Lamentations 1:15

15 "The Lord has rejected all my mighty men inside my walls. He brought an army against me to destroy my young men. As if in a winepress, the Lord has crushed the capital city of Judah.

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 that went down into my bones. He stretched out a net for my feet and turned me back. He made me so sad and lonely that I am weak all day.

14 "He has noticed my sins; they are tied together by his hands; they hang around my neck. He has turned my strength into weakness. to those who are stronger than I.

15 "The Lord has rejected all my mighty men inside my walls. He brought an army against me to destroy my young men. As if in a winepress, the Lord has crushed the capital city of Judah.

16 "I cry about these things; my eyes overflow with tears. There is no one near to comfort me, no one who can give me strength again. My children are left sad and lonely, because the enemy has won."

17 Jerusalem reaches out her hands, but there is no one to comfort her. to be surrounded by their enemies. Jerusalem is now unclean like those around her.