Lam 1:1-3 | JFB | STEP | . Aleph. 1. how is she ... widow! she that was great, &c.-- English Version is according to the accents. But the members of each sentence are better balanced in antithesis, thus, "how is she that was great among the nations become as a widow! (how) she who was princess among the provinces (that is, she who ruled over the surrounding provinces from the Nile to the Euphrates, ; ; ; ) become tributary!" [Maurer]. sit-- on the ground; the posture of mourners ( ; ). The coin struck on the taking of Jerusalem by Titus, representing Judea as a female sitting solitary under a palm tree, with the inscription, Judæa Capta, singularly corresponds to the image here; the language therefore must be prophetical of her state subsequent to Titus, as well as referring retrospectively to her Babylonian captivity. Beth.

‏ Lamentations 1:1-3

CHAPTER (ELEGY) 1

Aleph.

1. how is she ... widow! she that was great, &c.--English Version is according to the accents. But the members of each sentence are better balanced in antithesis, thus, "how is she that was great among the nations become as a widow! (how) she who was princess among the provinces (that is, she who ruled over the surrounding provinces from the Nile to the Euphrates, Ge 15:18; 1Ki 4:21; 2Ch 9:26; Ezr 4:20) become tributary!" [Maurer].

sit--on the ground; the posture of mourners (La 2:10; Ezr 9:3). The coin struck on the taking of Jerusalem by Titus, representing Judea as a female sitting solitary under a palm tree, with the inscription, Judæa Capta, singularly corresponds to the image here; the language therefore must be prophetical of her state subsequent to Titus, as well as referring retrospectively to her Babylonian captivity.

Beth.

2. in the night--even in the night, the period of rest and oblivion of griefs (Job 7:3).

lovers ... friends--the heathen states allied to Judah, and their idols. The idols whom she "loved" (Jr 2:20-25) could not comfort her. Her former allies would not: nay, some "treacherously" joined her enemies against her (2Ki 24:2, 7; Psa 137:7).

Gimel.

3. (Jr 52:27).

because of great servitude--that is, in a state "of great servitude," endured from the Chaldeans. "Because" is made by Vatablus indicative of the cause of her captivity; namely, her having "afflicted" and unjustly brought into "servitude" the manumitted bond-servants (Jr 34:8-22). Maurer explains it, "Judah has left her land (not literally 'gone into captivity') because of the yoke imposed on it by Nebuchadnezzar."

no rest--(De 28:64, 65).

overtook her between ... straits--image from robbers, who in the East intercept travellers at the narrow passes in hilly regions.

Daleth.