John Calvin Commentary Lamentations 1:16

"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." — Lamentations 1:16 (ASV)

He describes in detail the calamities of Jerusalem. It is no wonder that the Prophet thus extended his discourse, for we know that those who are heavily oppressed never fully express their grief through mourning and lamentations.

Indeed, if we properly consider how great the evils were, the Prophet will not appear to us wordy, nor will his lengthiness be tiresome to us. For when anyone compares the flourishing state of Jerusalem with the desolate ruin that the Prophet laments, it will surely be apparent that no words, however many, can fully express what it really was. Indeed, though the expressions may seem hyperbolical, yet they do not exceed the greatness of that calamity.

This point is briefly mentioned so that no one will become weary with the various modes of expression the Prophet employs, even though he could have simply said that Jerusalem was destroyed.

He says, For this will I weep. Throughout, he maintains the persona of a woman, for Jerusalem herself speaks, and not Jeremiah. I, she says, for this will I weep; mine eye! mine eye! it shall descend into waters. Others read, “Waters will descend from my eyes,” but such a translation is too loose.

Therefore, I do not doubt that Jerusalem says that her eyes would be like fountains of waters. She indeed speaks in the singular number and repeats the words, mine eye! mine eye! it shall descend, or flow as waters—that is, as though they were two fountains—because alienated from me, or far from me, is a comforter, to revive my soul.

By these words, she indicates that she was fainting and, as if dying, and that there was no one present to offer comfort so that her soul could be revived. As it appeared before, it is considered an extreme evil when there is no friend to perform the humane duty of alleviating sorrow. So now Jerusalem again repeats the same complaint and says that all her sons were destroyed, because the enemy had prevailed.