Lamentations
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Lamentations 5
Lamentations 5
Commentary · verses 1-22
1Remember, O Jehovah, what is come upon us: Behold, and see our reproach.
1Remember, O LORD, what is come upon us: consider, and behold our reproach.
Commentary · verse 1
The Jews wanted God to remember what had happened.
2Our inheritance is turned unto strangers, Our houses unto aliens.
3We are orphans and fatherless; Our mothers are as widows.
2Our inheritance is turned to strangers, our houses to aliens.
3We are orphans and fatherless, our mothers are as widows.
Commentary · verses 2-3
Jerusalem was filled with strangers and aliens and the Jews had become orphans and widows.
4We have drunken our water for money; Our wood is sold unto us.
4We have drunken our water for money; our wood is sold unto us.
Commentary · verse 4
Water and wood were resources the Jews began to have to pay for.
5Our pursuers are upon our necks: We are weary, and have no rest.
6We have given the hand to the Egyptians, And to the Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread.
5Our necks are under persecution: we labour, and have no rest.
6We have given the hand to the Egyptians, and to the Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread.
Commentary · verses 5-6
The Jews were persecuted so often they were unable to rest.
7Our fathers sinned, and are not; And we have borne their iniquities.
8Servants rule over us: There is none to deliver us out of their hand.
7Our fathers have sinned, and are not; and we have borne their iniquities.
8Servants have ruled over us: there is none that doth deliver us out of their hand.
Commentary · verses 7-8
Those who were servants now ruled over the Jews.
9We get our bread at the peril of our lives, Because of the sword of the wilderness.
10Our skin is black like an oven, Because of the burning heat of famine.
9We gat our bread with the peril of our lives because of the sword of the wilderness.
10Our skin was black like an oven because of the terrible famine.
Commentary · verses 9-10
The famine was so great that the wilderness was as an enemy to the Jews.
11They ravished the women in Zion, The virgins in the cities of Judah.
12Princes were hanged up by their hand: The faces of elders were not honored.
13The young men bare the mill; And the children stumbled under the wood.
14The elders have ceased from the gate, The young men from their music.
11They ravished the women in Zion, and the maids in the cities of Judah.
12Princes are hanged up by their hand: the faces of elders were not honoured.
13They took the young men to grind, and the children fell under the wood.
14The elders have ceased from the gate, the young men from their musick.
Commentary · verses 11-14
The people were being persecuted in a number of ways.
15The joy of our heart is ceased; Our dance is turned into mourning.
15The joy of our heart is ceased; our dance is turned into mourning.
Commentary · verse 15
Verse 16 transitioned to part two of this poem. Jeremiah began to plead for mercy…
16The crown is fallen from our head: Woe unto us! for we have sinned.
16The crown is fallen from our head: woe unto us, that we have sinned!
Commentary · verse 16
Jeremiah made a confession. He was speaking for the people.
17For this our heart is faint; For these things our eyes are dim; 18For the mountain of Zion, which is desolate: The foxes walk upon it.
19Thou, O Jehovah, abidest for ever; Thy throne is from generation to generation.
20Wherefore dost thou forget us for ever, And forsake us so long time?
17For this our heart is faint; for these things our eyes are dim.
18Because of the mountain of Zion, which is desolate, the foxes walk upon it.
19Thou, O LORD, remainest for ever; thy throne from generation to generation.
20Wherefore dost thou forget us for ever, and forsake us so long time?
Commentary · verses 17-20
Jeremiah was not aware of how long God would forsake His people.
21Turn thou us unto thee, O Jehovah, and we shall be turned; Renew our days as of old.
21Turn thou us unto thee, O LORD, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old.
Commentary · verse 21
Jeremiah wanted God to help the Jews turn back to Him.
22But thou hast utterly rejected us; Thou art very wroth against us.
22But thou hast utterly rejected us; thou art very wroth against us.
Commentary · verse 22
Jeremiah also knew how angry God was toward them. The Book of Lamentations was the third of the five books that made up the major prophet section of the Old Testament. This book consisted of five poems of lamentation by Jeremiah over the destruction of Israel and Jerusalem. The next book of the major prophet section continued the chronology of Israel's captivity...
The fifth and final poem of this book contained twenty-two verses. This poem was divided into two parts: verses 1-16 spoke again of the ruin of Judah and Jerusalem; verses 17-22 were Jeremiah's plea for mercy.