Lamentations 1:20

20 RHECHS. Behold, O Lord; for I am afflicted: my belly is troubled, and my heart is turned within me; for I have been grievously rebellious: abroad the sword has bereaved me, even as death at home.

Lamentations 1:20 Meaning and Commentary

Lamentations 1:20

Behold, O Lord, for I [am] in distress
Thus she turns from one to another; sometimes she addresses strangers, people that pass by; sometimes she calls to her lovers; and at other times to God, which is best of all, to have pity and compassion on her in her distress; and from whom it may be most expected, who is a God of grace and mercy: my bowels are troubled;
as the sea, agitated by winds, which casts up mire and dirt; or as any waters, moved by anything whatsoever, become thick and muddy; or like wine in fermentation; so the word <arabic> ^F12, in the Arabic language, signifies, expressive of great disturbance, confusion, and uneasiness: mine heart is turned within me;
has no rest nor peace: for I have grievously rebelled;
against God and his word; her sins were greatly aggravated, and these lay heavy on her mind and conscience, and greatly distressed her: abroad the sword bereaveth;
this, and what follows in the next clause, describe the state and condition of the Jews, while the city was besieged; without it, the sword of the Chaldeans bereaved mothers of their children, and children of their parents, and left them desolate: at home [there is] as death;
within the city, and in the houses of it, the famine raged, which was as death, and worse than immediate death; it was a lingering one: or, "in the house [was] certain death" ^F13; for the "caph" here is not a mere note of similitude, but of certainty and reality; to abide at home was sure and certain death, nothing else could be expected. The Targum is

``within the famine kills like the destroying angel that is appointed over death;''

see ( Hebrews 2:14 ) ; and Jarchi interprets it of the fear of demons and noxious spirits, and the angels of death.

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FOOTNOTES:

F12 <arabic> "fermentavit, commiscuit, alteravit, turbavique [mentem]", Castel. col. 1294.
F13 (twmk tybb) "in domo mors ipsa", Munster; "plane mors"; Junius & Tremellius.

Lamentations 1:20 In-Context

18 TSADE. The Lord is righteous; for I have provoked his mouth: hear, I pray you, all people, and behold my grief: my virgins and my young men are gone into captivity.

19 KOPH. I called my lovers, but they deceived me: my priests and my elders failed in the city; for they sought meat that they might restore their souls, and found not.

20 RHECHS. Behold, O Lord; for I am afflicted: my belly is troubled, and my heart is turned within me; for I have been grievously rebellious: abroad the sword has bereaved me, even as death at home.

21 CHSEN. Hear, I pray you, for I groan: there is none to comfort me: all mine enemies have heard mine afflictions, and rejoice because thou hast done : thou hast brought on the day, thou hast called the time: they are become like to me.

22 THAU. Let all their wickedness come before thy face; and strip them, as they have made a gleaning for all my sins: for my groans are many, and my heart is grieved.