Lam 2 | KD | STEP | Description of the judgment . - . The lamentation opens with signs for the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. The first member of the verse contains the general idea that the Lord (אדני, the Lord κατ ̓ ἐξοχὴν, very suitably used instead of יהוה) has, in His wrath, enveloped Jerusalem with clouds. This thought is particularized in the two members that follow, and is referred to the overthrow of Jerusalem and the temple. יעיב, from עוּב (which is ἅπ. λεγ. as a verb, and is probably a denominative from עב, a cloud), signifies to cover or surround with clouds. בּאפּו does not mean "with His wrath" (Ewald, Thenius), but "in His wrath," as is shown by , , , . "The daughter of Zion" here means the city of Jerusalem, which in the second member is called "the glory (or ornament) of Israel," by which we are to understand neither res Judaeorum florentissimae in general (Rosenmüller), nor the temple in special, as the "splendid house," (Michaelis, Vaihinger). Jerusalem is called the glory or ornament of Israel, in the same way as Babylon in is called "the glory of the splendour of the Chaldeans" (Thenius, Gerlach). In the figurative expression, "He cast down from heaven to earth," we are not to think there is any reference to a thunderbolt which knocks down an object, such as a lofty tower that reaches to heaven (Thenius); "from heaven" implies that what is to be thrown down was in heaven, as has been already remarked by Raschi in his explanation, postquam sustulisset eos (Judaeos) usque ad coelum, eosdem dejecit in terram , where we have merely to substitute "Jerusalem," for eos , which is too vague. Gerlach has rightly remarked that the expression "cast down from heaven" is to be accounted for by the fact that, in the first member of the verse, Jerusalem is compared to a star, in the same way as Babylon is expressly called a tar in ; nay, what is more, Jerusalem is here compared to a star that has fallen from heaven; the reference to that passage thus becomes unmistakeable. Moreover, the casting down from heaven means something more than deprivation of the glory that had come on the city in consequence of God's dwelling in the midst of it (Gerlach); it signifies, besides, the destruction of the city, viz., that it would be laid in ashes. In all this, the Lord has not been thinking of, i.e., paid any regard to, His footstool, i.e., the ark of the covenant ( ; ), - not the temple (Ewald), although we cannot think of the ark without at the same thinking of the temple as the house in which it was kept. The ark, and not the temple, is named, because the temple became a habitation of the Lord, and a place where He revealed Himself, only through the ark of the covenant, with which the Lord had graciously connected His presence among His people. It is further implied, in the fact that God does not think of His footstool, that the ark itself was destroyed along with the temple and the city.

Lamentations 2

Lamentation over the Judgment of Destruction That Has Come on Zion and the Desolation of Judah

1 Alas! how the Lord envelopes the daughter of Zion in His wrath!

He hath cast down the glory of Israel from heaven to earth;

Nor hath He remembered His footstool in the day of His wrath.

2 The Lord hath swallowed up all the habitations of Jacob, He hath not spared:

He hath broken down, in His anger, the strongholds of the daughter of Judah;

He hath smitten [them] down to the earth.

He hath profaned the kingdom and its princes.

3 He hath cut off, in the burning of wrath, every horn of Israel;

He hath drawn back His right hand from before the enemy,

And hath burned among Jacob like a flaming fire, [which] devours round about.

4 He hath bent His bow like an enemy, standing [with] His right hand like an adversary,

And He slew all the desires of the eye;

On the tent of the daughter of Zion hath He poured out His fury like fire.

5 The Lord hath become like an enemy; He hath swallowed up Israel.

He hath swallowed up all her palaces, He hath destroyed his strongholds,

And hath increased on the daughter of Judah groaning and moaning.

6 And He hath violently treated His own enclosure, like a garden; He hat destroyed His own place of meeting:

Jahveh hath caused to be forgotten in Zion the festival and the Sabbath,

And in the fierceness of His wrath He hath rejected king and priest.

7 The Lord hath spruned His own altar, He hath abhorred His own sanctuary;

He hath delivered into the hand of the enemy the walls of her palaces;

They have made a noise in the house of Jahvey, as [on] the day of a festival.

8 Jahveh hath purposed to destroy the walls of the daughter of Zion:

He hath stretched out a line, He hath not drawn back His hand from demolishing;

And He hath made the rampart and the [city] wall to mourn; they sorrow together.

9 Her gates have sunk into the earth; He hath destroyed and broken her bars:

Her king and her princces are among the nations; there is no law.

Her prophets also find no vision from Jahveh.

10 The elders of the daughter of Zion sit upon the ground, they silent;

They have cast up dust upon their head, they have clothed themselves with sackcloth garments:

The virgins of Jerusalem have brought down their head to the earth.

11 Mine eyes waste away with tears, My bowels glow,

My liver is poured out on the earth, because of the destruction of the daughter of my people;

Because the young child and the suckling pine away in the streets of the city.

12 They said to their mothers, Where is corn and wine?

When they were fainting like one wounded in the streets of the city,

When their soul was poured out into the bosom of their mothers.

13 What slall I testify against thee? what shall I compare to thee, O daughter of Jerusalem?

What shall I liken to thee, that I may comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Zion?

For thy destruction is great, like the sea; who can heal thee?

14 Thy prophets have seen for thee vanity and absurdity,

And have not revealed thine iniquity, to turn thy captivity;

But they have seen for thee burdens of vanity, and expulsion.

15 All that pass by the way clap [their] hands against thee;

They hiss and shake their head against the daughter of Jerusalem [saying, "Is] this the city that they call "The perfection of beauty, a joy of the whole earth?'"

16 All thine enemies have opened their mouth against thee:

They hiss and gnash the teeth; they say, "We have swallowed [her];

Assuredly this is the day that we have expected; we have found [it], we have seen [it]."

17 Jahveh hath done what He hath purposed:

He hath executed His word which He commanded from the days of yore: He hath broken down, and hath not spared:

And He hath made the enemy rejoice over thee; He hath raised up the horn of thine adversaries.

18 Their heart crieth out unto the Lord.

O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a stream by day and by night:

Give thyself no rest; let not the apple of thine eye cease.

19 Arise, wail in the night; at the beginning of the watches,

Pour out thy heart like water before the face of the Lord:

Lift up thine hands to Him for the soul of thy young children,

That faint for hunger at the head of every street.

20 See, O Jahveh, and consider to whom Thou hast acted thus!

Shall women eat their [body's] fruit, the children of their care?

Or shall priest and prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord?

21 The boy and the old man lie without, on the ground;

My virgins and my young men have fallen by the sword:

Thou hast slain in the day of Thy wrath, Thou hast slaughtered, Thou hast not spared.

22 Thou summonest, as on a feast-day, my terrors round about;

And in the day of wrath of Jahveh there was no fugitive or survivor

Whom I would have nursed and brought up; mine enemy destroyed them.

This second poem contains a new and more bitter lamentation regarding the fall of Jerusalem and the kingdom of Judah; and it is distinguished from the first, partly by the bitterness of the complaint, but chiefly by the fact that while, in the first, the oppressed, helpless, and comfortless condition of Jerusalem is the main feature, - here, on the other hand, it is the judgment which the Lord, in His wrath, has decreed against Jerusalem and Judah, that forms the leading thought in the complaint, as is shown by the prominence repeatedly given to the wrath, rage, burning wrath, etc. (Lam 2:1.). The description of this judgment occupies the first part of the poem (Lam 2:1-10); then follows, in the second part (Lam 2:11-19), the lamentation over the impotency of human consolation, and over the scoffing of enemies at the misfortunes of Jerusalem (Lam 2:11-16). It was the Lord who sent this judgment; and it is He alone who can give comfort and help in this distress. To Him must the daughter of Zion betake herself with her complaint (Lam 2:17-19); and this she actually does in the concluding portion (Lam 2:20-22).

Description of the judgment. - Lam 2:1. The lamentation opens with signs for the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. The first member of the verse contains the general idea that the Lord (אדני, the Lord κατ ̓ ἐξοχὴν, very suitably used instead of יהוה) has, in His wrath, enveloped Jerusalem with clouds. This thought is particularized in the two members that follow, and is referred to the overthrow of Jerusalem and the temple. יעיב, from עוּב (which is ἅπ. λεγ. as a verb, and is probably a denominative from עב, a cloud), signifies to cover or surround with clouds. בּאפּו does not mean "with His wrath" (Ewald, Thenius), but "in His wrath," as is shown by Lam 2:3, Lam 2:6, Lam 2:21, Lam 2:22. "The daughter of Zion" here means the city of Jerusalem, which in the second member is called "the glory (or ornament) of Israel," by which we are to understand neither res Judaeorum florentissimae in general (Rosenmüller), nor the temple in special, as the "splendid house," Isa 64:10 (Michaelis, Vaihinger). Jerusalem is called the glory or ornament of Israel, in the same way as Babylon in Isa 64:10 is called "the glory of the splendour of the Chaldeans" (Thenius, Gerlach). In the figurative expression, "He cast down from heaven to earth," we are not to think there is any reference to a thunderbolt which knocks down an object, such as a lofty tower that reaches to heaven (Thenius); "from heaven" implies that what is to be thrown down was in heaven, as has been already remarked by Raschi in his explanation, postquam sustulisset eos (Judaeos) usque ad coelum, eosdem dejecit in terram, where we have merely to substitute "Jerusalem," for eos, which is too vague. Gerlach has rightly remarked that the expression "cast down from heaven" is to be accounted for by the fact that, in the first member of the verse, Jerusalem is compared to a star, in the same way as Babylon is expressly called a tar in Isa 14:12; nay, what is more, Jerusalem is here compared to a star that has fallen from heaven; the reference to that passage thus becomes unmistakeable. Moreover, the casting down from heaven means something more than deprivation of the glory that had come on the city in consequence of God's dwelling in the midst of it (Gerlach); it signifies, besides, the destruction of the city, viz., that it would be laid in ashes. In all this, the Lord has not been thinking of, i.e., paid any regard to, His footstool, i.e., the ark of the covenant (1Ch 28:2; Psa 99:5), - not the temple (Ewald), although we cannot think of the ark without at the same thinking of the temple as the house in which it was kept. The ark, and not the temple, is named, because the temple became a habitation of the Lord, and a place where He revealed Himself, only through the ark of the covenant, with which the Lord had graciously connected His presence among His people. It is further implied, in the fact that God does not think of His footstool, that the ark itself was destroyed along with the temple and the city.