Lamentações de Jeremias 1:15

JERUSALEM IS HELPLESS UNDER GOD'S PUNISHMENT

"The Lord hath set at naught all my mighty men in the midst of me;

He hath called a solemn assembly against me to crush my young men:

The Lord hath trodden as in a winepress the virgin daughter of Judah.

For these things, I weep; mine eye, mine eye runneth down with water;

Because the comforter that should refresh my soul is far from me:

My children are desolate, because the enemy hath prevailed.

Zion spreadeth forth her hands; there is none to comfort her;

Jehovah hath commanded concerning Jacob,

that they that are round about him should be his adversaries:

Jerusalem is among them as an unclean thing.

Jehovah is righteous, for I have rebelled against his commandment:

Hear, I pray ye, all ye peoples, and behold my sorrow:

My virgins and my young men are gone into captivity.

I called for my lovers, but they deceived me:

My priests and mine elders gave up the ghost in the city,

While they sought them food to refresh their souls."

These tragic lines hardly need any comment. They repeat in different words many of the thoughts already uttered.

"The assembly" (Lamentations 1:15) is probably a reference to the great army of Babylon."[26]

"Mine eye, mine eye" (Lamentations 1:16). "This emphatic repetition reminds one of Jeremiah's style elsewhere (Jeremiah 4:10; 6:14)."[27]

"Jehovah hath commanded concerning Jacob" (Lamentations 1:17). "Jehovah had commanded that Jacob's enemies should be about him (Isaiah 23:11)."[28]

"I have rebelled against thy commandment" (Lamentations 1:18). This repeated confession emphasizes the repentance and godly sorrow of the Chosen People, that is, the true Israel of God, not the vast majority of the `sinful nation.'

"My priests ... and elders ... gave up the ghost ... while they sought for food" (Lamentations 1:19). "This simply means they died of hunger, and that the young men and maidens were taken away as captives."[29] "It was indeed a terrible famine when even the priests and elders starved to death."[30]