Lamentations 1:15

15 The Lord has treated all the warriors inside my [walls] with contempt. He called an army to defeat my young men. The LORD trampled the people of Judah in a winepress.

Lamentations 1:15 Meaning and Commentary

Lamentations 1:15

The Lord hath trodden under foot all my mighty [men] in the
midst of me
As a causeway is trodden; or as mire is trodden under foot in the streets; so were the mighty and valiant men, the soldiers and men of war, trodden under foot and destroyed by the Chaldeans in the streets of Jerusalem, and in the midst of Judea; the Lord so permitting it: he hath called an assembly against me to crush my young men;
the army of the Chaldeans, which were brought against Jerusalem by a divine appointment and call; against whom the choicest and stoutest of them, even their young men, could not stand; but were crushed and broken to pieces by them. The word for "assembly" sometimes signifies an appointed time; a time fixed for solemn festivals, and for calling the people to them; and so the Targum here,

``he hath called or appointed a time to break the strength of my young men;''

the time of Jerusalem's destruction by the Babylonians: the Lord hath trodden the virgin, the daughter of Judah, [as] in a
winepress;
in the winepress of his wrath; or however in the winepress of the Babylonians, who are compared to one; into whose hands the Jews falling, were like grapes cast into a winepress, and there trodden by men, in order to squeeze and get out the wine; and in like manner were their blood squeezed out of them and shed. The Targum interprets it of the blood of virginity being poured out, as wine in a press; the virgins of Judah being ravished and defiled by the enemy.

Lamentations 1:15 In-Context

13 He sent fire from above. He made it go deep into my bones. He spread a net for my feet. He made me turn back. He has left me devastated. He has made me sick all day long.

14 My rebellious acts are a heavy burden for me. They were tied together by God's own hands. They were tied around my neck. He has weakened me [with them]. The Lord has handed me over to people I cannot oppose.

15 The Lord has treated all the warriors inside my [walls] with contempt. He called an army to defeat my young men. The LORD trampled the people of Judah in a winepress.

16 I'm crying because of [all] these things. My eyes--my eyes flow with tears. No one can give me the comfort I need to keep me alive. Everyone is too far away from me. My children are devastated because my enemies have won."

17 Zion holds out its hands. No one offers it comfort. The LORD has given this order about Jacob: His own neighbors will become his opponents. Jerusalem has become a filthy thing among them.