John Gill Commentary Lamentations 1:20
John Gill Commentary
Lamentations 1:20
John Gill Commentary
Lamentations 1:20
SCRIPTURE
"Behold, O Jehovah; for I am in distress; my heart is troubled; My heart is turned within me; for I have grievously rebelled: Abroad the sword bereaveth, at home there is as death." — Lamentations 1:20 (ASV)
Behold, O Lord, for I [am] in distress Thus she turns from one to another; sometimes she addresses strangers, people that pass by; sometimes she calls to her lovers; and at other times to God, which is best of all, to have pity and compassion on her in her distress; and from whom it may be most expected, who is a God of grace and mercy: my bowels are troubled ; as the sea, agitated by winds, which casts up mire and dirt; or as any waters, moved by anything whatsoever, become thick and muddy; or like wine in fermentation; so the word
abroad the sword bereaveth ; this, and what follows in the next clause, describe the state and condition of the Jews, while the city was besieged; without it, the sword of the Chaldeans bereaved mothers of their children, and children of their parents, and left them desolate: at home [there is] as death ; within the city, and in the houses of it, the famine raged, which was as death, and worse than immediate death; it was a lingering one: or, "in the house [was] certain death" F13 ; for the "caph" here is not a mere note of similitude, but of certainty and reality; to abide at home was sure and certain death, nothing else could be expected. The Targum is
"within the famine kills like the destroying angel that is appointed over death;'' see (Hebrews 2:14) ; and Jarchi interprets it of the fear of demons and noxious spirits, and the angels of death.
FOOTNOTES:
- F12:
"fermentavit, commiscuit, alteravit, turbavique [mentem]", Castel. col. 1294. - F13: (twmk tybb) "in domo mors ipsa", Munster; "plane mors"; Junius & Tremellius.