John Calvin Commentary Lamentations 3:48

"Mine eye runneth down with streams of water, for the destruction of the daughter of my people." — Lamentations 3:48 (ASV)

Interpreters give different explanations of the beginning of this verse. Some render it this way: “My eye comes down to rivers of waters”; others, “My eye flows down to rivers of waters,” or, “rivers of waters flow down.”

But as I have explained elsewhere, the Prophet rather means that his eye came down like rivers. To come down, or to descend, is a metaphor for flowing down, for water, as is well known, descends when it flows.

There is also a change of number when he says, “My eye descends.” The particle of comparison, כ, caph, is also understood. The meaning is that his eyes descended or flowed down as rivers. The last word properly signifies divisions, but he means that many streams flowed down, as though they were so many rivers.

For the bruising, or the breach, of my people: The Prophet speaks here in his own person, though there is no doubt that he exhorts all others to join him in his sorrow. For the faithful would not have prayed to God with sufficient ardor, had they not been dreadfully broken and confounded; had the calamity not deeply affected them, as it ought to have done, there would have been no serious attention to prayer. This is the reason why the Prophet here mentions his own weepings, groanings, and tears—so that he might rouse himself to prayer and also lead others.