Lamentations 1:2

2 All night long she cries; tears run down her cheeks. Of all her former friends, not one is left to comfort her. Her allies have betrayed her and are all against her now.

Lamentations 1:2 Meaning and Commentary

Lamentations 1:2

She weepeth sore in the night
Or, "weeping weeps" F9; two weepings, one for the first, the other for the second temples F11; and while others are taking their sleep and rest; a season fit for mourners, when they can give their grief the greater vent, without any interruption from others; and it being now a night of affliction with her, which occasioned this sore weeping. Jarchi observes, that it was in the night that the temple was burnt: and her tears [are] on her cheeks;
continue there, being always flowing, and never wholly dried up; which shows how great her grief was, and that her weeping was without intermission; or otherwise tears do not lie long, but are soon dried up, or wiped off: among all her lovers she hath none to comfort [her];
as the Assyrians formerly were, ( Ezekiel 23:5 Ezekiel 23:9 Ezekiel 23:12 ) ; and more lately the Egyptians her allies and confederates, in whom she trusted; but these gave her no assistance; nor yielded her any relief in her distress; nor so much as spoke one word of comfort to her: all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they are become her
enemies;
those who pretended great friendship to her, and were in strict alliance with her, acted the treacherous part, and withdrew from her, leaving her to the common enemy; and not only so, but behaved towards her in a hostile manner themselves; for "the children of Noph and Tahapanes", places in Egypt confederate with the Jews, are said to "have broken the crown of their head", ( Jeremiah 2:16 ) . The Targum interprets the "lovers" of the "idols" she loved to follow, who now could be of no use unto her by way of comfort.


FOOTNOTES:

F9 (hkbt hkb) "plorando plorat", Vatablus; "plorando plorabit", Pagninus, Montanus.
F11 T. Sanhedr. ib. col. 2.

Lamentations 1:2 In-Context

1 How lonely lies Jerusalem, once so full of people! Once honored by the world, she is now like a widow; The noblest of cities has fallen into slavery.
2 All night long she cries; tears run down her cheeks. Of all her former friends, not one is left to comfort her. Her allies have betrayed her and are all against her now.
3 Judah's people are helpless slaves, forced away from home. They live in other lands, with no place to call their own - Surrounded by enemies, with no way to escape.
4 No one comes to the Temple now to worship on the holy days. The young women who sang there suffer, and the priests can only groan. The city gates stand empty, and Zion is in agony.
5 Her enemies succeeded; they hold her in their power. The Lord has made her suffer for all her many sins; Her children have been captured and taken away.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.