Lam 2:10 | KingComments | STEP | These verses no longer tell of the events, but of the condition that resulted. We see that condition especially in the reactions of survivors, from the elders to the youngest of the people. The elders have nothing more to say, they have no wise counsel ( ). Powerless and distraught, they sit down in silence. They have lost their respectability. The natural shelter, the walls, have been pulled down. The spiritual shelter, the elders, has also been pulled down, as it were. As the wall and the rampart mourn ( ), so do the elders. They show signs of mourning, as if someone had died. In their appearance they show how much they mourn over the city’s situation (cf. ; ). The young women, those who could provide progeny, have lost all hope for the future. The offspring they have brought into the world, they have eaten up in their boundless selfishness to survive at all costs. Now they can do nothing but stare at the ground. In , the prophet speaks of his intense sorrow and thus participates in the lament. He cannot help but weep incessantly. As a result, he can no longer use his eyes. He can no longer see anything. Inside, in his spirit, he is full of turmoil. His heart comes out, as if he must vomit, so overwhelmed is he by what has happened to the city. He is wreck about it. He sees before him the heartbreaking scenes of hunger in the city. He observes how “little ones and infants” sink down in helplessness in the streets of the city, while there is no one to help them. In any war or conflict, the saddest spectacle is the suffering of children. There is no more poignant picture than that of mothers watching their children die of want, when there is nothing they can give. Jeremiah hears the children lamenting and crying out for food to their mothers ( ). Grain refers to necessary provisions and wine to more luxurious, not immediately necessary foods. It is a terrible picture where we hear children say this to their mothers. The children are slowly starving. Mothers who still have some care for their children have taken them on their laps and feel desperate because they cannot give their children what they need. Babies die in their mothers’ arms. The womb, the place of life and security, is no longer a safe place and no longer offers protection from suffering.

‏ Lamentations 2:10

Response of Some Survivors

These verses no longer tell of the events, but of the condition that resulted. We see that condition especially in the reactions of survivors, from the elders to the youngest of the people. The elders have nothing more to say, they have no wise counsel (Lam 2:10). Powerless and distraught, they sit down in silence. They have lost their respectability. The natural shelter, the walls, have been pulled down. The spiritual shelter, the elders, has also been pulled down, as it were.

As the wall and the rampart mourn (Lam 2:8), so do the elders. They show signs of mourning, as if someone had died. In their appearance they show how much they mourn over the city’s situation (cf. Job 2:12-13; Jer 4:8).

The young women, those who could provide progeny, have lost all hope for the future. The offspring they have brought into the world, they have eaten up in their boundless selfishness to survive at all costs. Now they can do nothing but stare at the ground.

In Lam 2:11, the prophet speaks of his intense sorrow and thus participates in the lament. He cannot help but weep incessantly. As a result, he can no longer use his eyes. He can no longer see anything. Inside, in his spirit, he is full of turmoil. His heart comes out, as if he must vomit, so overwhelmed is he by what has happened to the city. He is wreck about it.

He sees before him the heartbreaking scenes of hunger in the city. He observes how “little ones and infants” sink down in helplessness in the streets of the city, while there is no one to help them. In any war or conflict, the saddest spectacle is the suffering of children.

There is no more poignant picture than that of mothers watching their children die of want, when there is nothing they can give. Jeremiah hears the children lamenting and crying out for food to their mothers (Lam 2:12). Grain refers to necessary provisions and wine to more luxurious, not immediately necessary foods. It is a terrible picture where we hear children say this to their mothers. The children are slowly starving.

Mothers who still have some care for their children have taken them on their laps and feel desperate because they cannot give their children what they need. Babies die in their mothers’ arms. The womb, the place of life and security, is no longer a safe place and no longer offers protection from suffering.