John Calvin Commentary Lamentations 3:51

"Mine eye affecteth my soul, because of all the daughters of my city." — Lamentations 3:51 (ASV)

He had said that his eye flowed down, and then that it was like a fountain from which many streams or rivers flowed. He now adopts another way of speaking: that his eyes grieved his soul; and this is a sign of the greatest sorrow when the one who weeps seeks some relief and is, at the same time, overpowered by that external feeling.

For many indulge in grief and inflame themselves; then the soul of man is like a fan to rouse the burning. But when we weep, our eyes shed tears, and the mind in a way exhausts itself, this is a proof of the greatest grief. And this great grief Jeremiah wished to express by saying that his eye troubled or grieved his soul.

The latter part is explained in two ways: some render it thus, “Because of all the daughters of my city.” But though this meaning is generally accepted, I still prefer the opinion of those who render the words this way: “More than all the daughters of my city,” because מן, men, denotes a comparison, as it is also a causative.

He says, then, that he was given to grief more than all the young women. Since the female sex, as is well known, is more tender and softer than men, the Prophet amplifies his lamentation by this comparison: that in weeping he exceeded all the young women of the city, so that he had almost forgotten his manhood.

If he had said, “the daughters of the people,” it might be explained as before, referring either to the cities or to the whole people—that is, the whole community. But when he mentions all the daughters of his city, I cannot interpret the passage otherwise than as setting forth a comparison; that is, that he could not moderate his grief but was so seized with it as women are, and also young girls, whose hearts, as has already been said, are still more tender.

The rest tomorrow.

Prayer:

Grant, Almighty God, that as you have until now spared us, we may not grow numb in our vices; and that since you have already begun to deal more severely with your Church, we may be awakened by your chastisements, and so humble ourselves under your mighty hand, as not yet to doubt that you will be favorable to us; and that we may so loathe ourselves on account of our sins, as still to be fully persuaded that, provided we wait for you, you will at last be merciful to us, so as to give us new reasons for joy and gratitude, through Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.