Lamentations 1:14

14 The yoke of my wickednesses watched in the hand of him, those be folded together, and put on my neck; my strength is made feeble; the Lord gave me in(to) the hand, from which I shall not be able to rise. (He watched my wickednesses, and he folded them together like a yoke, and put them about my neck; my strength is made feeble, or weak; the Lord gave me into their hands, from whom I shall not be able to escape.)

Lamentations 1:14 Meaning and Commentary

Lamentations 1:14

The yoke of my transgressions is bound by his hand
That is, the punishment of her sins was laid upon her by the Lord himself; his hand was in it; it came from him; the Chaldeans were only instruments; and a heavy yoke this was. So the Targum renders it,

``the yoke of my rebellions is made heavy by his hand:''

they are wreathed, [and] come upon my neck;
or, "twisted together" ^F2; as lines to make a cord; or as several cords to make a rope; or as branches of trees or withes are implicated and entwined; and so the Targum,

``they are twisted together as the branches of a vine.''

It denotes the complication of judgments upon the Jewish nation for their sins, with which they were holden as with cords; and which were like ropes about their necks, very heavy and distressing to them, and from which they could not deliver themselves. Mr. Broughton thinks the apostle has reference to this passage; and explains it by the sin that easily besets, or cunningly wraps about, ( Hebrews 12:1 ) ; he hath made my strength to fall;
by the weight of punishment laid upon her, which she could not stand up under, but sunk and fell: this may be understood of her strong and mighty men; her men of valour and courage, who yet stumbled and fell: the Lord hath delivered me into [their] hands, [from whom] I am not
able to rise up;
meaning the Chaldeans; nor were the Jews at last delivered from them by their own strength, but by the means of Cyrus the Persian conquering Babylon.

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FOOTNOTES:

F2 (wgrtvy) "involutae", Vatablus; "perplexae", Pagninus, Montanus, Calvin; "contortae", Piscator, Grotius, Michaelis.

Lamentations 1:14 In-Context

12 A! all ye that pass by the way, perceive, and see, if any sorrow is as my sorrow; for he gathered away (my) grapes from me, as the Lord spake in the day of wrath of his strong vengeance. (O! all ye who go on the way, look, and see, if there is any sorrow like my sorrow; for he hath afflicted me, like the Lord said that he would, on the day of the wrath of his strong vengeance.)

13 From on high he sent fire in(to) my bones, and taught me; he spreaded abroad a net to my feet, he turned me aback; he setted me desolate, meddled together all day with mourning (he left me desolate, mixed together with mourning, all day long).

14 The yoke of my wickednesses watched in the hand of him, those be folded together, and put on my neck; my strength is made feeble; the Lord gave me in(to) the hand, from which I shall not be able to rise. (He watched my wickednesses, and he folded them together like a yoke, and put them about my neck; my strength is made feeble, or weak; the Lord gave me into their hands, from whom I shall not be able to escape.)

15 The Lord took away all my worshipful men from the midst of me; he called time against me, that he should all-foul my chosen men; the Lord stamped a presser to the virgin, the daughter of Judah. (The Lord took away all my honourable men from my midst; he called out time against me, so that he could defile all my chosen people; the Lord stamped the virgin, the daughter of Judah, like grapes in a winepress.)

16 Therefore I am weeping, and mine eye is leading down water; for a comforter, converting my soul, is made far from me; my sons be made lost, for the enemy had the mastery. (And so I am weeping, and my eyes be leading down water; for a comforter, to refresh my soul, is made far from me; my sons and daughters be made lost, or left desolate, for the enemy had the mastery.)