---
title: "Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible -  Lamentations 2"
description: "CHAPTER (ELEGY) 2   :-. Aleph. 1. How—The title of the
collection repeated here, and in  :-. covered . . . with a
cloud—that is, with the darkness of igno"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/lamentations/2"
---

CHAPTER (ELEGY) 2

.
*Aleph.*

**1. How**—The title of the
collection repeated here, and in .
**covered . . . with a
cloud**—that is, with the darkness of ignominy.
**cast down from heaven unto .
. . earth**— ([Matthew 11:23](../../../kjv/matthew/11/23));
dashed down from the highest prosperity to the lowest misery.
**beauty of Israel**—the
beautiful temple ([Psalms 29:2](../../../kjv/psalms/29/2);
[Psalms 74:7](../../../kjv/psalms/74/7); [Psalms 96:9](../../../kjv/psalms/96/9),
*Margin;* [Isaiah 60:7](../../../kjv/isaiah/60/7); [Isaiah 64:11](../../../kjv/isaiah/64/11)).
**his footstool**—the ark
(compare [1 Chronicles 28:2](../../../kjv/1-chronicles/28/2); [Psalms 99:5](../../../kjv/psalms/99/5);
[Psalms 132:7](../../../kjv/psalms/132/7)). They once had gloried
more in the ark than in the God whose symbol it was; they now feel it
was but His "footstool," yet that it had been a great glory
to them that God deigned to use it as such.
*Beth.*

**2. polluted**—by delivering it
into the hands of the profane foe. Compare , "*profaned . . . crown.*"
*Gimel.*

**3. horn**—worn in the East as an
ornament on the forehead, and an emblem of power and majesty ([1 Samuel 2:10](../../../kjv/1-samuel/2/10);
[Psalms 132:17](../../../kjv/psalms/132/17); see on [Psalms 132:17](../../../kjv/psalms/132/17)).
**drawn back . . . fight hand**—
([Psalms 74:11](../../../kjv/psalms/74/11)). God has withdrawn
the help which He before gave them. Not as HENDERSON,
"He has turned back his (*Israel's*) right hand" ([Psalms 74:11](../../../kjv/psalms/74/11)).
*Daleth.*

**4.** ().
**stood with . . . right
hand**—He took His stand so as to use His right hand as an
adversary. HENDERSON makes
the image to be that of an archer *steadying* his right hand to
take aim. Not only did He *withdraw* His help, but also took
arms against Israel.
**all . . . pleasant to . . .
eye**— ([Ezekiel 24:25](../../../kjv/ezekiel/24/25)). All
that were conspicuous for youth, beauty, and rank.
**in . . . tabernacle**—the
dwellings of Jerusalem.
*He.*

**5. an enemy**— ().
**mourning and
lamentation**—There is a play of similar sounds in the original,
"sorrow and sadness," to heighten the effect (, *Hebrew;* [Ezekiel 35:3](../../../kjv/ezekiel/35/3),
*Margin*).
*Vau.*

**6. tabernacle**—rather, "He
hath violently taken away His *hedge* (the hedge of the place
sacred to Him, [Psalms 80:12](../../../kjv/psalms/80/12); [Psalms 89:40](../../../kjv/psalms/89/40);
[Isaiah 5:5](../../../kjv/isaiah/5/5)), as that of a garden"
[MAURER]. CALVIN
supports *English Version,* "His tabernacle (that is,
temple) as (one would take away the temporary cottage or booth) of a
garden." [Isaiah 1:8](../../../kjv/isaiah/1/8) accords
with this ([Job 27:18](../../../kjv/job/27/18)).
**places of . . . assembly**—the
temple and synagogues ([Psalms 74:7](../../../kjv/psalms/74/7);
[Psalms 74:8](../../../kjv/psalms/74/8)).
**solemn feasts**— ([Psalms 74:8](../../../kjv/psalms/74/8)).
*Zain.*

**7. they . . . made a noise in . . .
house of . . . Lord, as in . . . feast**—The foe's shout of
triumph in the captured temple bore a resemblance (but oh, how sad a
contrast as to the *occasion* of it!) to the joyous
thanksgivings we used to offer in the same place at our "solemn
feasts" (compare [Lamentations 2:22](../../../kjv/lamentations/2/22)).
*Cheth.*

**8. stretched . . . a line**—The
Easterns used a measuring-line not merely in building, but in
destroying edifices ([2 Kings 21:13](../../../kjv/2-kings/21/13);
[Isaiah 34:11](../../../kjv/isaiah/34/11)); implying here the
unsparing rigidness with which He would exact punishment.
*Teth.*

**9.** Her gates cannot oppose the
entrance of the foe into the city, for they are sunk under a mass of
rubbish and earth.
**broken . . . bars**— ().
**her king . . . among . . .
Gentiles**— ([Deuteronomy 28:36](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/28/36)).
**law . . . no more**— ([Deuteronomy 28:36](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/28/36)). The civil and religious laws were one under the theocracy.
"All the legal ordinances (prophetical as well as priestly) of
the theocracy, are no more" ([Psalms 74:9](../../../kjv/psalms/74/9);
[Ezekiel 7:26](../../../kjv/ezekiel/7/26)).
*Jod.*

**10.** ([Job 2:12](../../../kjv/job/2/12);
[Job 2:13](../../../kjv/job/2/13)). The "elders,"
by their example, would draw the others to violent grief.
**the virgins**—who usually
are so anxious to set off their personal appearances to advantage.
*Caph.*

**11. liver is poured,** c.—that
is, as the liver was thought to be the seat of the passions, "all
my feelings are poured out and prostrated for," &c. The
"liver," is here put for the bile ("gall," "bowels," ) in a bladder on the surface of the liver, copiously
discharged when the passions are agitated.
**swoon**—through faintness
from the effects of hunger.
*Lamed.*

**12. as the wounded**—famine
being as deadly as the sword ().
**soul . . . poured . . . into
. . . mothers bosom**—Instinctively turning to their mother's
bosom, but finding no milk there, they *breathe out their life*
as it were "into her bosom."
*Mem.*

**13. What thing shall I take to
witness**—What can I bring forward as a witness, or instance, to
prove that others have sustained as grievous ills as thou? I cannot
console thee as mourners are often consoled by showing that thy lot
is only what others, too, suffer. The "sea" affords the
only suitable emblem of thy woes, by its boundless extent and depth
([Lamentations 1:12](../../../kjv/lamentations/1/12); [Daniel 9:12](../../../kjv/daniel/9/12)).
*Nun.*

**14. Thy prophets**—not God's
([Jeremiah 23:26](../../../kjv/jeremiah/23/26)).
**vain . . . for thee**—to
gratify thy appetite, not for truth, but for false things.
**not discovered thine
iniquity**—in opposition to God's command to the true prophets
([Isaiah 58:1](../../../kjv/isaiah/58/1)). Literally, "*They
have not taken off* (the veil) *which was on thine iniquity,*
so as to set it before thee."
**burdens**—Their
prophecies were soothing and flattering; but the result of them was
*heavy* calamities to the people, worse than even what the
prophecies of Jeremiah, which they in derision called "burdens,"
threatened. Hence he terms their pretended prophecies "false
burdens," which proved to the Jews "causes of their
banishment" [CALVIN].
*Samech.*

**15. clap . . . hands**—in
derision ([Job 27:23](../../../kjv/job/27/23); [Job 34:37](../../../kjv/job/34/37)).
**wag . . . head**—
([2 Kings 19:21](../../../kjv/2-kings/19/21); [Psalms 44:14](../../../kjv/psalms/44/14)).
**perfection of beauty . . .
joy of . . . earth**— ([Psalms 48:2](../../../kjv/psalms/48/2);
[Psalms 50:2](../../../kjv/psalms/50/2)). The Jews' enemies
quote their very words in scorn.
*Pe.*

**16, 17.** For the transposition of
*Hebrew* letters (*Pe* and *Ain,* [Lamentations 2:16](../../../kjv/lamentations/2/16);
[Lamentations 2:17](../../../kjv/lamentations/2/17)) in the order of verses,
see [Lamentations 2:17](../../../kjv/lamentations/2/17).
**opened . . . mouth**—as
ravening, roaring wild beasts ([Job 16:9](../../../kjv/job/16/9);
[Job 16:10](../../../kjv/job/16/10); [Psalms 22:13](../../../kjv/psalms/22/13)).
Herein Jerusalem was a type of Messiah.
**gnash . . . teeth**—in
vindictive malice.
**we have seen it**— ([Psalms 22:13](../../../kjv/psalms/22/13)).
*Ain.*

**17. Lord**—Let not the foe exult
as if it was *their* doing. It was "the Lord" who thus
fulfilled the threats uttered by His prophets for the guilt of Judea
([Leviticus 26:16-25](../../../kjv/leviticus/26/16-25); [Deuteronomy 28:36-48](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/28/36-48);
[Deuteronomy 28:53](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/28/53); [Jeremiah 19:9](../../../kjv/jeremiah/19/9)).
*Tzaddi.*

**18. wall**— (). Personified. "*Their* heart," that is, the
Jews'; while their heart is lifted up to the Lord in prayer, their
speech is addressed to the "wall" (the part being put for
*the whole city*).
**let tears,** &c.—
([Jeremiah 14:17](../../../kjv/jeremiah/14/17)). The wall is
called on to weep for its own ruin and that of the city. Compare the
similar personification ([Lamentations 1:4](../../../kjv/lamentations/1/4)).
**apple**—the pupil of the
eye ([Psalms 17:8](../../../kjv/psalms/17/8)).
*Koph.*

**19. cry . . . in . . . night**—
([Psalms 119:147](../../../kjv/psalms/119/147)).
**beginning of . . .
watches**—that is, the *first* of the three equal divisions
(four hours each) into which the ancient Jews divided the night;
namely, from sunset to ten o'clock. The second was called "the
middle watch" ([Judges 7:19](../../../kjv/judges/7/19)),
from ten till two o'clock. The third, "the morning watch,"
from two to sunrise ([Exodus 14:24](../../../kjv/exodus/14/24);
[1 Samuel 11:11](../../../kjv/1-samuel/11/11)). Afterwards, under the
Romans, they had *four* watches ([Matthew 14:25](../../../kjv/matthew/14/25);
[Luke 12:38](../../../kjv/luke/12/38)).
**for . . . thy . . .
children**—that God, if He will not spare thee, may *at least*
preserve "thy young children."
**top of . . . street**—
([Isaiah 51:20](../../../kjv/isaiah/51/20); [Nahum 3:10](../../../kjv/nahum/3/10)).
*Resh.*

**20. women eat . . . fruit**—as
threatened ([Leviticus 26:29](../../../kjv/leviticus/26/29); [Deuteronomy 28:53](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/28/53);
[Deuteronomy 28:56](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/28/56); [Deuteronomy 28:57](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/28/57);
[Jeremiah 19:9](../../../kjv/jeremiah/19/9)).
**children . . . span long**—or
else, "children whom they carry in their arms" [MAURER].
*Schin.*

**21.** ().
*Tau.*

**22. Thou hast called as in . . .
solemn day . . . terrors**—Thou hast summoned my enemies against
me from all quarters, just as multitudes used to be convened to
Jerusalem, on the solemn feast days. The objects, for which the
enemies and the festal multitude respectively met, formed a sad
contrast. Compare [Lamentations 1:15](../../../kjv/lamentations/1/15):
"called an assembly against me."

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