Lamentations 2:18

18 Their heart cried to the Lord, O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night: give thyself no rest; let not the apple of thy eye cease.

Lamentations 2:18 Meaning and Commentary

Lamentations 2:18

Their heart cried unto the Lord
Either the heart of their enemies, as Aben Ezra; which cried against the Lord, and blasphemed him; or rather the heart of the Jews in their distress, when they saw the walls of the city breaking down, they cried unto the Lord for help and protection, whether sincerely or not; no doubt some did; and all were desirous of preservation: O wall of the daughter of Zion!
this seems to be an address of the prophet to the people of Jerusalem carried captive, which was now without houses and inhabitants, only a broken wall standing, some remains and ruins of that; which is mentioned to excite their sorrow and lamentation: let tears run down like a river, day and night;
incessantly, for the destruction and desolation made: give thyself no rest;
or intermission; but weep continually: let not the apple of thine eye cease;
from pouring out tears; or from weeping, as the Targum; or let it not "be silent" ^F2, or asleep; but be open and employed in beholding the miseries of the nation, and in deploring them.

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FOOTNOTES:

F2 (Mdt la) "non taceat", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus; "ne sileat", Calvin, Michaelis.

Lamentations 2:18 In-Context

16 All thy enemies have opened their mouth against thee: they hiss and gnash the teeth: they say, We have swallowed [her] up: certainly this [is] the day that we looked for; we have found, we have seen [it].

17 The LORD hath done [that] which he had devised; he hath fulfilled his word that he had commanded in the days of old: he hath thrown down, and hath not pitied: and he hath caused [thy] enemy to rejoice over thee, he hath set up the horn of thy adversaries.

18 Their heart cried to the Lord, O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night: give thyself no rest; let not the apple of thy eye cease.

19 Arise, cry out in the night: in the beginning of the watches pour out thy heart like water before the face of the Lord: lift up thy hands towards him for the life of thy young children, that faint for hunger at the head of every street.

20 Behold, O LORD, and consider to whom thou hast done this. Shall the women eat their fruit, children of a span long? shall the priest and the prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord?