Charles Ellicott Commentary Lamentations 5:14

"The elders have ceased from the gate, The young men from their music." — Lamentations 5:14 (ASV)

Have ceased from the gate. —The gate in an Eastern city was the natural place of meeting for the elder citizens for counsel and judgment (Ruth 4:1; Joshua 20:4), and also for social interaction (Job 29:7; Proverbs 31:23). The music of this verse and the dancing of the next point to a similar interruption of the social joys of the young.