John Calvin Commentary Lamentations 5:3

"We are orphans and fatherless; Our mothers are as widows." — Lamentations 5:3 (ASV)

Here the Prophet not only speaks for the whole people, but also utters the groans and complaints of each one; for this could not have been suitable for the whole Church, as he speaks of fathers and mothers. We therefore see that this verse does not apply to the whole body, but to individual members, even though everyone might have said that widows and orphans were seen everywhere.

Now, this usually happens when a nation is consumed either by pestilence or by war; for in one battle, not all fall in such a manner that a whole country becomes full of orphans. But the Prophet sets forth here the orphanage and widowhood caused by the continued vengeance of God, for he had not ceased to afflict the people until they were gradually exhausted. It was, indeed, a sad spectacle to see among the chosen people so many widows, and also so many children deprived of their fathers.