John Calvin Commentary Lamentations 2:5

"The Lord is become as an enemy, he hath swallowed up Israel; He hath swallowed up all her palaces, he hath destroyed his strongholds; And he hath multiplied in the daughter of Judah mourning and lamentation." — Lamentations 2:5 (ASV)

These words might seem superfluous, since the Prophet has often repeated that God had become an enemy to his own people; but we shall later see that, though they were extremely afflicted, they still did not rightly consider from where their calamity arose. As, then, they had become so stupefied by their evils that they did not turn their eyes to God, they were for this reason often urged and stimulated, so that they might at last understand from their evils that God was a judge. Now, as it was difficult to convince them of this truth, the Prophet did not think it enough to touch on it briefly, but found it necessary to dwell on it extensively, so that the people might at last be roused from their insensibility.

He then says that God himself was to them as an enemy, to prevent the Israelites from fixing their eyes on the Chaldeans and thus thinking that they had been the primary instigators of the war. He therefore says that they had undertaken that war through the secret influence of God, and had carried it on successfully, because God endowed them with his own power.

And from this the faithful ought to have concluded that nothing could have been more grievous than to have God as their adversary; for as long as they had allowed themselves to be defended by the hand of God, they were, we know, victorious over all their enemies, so that they could then brave all dangers with impunity.

The Prophet now reminds them that, as they had been successful and prosperous under the defense and protection of God, so now they were miserable for no other reason than that God fought against them. But we ought at the same time to bear in mind the truth, which we have noted, that God is never angry with people without reason; and since he was especially inclined to show favor to his people, we must understand that he would not have been so indignant if necessity had not constrained him.

He has destroyed Israel, he says; he has destroyed all his palaces; and afterwards, he has dissipated or demolished all his fortresses; and finally, he has increased in the daughter of Judah mourning and lamentation; תאניה ואניה tanie veanie, words derived from the same root, but joined together for the sake of amplification, not only in this place, but also in Isaiah 29 and in other places. The meaning is that God had not put an end to his vengeance, because the people had not resolved to put an end to their obstinate wickedness. He afterwards adds—