Lamentations 1:7

7 And Jerusalem bethought on the days of her affliction and of trespassing, and on all her desirable things which it had from [the] eld days; when the people thereof fell down in the hand of enemies, and none helper was; [the] enemies saw it, and scorned the sabbaths thereof. (And Jerusalem remembered the days of its affliction and of its trespassing, and on all the desirable things which it had in the old days; when its people fell into the hands of its enemies, and there was no one to help them; its enemies saw it, and mocked its sabbaths.)

Lamentations 1:7 Meaning and Commentary

Lamentations 1:7

Jerusalem remembered in the days of her affliction and of her
miseries
When carried captive, and in exile in a foreign land; when surrounded with distresses and calamities of various kinds; which are a means sometimes of rubbing up and refreshing the memories of persons with those good things they take little notice of in the times of prosperity; the worth of such things being best known and prized by the want of them: even all her pleasant things that she had in the days of old;
her civil and religious liberties; the word, worship, and ordinances of God; the temple, altars, and courts of the Lord; the ark of the testimony, the symbol of the divine Presence; and the revelation of the will of God by the prophets; their peace, prosperity, and enjoyment of all good things: these were remembered when her people fell into the hand of the enemy;
the Chaldeans. The Targum is,

``into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the wicked, and he oppressed them:''

and none did help her;
not the Egyptians, her allies and confederates, in whom she trusted: her adversaries saw her, [and] did mock at her sabbaths;
as the Heathens used to do; calling the Jews Sabbatarians ^F15; by way of derision; representing them as an idle lazy people, who observed a seventh day merely out of sloth, and so lost a seventh part of time {p}; or they mocked at them for keeping them in vain; since, notwithstanding their religious observance of them, they were suffered to be carried captive out of their land; or, as Jarchi thinks, the Chaldeans mocked at them for keeping their sabbaths strictly, now they were in other lands, when they neglected them in their own country; or they jeered them with their weekly and yearly sabbaths; suggesting to them that now they had leisure enough to observe them; and that their land ceased from tillage with a witness now: some think, that because of the observance of a sabbath, they were obliged to by their law, therefore the Heathens made them work the harder, and imposed greater tasks upon them on that day than on others, like the Egyptians of old; though the words may be rendered, "they mocked at her cessations" ^F17; from joy and pleasure, peace and comfort, and the enjoyment of all good things; so the Targum,

``the enemies saw her when she went into captivity; and they mocked at the good things which ceased out of the midst of her.''

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FOOTNOTES:

F15 "Quod jejunia sabbatariorum". Martial. l. 4. Epigr. 4.
F16 "----Cui septima quaeque fuit lux Ignava, et partem vitae non attigit ullam". Juvenal. Satyr. 5.
F17 (hytbvm le wqxv) "irrident cessationes ejus", Junius & Tremellius; "rident propter cesstiones", Piscator.

Lamentations 1:7 In-Context

5 The enemies thereof be made in the head, and the enemies thereof be made rich, for the Lord spake on it. For the multitude of wickednesses thereof the little children thereof be led into captivity, before the face of the troubler. (Its enemies be put at its head, that is, they rule over it, and they be made rich, for the Lord spoke against it. For the multitude of its wickednesses its little children be led into captivity, by the enemy.)

6 And all the fairness of the daughter of Zion went out from the daughter of Zion; the princes thereof be made as rams not finding pastures; and went forth without strength before the face of the follower. (And all the beauty of the daughter of Zion went away from the daughter of Zion; its princes be made like rams not finding pasture; and they went forth without strength before their pursuer.)

7 And Jerusalem bethought on the days of her affliction and of trespassing, and on all her desirable things which it had from [the] eld days; when the people thereof fell down in the hand of enemies, and none helper was; [the] enemies saw it, and scorned the sabbaths thereof. (And Jerusalem remembered the days of its affliction and of its trespassing, and on all the desirable things which it had in the old days; when its people fell into the hands of its enemies, and there was no one to help them; its enemies saw it, and mocked its sabbaths.)

8 Jerusalem sinned a sin, therefore it was made unsteadfast; all that glorified it forsook it, for they saw the shame thereof (all who honoured it, deserted it, for they saw its shame); forsooth it wailed, and was turned aback.

9 The filths thereof be in the feet thereof, and it had no mind of her end; it was put down greatly, and had no comforter; Lord, see thou my torment, for the enemy is raised [up]. (Its filths be upon its feet, and it had no thought of its end; it was greatly put down, and it had no comforter; it said, Lord, see thou my torment, for the enemy is raised up against me.)