Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Lamentations 1:9
Her filthiness [is] in her skirts; she remembereth not her last end; therefore she came down wonderfully: she had no comforter. O LORD, behold my affliction: for the enemy hath magnified [himself].
9. is she come down wonderfully ] Cp. Isa 47:1.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Her filthiness is in her skirts – Her personal defilement is no longer concealed beneath the raiment Jer 13:22.
She came down wonderfully – Jerusalem once enthroned as a princess must sit on the ground as a slave.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Lam 1:9
She remembereth not her last end: therefore she came down wonderfully.
The wicked surprised by their own destruction
There are certain great principles in the Divine administration, the operation of which gives a degree of uniformity to the Divine proceedings. For instance, it is the manner of our God to visit with signal destruction those who have proudly set at naught His authority in a course of prosperous wickedness. Such was His treatment of Jerusalem. So it has been with individuals. Nebuchadnezzar, Herod, etc. Destruction came upon them, not only in a terrible form, but at an hour when they did not expect it. The same thing will hold true, in a greater or less degree, of all sinners, as it respects their final doom; while it will be especially true of those who have sinned against great light, and with a high hand. The destruction which will overtake sinners at last will be to them a matter of awful surprise. It will be at once unexpectedly dreadful, and dreadfully unexpected.
I. Gods wrath against the wicked is constantly accumulating. If the first sin you ever committed provoked God, do you think that the second provoked Him less; and that as He saw you become accustomed to sin, He came to think as little of it as yourself, and has not even charged your sin against you? Do you not remember that the Bible speaks of the sinner treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath?
II. The destruction which will come upon sinners will be to them a matter of fearful surprise, inasmuch as in the present life Gods wrath, for the most part, seems to slumber; at least they perceive no direct expression of it. It is true, indeed, that God is giving them warnings enough, both in His Word and providence; and if they did not close their ears against them, they could not fail to be alarmed; and they will never be able, in the day of their calamity, to charge God with having concealed from them their danger. Nevertheless, He treats them here as probationers for eternity; He sets life and death before them, but He does not unsheath His sword, and point it at the sinners heart. He does not find that the elements are armed for his destruction. The thundercloud rises, and rolls, and looks terrific, as if it were borne along by an avenging hand, but the lightning that blazes from it passes him by unhurt. In short, not one of the vials of Gods wrath can be said to be open upon him. There is nothing which he interprets as an indication of anything dreadful in the future. Now, must not all this be a preparation for a fearful surprise at last?
III. Not only have the wicked, during the present life, received no signal expressions of Divine vengeance, but they have been constantly receiving expressions of the Divine goodness; and this is another circumstance which will serve to increase the surprise that will be occasioned by their destruction. What a fearful transition will it be from this world, in which there are so many blessings, to a world in which existence itself becomes a curse! Oh, will not the sinner feel that he has come down wonderfully?
IV. God sometimes not only gives to the wicked a common share of temporal blessings, but distinguishes them by worldly prosperity; hence another reason of the surprise which they will experience at last. Think of the rich, and the great, and the noble of this world, who have been accustomed to receive a homage which has sometimes fallen little short of idolatry, finding themselves in the prison of despair, with no sound but the sound of their own wailing–with no society but the society of the reprobate! Have not these persons come down wonderfully?
V. The destruction which will finally overtake the wicked will be to them a matter of great surprise, inasmuch as they will, in some way or other, have made confident calculation foe escaping it. It will be found, no doubt, that many of them had flattered themselves with the hope that the doctrine of future punishment might turn out to be false; and some will have been left through their own perverseness to believe the lie, that the good and the bad will at last be equally happy. There will be others who will have wrought themselves into a conviction that destruction might be averted by some easier means than those which the Gospel prescribes, and may have chosen to trust to the orthodoxy of their creed, or the kindness of their temper, or the morality of their life. There will be others who will have intended ultimately to escape destruction by becoming true Christians, but who were looking out for some more convenient season. One thing will be certain in respect to all,–they will have intended to come out well at last. Not an individual among all the sufferers in hell but will have expected finally to be saved. Lessons.
1. How blinding is the influence of depravity.
2. It is a most awful calamity to relapse into a habit of carelessness after being awakened.
3. There is no class of men so much to be pitied as those who are perhaps most frequently the objects of envy, and none whose condition is so much to be envied as those whose circumstances are often looked upon as the most undesirable.
4. Who of you will turn a deaf ear to the warning which this subject suggests, to flee from the wrath to come? (W. B. Sprague, D. D.)
Sin unremembered
1. They that be hardened in sin by despising destruction, do grow to forget those things which continual experience and the light of reason daily call to remembrance.
(1) The daily custom of things, without grace to esteem them aright, breedeth contempt of them in our corrupt nature.
(2) Satan blindeth the children of disobedience, lest they should rightly regard good things and profit by them.
2. The forgetfulness of the reward of sin throweth men headlong into iniquity; but the remembrance of it stayeth us from many evils (Amo 6:3; Psa 16:8). (J. Udall.)
Forgetfulness of the end
I. Why is man so forgetful of his end?
(1) Not because he can have any doubt as to the importance of it.
(2) Not because he lacks reminders of the sad event.
(3) Not because he has the slightest hope of avoiding it. Why then?
1. His instinctive repugnance to it.
2. The difficulty of realising it.
3. The commonness of the occurrence of the event.
4. The prevalent expectation of long life.
5. The secular engrossments of life.
6. The systematic efforts to render man oblivious of the subject.
II. Why should man remember his end?
1. That we may duly estimate our sinful condition.
2. To moderate our attachments to this passing life.
3. To stimulate us to a right preparation for the event.
4. To enable us to welcome the event when it comes. (Homilist.)
The end in view should control conduct
If the lazy student would only bring clearly before his mind the examination room, and the unanswerable paper, and the bitter mortification when the pass list comes out and his name is not there, he would not trifle and dawdle and seek all manner of diversions as he does, but he would bind himself to his desk and his task. If the young man that begins to tamper with purity, and in the midst of the temptations of a great city to gratify the lust of the eye and the lust of the flesh, because he is away from the shelter of his fathers house, and the rebuke of his mothers purity, could see, as the older of us have seen, men with their bones full of the iniquity of their youth, or drifted away from their home to die down in the country like a rat in a hole, do you think the temptations of the streets and low places of amusement would not be stripped of their fascination? If the man beginning to drink was to say to himself, What am I to do in the end when the craving becomes physical, and volition is suspended, and anything is sacrificed in order to still the domineering devil within, do you think he would begin? I do not believe that all sin comes from ignorance, but sure I am that if the sinful man saw what the end is, he would, in nine cases out of ten, be held back. What will you do in the end? Use that question, dear friends, as the Ithuriel spear which will touch the squatting tempter at your ear, and there will start up, in its own shape, the fiend. (A. Maclaren.)
O Lord, behold my affliction.–
Refuge in distress
1. The only refuge in distress is to fly to the Lord by faithful and fervent prayer.
(1) He it is that smiteth, and none else can heal.
(2) He hath promised to hear and deliver us, calling upon Him in the day of our troubles (Psa 50:15).
2. This prayer being made by the prophet in the name of the people, teacheth us: it is a great blessing of God to that people that hath a minister who is both able and willing not only to teach them the truth, but also to be their mouth to direct them.
3. God so pitieth His people that the view of their miseries moveth Him to help them, even when all men are against them.
(1) He loveth them with an everlasting love.
(2) He will not suffer them to be trodden down of their enemies for ever. (J. Udall.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 9. She remembereth not her last end] Although evident marks of her pollution appeared about her, and the land was defiled by her sinfulness even to its utmost borders, she had no thought or consideration of what must be the consequence of all this at the last. – Blayney.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
He persisteth in his comparison of the Jewish people, either to a sluttish, nasty woman, or to an impudent woman that is not ashamed to expose her nastiness or wickedness to the view of all.
She remembereth not her last end, therefore she came down wonderfully; that is, the Jews never considered, or would not believe, what those degrees of sin would at last bring them to, and that hath been the cause of that prodigious calamity into which God had brought them.
O Lord, behold my affliction: for the enemy hath magnified himself: the prophet turns himself to God, whom he desires to behold the affliction of this people, that is, with a pitiful, compassionate eye. It is a very usual thing in Holy Scripture to signify the acts. of the heart by the acts of the inward and outward senses, those especially of the memory, eye, and ear, because objects must be first brought in by the senses before they can affect the soul. Hence (the Scripture speaking of God after the manner of men) the servants of God desiring God to have compassion on them, show them favour, &c., desire him to behold and look upon their affliction.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
9. Continuation of the image inLa 1:8. Her ignominy and miserycannot be concealed but are apparent to all, as if a woman weresuffering under such a flow as to reach the end of her skirts.
remembereth not . . . lastend (Deu 32:29; Isa 47:7).She forgot how fatal must be the end of her iniquity. Or, as thewords following imply: She, in despair, cannot lift herself up to layhold of God’s promises as to her “latter end” [CALVIN].
wonderfullyHebrew,“wonders,” that is, with amazing dejection.
O Lord, beholdJudahhere breaks in, speaking for herself.
for the enemy hath magnifiedhimselfWhat might seem ground for despair, the elatedinsulting of the enemy, is rather ground for good hope.
Jod.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Her filthiness [is] in her skirts,…. Her sin is manifest to all, being to be seen in her punishment. The allusion is to a menstruous woman, to whom she is compared, both before and after; whose blood flows down to the skirts of her garments, and there seen; by which it is known that she is in her separation. So the Targum,
“the filthiness of the blood of her separation is in her skirts; she is not cleansed from it, nor does she repent of her sins:”
she remembereth not her last end; she did not consider in the time of her prosperity what her sins would bring her to; what would be the issue of them; nay, though she was warned by the prophet, and was told what things would come to at last, yet she laid it not to heart; nor did she lay it up in her mind, or reflect upon it; but went on in her sinful courses:
therefore she came down wonderfully; or, “with wonders” u; from a very exalted estate to a very low one; from the height of honour and prosperity to the depth of distress and misery; to the astonishment and wonder of all about her, that so flourishing a city and kingdom should be brought to ruin at once, in so strange a manner; see Da 8:24;
she had no comforter; as none to help her against her enemies, La 1:7; and to prevent her ruin; so none to pity her, and have compassion upon her, and speak a comfortable word to her now she was in it:
O Lord, behold my affliction: not with his eye of omniscience only, which he did, and, of which she had no doubt; but with an eye of pity and compassion: thus Zion is at once and suddenly introduced, breaking out in this pathetic manner, being in great affliction and distress, having none else to apply to; and the enemy bearing hard upon her, and behaving in a very insolent and audacious manner, transgressing all bounds of humanity and decency; and therefore hoped the Lord would have compassion on her, though she had sinned against him:
for the enemy hath magnified [himself]; behaved haughtily both against God and his people; attributing great things to himself; magnifying his own power and wisdom.
u “mirabiliter”, Montanus, Vatablus.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
In Lam 1:9 the figure if uncleanness is further developed. Her uncleanness sticks to the hems or skirts of her garment. is the defilement caused by touching a person or thing Levitically unclean, Lev 5:3; Lev 7:21; here, therefore, it means defilement by sins and crimes. This has now been revealed by the judgment, because she did not think of her end. These words point to the warning given in the song of Moses, Deu 32:29: “If they were wise, they would understand this (that apostasy from the Lord brings heavy punishment after it), they would think of their end,” i.e., the evil issue of continued resistance to God’s commands. But the words are especially a quotation from Isa 47:7, where they are used of Babylon, that thought she would always remain mistress, and did not think of the end of her pride; therefore on her also came the sentence, “Come down from thy glory, sit in the dust,” Isa 47:1, cf. Jer 48:18.
Jerusalem has now experienced this also; she has come down wonderfully, or fallen from the height of her glory into the depths of misery and disgrace, where she has none to comfort her, and is constrained to sigh, “O Lord, behold my misery!” These words are to be taken as a sign from the daughter of Zion, deeply humbled through shame and repentance for her sins. This is required by the whole tenor of the words, and confirmed by a comparison with Lam 1:11 and Lam 1:20. is used adverbially; cf. Ewald, 204, b [Gesenius, 100, 2, b.] There is no need for supplying anything after , cf. Jer 48:26, Jer 48:42; Dan 8:4, Dan 8:8, Dan 8:11, Dan 8:25, although originally stood with it, e.g., Joe 2:20; cf. Ewald, 122, c [and Gesenius’ Lexicon, s.v. ]. The clause , which assigns the reason, refers not merely to the sighing of Jerusalem, but also to the words, “and she came down wonderfully.” The boasting of the enemy shows itself in the regardless, arrogant treatment not merely of the people and their property, but also of their holy things.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
He continues here, as I think, the same subject; he had said at the end of the last verse that turpitude or baseness had been seen at Jerusalem; and now he says that it was on the very fringes or skirts. The Prophet seems to allude to menstruous women who hide their uncleanness as much as they can; but. such a thing is of no avail, as nature must have its course. In short, the Prophet intimates that the Jews had become filthy in no common degree, being so afflicted that their uncleanness appeared on their skirts. This seems to be the Prophet’s meaning. Interpreters think that Jeremiah speaks of the sins of the people, but they are mistaken; for I doubt not but that the reference is to their punishment. They say that filthiness was on the skirts, because the people had shamelessly prostituted themselves to all kinds of wickedness, and that they remembered not their end, because they had become altogether foolish, according to what is said in the song of Moses,
“
O that they were wise, and would foresee their end? (Deu 32:29.)
But let any one duly consider the design of the Prophet, and he will readily agree with me that he speaks not of guilt, but on the contrary of punishment. (135)
The Prophet then says that the reproach of the Jews was on their skirts, because they could not hide their disgrace, For shame often makes men to hide their evils and silently to bear them, because they are unwilling to expose themselves to the mockery of their enemies. But the Prophet says that the miseries of the people could not be kept hidden, but that they appeared to all, as the case is with women subject to an overflow — it issues forth to the extremities of their garments.
And when he says that she remembered not her end, I understand this to mean, that the Jews were so overwhelmed with despair, that they did not raise up their thoughts to God’s promises; for it is no ordinary source of comfort, and what even common sense dictates to us, to take breath in extreme evils, and to extend our thoughts farther, for misery will not always oppress us — some change for the better will happen. As then men are wont thus to sustain themselves in adversities, he says that the Jews remembered not their end; that is, they were so demented by their sorrow, that they became stupified, and entertained no hope as to the future. In short, by these words, he denotes extreme despair; for the Jews were so stupified that they could not raise up their minds to any hope.
And the reason is expressed, because they had come down wonderfully, that is, because they had been cast down in an extraordinary manner. A noun is here put instead of an adverb, and in the masculine gender, צפלאים pelaim; sometimes we have פלאות, p elaut, but in the same sense. He then says that the Jews had sunk as it were miraculously; but by a miracle he means a prodigy, the word being taken in a bad sense; then miraculously has Jerusalem come down. It hence followed that it succumbed under its miseries, so that it could not turn its thoughts to any hope, nor think of another end; but. became stupid in its miseries, as men usually become desperate, when they think that there is no deliverance for them. He repeats what he had said before, that there was no comforter
These things ought to be carefully observed, for Satan at this day uses various means to lead us to despair. In order to avert us from all confidence in the grace of God, he sets before us extreme calamities. And when sorrow lays such hold on our minds, that the hope of grace does not shine forth, from that immoderate sorrow arises impatience, which may drive us to madness. Hence it comes that we murmur, and then clamor against God. As, then, at this day Satan supplies materials to harass our minds, that we may succumb under our griefs, let us bear in mind what the Prophet says, that Jerusalem, which was then the only true Church of God in the world, was overwhelmed with so many and so great evils, that she remembered not her end. This, indeed, ought to be understood of external circumstances, for God no doubt sustained the minds of the godly, and always so mitigated their grief that they had regard to their end. But the reference is to the people in general, and also to the outward appearance of things, when the Prophet says that the Jews remembered not their end.
He now encourages them to pray, and suggests words to them, for he speaks as in the person of all : See, Jehovah, my affliction, for the enemy hath highly exalted himself. Though the Prophet here represents the Church, yet he exhorts them no doubt, according to the obligations of his office, to entertain good hope, and encourages them to pray, for true and earnest prayer cannot be offered without faith; for when the taste of God’s grace is lost, it cannot be that we can pray from the heart; and through the promises alone it is that we can have a taste of God’s paternal goodness. There is, then, no doubt but that the Prophet here promises a sure deliverance to the Jews, provided they turned to God, and believed and were fully persuaded that he would be their deliverer.
We now, then, see what is the right way of teaching, even that men are to be humbled, and that their just condemnation is to be set before them, and that they are also to be encouraged to entertain hope, and a hand is to be stretched out to them, that they may pray to God, and not hesitate in extreme evils not only to hope for but even to request aid from him. This is the order observed by the Prophet; we must learn in adversities ever to come down to ourselves, and to acknowledge our guilt; and then when we are sunk deep, we must learn to elevate our minds by faith that thence prayer may arise by which our salvation is to be attained.
One thing has escaped me; the Prophet, in order to obtain favor, says, that enemies had greatly exalted themselves. And this deserves a special notice; for what seems to occasion despair to us, ought, on the contrary, to encourage us to entertain good hope, that is, when enemies are insolent and carry themselves with great arrogance and insult us. The greater, then, is their pride and the less tolerable, with more confidence may we call on God, for the Holy Spirit has not in vain taught us this truth, that God will be propitious to us when enemies thus greatly exalt themselves, that is, when they become beyond measure proud, and immoderately indulge themselves in every kind of contempt. It follows —
(135) “She carries the marks of her sins in the greatness of her punishment,” is Lowth’s remark, which seems to favor this view. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(9) Her filthiness.The picture of pollution is pushed to its most loathsome extreme. The very skirts of the garment are defiled.
She remembereth not . . .Better, she remembered not. It was her recklessness as to the future (comp. Deu. 32:29, for the phrase) which brought her down to this wonderful and extreme prostration.
O Lord, behold my affliction.The words are not those of the prophet, but of Zion, anticipating the dramatic personation which begins systematically at Lam. 1:12.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
9. Skirts More exactly, the train of the long flowing robe. And so the meaning is, that the personal defilement is no longer concealed, but revoltingly conspicuous.
Came down wonderfully Sometimes the sad contrasts of human life are so startling that we instinctively accept them as judgments from God.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Lam 1:9. She remembereth not her last end She hath not remembered her latter end. Houbigant. The apostrophe at the close of the verse, wherein the city is represented as addressing herself to God, is very nervous and animated.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
DISCOURSE: 1090
THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT REMEMBERING OUR LATTER END
Lam 1:9. She remembereth [Note: It should rather be, remembered.] not her lost end; therefore she came down wonderfully.
TO men in general nothing appears sinful but that which violates in the grossest manner some positive command, and interrupts in a very high degree the welfare of society. But God considers an unprofitable servant as meriting the same doom as the dishonest; and informs us, that an unmindfulness of our latter end will bring his judgments upon us, no less than a determined commission of every thing that is evil.
The Prophet Jeremiah is lamenting the sore bondage under which his country groaned in Babylon, and is assigning the reasons for which God had thus rejected her. But in doing this, he does not fix on any one particular sin, however great; but on that which had pervaded all ranks of people, their unmindfulness of their latter end.
In his words we read,
I.
Their sin
This is the common sin of all mankind
[Moses had forewarned the Jews of the things that should come upon them in the latter days: but they had never duly considered his predictions, nor laboured to avert the threatened calamities. Thus has God warned us also of the miseries which the wicked shall endure in another world: but we will not regard his admonitions. The gay, the worldly, the ambitious, are intent on their several pursuits; but none says Where is God my Maker [Note: Job 35:10. Psa 14:2-3.]? Even those who profess some regard for religion, are yet, for the most part, very little engaged in a preparation for eternity: their zeal, in the pursuit of heavenly things, bears no proportion to the importance of their object, or even to the labours which others use for the attainment of worldly vanities.]
Nor let this be thought a venial matter
[This it was, which brought down Jerusalem: and it will involve us also in the heaviest calamities. And well it may: for it is a contempt of God our Maker. In this view he himself complains of it [Note: Psa 10:4-6; Psa 10:11; Psa 10:13.]; and he represents all his attributes and perfections as dishonoured by it [Note: His majesty, Psa 12:4; his omniscience, Job 22:13-14; his justice, Psa 94:7; his goodness and forbearance, Rom 2:4.]. It is also a contempt of Christ our Saviour. He had even died, to purify us unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works: but, by our indifference, we make light of his mercies [Note: Luk 10:16.], and trample on his blood [Note: Act 13:38-41. Heb 10:28-29.]. Finally, it is a contempt of our own souls. The most avowed enemies of God and his Christ profess to have some regard for their immortal souls: but God, who will not put a wrong construction upon our actions, tells us, that he who refuseth instruction, despiseth his own soul [Note: Pro 15:32.]. Indeed this is but too manifest; since the man who remembers not his latter end, practically says, Give me the things which my body most affects; and, as for my soul, I care not for it: if my soul can be saved, notwithstanding my indulgence of the body, it is well: but if their interests clash, I will gratify my body, though at the peril, yea, to the certain destruction, of my soul.
Can that then be light and venial, which involves in it such awful consequences? Surely, though no flagrant crime were ever committed, this alone would be sufficient to bring upon us Gods eternal wrath and indignation.]
The evil of such conduct will abundantly appear, if we notice,
II.
Their punishment
The downfall of Jerusalem was a fit emblem of that which awaits impenitent transgressors
[Let us only compare the departure of Israel out of Egypt, guided, protected, and supported by God himself, and their establishment and increase in the land of Canaan, with, their miserable condition when they were carried captive to Babylon: How was the gold become dim, and the most fine gold changed! Thus wonderful will be our destruction also, if we continue to forget our latter end.]
God himself warns us that our destruction will be great if we neglect our souls
[It will be sudden [Note: Psa 73:17-20. 1Th 5:3.] tremendous [Note: Jer 23:17-20.] irremediable [Note: Pro 29:1.] and eternal [Note: 2Th 1:7-9.]
Let us reflect on the change experienced by the Rich Man in the parable [Note: Luk 16:19; Luk 16:23.]; and we may conceive a little of that surprise and horror that will seize on us in the instant of our departure from the body.
Let us also, if we would escape this doom, regard the solemn warning, and the compassionate advice, which God himself has recorded for our instruction [Note: Deu 32:18; Deu 32:20; Deu 32:29.].]
We may improve this subject yet further,
1.
For the warning even of real Christians
[We will suppose that your concern for your souls is such as to secure eternal happiness: yet a declension in holy zeal will produce a proportionable declension both in your graces and your comforts [Note: Psa 30:7. Son 5:2-6.]. Let those who have ever experienced the blessedness of living nigh to God, and of being on the wing for heaven, compare it with the darkness and misery of a drooping and deserted state; and they will see enough to make them watchful against spiritual decays, and increasingly mindful of their eternal interests.]
2.
For their comfort and encouragement
[There is a truth, not expressed indeed, but evidently implied in the text, namely, That all who remember their latter end, shall be wonderfully exalted. And what an encouraging truth is this. Let any one view Lazarus at the Rich Mans gate, and in Abrahams bosom [Note: Luk 16:20-22.], and he will see what a wonderful exaltation awaits the righteous at their departure hence. Even here the children of the devil, as soon as ever they believe in Christ, become sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty [Note: 2Co 6:18.]: but hereafter they shall reign with him as partners of his glory [Note: Rom 8:17.]. Let this hope then animate the Christian in his difficulties, and stimulate us all to more abundant diligence in our heavenly calling [Note: 1Jn 3:3.].]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Lam 1:9 Her filthiness [is] in her skirts; she remembereth not her last end; therefore she came down wonderfully: she had no comforter. O LORD, behold my affliction: for the enemy hath magnified [himself].
Ver. 9. Her filthiness is in her skirts. ] Taxat impudentiam insignem. a She rather glorieth in her wickedness, than is any whit abashed of it – a metaphor from a menstruous woman that is immodest. Oh quam Vulgatee hoc hodie malum. Oh how comon this present time of evil. See Isa 3:9 . But whence this gracelessness
She remembereth not her last end,
Therefore she came down wonderfully.
O Lord, behold mine affliction.
a Paschasius.
b Plura de extremis loqui pars ignaviae est. – Tacit., lib. ii, Hist.
remernbereth = remembered.
last end = hereafter.
wonderfully. Hebrew, plural “wonders” = a great wonder.
behold = see, behold. Same word as in verses: Lam 1:18, Lam 1:20. Not the same word as in Lam 1:12.
filthiness: Lam 1:17, Jer 2:34, Jer 13:27, Eze 24:12, Eze 24:13
she remembereth: Deu 32:29, Isa 47:7, Jer 5:31, 1Pe 4:17
came: Lam 1:1, Lam 4:1, Isa 3:8, Jer 13:17, Jer 13:18
she had: Lam 1:2, Lam 1:17, Lam 1:21, Lam 2:13, Ecc 4:1, Isa 40:2, Isa 54:11, Hos 2:14, Joh 11:19
behold: Exo 3:7, Exo 3:17, Exo 4:31, Deu 26:7, 1Sa 1:11, 2Sa 16:12, 2Ki 14:26, Neh 9:32, Psa 25:18, Psa 119:153, Dan 9:17-19
for: Deu 32:27, Psa 74:8, Psa 74:9, Psa 74:22, Psa 74:23, Psa 140:8, Isa 37:4, Isa 37:17, Isa 37:23, Isa 37:29, Jer 48:26, Jer 50:29, Zep 2:10, 2Th 2:4-8
Reciprocal: Lev 15:19 – and her issue Deu 28:59 – General Psa 9:13 – consider Psa 13:2 – enemy Isa 1:21 – become Isa 4:4 – washed away Isa 29:4 – thou shalt Isa 51:19 – who shall Lam 1:11 – see Lam 1:16 – I weep Lam 1:20 – Behold Eze 7:2 – An end Eze 16:36 – Because Dan 9:16 – Jerusalem Rev 17:4 – filthiness
Lam 1:9. Filthiness is in her skirts is a figurative way of saying the guilt of Jerusalem is evident, referring to the religious corruptions of the nation as well as the personal iniquity of the leaders. Remembereth not her last end means that Jerusalem waa unthoughtful as to the outcome of her course. Came down wonderfully refers to the completeness of the fall of the City. The prophet then expresses his per;-
aonal sense of affliction at the downfall of his countrymen.
1:9 {l} Her filthiness [is] in her skirts; she remembereth not her latter end; therefore she hath been wonderfully abased: she had no comforter. O LORD, behold my affliction: for the enemy hath magnified [himself].
(l) She is not ashamed of her sin, although it is revealed.
The city had fallen because it had not considered the consequences of its apostasy (cf. Deu 32:29; Isa 47:7). Sin had stuck to her like dirt to the hem of a garment (cf. Lev 5:3; Lev 7:21). Now the enemy had gained the upper hand and there was no one to comfort her.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)