Lamentations 1:5

5 Her foes are now her masters. Her enemies enjoy the wealth they have taken. for her many sins. Her children have gone away as captives of the enemy.

Lamentations 1:5 Meaning and Commentary

Lamentations 1:5

Her adversaries are the chief
Or, "for the head" ^F14; or are the head, as was threatened, ( Deuteronomy 28:44 ) ; and now fulfilled; the Chaldeans having got the dominion over the Jews, and obliged them to be subject to them: her enemies prosper;
in wealth and riches, in grandeur and glory; live in ease and tranquillity, enjoying all outward felicity and happiness; while Zion was in distress; which was an aggravation of it; and yet this was but righteous judgment: for the Lord hath afflicted her;
who is righteous in all his ways: the Chaldeans were but instruments; the evil was from the Lord, according to his will and righteous determination, as appears by what follows: for the multitude of her transgressions: her children are gone into
captivity before the enemy;
that is, the inhabitants of Jerusalem and Judea were carried captive by the enemy, and drove before them as a flock of sheep, and that for the sins of the nation; and these not a few, but were very numerous, as Mordecai and Ezekiel, and others, who were carried captive young with Jeconiah, as well as many now.

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FOOTNOTES:

F14 (varl) "in caput", Vatablus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "facti sunt caput", Cocceius.

Lamentations 1:5 In-Context

3 Judah has gone into captivity where she suffers and works hard. She lives among other nations, but she has found no rest. Those who chased her caught her when she was in trouble.

4 The roads to Jerusalem are sad, because no one comes for the feasts. No one passes through her gates. Her priests groan, her young women are suffering, and Jerusalem suffers terribly.

5 Her foes are now her masters. Her enemies enjoy the wealth they have taken. for her many sins. Her children have gone away as captives of the enemy.

6 The beauty of Jerusalem has gone away. Her rulers are like deer that cannot find food. They are weak and run from the hunters.

7 Jerusalem is suffering and homeless. She remembers all the good things from the past. But her people were defeated by the enemy, and there was no one to help her. When her enemies saw her, they laughed to see her ruined.