Lamentations 1:22

22 "Take a good look at their evil ways and give it to them! Give them what you gave me for my sins. Groaning in pain, body and soul, I've had all I can take."

Lamentations 1:22 Meaning and Commentary

Lamentations 1:22

Let all their wickedness come before thee
The Targum adds,

``in the day of the great judgment;''
but it seems to refer to present time, at least to the time fixed by the Lord for their ruin; and which the church imprecates, not from a spirit of revenge, but from a holy zeal for the glory of God; desiring that the wickedness of her enemies might be remembered by the Lord, so as to punish them in righteous judgment for the same: and do unto them as thou hast done unto me for all my transgressions;
she owns that what was done to her was for her sins, and therefore could not charge God with injustice; only she desires the same might be done to her enemies, who were equally guilty: some render it, "glean them" F17; or rather, "gather them as a vintage"; or as grapes are gathered: "as thou hast gathered me"; as thou hast took me, and cast me into the winepress of thy wrath, and there hast trodden and squeezed me; see ( Lamentations 1:15 ) ; so do unto them: for my sighs [are] many, and my heart [is] faint;
her sighs were many because of her afflictions, and her heart faint because of her sighing.
FOOTNOTES:

F17 (wml llwe) (epifullison autoiv) , Sept. "vindemia", V. L. Vatablus.

Lamentations 1:22 In-Context

20 "O God, look at the trouble I'm in! My stomach in knots, my heart wrecked by a life of rebellion. Massacres in the streets, starvation in the houses.
21 "Oh, listen to my groans. No one listens, no one cares. When my enemies heard of the trouble you gave me, they cheered. Bring on Judgment Day! Let them get what I got!
22 "Take a good look at their evil ways and give it to them! Give them what you gave me for my sins. Groaning in pain, body and soul, I've had all I can take."
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.