Lamentations 2:14

14 Thy prophets saw to thee false things, and fond; and they opened not thy wickedness, that they should stir thee to penance; but they saw to thee false takings, and castings out. (Thy prophets saw false and foolish things for thee; and they told not about thy wickedness, so that they could stir thee to penance; but they saw for thee false burdens, and castings out, or causes of banishment.)

Lamentations 2:14 Meaning and Commentary

Lamentations 2:14

Thy prophets have seen vain and foolish things for thee
Not the prophets of the Lord; but false prophets, as the Targum; which were of the people's choosing, and were acceptable to them; prophets after their own hearts, because they prophesied smooth things, such as they liked; though in the issue they proved "vain" and "foolish", idle stories, impertinent talk, the fictions of their own brains; and yet they pretended to have visions of them from the Lord; as that within two years Jeconiah, and all the vessels of the temple carried away by the king of Babylon, should be returned; and that he would not come against Jerusalem, nor should it be delivered into his hands; see ( Jeremiah 28:2-4 ) ; and they have not discovered thine iniquity:
they did not tell them of their sins; they took no pains to convince them of them, but connived at them; instead of reproving them for them, they soothed them in them; they did not "remove" the covering that was "over [their] iniquity" {u}, as it might be rendered; which they might easily have done, and laid their sirs to open view: whereby they might have been ashamed of them, and brought to repentance for them. The Targum is,

``neither have they manifested the punishment that should come upon thee for thy sins;''

but, on the contrary, told them it should not come upon them; had they dealt faithfully with them, by showing them their transgressions, and the consequences of them, they might have been a means of preventing their ruin: and, as it here follows, to turn away thy captivity;
either to turn them from their backslidings and wanderings about, as Jarchi; or to turn them by repentance, as the Targum; or to prevent their going into captivity: but have seen for thee false burdens, and causes of banishment;
that is, false prophecies against Babylon, and in favour of the Jews; prophecies, even those that are true, being often called "burdens", as the "burden of Egypt", and "the burden of Damascus" and the rather this name is here given to those false prophecies because the prophecies of Jeremiah were reproached by them with it, ( Jeremiah 23:33 ) and because these proved in the issue burdensome, sad, and sorrowful ones though they once tickled and pleased; and were the cause of the people's going into exile and captivity they listening to them: or they were "depulsions" or "expulsions" ^F23; drivings, that drove them from the right way; from God and his worship; from his word and prophets; and, at last, the means of driving them out of their own land; of impelling them to sin, and so of expelling them from their own country. The Targum renders it,

``words of error.''

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FOOTNOTES:

F21 (Knwe le wlg alw) "et non revelarunt [legmen] pravitati tuae impositum", Christ. Ben. Miehaelis.
F23 (Myxwdmw) (kai exwsmata) , Sept. "et expulsiones", Montanus, Vatablus, Calvin; "et ad depulsionem spectantium", Junius & Tremellius; "depulsiones, expulsiones", Stockius, p. 649.

Lamentations 2:14 In-Context

12 They said to their mothers, Where is wheat, and wine? when they failed as wounded men in the streets of the city (They asked their mothers, Where is some corn, and some wine? then they died, wounded in the streets of the city); yea, when they sent out their souls in(to) the bosom of their mothers.

13 To whom shall I comparison thee? either to whom shall I liken thee, thou daughter of Jerusalem? to whom shall I make thee even, and shall I comfort thee, thou virgin, the daughter of Zion? for why thy sorrow is (as) great as the sea; who shall do medicine to thee? (To whom shall I compare thee? or to whom shall I liken thee, O daughter of Jerusalem? to whom shall I make thee equal, so that I can comfort thee, O virgin, the daughter of Zion? for thy sorrow is as great as the sea; who shall give medicine to thee?)

14 Thy prophets saw to thee false things, and fond; and they opened not thy wickedness, that they should stir thee to penance; but they saw to thee false takings, and castings out. (Thy prophets saw false and foolish things for thee; and they told not about thy wickedness, so that they could stir thee to penance; but they saw for thee false burdens, and castings out, or causes of banishment.)

15 All men passing on the way clapped with hands on thee; they hissed, and moved their head on the daughter of Jerusalem; and said, This is the city of perfect fairness, the joy of all (the) earth. (All those passing on the way clapped with their hands at thee; they hissed, and shook their heads over the daughter of Jerusalem; and said, Is this the city that once was so perfect in beauty, yea, the joy of all the earth?)

16 All thine enemies opened their mouth on thee; they hissed, and gnashed with their teeth, and said, We shall devour; lo! this is the day which we abided, we found, we saw. (All thy enemies opened their mouths against thee; they hissed, and gnashed with their teeth, and said, We shall devour thee; lo! this is the day which we have waited for; now it hath arrived, and we have seen it happen!)