John Calvin Commentary Lamentations 1:2

"She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks; Among all her lovers she hath none to comfort her: All her friends have dealt treacherously with her; they are become her enemies." — Lamentations 1:2 (ASV)

Jeremiah still pursues the same subject, for he could not have spoken briefly and in a few words of things so bitter and mournful; and he seems to have felt deeply the ruin of his own country. And when we wish to reach the hearts of those whose sorrow we desire to alleviate, it is necessary that they understand that we sympathize with them.

For when someone stronger than another seeks to mitigate another’s grief, he will be disregarded if what he presents seems to proceed from unfeeling barbarity. Had Jeremiah, then, spoken as if in contempt, he could hardly have hoped for any fruit from his teaching, for the Jews would have thought him lacking all human feelings.

This, then, is the reason why he bewails, as one of the people, the calamity of the city. He was not, however, insincere in any way in the history he related; but we know that God’s servants, while they speak earnestly, do not forget prudence. For they consider in this regard what is useful, and their doctrine ought to be regulated in such a way as to produce an effect on the hearers.

He then says that the weeping of Jerusalem was continual, for he says first, Weeping she wept, and then, in the night; by which words he means that there was no intermission. For the night is given to us for rest, and God intends some relaxation for people by the alternation of nights and days.

When, therefore, the Prophet says that Jerusalem, weeping, wept in the night, he intimates that her sorrow, as I have stated, was continual. Then he adds, her tears are on her cheeks. Some render it "jaws," but improperly; the word לחי, lachi, indeed means a jaw, but it is to be taken for cheeks, or cheek-bones.

He means, then, that tears were so profuse as to wet the whole face. It is possible in weeping to restrain tears; but when they flow over the whole face and cover the cheeks, it is evidence of great mourning. This, then, is the reason why the Prophet says that tears were on her cheeks, for he wished to show that tears were profusely shed.

He says further, She has no comforter. And this circumstance should be noted, for nothing is more timely in grief than to have friends near us to show us kindness, to share our sorrow, and to offer what comfort can be found. But when no one feels for us in our afflictions, our sorrow is much more increased.

The Prophet then says that there was no one seeking to soothe the griefs of Jerusalem. He adds, of all your friends. Had Jerusalem always been forsaken, she could have borne it better when no comforter was present.

For we see that miserable people are not so soft and tender when very grievous calamities happen to them; they do not look here and there for friends to come to them, and why? Because they have always been disregarded. It is, then, nothing new to them, even in the greatest adversities, to have no one to show them any tokens of kindness.

But when those who have had many friends, and thought that they would always be ready to bring them aid, see themselves forsaken, their sorrow becomes much more grievous. This, then, is what the Prophet means in saying that of many friends there were none to comfort Jerusalem in her miseries.

There is no doubt that he indirectly reproved Jerusalem; and by אהבים, aebim, he understood lovers, as we have seen in other places. For as they thought themselves safe by means of ungodly treaties, the prophets say that they were like harlots who everywhere prostitute themselves, make gain by their lasciviousness, and allure lovers on every side.

The Prophet was, therefore, right to remind the Jews in this place of that wickedness: that they had sought to win the favor of the Egyptians at one time, and the Assyrians at another, like an impudent woman who is not satisfied with her own husband but draws lovers from all quarters.

However this may be, he no doubt understands by friends those who confederated with them. And who were these? They were those with whom the Jews had connected themselves, having disregarded God, for they had been sufficiently warned by the prophets not to form connections with the heathens.

But, at the same time, Jeremiah highlights the atrocity of the situation by saying that none of all her friends was a comforter to Jerusalem, because all her friends had acted perfidiously.