his eyes, and caused them to run down in rivers of
water, as before expressed; or, as the Targum,
"the weeping of mine eyes is the occasion of hurt to my soul or life;''
his excessive weeping endangered his life:
because of all the daughters of my city; not Anathoth, his native place, but
Jerusalem; so the Targum,
"of Jerusalem my city.''
The meaning is, that his heart was affected at seeing the ruin of the inhabitants of
Jerusalem; or of the towns and cities round about it, which that was the metropolis of.
Some, as Jarchi, render it, "more than all the daughters of my city"
(p); his heart was
more affected with those calamities than those of the most tender sex, even than any or
all of them.
Vheaoyp4f3eye affecteth mine heart— that is, causeth me grief with continual
tears; or, “affecteth my life” (literally, “soul,” Margin), that is, my health [Grotius].
daughters of ... city— the towns around, dependencies of Jerusalem, taken by the
foe.
K&D, "
Lam_3:51, taken literally, runs thus: "Mine eye does evil to my soul" (ל ֵלוּע
with usW signifies to inflict an injury on one, cause suffering, as in Lam_1:2, Lam_1:22;
Lam_2:20), i.e., it causes pain to the soul, as the Chaldee has already paraphrased it.
The expression does not merely signify "causes me grief" (Thenius, Gerlach); but the eye,
weakened through incessant weeping, causes pain to the soul, inasmuch as the pain in
the eye increases the pain in the soul, i.e., heightens the pain of the soul through the
superaddition of physical pain (Nägelsbach). Ewald has quite missed the meaning of the

verse in his translation, "Tears assail my soul," and in his explanatory remark that ה ָל ְלוּע
is used in a bad sense, like the Latin afficit; for, if ל ֵלוּע had this meaning, יִני ֵע could not
stand for tears, because it is not the tears, but only the eyes weakened by weeping, that
affect the soul with pain. Ewald is also wrong in seeking, with Grotius, to understand
"the daughters of my city" as signifying the country towns, and to explain the phrase by
referring to Lam_2:22. For, apart from the consideration that the appeal to Lam_2:22
rests on a false conception of that passage, the meaning attributed to the present verse is
shown to be untenable by the very fact that the expression "daughters of my city" is
never used for the daughter-towns of Jerusalem; and such a designation, however
possible it might be in itself, would yet be quite incomprehensible in this present
connection, where there is no other subject of lamentation, either before or after, than
Jerusalem in its ruined condition, and the remnant of its inhabitants (Gerlach). "The
daughters of my city" are the daughters of Jerusalem, the female portion of the
inhabitants of the city before and after its destruction. Nor will what is added, "because
of the daughters of my city," seem strange, if we consider that, even in Lam_1:4, Lam_
1:18and Lam_2:20-21, the fate and the wretched condition of the virgins of the city are
mentioned as peculiarly deplorable, and that, in fact, the defenceless virgins were most
to be pitied when the city fell; cf. Lam_5:11. But the objection of Böttcher and Thenius,
that לּ8 ִמ תוּנ ְ" forms a harsh construction, whether we view it grammatically or in the light
of the circumstances, inasmuch as ן ִמ, after "mine eye pains me," is unsuitable, whether
taken in a causal or a comparative meaning: - this objection, certainly, has some truth in
its favour, and tells against any attempt to take the words as indicating a comparison.
but there is nothing against the causal meaning, if "mine eyes causes pain to my soul"
merely signifies "my eye pains me," because the pain of the eye is the result of the
profuse weeping. If those words, however, possess the meaning we have given above (the
pain in the eyes increases the smart in the soul), then there is nothing strange at all in
the thought, "The evil condition of the daughters of my city is so deplorable, that mine
eyes fail through weeping, and the sorrow of my soul is thereby intensified." Gerlach has
already refuted, though more fully than was necessary, the conjecture of Böttcher, that
תוּנ ְ" should be changed into תוּ8 ַ" (from all the weeping of my city).
lhTjap4f3GIf;mPfgmqP4fL;mLf;qgfI?IfSJkHIPfPkH.4fm.P then, that it was like a
fountain, from which many streams or rivers flowed: he now adopts another mode
of speaking, that his eyes grieved his soul; and it is a sign of the greatest sorrow
when he who weeps seeks some relief, and is at the same time overpowered by that
external feeling. For many indulge in grief and inflame themselves; then the soul of
man is like a fan to rouse the burning. But when we weep and our eyes shed tears,
and when the mind in a manner exhausts itself, it is a proof of the greatest grief.
And this great. grief Jeremiah wished to express by saying, that his eye troubled or
grieved his soul
The latter part is explained in two ways: sonic render thus, “Because of all the
daughters of my city.” But though this meaning is generally taken, I yet prefer the
opinion of those who render the words thus, “More than all the daughters of my
city,” for ןמ, men, denotes a comparison, as it is also a causative. He says, then, that

he was given to grief more than all the young women. As the female sex, as it is well
known, are more tender and softer than men, the Prophet amplifies his lamentation
by this comparison, that in weeping he exceeded all the young women of the city, so
that he had almost forgotten his manhood. Had he said, the daughters of the people,
it might be explained as before, as referring either to the cities, or to the whole
people, that is, the whole community. But when he mentions all the daughters of his
city, I cannot otherwise take the passage but as setting forth a comparison, that is,
that he could not moderate his grief, but was so seized with it as women are, and
also young girls, whose hearts, as it has been already said, are still more tender.
(200) The rest to-morrow.
52 Those who were my enemies without cause
hunted me like a bird.
mho tf6l7Or, “They who without cause are mine enemies have hunted me sore like
a bird.” Probably the prophet is speaking of his personal sorrows.
CLARKE, "Mine enemies chased me -From this to the end of the chapter the
prophet speaks of his own personal sufferings, and especially of those which he endured
in the dungeon. See
Jer_38:6, etc.
GILL, "Mine enemies chased me sore like a bird,.... That is weak and helpless,
fearful and timorous; that flees from place to place when pursued; so it was with the
prophet, or rather with the people of the Jews he represents; for here and in the
following verses he speaks not only of himself, but of them; who, when they fled out of
the city, were chased and pursued by the Chaldeans like a bird, till they were taken; see
Jer_52:7;
without cause; which may be connected with the word "enemies", so the Targum; who
were so without cause; they had done them no injury, to make them their enemies; and
without reason pursued and chased them in the manner they did.
8t o-6l7 In the midst of these sad complaints here is one word of comfort, by which
it appears that their case was not altogether so bas as they made it,
Lam_3:50. We

continue thus weeping till the Lord look down and behold from heaven. This intimates,
(1.) That they were satisfied that God's gracious regard to them in their miseries would
be an effectual redress of all their grievances. “If God, who now covers himself with a
cloud, as if he took no notice of our troubles (Job_22:13), would but shine forth, all
would be well; if he look upon us, we shall be saved,” Psa_80:19; Dan_9:17. Bad as the
case is, one favourable look from heaven will set all to rights. (2.) That they had hopes
that he would at length look graciously upon them and relieve them; nay, they take it for
granted that he will: “Though he contend long, he will not contend for ever, thou we
deserve that he should.” (3.) That while they continued weeping they continued waiting,
and neither did nor would expect relief and succour from any hand but his; nothing shall
comfort them but his gracious returns, nor shall any thing wipe tears from their eyes till
he look down. Their eyes, which now run down with water, shall still wait upon the
Lord their God until he have mercy upon them,Psa_123:2.
Vheaoyp4f3a bird— which is destitute of counsel and strength. The allusion seems
to be to Pro_1:17[Calvin].
without cause— (Psa_69:4; Psa_109:3, Psa_109:4). Type of Messiah (Joh_15:25).
K&D, "His pain and sorrow over the sad condition of the people recall to his memory
the persecutions and sufferings which the godly have endured. The figure, "They who
without cause are mine enemies have hunted me like a bird," is an imitation of Psa_11:1.
י ַב ְיּא םָl ִח reminds one of י ְנשׂ, Psa_35:19and Psa_69:5. But the prophet prefers י ַב ְיּא to
י ְנשׂ, lest any one should restrict the words to persecutions which arose out of personal
hatred.
lhTjap4f3BIfg;mJJfgIIfLkfL;IfI.PfkSfL;IfM;m-LIZfL;I various complaints, by which
the Prophet deplored the miseries of his own nation, that he might at length obtain
the mercy of God. He takes here the comparison of a bird or a sparrow. He says that
the Chaldeans had been like fowlers, and the Jews like sparrows: and we know that
there is neither prudence nor courage in birds. He, then, means that the Jews had
been destitute of all help, having been exposed as a prey to their enemies, who were
like fowlers.
And he seems to allude to the words of Solomon, when he says, that without a cause
is the net spread for birds (Proverbs 1:17;) and he means that innocent men are
circumvented by the wicked, when they spread for them their snares as it were on
every side, while they are like the birds, who have no prudence to avoid them.
We now, then, understand the drift of what the Prophet says: he amplifies the
indignity of their calamity by this comparison, — that the Chaldeans at their
pleasure plundered the miserable people, who were not able to resist them, who
were indeed without any power to defend themselves. (201) It follows, —

Hunting hunted me like a bird
have mine enemies without a cause.
— Ed
PETT, "Verses 52-66
The Prophet Looks Back On His Own Experiences And Calls On YHWH To
Avenge Him (Lamentations 3:52-66).
The chapter commenced with the personal experience of the prophet in
Lamentations 3:1-18 but there it was the present experiences that he was going
through which were in mind. He now closes the chapter with a look back to his
personal experiences, to what he has suffered at the hands of the leaders of his
people, and calls on YHWH to avenge him.
Some, however, recognise the incongruity of these words on the lips of the one who
has just described his tears for his people and see these as the words of Jerusalem
personified, as they bemoan what has happened to them at the hands of the
Babylonians. But the words fit better with an individual, and it is quite possible that
the prophet felt deeply for his people, while still feeling hard done by with regard to
the aristocrats who had for so long opposed and mistreated him, (‘the powers that
be’), who were after all responsible for the sufferings of the people. We must
remember that if the writer was Jeremiah he had been through terrible hardships at
their hands.
Lamentations 3:52-54
(Tsade) They have chased me sore like a bird,
They who are my enemies without cause.
(Tsade) They have cut off my life in the dungeon,
And have cast a stone on me.
(Tsade) Waters flowed over my head,
I said, ‘I am cut off’.
Here have three vivid pictures of the prophet’s sufferings. He had been like a
hunted bird, he had been put in a pit, he had experience overflowing suffering.
‘They have chased me sore (hunted me down) like a bird.’ Compare the vivid
picture in Psalms 11:1-2 of the bird flying off to the mountains in order to escape the
voracious hunters, where it is the upright in heart who are the targets. The prophet
sees himself as having been constantly hunted. And it was by ‘They who are my
enemies without cause’. Compare for this phrase Psalms 35:19; Psalms 69:4. He
considers that they had had no grounds for their enmity because he had only had
the good of his people at heart.
‘They have cut off my life in the dungeon (pit), and have cast a stone on me.’
Compare Psalms 88:6. This was literally true of Jeremiah as the pit into which he

was lowered probably did have a stone covering (Jeremiah 38:6 ff). On the other
hand ‘casting a stone’ might have in mind stoning. But even then it is a good
possibility that at some stage Jeremiah had to flee from being stoned.
‘Waters flowed over my head.’ A picture of the misery and stress that was heaped
on him. See Psalms 42:7; Psalms 88:7; Psalms 124:4.
‘I said, ‘I am cut off.’ Compare Psalms 31:22, ‘I said in my haste, “I am cut off from
.1,gM1l5gFMl151kpl 1O1M3:121kkl5gFl:1wMGl3:1lOg;S1lof my supplications when I cried
to you’. The prophet is describing his moment of doubt before he finally effectively
prayed to YHWH and was delivered by the intervention of Ebed-melech (Jeremiah
38:7 ff).
53 They tried to end my life in a pit
and threw stones at me;
mho tf6l7They have cut off my life in the dungeon -Or, “They destroyed my
life in the pit,” i. e. tried to destroy it by casting me into the cistern, and covering the
month with a stone. See the margin reference.
GILL, "They have cut off my life in the dungeon,.... Jarchi interprets it,
"they bound me in the prison.''
Jeremiah was both in a prison and in a dungeon, where he was deprived of the society of
men, as if he had been dead; and he was in danger of losing his life; but whether any
respect is had to it here is not certain: it seems rather to respect the people of the Jews in
captivity, who were deprived of their rights and liberties, and of the comforts of life; and
were like dead men in their graves, to whom they are compared,
Eze_37:11; but since
Jeremiah was not dead, nor did he die in the dungeon, Jarchi's sense seems best, and
agrees with what follows; and is confirmed by the version of others, who render it, "they
shut up my life in the dungeon" (q); or himself there:
and cast a stone upon me; to see if he was dead, or to prevent him from rising. The
allusion is to the putting of stones at the mouths of dens and dungeons, caves and
graves, to keep in those there put: or they stoned me, as the Targum; that is, they
endeavoured to do it: or the Jews in captivity were like persons stoned to death, or like
dead men covered with a heap of stones; for that Jeremiah was stoned to death there is

no reason to believe.
Vheaoyp4f3in ... dungeon— (Jer_37:16).
stone— usually put at the mouth of a dungeon to secure the prisoners (Jos_10:18;
Dan_6:17; Mat_27:60).
K&D 53-54, "וּת ְמֽ ָצ is here used transitively in Kal, as the Piel is elsewhere, Psa_
119:139, and the Pilpel, Psa_88:17. וּת ְמֽ ָצ רוּ" ַב, "they were destroying (cutting off) my life
down into the pit," is a pregnant construction, and must be understood de conatu: "they
sought to destroy my life when they hurled me down into the pit, and cast stones on me,"
i.e., not "they covered the pit with a stone" (Pareau, De Wette, Neumann). The verb ה ָד ָי
construed with usM does not take this meaning, for ה ָד ָי merely signifies to cast, e.g., lots
(Jos_4:3, etc.), arrows (Jer_50:14), or to throw down = destroy, annihilate, Zec_2:4;
and י ִ" does not mean "in the pit in which I was," but "upon (or against) me." The sing.
ן ֶב ֶא is to be understood in accordance with the expression םַג ָר ן ֶב ֶא, to cast stones = stone
(1Ki_12:18; Lev_20:2, Lev_20:27). As to וּAַmַו for וּA ַי ְיַו, see on הֶ:ַmַו in Lam_3:33. "Waters
flowed over my head" is a figurative expression, denoting such misery and distress as
endanger life; cf. Psa_59:2-3, Psa_59:15., Psa_124:4., Psa_42:8. 'I said (thought), I am
cut off (from God's eyes or hand)," Psa_31:23; Psa_88:6, is a reminiscence from these
Psalms, and does not essentially differ from "cut off out of the land of the living," Isa_
43:8. For, that we must thereby think of death, or sinking down into Sheol, is shown by
רוּ" ִמ תוּm ִ2 ִח ַ2, Lam_3:55. The complaint in these verses (52-54) is regarded by some
expositors as a description of the personal sufferings of Jeremiah; and the casting into
the pit is referred to the incident mentioned in Jer_38:6. Such is the view, for instance,
taken by Vaihinger and Nägelsbach, who point for proof to these considerations
especially: (1) That the Chaldeans certainly could not, without good cause (Lam_3:53),
be understood as the "enemies;" (2) that Jeremiah could not represent the people,
speaking as if they were righteous and innocent; and (3) that the writer already speaks of
his deliverance from their power, and contents himself with merely calling down on
them the vengeance of God (Lam_3:55-66). But not one of these reasons is decisive. For,
in the first place, the contents of Lam_3:52do not harmonize with the known hostility
which Jeremiah had to endure from his personal enemies. That is to say, there is nothing
mentioned or known of his enemies having stoned him, or having covered him over with
a stone, after they had cast him into the miry pit (Jer_38:6.), The figurative character of
the whole account thus shows itself in the very fact that the separate portions of it are
taken from reminiscences of passages in the Psalms, whose figurative character is
universally acknowledged. Moreover, in the expression י ַב ְיּא םָl ִח, even when we
understand thereby the Chaldeans, it is not at all implied that he who complains of these
enemies considers himself righteous and innocent, but simply that he has not given
them any good ground for their hostile conduct towards him. And the assertion, that the
writer is already speaking of his deliverance from their power, rests on the erroneous
notion that, in Lam_3:55-66, he is treating of past events; whereas, the interchange of
the perfects with imperatives of itself shows that the deliverance of which he there
speaks is not an accomplished or bygone fact, but rather the object of that assured faith

which contemplates the non-existent as existent. Lastly, the contrast between personal
suffering ad the suffering of the people, on which the whole reasoning rests, is quite
beside the mark. Moreover, if we take the lamentations to be merely symbolical, then the
sufferings and persecutions of which the prophet here complains are not those of the
people generally, but of the godly Israelites, on whom they were inflicted when the
kingdom was destroyed, not merely by the Chaldeans, but also by their godless fellow-
countrymen. Hence we cannot, of course, say that Jeremiah here speaks from personal
experience; however, he complains not merely of the persecutions that befall him
personally, but also of the sufferings that had come on him and all godly ones. The same
remark applies to the conclusion of this lamentation, - the prayer, Lam_3:55-66, in
which he entreats the Lord for deliverance, and in the spirit of faith views this
deliverance as already accomplished.
c.i(th2rBTrvCJrTgDwCG’rCbyTSr:CgDmSH’Cv’LrpCgTrHgDSoperly confine this to
Jeremiah himself, as though he explained here before God the wrongs done to
himself: but there is no doubt but that he undertakes the cause of the whole people;
and his object was to encourage by his own example the faithful to lament their state
so that they might obtain pardon from God.
He then compares himself to a man half-dead, cast into a pit, and there left for lost.
Then some improperly interpret the words, “they cast stones;” for stoning was not
in the mind of the Prophet; but having said that he was fast bound in a pit or
dungeon, he adds that a stone was laid over him, that lie might not come forth, as we
know was the case with Daniel. (Daniel 6:16.) Daniel was cast into the den of lions,
and then a stone was put on the mouth of the den. So also the Prophet says, that he
was bound fast in the pit, and not only that, but that a stone was laid over him, that
there might be no hope of coming out; and thus the pit was like a grave. Here, then,
he means that lie was reduced to the last extremity, because he had not only been
taken by his enemies, but had also been cast into a pit. And, as it is well known, it is
a metaphorical expression or a similitude. He adds, —
54 the waters closed over my head,
and I thought I was about to perish.

Imbeho)g*Waters flowed over mine head -A figurative expression for great
mental trouble.
GILL, "Waters flowed over mine head,.... As in a pit or dungeon, where there is
not only mire and clay, but much water, into which persons being put, sink, and are
covered therewith; see
Psa_69:1; this is to be understood metaphorically of the waters of
afflictions, which overflowed and overwhelmed the people of the Jews. Jarchi interprets
it of the nations of the world, as much people are often compared to waters; and here the
Chaldeans may be particularly intended, whose army overflowed the land of Judea; and,
like a mighty torrent, carried away the people, and wealth of it, and brought them into
troubles, which were like deep waters:
then I said, I am cut off; while the waters are only up to a man's loins, he does not
apprehend himself in danger; but there is hope of his wading through, and getting out;
but when they rise above his head, his hopes are gone; he reckons it all over with him,
and that he is just perishing, and his life in the utmost danger; there being scarce any
probability or possibility of saving him; so it was with these people.
0mtione)g*Waters— not literally, for there was “no water” (
Jer_38:6) in the place
of Jeremiah’s confinement, but emblematical of overwhelming calamities (Psa_69:2;
Psa_124:4, Psa_124:5).
cut off— (Isa_38:10, Isa_38:11). I am abandoned by God. He speaks according to
carnal sense.
chTBe 6l781lHgulwGGklwl3:;MGlSg_“wM;kgH6l>l3:w3l:1lhad been overwhelmed, as it
were, with a flood of evils. This similitude occurs often in Scripture, especially in the
Psalms; for when David wished to set forth his despair, lie said that he was sunk in
deep waters. (Psalms 69:15.) So also in this place the Prophet complains, that waters
had flowed over his head, so that he thought himself lost. Though, indeed, this was
the saying of a man in a hopeless state, it is yet evident from the context that the
Prophet was firm in the hope of God’s mercy. But he speaks according to the
judgment of the flesh; and we know that the faithful are as it were divided; for as
they have not put off the flesh, they must necessarily be acquainted with adversities,
be stormed by fear and feel anxieties; in short, when death hangs over them, they
must in a manner be exposed to fear. In the meantime, faith in their hearts obtains
the victory, so that they do not succumb under terrors, or cares, or anxieties.
When, therefore, the Prophet says that in his own judgment he was lost, he does not
mean that his faith was so extinguished that he ceased to pray to God; for in the
next verse he shews that he persevered in prayer. How, then, did he say or believe
that he was lost? even, as I have already said, according to human judgment. And
we often see that the faithful complain that they are forsaken, that God is asleep in
heaven, that he has turned away from them. All these things are to be referred to
the perception of the flesh. While, then, the faithful cast their eyes on dangers, when
death comes, they not only tremble, but fear greatly and faint also. In the meantime,
as I have said, they struggle by faith against all these temptations. So, then, is this
passage to be understood, — that the Prophet believed that he was lost, that is, as
far as he could judge by the aspect of things at that time, for no hope appeared then

to the Church. But we yet see that the Prophet did not indulge himself in this
despair; for he immediately adds, —
55 I called on your name, Lord,
from the depths of the pit.
,hip o4f3
Lam_3:55
Out of the low dungeon - “The lowest pit” of Psa_88:6. Some consider that Ps. 69
was composed by Jeremiah, and is the prayer referred to here (Jer_38:6note).
GILL, "I called upon thy name, O Lord,.... As in times past, so in the present
distress; when all hope was gone, and all help failed, still there was a God to go to, and
call upon:
out of the low dungeon; or "dungeon of lownesses" (r); the lowest dungeon, the
deepest distress, a man or people could be in; yet then and there it is not too late to call
upon the Lord; and there may be hope of deliverance out of such an estate by him.
G picfJJxJI4f3We may observe throughout this chapter a struggle in the prophet's
breast between sense and faith, fear and hope; he complains and then comforts himself,
yet drops his comforts and returns again to his complaints, as
Psa_42:1-11. But, as there,
so here, faith gets the last word and comes off a conqueror; for in these verses he
concludes with some comfort. And here are two things with which he comforts himself: -
I. His experience of God's goodness even in his affliction. This may refer to the
prophet's personal experience, with which he encourages himself in reference to the
public troubles. He that has seasonably succoured particular saints will not fail the
church in general. Or it may include the remnant of good people that were among the
Jews, who had found that it was not in vain to wait upon God. In three things the
prophet and his pious friends had found God good to them: - 1. He had heard their
prayers; though they had been ready to fear that the cloud of wrath was such as their
prayers could not pass through (Lam_3:44), yet upon second thoughts, or at least upon
further trial, they find it otherwise, and that God had not said unto them, Seek you me in
vain. When they were in the low dungeon, as free among the dead, they called upon
God's name (Lam_3:55); their weeping did not hinder praying. Note, Though we are
cast into ever so low a dungeon, we may thence find a way of access to God in the highest
heavens. Out of the depths have I cried unto thee (Psa_130:1), as Jonah out of the
whale's belly. And could God hear them out of the low dungeon, and would he? Yes, he
did: Thou hast heard my voice; and some read the following words as carrying on the
same thankful acknowledgment: Thou didst not hide thy ear at my breathing, at my

cry; and the original will bear that reading. We read it as a petition for further audience:
Hide not thy ear. God's having heard our voice when we cried to him, even out of the
low dungeon, is an encouragement for us to hope that he will not at any time hide his
ear. Observe how he calls prayer his breathing; for in prayer we breathe towards God,
we breathe after him. Though we be but weak in prayer, cannot cry aloud, but only
breathe in groanings that cannot be uttered, yet we shall not be neglected if we be
sincere. Prayer is the breath of the new man, sucking in the air of mercy in petitions and
returning it in praises; it is both the evidence and the maintenance of the spiritual life.
Some read it, at my gasping. “When I lay gasping for life, and ready to expire, and
thought i was breathing my last, then thou tookest cognizance of my distressed case.” 2.
He had silenced their fears and quieted their spirits (Lam_3:57): “Thou drewest near in
the day that I called upon thee; thou didst graciously assure me of thy presence with me,
and give me to see thee nigh unto me, whereas I had thought thee to be at a distance
from me.” Note, When we draw nigh to God in a way of duty we may by faith see him
drawing nigh to us in a way of mercy. But this was not all: Thou saidst, Fear not. This
was the language of God's prophets preaching to them not to fear (Isa_41:10, Isa_41:13,
Isa_41:14), of his providence preventing those things which they were afraid of, and of
his grace quieting their minds, and making them easy, by the witness of his Spirit with
their spirits that they were his people still, though in distress, and therefore ought not to
fear. 3. He had already begun to appear for them (Lam_3:58): “O Lord! thou hast
pleaded the causes of my soul” (that is, as it follows), “thou hast redeemed my life, hast
rescued that out of the hands of those who would have taken it away, hast saved that
when it was ready to be swallowed up, hast given me that for a prey.” And this is an
encouragement to them to hope that he would yet further appear for them: “Thou hast
delivered my soul from death, and therefore wilt deliver my feet from falling; thou hast
pleaded the causes of my life, and therefore wilt plead my other causes.”
Vheaoyp4f3I called out of dungeon— Thus the spirit resists the flesh, and faith
spurns the temptation [Calvin], (
Psa_130:1; Jon_2:2).
K&D, "Prayer for deliverance, and confident trust in its realization. Lam_3:55. "Out
of the lowest pit I call, O Lord, on Thy name;" cf. Psa_88:7, Psa_88:14; Psa_130:1. The
perfect י ִתא ָר ָק is not a preterite,
(Note: The perfects are so viewed by Nägelsbach, who also thinks that the speaker,
in Lam_3:55-58, thanks the Lord for deliverance from the pit, and in Lam_3:55
reminds the Lord of the prayer he has addressed to Him out of the pit. But could he
possibly think that the Lord had forgotten this? What, we should like to know, would
be the use of this reminder, even if 'ם ֵל ְע ַ2 וגו, Lam_3:56, could be taken as the words
of address to the Lord? For we can discover no thanksgiving in Lam_3:55-58. This
whole mode of viewing the passage breaks down before Lam_3:59: "Thou hast seen
mine oppression; judge me!" For, if the perfects in Lam_3:55-58are preterites, then
also ה ָתי ִא ָר, Lam_3:59, can only be a preterite; and the prophet can only be speaking
of injustice that has been done him previously: hence he cannot add thereto the
request, "Judge me," inasmuch as the Lord (according to Nägelsbach) has already
judged him by delivering him from the pit. Moreover, it is quite arbitrary to
understand the perfects in Lam_3:59and Lam_3:62as referring to what has been
done and is still being done to the speaker by his enemies, if it be agreed that the

perfects in Lam_3:55-58refer only to past events.)
but expresses what has already happened, and still happens. This is evident from the fact
that the corresponding perfect, ]GV 1Y f& Gw, Lam_3:56, is continued by the optative ם ֵל ְע ַ2־ל . רוּ"
תוּm ִ2 ִח ַ2 is taken from Psa_88:7: "pit of the lower regions of the earth,"-the תוּm ִ2 ִח ַ2 ץ ֶר ֶא,
Psa_63:10; Eze_32:18, Eze_32:24, i.e., Sheol, essentially the same with םי ִ8 ַשׁ ֲה ַמ, Lam_
3:6, which is thereby connected with Psa_88:7, - the dark regions of the depth, whose
open mouth is the grave for every one (see Delitzsch on Psalms, l.c.), hence the symbol of
mortal danger.
נen2haαיλBחי"ח%ֶׁ!וּ איֲחחיׁשֶׁיׁשחיר%פםשחׁישֶκיֶוּי!nward conflict, which also all
the faithful experience, for the spirit fights against the flesh, as Paul teaches us.
(Galatians 5:17.) Though, then, he on the one hand apprehended death, he yet
ceased not to flee to God; for faith strengthened his mind so that he did not
succumb, but on the contrary he firmly rejected the temptation presented to him.
Though, then, he was, according to the flesh, persuaded as to his own ruin, he on the
other hand, called on the name of God; for the faithful do not measure the power
and grace of God by their own thoughts, but give glory to God by recumbing on him
even in the greatest extremities.
And this passage ought to be carefully noticed; for when Satan cannot in any other
way turn us aside from prayer, he alleges our weakness; “What meanest thou,
miserable being? will God hear thee? for what canst thou do? thou tremblest, thou
art anxious, nay, thou despairest; and yet thou thinkest that God will be propitious
to thee.” Whenever, therefore, Satan tries to shut the door against us so as to
prevent us to pray, let this example of the Prophet come to our minds; for he,
though he thought himself lost, did not yet cast aside the confidence he entertained
as to God’s help and aid. For whence arose his perseverance, except that he in a
manner rebuked himself when he found himself so overwhelmed, and as it were
dead. These two states of mind are seen in this short prayer of David,
“My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
(Psalms 22:1.)
For when he addressed God, and called him his God, we see his rare and
extraordinary faith; and when he complains that he was forsaken, we see how,
through the infirmity of the flesh, he thought that it was all over with him as to his
salvation. Such a conflict, then, is described here; but faith overcame and gained the
victory, for the Prophet ceased not to cry to God, even from the pit of depths —
from the pit, that is, from death itself.
And this also ought to be carefully observed; for when God bears us on his wings, or
when he carries us in his bosom, it is easy to pray; but when we seem to be cast into
the deepest gulfs, if we thence cry to him, it is a real and certain proof of faith and
hope. As such passages often occur in the Psalms, they may be compared together;
but I touch but slightly on the subject, for it is not my object to heap together all the
quotations which are appropriate; it is enough to present the real meaning of the

Prophet. It follows, —
COFFMA, "Verse 55
"I called upon thy name, O Jehovah,
out of the lowest dungeon.
Thou heardest my voice;
hide not thine ear at my breathing, at my cry.
Thou drewest near in the day that I called upon thee;
thou saidst, Fear not.
Lord, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul;
thou hast redeemed my life.
O Jehovah, thou hast seen my wrong;
judge thou my cause.
Thou hast seen all their vengeance
and all their devices against me."
This whole paragraph is an eloquent summary of all the trials of Jeremiah under
Zedekiah, and still later, after the fall of Jerusalem, when the remnant of the city
rejected his counsel.
EXPOSITOR'S BIBLE COMMETARY, "Verses 55-66
DE PROFUDIS
Lamentations 3:55-66
As this third elegy-the richest and the most elaborate of the five that constitute the
Book of Lamentations-draws to a close it retains its curious character of variability,
not aiming at any climax, but simply winding on till its threefold acrostics are
completed by the limits of the Hebrew alphabet, like a river that is monotonous in
the very succession of its changes, now flowing through a dark gorge, then rippling
in clear sunlight, and again plunging into gloomy caverns. The beauty and
brightness of this very variegated poem are found at its centre. Sadder thoughts
follow. But these are not so wholly complaining as the opening passages had been.
There is one thread of continuity that may be traced right through the series of
changes which occupy the latter part of the poem. The poet having once turned to
the refuge of prayer never altogether forsakes it. The meditations as much as the

petitions that here occur are all directed to God.
A peculiarity of the last portion of the elegy that claims special attention is the
interesting reminiscence with which the poet finds encouragement for his present
prayers. He is recalling the scenes of that most distressing period of his life, the time
when he had been cast into a flooded dungeon. If ever he had come near to death it
must have been then: though his life was spared the misery of his condition had
been extreme. While in this most wretched situation the persecuted patriot cried to
God for help, and as he now recollects for his present encouragement, he received a
distinct and unmistakable answer. The scene is most impressive. As it shapes itself
to his memory, the victim of tyranny is in the lowest dungeon. This phrase suggests
the thought of the awful Hebrew Sheol. So dark was his experience and so near was
the sufferer to death, it seems to him as though he had, been indeed plunged down
into the very abode of the dead. Yet here he found utterance for prayer. It was the
prayer of utter extremity, almost the last wild cry of a despairing soul, yet not quite,
for that is no prayer at all, all prayer requiring some real faith, if only as a grain of
mustard seed. Moreover, the poet states that he called upon the name of God.
ow in the Bible the name always stands for the attributes which it connotes. To call
on God’s name is to make mention of some of His known and revealed
characteristics. The man who will do this is more than one "feeling after God"; he
has a definite conception of the nature and disposition of the Being to whom he is
addressing himself. Thus it happens that old, familiar ideas of God, as He had been
known in the days of light and joy, rise up in the heart of the miserable man, and
awaken a longing desire to seek the help of One so great and good and merciful. Just
in proportion to the fulness of the meaning of the name of God as it is conceived by
us, will our prayers win definiteness of aim and strength of wing. The altar to "an
unknown god" can excite but the feeblest and vaguest devotion. Inasmuch as our
Lord has greatly enriched the contents of the name of God by His full revelation of
the Divine Father, to us Christians there has come a more definite direction and a
more powerful impulse for prayer. Even though this is a prayer de profundis it is an
enlightened prayer. We may believe that, like a star seen from the depths of a well
which excludes the glare of day, the significance of the sacred ame shone out to the
sufferer with a beauty never before perceived when he looked up to heaven from the
darkness of his pit of misery.
It has been suggested that in this passage the elegist is following the sixty-ninth
psalm, and that perhaps that psalm is his own composition and the expression of the
very prayer to which he is here referring. At all events, the psalm exactly fits the
situation; and therefore it may be taken as a perfect illustration of the kind of
prayer alluded to. The psalmist is "in deep mire, where there is no standing"; he has
"come into deep waters, where the floods overthrow" him; he is persecuted by
enemies who hate him "without a cause"; he has been weeping till his eyes have
failed. Meanwhile he has been waiting for God, in prayers mingled with confessions.
It is his zeal for God’s house that has brought him so near to death. He beseeches
God that the flood may not be allowed to overwhelm him, nor "the pit shut her
mouth upon him." He concludes with an invocation of curses upon the heads of his

enemies. All these as well as some minor points agree very closely with our poet’s
picture of his persecutions and the prayer he here records.
Read in the light of the elegist’s experience, such a prayer as that of the psalm
cannot be taken as a model for daily devotion. It is a pity that our habitual use of the
Psalter should encourage this application of it. The result is mischievous in several
ways. It tends to make our worship unreal, because the experience of the psalmist,
even when read metaphorically, as it was probably intended to be read, is by no
means a type of the normal condition of human life. Besides, in so far as we bring
ourselves to sympathise with this piteous outcry of a distressed soul, we reduce our
worship to a melancholy plaint, when it should be a joyous anthem of praise. At the
same time, we unconsciously temper the language we quote with the less painful
feelings of our own experience, so that its force is lost upon us.
Yet the psalm is of value as a revelation of a soul’s agony relieved by prayer; and
there are occasions when its very words can be repeated by men and women who
are indeed overwhelmed by trouble. If we do not spoil the occasional by attempting
to make it habitual it is wonderful to see how rich the Bible is in utterances to suit
all cases and all conditions. Such an outpouring of a distressed heart as the elegist
hints at and the psalmist illustrates, is itself full of profound significance. The
stirring of a soul to its depths is a revelation of its depths. This revelation prevents
us from taking petty views of human nature. o one can contemplate the Titanic
struggle of Laocoon or the immeasurable grief of iobe without a sense of the tragic
greatness of which human life is capable. We live so much on the surface that we are
in danger of forgetting that life is not always a superficial thing. But when a volcano
bursts out of the quiet plain of everyday existence, we are startled into the
perception that there must be hidden fires which we may not have suspected before.
And, further, when the soul in its extremity is seen to be turning for refuge to God,
the revelation of its Gethsemane gives a new meaning to the very idea of prayer.
Here is prayer indeed, and at the sight of such a profound reality we are shamed
into doubting whether we have ever begun to pray at all, so stiff and chill do our
utterances to the Unseen now appear to be in comparison with this Jacob-like
wrestling.
Immediately after mentioning the fact of his prayer the elegist adds that this was
heard by God. His cry rose up from "the lowest dungeon" and reached the heights
of heaven. And yet we cannot credit this to the inherent vigour of prayer. If a
petition can thus wing its way to heaven, that is because it is of heavenly origin.
There is no difficulty in making air to rise above water; the difficulty is to sink it;
and if any could be taken to the bottom of the sea, the greater the depth descended
the swifter would it shoot up. Since all true prayer is an inspiration it cannot spend
itself until it has, so to speak, restored the equilibrium by returning to its natural
sphere. But the elegist puts the case another way. In His great condescension God
stoops to the very lowest depths to find one of His distressed children. It is not hard
to make the prayer of the dungeon reach the ear of God, because God is in the
dungeon. He is most near when He is most needed.

The prayer was more than heard; it was answered there was a Divine voice in
response to this cry to God, a voice that reached the ear of the desolate prisoner in
the silence of his dungeon. It consisted of but two words, but those two words were
clear and unmistakable, and quite sufficient to satisfy the listener. The voice said,
"Fear not." [Lamentations 3:57] That was enough.
Shall we doubt the reality of the remarkable experience that the elegist here
records? Or can we explain it away by reference to the morbid condition of the
mind of a prisoner enduring the punishment of solitary confinement? It is said that
this unnatural punishment tends to develop insanity in its miserable victims. But the
poet is now reviewing the occurrence, which made so deep an impression on his
mind at the time, in the calm of later reflection; and evidently he has no doubt of its
reality. It has nothing in it of the wild fancy of a disordered brain. Lunacy raves;
this simple message is calm. And it is just such a message as God might be expected
to give if He spoke at all-just like Him, we may say. To this remark some doubting
critic may reply, "Exactly; and therefore the more likely to have been imagined by
the expectant worshipper." But such an inference is not psychologically correct. The
reply is not in harmony with the tone of the prayer, but directly opposed to it.
Agony and terror cannot generate an assurance of peace and safety. The poison does
not secrete its own antidote. Here is an indication of the presence of another voice,
because the words breathe another spirit. Besides, this is not an unparalleled
experience.
Most frequently, no doubt, the answer to prayer is not vocal, and yet the reality of it
may not be any the less certain to the seeking soul. It may be most definite, although
it comes in a deed rather than in a word. Then the grateful recipient can exclaim
with the psalmist-
"This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him,
And saved him out of all his troubles.". [Psalms 34:6]
Here is an answer, but not a spoken one, only an action, in saving from trouble. In
other cases, however, the reply approaches nearer the form of a message from
heaven. When we remember that God is our Father the wonder is not that at rare
intervals these voices have been heard, but rather that they are so infrequent. It is so
easy to become the victim of delusions that some caution is requisite to assure
ourselves of the existence of Divine utterances. The very idea of the occurrence of
such phenomena is discredited by the fact that those persons who profess most
eagerly to have heard supernatural voices are commonly the subjects of hysteria;
and when the voices become frequent this fact is taken by physicians as a symptom
of approaching insanity. Among semi-civilised people madness is supposed to be
closely allied to inspiration. The mantis is not far from the mad man. Such a man is
not the better off for the march of civilisation. The ancients would have honoured
him as a prophet; we shut him up in a lunatic asylum. But these discouraging
considerations do not exhaust the question. Delusions are not in themselves
disproofs of the existence of the occurrences they emulate. Each case must be taken

on its own merits; and when, as in that which is now under our consideration, the
character of the incident points to a conviction of its solid reality, it is only a mark of
narrowness of thought to refuse to lift it out of the category of idle fancies.
But, quite apart from the question of the sounding of Divine voices in the bodily ear,
the more important truth to be considered is that in some way, if only by spiritual
impression, God does most really speak to His children, and that He speaks now as
surely as He spoke in the days of Israel. We have no new prophets and apostles who
can give us fresh revelations in the form of additions to our Bible. But that is not
what is meant. The elegist did not receive a statement of doctrine in answer to his
prayer, nor, on this occasion, even help for the writing of his inspired poetry. The
voice to which he here alludes was of quite a different character.
This was in the olden times; but if then, why not also now? Evidently the elegist
regarded it as a rare and wonderful occurrence-a single experience to which he
looked back in after years with the interest one feels in a vivid recollection which
rises like a mountain, clean cut against the sky, above the mists that so quickly
gather on the low plains of the uneventful past. Perhaps it is only in one of the crises
of life that such an indubitable message is sent-when the soul is in the lowest
dungeon, in extremis, crying out of the darkness, helpless if not yet hopeless,
overwhelmed, almost extinguished. But if we listened for it, who can tell but that the
voice might not be so rare? We do not believe in it; therefore we do not hear it. Or
the noise of the world’s great loom and the busy thoughts of our own hearts drown
the music that still floats down from heaven to ears that are tuned to catch its notes;
for it does not come in thunder, and we must ourselves be still if we would hear the
still small voice, inwardly still, still in soul, stifling the chatter of self, stopping our
ears to the din of the world. There are those today who tell us with calm assurance,
not at all in the visionary’s falsetto notes, that they have known just what is here
described by the poet-in the silence of a mountain valley, in the quiet of a sick
chamber, even in the noisy crowd at a railway station.
When this is granted it is still well for us to remember that we are not dependent for
Divine consolation on voices which to many must ever be as dubious as they are
rare. This short message of two words is in effect the essence of teachings that can
be gathered as freely from almost every page of the Bible as flowers from a meadow
in May. We have the "more sure word of prophecy," and the burden of it is the
same as the message of the voice that comforted the poet in his dungeon.
That message is wholly reassuring-"Fear not." So said God to the patriarch: "Fear
not, Abram; I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward"; [Genesis 15:1] and to
His people through the prophet of the restoration: "Fear not, thou worm Jacob";
[Isaiah 41:14] and Jesus to His disciples in the storm: "Be of good cheer: it is I: be
not afraid"; [Mark 6:50] and our Lord again in His parting address: "Let not your
heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful"; [John 14:27] and the glorified Christ to
His terrified friend John, when He laid His right hand on him with the words:
"Fear not; I am the first and the last; and the Living One; and I was dead, and
behold, I am alive forever more, and I have the keys of death and of Hades."

[Revelation 1:17-18] This is the word that God is continually speaking to His faint-
hearted children. When "the burthen of the mystery," and
"the heavy and the weary weight
Of all this unintelligible world"
oppress, when the greater sorrows threaten to crush outright, listening for the voice
of God, we may hear the message of love from a Father’s heart as though spoken
afresh to each of us; for we have but to acquaint ourselves with Him to be at peace.
The elegist does not recall this scene from his past life merely in order to indulge in
the pleasures of memory-generally rather melancholy pleasures, and even mocking
if they are in sharp contrast to the present. His object is to find encouragement for
renewed hope in the efficacy of prayer. In the complaint that he has put into the
mouth of His people He has just been depicting the failure of prayer. But now he
feels that if for a time God has wrapped Himself in a mantle of wrath this cannot be
forever, for He who was so gracious to the cry of His servant on that ever
memorable occasion will surely attend again to the appeal of distress. This is always
the greatest encouragement for seeking help from God. It is difficult to find much
satisfaction in what is called with an awkward inconsequence of diction the
"philosophy of prayer"; the spirit of philosophy is so wholly different from the
spirit of prayer. The great justification for prayer is the experience of prayer. It is
only the prayerless man who is wholly sceptical on this subject. The man of prayer
cannot but believe in prayer; and the more he prays and the oftener he turns to this
refuge in all times of need the fuller is his assurance that God hears and answers
him.
Considering how God acted as his advocate when he was in danger in the earlier
crisis, and then redeemed his life, the poet points to this fact as a plea in his new
necessity. [Lamentations 3:58] God will not desert the cause He has adopted. Men
feel a peculiar interest in those whom they have already helped, an interest that is
stronger than the sense of gratitude, for we are more attracted to our dependants
than to our benefactors. If God shares this feeling, how strongly must He be drawn
to us by His many former favours. The language of the elegist gains a great
enrichment of meaning when read in the light of the Christian Gospel. In a deep
sense, of which he could have had but the least glimmering of apprehension, we can
appeal to God as the Redeemer of our life, for we can take the Cross of Christ as our
plea. St. Paul makes use of this strongest of all arguments when He urges that if God
gave His Son, and if Christ died for us, all other needful blessings, since they cannot
involve so great a sacrifice, will surely follow. Accordingly, we can pray in the
language of the "Dies Irae"-
"Wearily for me Thou soughtest,
On the Cross my life Thou boughtest.

Lose not all for which Thou wroughtest."
Rising from the image of the advocate to that of the magistrate the distressed man
begs God to judge his cause. [Lamentations 3:59] He would have God look at his
enemies-how they wrong him, insult him, make him the theme of their jesting songs.
[Lamentations 3:60-63]
It would have been more to our taste if the poem had ended here, if there had been
no remaining letters in the Hebrew alphabet to permit the extension of the acrostics
beyond the point we have now reached. We cannot but feel that its tone is lowered at
the close. The writer here proceeds to heap imprecations on the heads of his
enemies. It is vain for some commentators to plead the weak excuse that the
language is "prophetic." This is certainly more than the utterance of a prediction.
o unprejudiced reader can deny that it reveals a desire that the oppressors may be
blighted and blasted with rum, and even if the words were only a foretelling of a
divinely-decreed fate they would imply a keen sense of satisfaction in the prospect,
which they describe as something to be gloated over. We cannot expect this Jewish
patriot to anticipate our Lord’s intercession and excuse for His enemies. Even St.
Paul so far forgot himself as to treat the High Priest in a very different manner from
his Master’s behaviour. But we may see here one of the worst effects of tyranny-the
dark passion of revenge that it rouses in its victims. The provocation was
maddening, and not only of a private nature. Think of the situation-the beloved city
sacked and destroyed, the sacred temple a heap of smouldering ruins, village
homesteads all over the hills of Judah wrecked and deserted; slaughter, outrage,
unspeakable wrongs endured by wives and maidens, little children starved to death.
Is it wonderful that the patriot’s temper was not the sweetest when he thought of the
authors of such atrocities? There is no possibility of denying the fact-the fierce fires
of Hebrew hatred for the oppressors of the much-suffering race here burst into a
flame, and towards the end of this finest of elegies we read the dark imprecation,
"Thy curse upon them!" [Lamentations 3:65]
PETT, "Lamentations 3:55-57
(Qoph) I called on your name, O YHWH,
Out of the lowest dungeon.
(Qoph) You heard my voice,
Do not hide your ear at my breathing (sighing), at my cry.
(Qoph) You drew near in the day that I called on you,
You said, ‘Do not be afraid’.
His momentary doubt laid to rest the prophet called on YHWH ‘out of the lowest
pit’ (compare Psalms 88:6; Psalms 130:1; Jeremiah 38:6), and was immediately
heard. So he now calls on YHWH to regard his sighing and respond in the same
way. For YHWH had drawn near on the day that he had called on Him, and had
given him the assurance, ‘Do not be afraid’.
When we reach the very lowest pit we can be sure that He will be there ready to
respond to our prayer, whatever the circumstances. otice the sequence, ‘I called --

you heard -- do not hide -- you drew near’.
Lamentations 3:58-63
56 You heard my plea: “Do not close your ears
to my cry for relief.”
,hip o4f3
Lam_3:56
Thou hast heard -In sending Ebedmelech to deliver me. The next clause signifies
“Hide not thine ear to my relief to my cry,” i. e. to my cry for relief.
CLARKE, "Hide not thine ear at my breathing -He dared not even to
complain, nor to cry, nor to pray aloud: he was obliged to whisper his prayer to God. It
was only a breathing.
GILL, "Thou hast heard my voice,.... Either in times past, when he cried unto him,
and was delivered; and this was an encouragement to call upon him again in such
extremity, who had shown himself to be a God hearing and answering prayer; hence it
follows:
hide not thine ear at my breathing, at my cry; turn not a deaf ear to me, who hast
been wont to hear me heretofore; stop not thine ear at my cry now, at my prayer, which
he calls his "breathing"; prayer is the breath of a soul regenerated by the Spirit, and is a
sign and evidence of life, when it is spiritual; in it a soul pants after God, and
communion with him, and salvation by him. Some render it, "at my gasping"
(s); or
"panting", for breath; just ready to expire, unless immediate help is given: or else the
whole of this refers to the present time, when the Lord heard and answered, not only the
first clause, but this also; which may be rendered, not by way of petition, but affirmation,
"thou didst not hide thine ear at my breathing, at my cry" (t); and this agrees both with
what goes before, and with what is expressed in Lam_3:57.
Vheaoyp4f3Thou hast heard— namely formerly (so in Lam_3:57, Lam_3:58).
breathing ... cry— two kinds of prayer; the sigh of a prayer silently breathed forth,
and the loud, earnest cry (compare “prayer,” “secret speech,” Isa_26:16, Margin; with
“cry aloud,” Psa_55:17).

K&D 56-66, "Lam_3:56-66
"Thou hast heard my voice" expresses the full assurance of faith from which the
request comes: "Cover not Thine ear from my sighing." ה ָחָו ְר, "breathing out again;" in
Eze_8:11, mitigation of oppression, yet not here respiratio, relaxatio (C. B. Michaelis,
Rosenmüller, etc.), - since the asyndetic י ִת ָעְו ַשׁ ְל does not accord with such an
interpretation, - but a relieving of oneself by means of deeply-drawn sighs, as in Job_
32:20; hence "sighing," as Luther has already rendered it, following the Vulgate: ne
avertas aurem tuum a singultu meo (Thenius, Gerlach, etc.). - In Lam_3:57and Lam_
3:58, the writer still more fully expresses his confidence that the Lord will accept him.
"Thou art near on the day when I call on Thee" is a sentence found in Psa_145:18, and
uttered as the experience of all believers. "Thou sayest, Fear not," i.e., Thou assurest me
of Thine assistance; cf. Jer_1:8, Jer_1:17, etc. "Thou dost conduct the causes (Ger.
Streitsachen) of my soul" (י ֵבי ִר י ִשׁ ְפַנ), i.e., not merely "my lawsuits," but causas quae
vitam et salutem meam concernunt (C. B. Michaelis). This is shown by the parallel
member, "Thou redeemest my life," sc. from the destruction which threatens it; cf. Lam_
3:53., Psa_103:4. With this is connected the request in Lam_3:59, "Thou dost certainly
see my oppression" (ה ָתָוּ ַע from תֵוּ ִע, to bend, oppress), the oppression which I suffer;
"judge my cause," i.e., help me in my cause, cf. Jer_5:28. The suppliant bases this
request, Lam_3:60-62, on the recollection that God, as the Omniscient One, knows the
plans and intentions of his opponents. "Thou seest all their plans for revenge." ה ָמ ָקְנ is
not here the outcome of revenge, but the thought of revenge cherished in the heart; it
does not, however, mean desire of revenge, or revengeful disposition, but simply the
thinking and meditating on revenge, which certainly has the spirit of revenge for its
basis, but is not identical with this. Their thoughts are the plans of vengeance. ,י ִלdat.
incomm., "to my hurt;" the reading י ַל ָע of some codices is simply a correction after Lam_
3:61. This revenge they express in reproaches and invectives. י ֵת ְפ ִשׂ, "lips," for utterances
of the lips; and י ַמ ָק as in Psa_18:40, Psa_18:49= םי ִמ ָק י ַל ָע, Psa_4:3, etc. י ֵת ְפ ִשׂ י ַמ ָק
corresponds to ם ָת ָC ְר ֶח, and םָנוּי ְג ֶח to ם ָתּב ְשׁ ְח ַמ, Lam_3:61; and the whole of Lam_3:62still
depends on "Thou hearest," without any need for supplying וּי ָה, as Rosenmüller does.
Thenius and Nägelsbach would combine Lam_3:62with 63, and make the former
dependent on ה ָטי ִ" ַה; but this is unsuitable, nor do they consider that utterances or words
are not seen (טי ִ" ִה), but heard (ע ַמ ָשׁ). With this proposed combination there falls to the
ground the further remark of Thenius, that "by lips, devising, sitting, rising up, are
meant the conversation and consultation of the enemies one with another." Sitting and
rising up have nothing in common with speaking about any subject, but merely form a
circumlocution for action generally: cf. Psa_139:2; Deu_6:7; Deu_11:19; Isa_37:28. The
form הָניִ:ְנ ַמ for הָני ִגְנ occurs nowhere else: Ewald considers it a form that has been
lengthened for the purpose of designating a mocking song - "Sing-song." This
supposition has at least more to recommend it than the ingenious but worthless idea of
Böttcher, that הָניִ:ְנ ַמ is contracted from הָני ִגְנ־ה ַמ, "what a stringed instrument am I to
them;" but it also is improbable. הָניִ:ְנ ַמ is the subject of the הָני ִגְנ, as words formed with מ
often express merely the subject of the idea contained in a noun or verb; cf. Ewald, §160,

b, 3. After this statement of the hostile treatment which the speaker has to suffer, there
follows the renewed and further extended request that God may reward the foes
according to their deeds. בי ִשׁ ָ2, "Thou shalt return," is a confident expression of the
request that God would do this; hence the optative ן ֵ2 ִ2 follows in Lam_3:65. In Lam_
3:64is condensed the substance of what is contained in Psa_28:4. תַl ִג ְמ ב ֵל, covering (veil)
of the heart, - an expression analogous to the P}3Bxx4 SU~ a•G P4'X€4G, 2Co_3:15, - is not
obduration, or hardening, but blinding of the heart, which casts into destruction; but it
can scarcely signify "madness" (Delitzsch, Bibl. Psychology, Clark's translation), since
the Arabic
majannat, insania, furor, has probably received this meaning from jinn, genius,
daemon; cf. Gesenius, Thes. s. v., and Rosenmüller, ad h. l. "Thy curse to them!" is not to
be viewed as dependent on "give," but to be explained in accordance with Ps. 3:9, "Thy
blessing [be] upon Thy people!" - thus, "May Thy curse be their portion!" The curse of
God is followed by destruction. "Destroy them from under Jahveh's heaven!" i.e., not
merely ut non sint amplius sub caelis (C. B. Michaelis), because
הוהי is not considered in
this latter rendering. The heaven of Jahveh is the whole world, over which Jahveh's
authority extends; the meaning therefore is, "Exterminate them wholly from the sphere
of Thy dominion in the world," or, Thy kingdom.
lhTjap4f3B;I.fL;IfnZk-;ILfgm?gfL;mLfwkPf;ImZP4fqLfqs the same as though he said,
that he had so prayed that God became a witness of his earnestness and solicitude;
for many boast in high terms of their earnestness and fervor and constancy in
prayer, but their boastings are all empty and vain. But the Prophet summons God
as a witness of his crying, as though he had said that he was not so overwhelmed by
his adversity, but that he always fled to God.
He then says, Close not, etc.; it is properly, “hide not;” but as this is not quite
suitable to ears, I am disposed to give this version, Close not thine ear to my cry.
The verb חור ruch, means to dilate, to respire; hence almost all render the noun
here, “breathing;” but what follows cannot admit of this sense, to my prayer or cry.
I have no doubt but that these two words mean crying; for in groaning the spirit of
man dilates itself, and the soul, compressed by grief, expands. But when we cast our
cares and troubles into the bosom of God, then the spirit forcibly emerges. This,
then, is what the Prophet means, when he asks God not to close his ear to his
dilation or groaning, and to his cry. (202) It follows, —
My voice hast thou heard, deafen not thy ear
To my sighing, to my cry.
The verb םלע means to veil, and hence to hide. To veil the eye is, not to look at what
is set before it; and to veil the ear is, to render it deaf to what is said. The Prophet
says that God had heard his voice, for he had prayed; but he further asks God not
to turn a deaf ear to his sighing, or sobbing, as given by the Vulg, and to his cry. —
Ed

57 You came near when I called you,
and you said, “Do not fear.”
CLARKE, "Fear not -How powerful is this word when spoken by the Spirit of the
Lord to a disconsolate heart. To every mourner we may say, on the authority of God,
Fear not! God will plead thy cause, and redeem thy soul.
GILL, "Thou drewest near in the day
that I called upon thee,.... When persons
draw nigh to God in a way of duty, and particularly in this of prayer, and calling on his
name; he draws nigh to them in a way of grace and mercy, and manifests himself to
them, and works salvation for them. The Targum is,
"thou didst cause an angel to draw near to deliver me in the day that I prayed unto thee:''
thou saidst, fear not; any of thine enemies; or that thou shouldest not be delivered
from them; see Isa_41:10.
0mtione)g*Thou drewest near— with Thy help (Jam_4:8).
chTBe 6l781M1l3:1lyMg“:13l3122klFkl3:w3l:1l:wGl1=“1rienced the goodness of God,
because he had not suffered a repulse when he prayed. And this doctrine is
especially useful to us, that is, to call to mind that we had not in time past prayed in
vain. For we may hence feel assured, that as God ever continues like himself, he will
be ever ready to help us when- ever we implore his protection. This, then, is the
reason why the Prophet declares here that he had experienced the readiness of God
to hear prayer: Thou didst come nigh, he says, in the day when I called on thee;
thou didst say, Fear not And this approach or coming nigh refers to what was real
or actually done, that God had stretched forth his hand and helped his servants.
Since, then, they had been confirmed by such evidences, they had the privilege of
ever fleeing to God. God, indeed, supplies us with reasons for hope, when he once
and again aids us; and it is the same as though he testified that he will ever be the
same as we have once and again found him to be.
He then adds an explanation, Thou didst say, Fear not He does not mean that God
had spoken; but, as I have said, he thus sets forth the fact, that he had not sought
God in vain, for he had relieved him. Though God may not speak, yet when we find
that our prayers are heard by him, it is the same as though he raised us up and
removed from us every fear. The sum of what is said is, that God had been

propitious to his servants whenever they cried to him. It now follows, —
58 You, Lord, took up my case;
you redeemed my life.
mho tf6l7
Lam_3:58
God now appears as the prophet’s next of kin, pleading the lawsuits of his soul, i. e. the
controversies which concern his salvation. and rescuing his life, in jeopardy through the
malice of his enemies.
GILL, "O Lord, thou hast pleaded the cause of my soul,.... Or, causes of "my
soul", or "life"
(u); such as concerned his soul and life: not one only, but many of them;
and this respects not Jeremiah only, and the Lord's pleading his cause against Zedekiah
and his nobles; but the people of the Jews in former times, when in Egypt, and in the
times of the judges:
thou hast redeemed my life; by delivering out of the pit and dungeon, where it was
in danger; and not only him, but the whole body of the people of old out of Egypt, and
out of the hands of their enemies, the Philistines and others.
4haefn 6l7Jeremiah cites God’s gracious answers to his prayers as an
encouragement to his fellow countrymen, to trust in Him.
pleaded— (
Psa_35:1; Mic_7:9).
chTBe 6l7AgMl3:1lkw_1l“FM“gk1l:1lHgulkw5k6l3:w3lbgG had been his judge to
undertake his cause, and not only once, for he had contended for him as though he
had been his perpetual advocate. The meaning is, that the Prophet (who yet speaks
in the name of all the faithful) had found God a defender and a helper, not only in
one instance, but whenever he had been in trouble; for he uses the plural number,
and says, Thou hast pleaded the pleadings of my soul
He adds, Thou hast redeemed my life. It is the way of God’s pleading when he
delivers us as it were from death. Friends do, indeed, sometimes anxiously exert
themselves, interposing for our defense, but they do not always succeed. But God is
such a pleader of our cause, that he is also a deliverer, for our safety is in his hand.
It follows, —

PETT, "Lamentations 3:58-63
(Resh) O Lord, you have pleaded the causes of my soul,
You have redeemed my life.
(Resh) O YHWH, you have seen my wrong,
Judge you my cause.
(Resh) You have seen all their vengeance,
And all their devices against me.
(Shin) You have heard their reproach, O YHWH,
And all their devices against me,
(Shin) The lips of those who rose up against me,
And their device against me all the day.
(Shin) Behold you their sitting down, and their rising up,
I am their song.
The prophet calls on YHWH to judge his case. For YHWH is the One Who has
pleaded, as it were before a court, the causes of his inner life, and has redeemed his
life (from threatened destruction - Psalms 103:4). In other words YHWH has fought
for him and delivered him. YHWH is on his side. So now he calls on Him to judge
his cause, because having pleaded them He must know his causes intimately.
Three times he draws attention to their device/devices against him (as revealed in
Jeremiah 26:8-17; Jeremiah 37:14; Jeremiah 38:4). The first connected with their
desire for vengeance, the second connected with all their reproach, and the third
connected with their charges against him. They wanted vengeance, they were filled
with reproach towards him, and they got together and spoke with animosity against
him. And this was because they considered that he was a traitor who sided with the
Babylonians.
‘Behold you their sitting down, and their rising up.’ This phrase basically indicates
what they did during the whole of their daytime (see Deuteronomy 6:7;
Deuteronomy 11:19; Psalms 139:2; Isaiah 37:28).
And he points out that when He does so He will see that they sang insulting songs
about him all day, mocking and belittling him.
59 Lord, you have seen the wrong done to me.
Uphold my cause!

,hip o4f3Lam_3:59
Wrong -Done to him by the perversion of justice.
GILL, "O Lord, thou hast seen my wrong,.... Or, "my perverseness" (w); not that
he or they had been guilty of; but the wrong that was done to him and them by their
enemies; how perverse and ill natured they had been to them; how badly they had used
them; what injuries they had done them; none of which escaped the omniscience of God,
to which the appeal is made; and upon this follows a petition:
judge thou my cause; the present one; as thou hast pleaded and judged many already,
do me justice, right my wrongs, an, save me from mine enemies; and let it appear to all
the world my cause is just, and they are in the wrong.
G picfJKxLt4f3He comforts himself with an appeal to God's justice, and (in order to
the sentence of that) to his omniscience.
1. He appeals to God's knowledge of the matter of fact, how very spiteful and malicious
his enemies were (
Lam_3:59): “O Lord! thou hast seen my wrong, that I have done no
wrong at all, but suffer a great deal.” He that knows all things knew, (1.) The malice they
had against him: “Thou hast seen all their vengeance, how they desire to do me a
mischief, as if it were by way of reprisal for some great injury I had done them.” Note,
We should consider, to our terror and caution, that God knows all the revengeful
thoughts we have in our minds against others, and therefore we should not allow of
those thoughts nor harbour them, and that he knows all the revengeful thoughts others
have causelessly in their minds against us, and therefore we should not be afraid of
them, but leave it to him to protect us from them. (2.) The designs and projects they had
laid to do him a mischief: Thou hast seen all their imaginations against me (Lam_
3:60), and again, “Thou hast heard all their imaginations against me (Lam_3:61), both
the desire and the device they have to ruin me; whether it show itself in word or deed, it
is known to thee; nay, though the products of it are not to be seen nor heard, yet their
device against me all the day is perceived and understood by him to whom all things are
naked and open.” Note, The most secret contrivances of the church's enemies are
perfectly known to the church's God, from whom they can hide nothing. (3.) The
contempt and calumny wherewith they loaded him, all that they spoke slightly of him,
and all that they spoke reproachfully: “Thou hast heard their reproach (Lam_3:61), all
the bad characters they give me, laying to my charge things that I know not, all the
methods they use to make me odious and contemptible, even the lips of those that rose
up against me (Lam_3:62), the contumelious language they use whenever they speak of
me, and that at their sitting down and rising up, when they lie down at night and get up
in the morning, when they sit down to their meat and with their company, and when
they rise from both, still I am their music; they make themselves and one another merry
with my miseries, as the Philistines made sport with Samson.” Jerusalem was the tabret
they played upon. Perhaps they had some tune or play, some opera or interlude, that was
called the destruction of Jerusalem, which, though in the nature of a tragedy, was very
entertaining to those who wished ill to the holy city. Note, God will one day call sinners
to account for all the hard speeches which they have spoken against him and his people,
Jud_1:15.
Vheaoyp4f3God’s past deliverances and His knowledge of Judah’s wrongs are made

the grounds of prayer for relief.
lhTjap4f3r;IfHkZPfXbb\24fk’LLq4fqgfZI.PIZIPfW?fgkbI “iniquity,” but in an ironical
sense, as though the Prophet had said, “Thou, God, knowest whether I have
offended.” But the word is to be taken passively; the verb תוע, out, means, to
subvert, as we have elsewhere seen, even in this chapter. Then, by his subversion, he
means oppression, even when his adversaries unworthily trod him under their feet.
And hence he asks God at the same time tojudge his judgment, that is, to undertake
his cause, and to appear as his defender, as he had formerly done; for he saw his
subversion, that is, he saw that he was unjustly cast down and laid prostrate by the
wicked. It follows, —
60 You have seen the depth of their vengeance,
all their plots against me.
CLARKE, "Thou hast seen - all their imaginations -Every thing is open to the
eye of God. Distressed soul! though thou knowest not what thy enemies meditate against
thee; yet he who loves thee does, and will infallibly defeat all their plots, and save thee.
GILL, "Thou hast seen all their vengeance,.... The spirit of revenge in them; their
wrath and fury, and how they burn with a desire of doing mischief; as well as their
revengeful actions, carriage, and behaviour:
and all their imaginations against me; their secret contrivances of mischief, their
plots and schemes they devise to do hurt unto me.
0mtione)g*imaginations— devices (
Jer_11:19).
Their vengeance— means their malice. Jeremiah gives his conduct, when plotted
against by his foes, as an example how the Jews should bring their wrongs at the hands
of the Chaldeans before God.
lhTjap4f3r;qgfbkPIfkSfg-ImOq.0fHmgfkSLI.f’gIPfW?fL;e saints, because God, when
it pleased him to look on their miseries, was ever ZImP?fLkfWZq.0fL;Ibf;IJ-1fpkZfHIZIf
they words without meaning, when the faithful said, O Lord, thou hast seen; for
they said this for their own sake, that they might shake off all unbelief. For as soon

as any trial assails us, we imagine that God is turned away from us; and thus our
flesh tempts us to despair. It is hence necessary that the faithful should in this
respect struggle with themselves and feel assured that God has seen them. Though,
then, human reason may say, that God does not see, but neglect and disregard his
people, yet on the other hand, this doctrine ought to sustain them, it being certain
that God does see them. This is the reason why David so often uses this mode of
expression.
Thou, Jehovah, he says, hast seen all their vengeances By vengeances here he means
acts of violence, according to what we find in Psalms 8:2, where God is said “to put
to flight the enemy and the avenger.” By the avenger there he simply means, not
such as retaliate wrongs, but cruel and violent men. So also, in this place, by
vengeances, he means all kinds of cruelty, as also by thoughts he means wicked
counsels, by which the ungodly sought to oppress the miserable and the innocent. He
again repeats the same thing, —
61 Lord, you have heard their insults,
all their plots against me—
GILL, "Thou hast heard their reproach, O Lord,.... Their reproachful words
uttered against the prophet and his people, against God himself; their spiteful language,
their taunts, and scoffs and jeers:
and all their imaginations against me; those he not only saw, as they appeared in
their actions; but heard them, as they were expressed by their words; yea, they were
manifest to him, while they only were in silent thought forming in the mind.
0mtione)g*their reproach— their reproachful language against me.
chTBe 6l7B1lk11l3:w3l3:;kl;klwlM1“13;3;gH6l.F3l,gMlvengeances he now mentions
reproaches And in this way he sought again to turn God to mercy; for when he
brings no aid, he seems to close his eyes and to render his ears deaf; but when he
attends to our evils, he then soon brings help. The Prophet, then, having said that
God saw, now refers to hearing: he had heard their reproaches. Adopting a
language not strictly proper, he adds, that he had heard their thoughts; though he
speaks not only of their secret counsels, but also of all the wicked conspiracies by

which his enemies had contrived to ruin him. (203) He adds, —
COFFMA, "Verse 61
"Thou hast heard their reproach, O Jehovah,
and all their devices against me,
The lips of those that rose up against me,
and their device against me all the day.
Behold thou their sitting down and their rising up;
I am their song.
Thou wilt render unto them a recompense, O Jehovah,
according to the work of their hands.
Thou wilt give them hardness of heart,
thy curse unto them.
Thou wilt pursue them in anger,
and wilt destroy them from under the heavens of Jehovah."
"I am their song" (Lamentations 3:63). This line forces the conclusion that the
enemies of these last verses were Jeremiah's own people, the Jews themselves, and
not the Babylonians. The Babylonian conquerors were friendly to Jeremiah (See
Vol. II of my commentary on the major prophets, Jeremiah, pp 437-440). The
people who were singing taunt songs against the prophet were his own people.
A final word about the imprecations of these last verses. Yes, Jeremiah prayed for
God's judgment against his enemies; and we reject the snide and self-righteous
remarks that some writers have written against such imprecations. It never seems to
enter the minds of current scholars that when Christians pray as their Saviour
taught them, "Thy will be done"! that those words have exactly the same meaning
as the imprecations of the prophet Jeremiah. When God's will is truly done, the
wicked will indeed be punished. The notion that, "We sophisticated religious people
of the 20th century have outgrown all the silly expectations that God is ever really
going to punish anybody"! - that notion is a contradiction of everything in the Bible.

62 what my enemies whisper and mutter
against me all day long.
GILL, "The lips of those that rose up against me,.... This is to be connected with
the preceding words; and expresses the same thing in different language. The sense is,
that the Lord heard the words which dropped from the lips of his enemies; their
sarcasms, flouts, and jeers; their bitter reflections, severe invectives, and scornful
language:
and their device against me all the day; or, "their meditation of ill against me"; or,
"their speech", or discourse
(x); which all turned upon the same topic. Schultens (y)
derives the word from the Arabic word which signifies to mock and scoff, or pursue
anyone with ironical and satirical expressions; and so may intend here contumelious and
reproachful language.
chTBe 6l7eHk31wGlg,l3:gFW:3k6l:1lHgul_1H3;gHk2;“k6lor words. The verb הגה, ege
means to meditate, when no voice is uttered; but as the noun is connected here with
lips, there is no doubt but that the Prophet refers to words, rather than to hidden
meditations. (204) He then says, that such were the conspiracies, that they did not
conceal what they had in their hearts, but publicly avowed their wicked purposes.
gul3:;kl;Hkg21HS1l_Fk3l:wO1l_gO1GlbgGl3glw;Gl:;kl“eople, so unjustly oppressed.
He adds, every day, or daily. This circumstance also must have availed to obtain
favor, so that God might the sooner aid his people. For had the ungodly made
violent assaults, and soon given over, it would have been easy to persevere in so
short a trial, as when a storm soon passes by; but when they went on perseveringly
in their machinations, it was very hard to bear the trial. And hence we derive a
ground of hope, supplied to us by what the Holy Spirit suggests to us here, that God
will be merciful to us on seeing the pertinacity of our enemies. He then adds, —
The lips of my adversaries,
And their muttering concerning me all the day.
It isn’t here, as in the previous verse, “concerning me,” not “against me.” — Ed.
63 Look at them! Sitting or standing,

they mock me in their songs.
Imbeho)g*Lam_3:63
Their sitting down, and their rising up -i. e. all the ordinary actions of their life.
Musick -Or, song, “the subject of it.”
GILL, "Behold their sitting down, and their rising up,.... All their actions; the
whole course of their lives; all which fell under the divine omniscience,
Psa_139:2; but
that is not barely here meant; but that he would take particular notice hereof, and
punish for the same. It may have respect both to their lying down at night, and rising in
the morning; and to their sitting down at meals, and rising from them; at which times
they were always meditating mischief against the people of God, or speaking
opprobriously of them; when they made sport of them, as follows:
I am their music; or "music maker" (z); as Samson was to the Philistines; the matter
of their mirth; the subject of their song; and the object of their derision.
0mtione)g*sitting down ... rising up— whether they sit or rise, that is, whether
they be actively engaged or sedentary, and at rest “all the day” (
Lam_3:62), I am the
subject of their derisive songs (Lam_3:14).
chTBe 6l7s:1lyMg“:13lM1“1w3klk3;22l3:1lkw_1l3:;HW6lonly in other words. He had
spoken of the lyings in wait, and the conspiracies and the speeches of his enemies; he
now adds, that nothing was hid from God. By sitting and rising, he means all the
actions of life, as when David says,
“Thou knowest my sitting and my rising,” (Psalms 139:2;)
that is, whether I rest or walk, all my actions are known to thee. By rising, then, the
Prophet denotes here, as David did, all the movements or doings of men; and by
sitting, he means their quiet counsels; for men either deliberate and prepare for
work while they sit, or rise, and thus move and act.
He means, in short, that whether his enemies consulted silently and quietly, or
attempted to do this or that, nothing was unknown tglbgGpl gu6lwklbgGl3wj1klkFS:l
notice of the counsels and all the actions of men, it cannot be but that he restrains
and checks the wicked; for God’s knowledge is always connected with his office as a
judge. We hence see how the Prophet strengthens himself, as we have lately stated,
and thus gathers a reason for confidence; for the wicked counsels of his enemies and
their works were not hid from God.

He adds, I am become a song He again sets before God his reproach, east upon him
by the ungodly. For that indignity also availed much to lead God not to suffer his
people to be unworthily treated. It now follows, —
COKE, "Verse 63
Lamentations 3:63. I am their musick— The subject of their songs. See
Lamentations 3:14 and Houbigant; who renders the three following verses, as do
many other versions, in the future tense.
REFLECTIOS.—1st, The prophet here mingles his lamentations over his own
sufferings with those of the people; or he personates the church in general: and
some, with good appearance of reason, suppose him herein a type of Christ.
1. He laments over his afflictions as singularly heavy, embittered with a sense of the
wrath of God.
2. Darkness surrounded him: he saw no light, no cheering beam of hope, no door of
escape out of his miseries, and seemed as one already in the grave; which may refer
to the dark dungeon in which he was shut up; or to the captivity of the people,
wherein they thought themselves as buried among the heathen.
3. God appears his enemy. He is the butt of all the arrows of his indignation; so
sorely was the land afflicted with all that variety of judgments which seemed as it
were to exhaust God's quiver. And herein the prophet seems not to speak of himself,
but personates his people.
4. God hath shut him up in the hand of his enemies, hedged him in with their forces,
builded the mounts against him, and compassed him with gall and travail; every
effort to disentangle himself only riveted the chain the faster, and made it the more
heavy. His ways are inclosed as with hewn stone, he cannot break through; all his
schemes are traversed, and all his paths crooked; the farther he advances, the more
he is bewildered. ote; Such will the crooked paths of sin be found; the farther we
go in them, the more miserable shall we grow.
5. The Lord seemed to have made an utter end of him, emaciated through famine,
and his strength broken. As a lion and a bear waiting to seize their prey, so God
seemed to watch over him for evil. He was filled with bitterness under the sense of
what he felt, and with the apprehension of the greater evils that he feared; and
staggered as one drunk with affliction; covered with ashes, in the dust he lay, and
ate worse than the bread of mourners, his teeth broken with gravel-stones, which
were mingled with the meal; nay, he hath pulled me in pieces, as one torn limb from
limb. Thus had God dispersed the Jews, and laid their land utterly desolate.
6. The Lord refused to be intreated. The loudest cries are in vain; he would neither
hear the prophet's intercession, nor the people's prayer for themselves; and, when
prayer fails of profiting, the case appears desperate indeed.

7. He was a derision to all the people: they mocked at and made merry with him,
ridiculing his sorrows, and pleased with his sufferings; and to a generous spirit very
hard is this to be borne.
8. He almost sunk into despair. Thou hast removed my soul far off from peace; no
prospect of it remained: I forgat prosperity, not expecting its return: and I said, my
strength and my hope is perished from the Lord; abandoned by him, and no more
expecting help and support from him; and then despair was unavoidable; and this
arose from the view of his affliction and misery, which seemed more than he was
able to bear.
9. The Lord Jesus was emphatically this man of sorrows, destitute, afflicted,
tormented, stricken, smitten of God, enduring all the wrath which our iniquities
deserved; derided in his agony, his soul in darkness and dereliction when he hung
upon the cross, and his misery complete.
2nd, At last a gleam of cheering hope breaks through the dreadful gloom. My soul
hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me; and real humiliation is the
sure way to returning consolation: or the words may be more truly rendered, Thou
wilt surely remember, expressing his faith in God, notwithstanding all his sorrows;
or, my soul meditates within me; on thy grace, mercy, truth, and faithfulness; this I
recal to my mind, therefore have I hope, which still excludes despair. A variety of
reasons he suggests to encourage this hope, and comfort his heart in God.
1. It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, as we have deserved to be. It
is mercy, infinite mercy, which spares any sinner for a moment: we may wonder
that we are out of hell, and be ashamed to complain, when all temporal affliction is
so much less than our iniquity deserves. His compassions fail not, though sometimes
they seem exhausted, and his loving-kindness quite gone for evermore; yet it is our
infirmity, yea, our sin, when we fear it, and a little patience will prove it so; for they
are new every morning, both temporal mercies, which every day fall thick around us
as the drops of dew, and spiritual mercies in Christ Jesus, the source of which is
inexhaustible.
2. Great is thy faithfulness. His truth confirms what his mercy promises; and,
however obscure his present dispensations may be, he never fails them who simply,
believingly, and perseveringly, cast all their dependance upon him.
3. The Lord is my portion, saith my soul. Since God hath engaged to be such to his
believing people, faith embraces the promise; and they who have an interest in his
love and favour have all the heart can wish, and a possession which, when we are
deprived of every earthly good, is enough to make us happy, and satisfy all our
wishes. Therefore will I hope in him, when every other support fails. And this hope
will never make us ashamed, for the Lord is good unto them that wait for him, and
will not disappoint their expectations, bestowing on them, according to their
necessities, a rich supply for every want; to the soul that seeketh him, in earnest

prayer and humble perseverance, in the use of those means of grace which he has
appointed; for, though the answer may be delayed, the mercy is sure to be granted
to all who hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord; not murmuring
against God, but acquiescing in his holy will, patiently expecting his salvation,
temporal, spiritual, and eternal; for it is good to do so; our highest interest as well as
our bounden duty.
4. Our very troubles are designed of God for our benefit. It is good for a man that he
bear the yoke in his youth: the yoke of afflictions, which serves to wean the mind
from earthly vanities, and teach us to seek our better rest above; or the yoke of the
commandments, Christ's easy yoke, which the sooner we take upon us, from the
earliest days of youth, the pleasanter we shall find it: though the former sense seems
here particularly intended. Such a one sitteth alone, retired to commune with God,
to search out his own spirit, and to see and humble his soul under the cause of his
afflictions; and keepeth silence, no murmuring word escapes him, he is dumb and
openeth not his mouth, because he hath borne it upon him, willingly yielding his
neck to the yoke; or, because he (God) hath laid it on him, and therefore this
consideration silences every thought of discontent. He putteth his mouth in the dust,
confessing his vileness, and just desert of all that he suffers, and humbly bows
before the chastening rod, if so be there may be hope, or peradventure there is hope;
not as if doubting of the promises, but as confessing his own unworthiness to obtain
the mercy that he seeks. Thus humbled, he giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him,
can bear without resentment every indignity; he is filled full with reproach, the lot
of all who follow Christ; he never returns railing for railing, however, but
contrariwise blessing, learning of him to be meek and lowly of heart. Such is the
spirit and temper of a real penitent; and the issue of such sufferings and submission
cannot but be good, very good for us.
5. The Lord will not cast off for ever, which is the great argument for patience to
every returning penitent; for without repentance and faith on our part, he cannot
bless us consistently with his nature and perfections. Our heaviness, indeed, for a
time, may be great, through manifold temptations; but though he cause grief, his
chastisements all flow from his paternal heart towards those who cast themselves
upon him in Christ Jesus, and are designed to work godly sorrow which leads to
eternal salvation; and therefore, when the end of the affliction is answered, yet will
he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies, which are in Christ
Jesus boundless and infinite to all the faithful; for with no other view does he ever
correct his dear children; he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of
men, he takes no delight in our miseries; by our unfaithfulness we provoke him, as a
tender father, with reluctance to take the rod; but he feels for us when he chastises,
is grieved in our affliction, and gladly lays down the rod when it has answered the
end for which he sent it. O how great are the tender mercies of our God! How can
we do other than kiss the rod of such a father!
6. Though he permits, for wise and holy ends, the oppression of the wicked, he is far
from approving it. To crush under his feet all the prisoners of the earth, as the
Chaldeans trampled on his captive people, to turn aside the right of a man by

partial judgment, before the face of the Most High, openly, in defiance of him whose
vicegerents the judges of the earth are, to subvert a man in his cause by some
clandestine and knavish arts, the Lord approveth not; he condemns all such
injustice, and will avenge it; or doth he not see? however secret the transaction,
from his all-piercing eye it cannot be hid, and he will in no wise spare the guilty.
3rdly, They who truly know God and themselves will find abundant arguments for
submission to his will and pleasure.
1. He is the uncontroulable sovereign. Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass,
when the Lord commandeth it not? His counsels only can take effect: nothing can
contradict his appointing, permissive or suffering will. Out of the mouth of the Most
High proceedeth not evil and good? Assuredly. Every dispensation of his
providence, prosperous or afflictive, is most holy, just, and good: whatever,
therefore, be his will should be our delight.
2. We have never reason to complain. Wherefore doth a living man complain? a
worm, whose breath is in his nostrils, and in whose heart folly is bound up; a most
incompetent judge of the dispensations of infinite wisdom; a living man, whose life
has long since been forfeited to divine justice, and to whom it is an amazing act of
mercy that he is out of hell; a man for the punishment of his sins? how dare he
complain, when all his sufferings here are so much less than his deserts:
considerations these, which should ever silence all repining, lead us to acknowledge
God's mercy as well as justice in our severest afflictions, and thankfully to acquiesce
in every dispensation.
3. Our business under every trouble is, to examine into the cause, and in deep
humiliation return unto God. Let us search and try our ways; for, though at all
times self-inquiry is needful, it is most peculiarly so under humbling providence; for
verily there is a reason for them; a gracious God doth not willingly afflict. The rule
of judgment is the word of God; and prayer must direct us to the right application
of it, that, under the influence of divine light, we may discover the true state of our
souls, and turn again to the Lord in whatever way we may have departed from him;
knowing, that except we are converted we cannot be saved; and assured that, in all
his dealings toward us, God's great design is to lead us to repentance. Blessed and
happy are they who learn to correspond with him herein.
4. In simplicity and godly sincerity we are called upon to devote and surrender
ourselves to God. Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens;
in prayer looking up to him whose glory is in the heavens, and whose throne ruleth
over all; our hearts engaged, and unreservedly offered on his altar; without which
no service of the lips is at all available; and when we do so, this sacrifice of a contrite
spirit God will not despise, nor ever cast out the prayer that cometh not out of
feigned lips.
4thly, ature will feel, and we are not forbid to mourn, though we are forbid to
murmur.

1. The prophet, in the name of all his people, with deep acknowledgment confesses
their sins; We have transgressed and have rebelled; for sin is rebellion against the
Majesty of Heaven, and sinners the vilest of traitors.
2. He bewails their miseries, arising from a sense of God's displeasure. Thou hast
not pardoned; at least no tokens of it appeared, while their afflictions continued
unremoved: thou hast covered with anger and persecuted us; like a thick cloud it
hung over them, and extinguished for a while every ray of his light and comfort;
while, like a battering storm, their troubles beat upon them incessantly. Thou hast
slain, thou hast not pitied; given them up to the merciless sword of the Chaldeans;
nor did their cries apparently reach his mercy-seat. Thou hast covered thyself with a
cloud, that our prayer should not pass through; so apt are we when we do not find
an answer of mercy from God soon, to conclude that it is of no profit to pray, and
are tempted to give up all hope.
3. He laments the derision to which they were exposed. Thou hast made us as the
off-scouring and refuse in the midst of the people; to be trodden down by the
heathen, see 1 Corinthians 4:13 and their enemies scoffed at their distress; a sure
symptom of a base mind, thus to insult the miserable.
4. Their fears were great, their desolations grievous: taken in the snare of their foes;
terrified with their threatenings; their land and the cities of Judah utterly
destroyed, and the people led into captivity, or slain with famine, pestilence, and the
sword. Chased like a bird, they fled before their foes, who without cause persecuted
them; yet, unable to escape, they seized them, and buried them alive in dungeons; or
carried them alive to Babylon, which was the house of their prison, and shut them
up in captive bonds, as the dead, at the mouth of whose sepulchre the ponderous
stone is laid. Waters of affliction flowed over mine head; and, sunk as it were in the
abyss of hopeless misery, then I said, I am cut off, ready to resign themselves to
despair. ote; Many whom Satan has cast down by their sins, he seeks to keep down
by despair.
5. In this state of wretchedness the prophet, in the person of the church, and on her
account, weeps bitterly. Mine eye runneth down with rivers of water; unutterable is
his anguish for the destruction that he beheld: without intermission mine eye
trickleth down; and every scene of desolation that presented itself pierced his heart
with fresh anguish, and drew forth a new torrent of tears over all the daughters of
his city, or, more than all the daughters of my people; none, even of the tender sex,
were so deeply afflicted and profuse in tears as the prophet; and thus he resolved to
continue weeping and praying, till the Lord should look down and behold from
heaven, and pity, pardon, and deliver them. ote; (1.) Let nothing drive us from
waiting upon God. (2.) Our hearts will find no such relief from their anguish, as by
pouring our sorrows into the bosom of a compassionate God. (3.) If we continue
instant and patient in prayer, we shall assuredly find at last an answer of peace.
5thly, Sad as their state was, it was still within the reach of prayer; and therefore,

1. The prophet cries unto God, I called upon thy name, O Lord, out of the low
dungeon; which may refer to the prophet's own case, when ready to perish in this
miserable situation; or may be his prayer for the people, reduced now to the deepest
distress. Thou hast heard my voice; it is the expression of his humble confidence, or
the encouragement that he drew from past experience; thou hast heard, and wilt
hear, the prayer of faith, therefore hide not thine ear at my breathing, at my cry, in
the present calamity: or it may be read, Thou didst not hide, &c. and so is a
continuation of his grateful acknowledgment of past mercies. Thou drewest near in
the day that I called upon thee, manifesting thy gracious presence and support: thou
saidst, Fear not; and that encouraged my drooping heart. O Lord, thou hast pleaded
the cause of my soul, thou hast redeemed my life; rescuing him from the instant
death which threatened him in the dungeon; or delivering the people from their
oppressions under the yoke of Egypt, Philistia, and other nations; and this
emboldened his hope that the Lord would yet deliver them. ote; (1.) There is no
prison so deep, but prayer can find a ready way out of it to the throne of God. (2.)
Past mercies should encourage present hope. (3.) That is the effectual prayer, when
the soul breathes forth its fervent desires, and still feels more than it can utter. (4.)
They who by faith commit their souls to God, need fear no evil.
2. He refers his case and his people's unto the Lord. God had seen the wrong that his
enemies had done him, their malicious designs, and their revengeful spirit: he had
heard their reproaches and insults, and how they daily made themselves merry in
deriding him; and therefore he appeals to him for judgment against them, not in a
spirit of revenge, but that the justice of God may be seen in the righteous retaliation
of their unprovoked malignity. Give them sorrow of heart, to curse unto them, the
heaviest of all plagues, and the just desert of their wickedness. Persecute and
destroy them in anger from under the heavens of the Lord, their deeds of darkness
having made them unworthy of the light of day. ote; (1.) Though fools still mock
on, and sport at God's people, the day is near when their mirth will be turned into
mourning. (2.) Woe to those against whom God's oppressed people appeal to him for
justice.
64 Pay them back what they deserve, Lord,
for what their hands have done.

,hip o4f3Lam_3:64-66
The versions render the verbs in these verses as futures, “Thou shalt render unto them
a recompence,” etc.
G picfLGxLL4f3 He appeals to God's judgment upon this fact: “Lord, thou hast seen
my wrong; there is no need of any evidence to prove it, nor any prosecutor to enforce
and aggravate it; thou seest it in its true colours; and now I leave it with thee. Judge thou
my cause,
Lam_3:59. Let them be dealt with,” (1.) “As they deserve (Lam_3:64): Render
to them a recompence according to the work of their hands. Let them be dealt with as
they have dealt with us; let thy hand be against them as their hand has been against us.
They have created us a great deal of vexation; now, Lord, give them sorrow of heart
(Lam_3:65), perplexity of heart” (so some read it); “let them be surrounded with
threatening mischiefs on all sides, and not be able to see their way out. Give them
despondence of heart” (so others read it); “let them be driven to despair, and give
themselves up for gone.” God can entangle the head that thinks itself clearest, and sink
the heart that thinks itself stoutest. (2.) “Let them be dealt with according to the
threatenings: Thy curse unto them; that is, let thy curse come upon them, all the evils
that are pronounced in thy word against the enemies of thy people, Lam_3:65. They
have loaded us with curses; as they loved cursing, so let it come unto them, thy curse
which will make them truly miserable. Theirs is causeless, and therefore fruitless, it shall
not come; but thine is just, and shall take effect. Those whom thou cursest are cursed
indeed. Let the curse be executed, Lam_3:66. Persecute and destroy them in anger, as
they persecute and destroy us in their anger. Destroy them from under the heavens of
the Lord; let them have no benefit of the light and influence of the heavens. Destroy
them in such a manner that all who see it may say, It is a destruction from the Almighty,
who sits in the heavens and laughs at them (Psa_2:4), and may own that the heavens do
rule,” Dan_4:26. What is said of the idols is here said of their worshippers (who in this
also shall be like unto them), They shall perish from under these heavens,Jer_10:11.
They shall be not only excluded from the happiness of the invisible heavens, but cut off
from the comfort even of these visible ones, which are the heavens of the Lord (Psa_
115:16) and which those therefore are unworthy to be taken under the protection of who
rebel against him.
lhTjap4f3GIfmPPgf;IZIfmfMk.MJ’gqk.âfSkZf;If;mgf;qL;erto been relating, as I have
said, the evils which he suffered, and also the reproaches and unjust oppressions, in
order that; he might have God propitious to him; for this is the way of conciliating
favor when we are wrongfully dealt with; for it cannot be but that God will sustain
our cause. He indeed testifies that he is ready to help the miserable; it is his own
peculiar work to deliver captives from prison, to illuminate the blind, to succor the
miserable and the oppressed. This is the reason, then, why the Prophet now
confidently asks God to render to his enemies their reward, according to the work of
their hands
Were any one to object, and say, that another rule is prescribed to us, even to pray
for our enemies, even when they oppress us; the answer is this, that the faithful,
when they prayed thus, did not bring any violent feelings of their own, but pure
zeal, and rightly formed; for the Prophet here did not pray for evil indiscriminately

on all, but on the reprobate, who were perpetually the enemies of God and of his
Church. He might then with sincerity of heart have asked God to render to them
their just reward. And whenever the saints broke forth thus against their enemies,
and asked God to become an avenger, this principle must be ever borne in mind,
that they did not indulge their own wishes, but were so guided by the Holy Spirit —
that moderation was connected with that fervid zeal to which I have referred. The
Prophet, then, as he speaks here of the Chaldeans, confidently asked God to destroy
them, as we shall again presently see. We find also in the Psalms the same
imprecations, especially on Babylon, — “Happy he who shall render to thee what
thou hast brought on us, who shall dash thy children against a stone.” (Psalms
137:8.) It follows, —
PETT, "Lamentations 3:64-66
(Tau) You will render to them a recompense, O YHWH,
According to the work of their hands.
(Tau) You will give them hardness (literally ‘covering’) of heart,
Your curse to them.
(Tau) You will pursue them in anger,
And destroy them from under the heavens of YHWH.
So he expresses his confidence that YHWH will:
§ Recompense them (his adversaries) according to what they had done.Give
them hardness (or blindness) of heart which will be a curse to them.
§ Pursue them in anger and destroy them from the earth (from under the
heavens of YHWH).
And indeed this is what He did.
65 Put a veil over their hearts,
and may your curse be on them!
mho tf6l7
Lam_3:65
Give them sorrow of heart -Or, “Thou wilt give them” blindness “of heart.”

CLARKE, "Give them sorrow of heart -They shall have a callous heart, covered
with obstinacy, and thy execration. The former is their state, the latter their fate. This is
the consequence of their hardening their hearts from thy fear. Blayney translates, “Thou
wilt give with a hearty concordance thy curse unto them.” That is, Thou wilt give it to
them freely, and without reserve; intimating that God felt no longer any bowels of
compassion for them. Formerly he inflicted punishments with reluctance, while there
was any hope of amendment: but, in the instance before us, the case was so hopeless,
that God acts according to the simple principle of vindictive justice. The prophet
therefore considers them on the utmost verge of final reprobation: another plunge, and
they are lost for ever.
GILL, "Give them sorrow of heart,.... That which will cause sorrow of heart; such
judgments and punishments as will be grievous to them. Some have observed a likeness
between the word here used and that translated "music",
Lam_3:63; and think some
respect may be had to it; that whereas the people of God had been matter of mirth and
music to them, God would give them music, but of another sort; a song, but a doleful
one. The Septuagint version renders it, "a covering of the heart"; the word (a) having the
signification of a shield, which covers; and may signify blindness, hardness, and
stupidity of heart, that they might not see the evils coming upon them, and how to
escape them. A modern learned interpreter, Christianus Benedictus Michaelis, would
have it compared with the Arabic word , "ganan", which signifies "to be mad", and from
whence is "muganah", "madness"; and so the sense be, give them distraction of mind:
lay curse unto them: and what greater curse is there than to be given up to judicial
blindness and hardness of heart, or to madness and distraction? it may include all the
curses of the law denounced against transgressors.
Vheaoyp4f3sorrow— rather, blindness or hardness; literally, “a veil” covering
their heart, so that they may rush on to their own ruin (
Isa_6:10; 2Co_3:14, 2Co_3:15).
lhTjap4f3GIfIQ-ZIggIgfH;mLfL;IfAI.0Im.MIfHmgfLkfWI4 even that God would give
them up to a reprobate mind; for by תנגמ-בל , meganet-leb, he no doubt meant the
blindness of the heart, and at the same time included stupidity, as though he had
said, “O Lord, so oppress them with evils, that they may become stupified.” For it is
an extremity of evil, when we are so overpowered as not to be as it were ourselves,
and when our evils do not drive us to prayer. (205)
We now then perceive what the Prophet meant by asking God to give to his enemies
the impediment of heart, even that he might take away a sound mind, and smite
them with blindness and madness, as it is said elsewhere. — I run on quickly, that I
may finish, lest the hour should prevent us. The last verse of this triple alphabet
follows, —
Give them blindness of heart:
Thy curse be to them.
— Ed

66 Pursue them in anger and destroy them
from under the heavens of the Lord.
,hip o4f3
Lam_3:66
Persecute ... -Or, pursue them in anger and destroy them, etc.
CLARKE, "Persecute and destroy them -Thou wilt pursue them with
destruction. These are all declaratory, not imprecatory.
From under the heavens of the Lord -This verse seems to allude to the Chaldaic
prediction, in Jer_10:11. By their conduct they will bring on themselves the curse
denounced against their enemies.
The Septuagint and Vulgate seem to have read “From under heaven, O Jehovah:” and
the Syriac reads, “Thy heavens, O Jehovah!” None of these makes any material change in
the meaning of the words.
It has already been noticed in the introduction, that this chapter contains a triple
acrostic, three lines always beginning with the same letter; so that the Hebrew alphabet
is thrice repeated in this chapter, twenty-two multiplied by three being equal to sixty-six.
GILL, "Persecute and destroy them in anger,.... As they have persecuted the
people of God, do thou persecute them; and never leave pursuing them untie thou hast
made a full end of them, as the effect of vindictive wrath and vengeance:
from under the heavens of the Lord; which are made by him, and in which he
dwells; let them not have the benefit of them, nor so much as the sight of them; but let
them perish from under them,
Jer_10:11.
Vheaoyp4f3from under ... heavens of ... Lord—destroy them so that it may be
seen everywhere under heaven that thou sittest above as Judge of the world.
lhTjap4f3GIfSqZgLfmgOgfwkPfLkf-IZgIM’LIfL;Ibfq.fHZmth, that is, to be implacable to
them; for persecution is, when God not only chastises the wicked for a short time,
but when he adds evils to evils, and accumulates them until they perish. He then
adds, and prays God to destroy them from under the heavens of Jehovah This
phrase is emphatical; and they extenuate the weightiness of the sentence, who thus
render it, “that God himself would destroy the ungodly from the earth.” For the
Prophet does not without a design mention the heavens of Jehovah, as though he
had said, that though God is hidden from us while we sojourn in the world, he yet

dwells in heaven, for heaven is often called the throne of God, —
“The heaven is my throne.” (Isaiah 66:1.)
“O God, who dwellest in the sanctuary.”
(Psalms 22:4; Psalms 77:14.)
By God’s sanctuary is often meant heaven. For this reason, then, the Prophet asked
here that the ungodly should be destroyed from under the heaven of Jehovah, that
is, that their destruction might testify that he sits in heaven, and is the judge of the
world, and that things are not in such a confusion, but that the ungodly must at
length render an account before the celestial judge, whom they have yet long
neglected. This is the end of the chapter.

Lamentations 3 commentary

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Lamentations 3 commentary

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