Lamentations 2:18

Tsade

18 The hearts of the people cry out to the Lord. Wall of Daughter Zion,^[a] let [your] tears run down like a river day and night.^[b] Give yourself no relief and your^[c] eyes no rest.

Lamentations 2:18 Meaning and Commentary

Lamentations 2:18

Their heart cried unto the Lord
Either the heart of their enemies, as Aben Ezra; which cried against the Lord, and blasphemed him; or rather the heart of the Jews in their distress, when they saw the walls of the city breaking down, they cried unto the Lord for help and protection, whether sincerely or not; no doubt some did; and all were desirous of preservation: O wall of the daughter of Zion!
this seems to be an address of the prophet to the people of Jerusalem carried captive, which was now without houses and inhabitants, only a broken wall standing, some remains and ruins of that; which is mentioned to excite their sorrow and lamentation: let tears run down like a river, day and night;
incessantly, for the destruction and desolation made: give thyself no rest;
or intermission; but weep continually: let not the apple of thine eye cease;
from pouring out tears; or from weeping, as the Targum; or let it not "be silent" ^F2, or asleep; but be open and employed in beholding the miseries of the nation, and in deploring them.

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FOOTNOTES:

F2 (Mdt la) "non taceat", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus; "ne sileat", Calvin, Michaelis.

Lamentations 2:18 In-Context

16 All your enemies open their mouths against you. They hiss and gnash [their] teeth, saying, "We have swallowed [her] up. This is the day we have waited for! We have lived to see [it]."

17 The Lord has done what He planned; He has accomplished His decree, which He ordained in days of old. He has demolished without compassion, letting the enemy gloat over you and exalting the horn of your adversaries.

18 The hearts of the people cry out to the Lord. Wall of Daughter Zion, let [your] tears run down like a river day and night. Give yourself no relief and your eyes no rest.

19 Arise, cry out in the night, from the first watch of the night. Pour out your heart like water before the Lord's presence. Lift up your hands to Him for the lives of your children who are fainting from hunger on the corner of every street.

20 Lord, look and consider who You have done this to. Should women eat their own children, the infants they have nurtured? Should priests and prophets be killed in the Lord's sanctuary?

Footnotes

• [a]. Lm 2:8
• [b]. Jr 14:17
• [c]. Lit and the daughter of your