Lamentations 1

Lamentations 1:1-22 .

Aleph.

1. how is she . . . widow! she that was great, &c.--English Version is according to the accents. But the members of each sentence are better balanced in antithesis, thus, "how is she that was great among the nations become as a widow! (how) she who was princess among the provinces (that is, she who ruled over the surrounding provinces from the Nile to the Euphrates, Genesis 15:18 , 1 Kings 4:21 , 2 Chronicles 9:26 , Ezra 4:20 ) become tributary!" [MAURER].
sit--on the ground; the posture of mourners ( Lamentations 2:10 , Ezra 9:3 ). The coin struck on the taking of Jerusalem by Titus, representing Judea as a female sitting solitary under a palm tree, with the inscription, Judæa Capta, singularly corresponds to the image here; the language therefore must be prophetical of her state subsequent to Titus, as well as referring retrospectively to her Babylonian captivity.

Beth.

2. in the night--even in the night, the period of rest and oblivion of griefs ( Job 7:3 ).
lovers . . . friends--the heathen states allied to Judah, and their idols. The idols whom she "loved" ( Jeremiah 2:20-25 ) could not comfort her. Her former allies would not: nay, some "treacherously" joined her enemies against her ( 2 Kings 24:2 2 Kings 24:7 , Psalms 137:7 ).

Gimel.

3. ( Jeremiah 52:27 ).
because of great servitude--that is, in a state "of great servitude," endured from the Chaldeans. "Because" is made by VATABLUS indicative of the cause of her captivity; namely, her having "afflicted" and unjustly brought into "servitude" the manumitted bond-servants ( Jeremiah 34:8-22 ). MAURER explains it, "Judah has left her land (not literally 'gone into captivity') because of the yoke imposed on it by Nebuchadnezzar."
no rest--( Deuteronomy 28:64 Deuteronomy 28:65 ).
overtook her between . . . straits--image from robbers, who in the East intercept travellers at the narrow passes in hilly regions.

Daleth.

4. feasts--the passover, pentecost (or the feast of weeks), and the feast of tabernacles.
gates--once the place of concourse.

He.

5. the chief--rule her ( Deuteronomy 28:43 Deuteronomy 28:44 ).
adversaries . . . prosper; for the Lord--All the foes' attempts would have failed, had not God delivered His people into their hands ( Jeremiah 30:15 ).

Vau.

6. beauty . . . departed--her temple, throne, and priesthood.
harts that find no pasture--an animal timid and fleet, especially when seeking and not able to "find pasture."

Zain.

7. remembered--rather, "remembers," now, in her afflicted state. In the days of her prosperity she did not appreciate, as she ought, the favors of God to her. Now, awakening out of her past lethargy, she feels from what high privileges she has fallen.
when her people fell, &c.--that is, after which days of prosperity "her people fell."
mock at her sabbaths--The heathen used to mock at the Jews' Sabbath, as showing their idleness, and term them Sabbatarians [MARTIAL, 4.4]. Now, said they ironically, ye may keep a continuous Sabbath. So God appointed the length of the captivity (seventy years) to be exactly that of the sum of the Sabbaths in the four hundred ninety years in which the land was denied its Sabbaths ( Leviticus 26:33-35 ). MAURER translates it "ruin." But English Version better expresses the point of their "mocking," namely, their involuntary "Sabbaths," that is, the cessation of all national movements. A fourth line is added in this stanza, whereas in all the others there are but three. So in Lamentations 2:19 .

Cheth.