‏ Lamentations 2:16

16-17. For the transposition of Hebrew letters (Pe and Ain, La 2:16, 17) in the order of verses, see Introduction.

opened ... mouth--as ravening, roaring wild beasts (Job 16:9, 10; Psa 22:13). Herein Jerusalem was a type of Messiah.

gnash ... teeth--in vindictive malice.

we have seen it--(Psa 35:21).

Ain.

‏ Obadiah 11-13

11. thou stoodest on the other side--in an attitude of hostility, rather than the sympathy which became a brother, feasting thine eyes (see Ob 12) with the misery of Jacob, and eagerly watching for his destruction. So Messiah, the antitype to Jerusalem, abandoned by His kinsmen (Psa 38:11).

strangers--the Philistines, Arabians in the reign of Jehoram, &c. (2Ch 21:16); the Syrians in the reign of Joash of Judah (2Ch 24:24); the Chaldeans (2Ch 36:1-23).

carried ... captive his forces--his "host" (Ob 20): the multitude of Jerusalem's inhabitants.

cast lots upon Jerusalem--(Joe 3:3). So Messiah, Jerusalem's antitype, had lots cast for His only earthly possessions (Psa 22:18).

12. looked on--with malignant pleasure, and a brutal stare. So the antitypes, Messiah's foes (Psa 22:17). Maurer translates, as the Margin, "thou shouldest not look" any more. English Version agrees with the context better.

the day of thy brother--his day of calamity.

became a stranger--that is, was banished as an alien from his own land. God sends heavy calamities on those who rejoice in the calamities of their enemies (Pr 17:5; 24:17, 18). Contrast the opposite conduct of David and of the divine Son of David in a like case (Psa 35:13-15).

spoken proudly--literally, "made great the mouth"; proudly insulting the fallen (Eze 35:13, Margin; compare 1Sa 2:8; Re 13:6).

13. substance--translated "forces" in Ob 11.

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