Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Lamentations 2:11
Mine eyes do fail with tears, my bowels are troubled, my liver is poured upon the earth, for the destruction of the daughter of my people; because the children and the sucklings swoon in the streets of the city.
11. my bowels are troubled ] See on ch. Lam 1:20.
My liver is poured upon the earth ] The liver seems to have been looked upon, as were the rest of the vitals, as the seat of the emotions, and hence the expression in the text merely denotes strong and painful excitement. Cp. pouring out the heart, Lam 2:19, Psa 62:8; cp. Job 16:13.
destruction ] mg. breach. See on Jer 4:20; Jer 17:18.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
11 17. Lament over Zion’s exposure to the mockery of her enemies.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Troubled – See the margin reference note.
Liver – As the heart was regarded by the Jews as the seat of the intellect, so the liver (or bowels) was supposed to be the seat of the emotions. The pouring out of the liver upon the ground meant that feelings had entirely given way under the acuteness of sorrow, and he could no longer restrain them.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Lam 2:11-13
Mine eyes do fail with tears.
The miseries of the Church taken to heart
1. The true ministers of God do take the miseries of the Church to heart in the greatest measure.
2. Our sorrow, humiliation, earnest prayer, and all other means of extraordinary calling upon God, must increase in us, so long as Gods heavy hand is upon us.
3. Hearty sorrow for spiritual miseries distempereth the whole body.
4. The sorrows of the soul will easily consume the body.
5. A lively member is grieved with the hurt of the body, or any member thereof.
6. The ministers of Christ should have a tender affection to the members of the Church, as a man hath to his daughter.
7. There is no outward thing so much cause of sorrow, as the miseries laid upon our children in our sight. (J. Udall.)
Compassion for sinners
It is the missionary with the fountain of pity that reaches the deepest place in the natives heart. When Livingstone was found dead on his knees in the heart of Africa, his head was resting over his open Bible, and his finger was pointing to the last words he ever penned in his diary: Oh, God, when will the open sore of the world be healed? That was the profound pity which commenced the redemptive work in Africa, and which lives in emancipating influence today. (Hartley Aspen.)
They say to their mothers, Where is corn and wine?–
Great grief
1. It is the greatest grief that can be, to have them whom we would gladly pleasure, seek that at our hands which we cannot help them unto.
2. When God would have us profit by any work of His, He will let us see the true cause of it.
3. The grief that is seen with the eye is the heaviest unto us of all other things that fall upon our friends.
4. When God meaneth to humble us, He will use most effectual means to bring it to pass. (J. Udall.)
What thing shall I take to witness for thee?–
Plain ministries
Ministers must be studious in the Word, to find out everything that may fit the Churchs present condition (Isa 50:4; Mat 13:52).
2. It is the greatest grief that can be, to fall into a trouble that hath not been laid upon others before.
3. That minister loveth us best, that dealeth most plainly with us.
4. The visible state of the Church of God may come to be of a desperate condition, every way vexed more and more. (J. Udall.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 11. Swoon in the streets of the city.] Through the excess of the famine.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
This whole verse is but expressive of the prophets great affliction for the miseries come upon the Jews: he wept himself almost blind, his passion had disturbed his bodily humours, that his bowels were troubled; his gall lying under his liver, upon this disturbance was vomited up: they are all no more than expressions of very great affliction and sorrow.
For the destination of the daughter of my people; for the miseries befallen the Jews: he had mourned for their sins before, and for their plagues too which he had in prospect, Jer 9:1; he now mourns for them as being come upon them: which mourning considered only as for their miseries, spake no more than the prophets good nature and love to his country; but considered as the indication of Gods wrath and displeasure, was also a godly sorrow.
Because the children and the sucklings swoon in the streets of the city; the children and sucklings fainted and swooned, either for want of water, or bread, or milk in their mothers or nurses breasts during the famine, occasioned by the long siege of the city. This appears in the next verse.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
11. liver is poured, c.thatis, as the liver was thought to be the seat of the passions, “allmy feelings are poured out and prostrated for,” &c. The”liver,” is here put for the bile (“gall,” Job16:13 “bowels,” Ps22:14) in a bladder on the surface of the liver, copiouslydischarged when the passions are agitated.
swoonthrough faintnessfrom the effects of hunger.
Lamed.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Mine eyes do fail with tears,…. According to Aben Ezra, everyone of the elders before mentioned said this; but rather they are the words of the Prophet Jeremiah, who had wept his eyes dry, or rather blind, on account of the calamities of his people; though he himself obtained liberty and enlargement by means thereof:
my bowels are troubled; all his inward parts were distressed:
my liver is poured upon the earth; his gall bladder, which lay at the bottom of his liver, broke, and he cast it up, and poured it on the earth; see Job 16:13; and all this was
for the destruction of the daughter of my people; or, the “breach” of them t; their civil and church state being destroyed and broke to shivers; and for the ruin of the several families of them: particularly
because the children and sucklings swoon in the streets of the city; through famine, for want of bread, with those that could eat it; and for want of the milk of their mothers and nurses, who being starved themselves could not give it; and hence the poor infants fainted and swooned away; which was a dismal sight, and heart melting to the prophet.
t “propter contritionem”, Pagninus, Montanus, Junius Tremellius “propter confractionem”, Piscator; “propter fractionem”, Cocceius.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The impotence of human comfort, and the mockery of enemies. Lam 2:11. The misery that has befallen the people is so fearful, that sorrow over it wears out one’s life. “Mine eyes pine away because of tears,” is the complaint of the prophet, not merely for himself personally, but in the name of all the godly ones. “Mine eyes pine” is the expression used in Psa 69:4. On , cf. Lam 1:20. The expression, “my liver is poured out on the earth,” occurs nowhere else, and is variously explained. That the liver is fons sanguinis , and thus the seat of the animal life (Rosenmller, Thenius), cannot be made out from Pro 7:23. This passage rather forms a proof that among the Hebrews, according to a view widely prevalent in ancient times, the liver was considered the seat of sensual desire and lust (cf. Delitzsch’s Bib. Psychology, Clark’s translation, p. 316). But this view is insufficient as an explanation of the passage now before us. Besides, there are no proofs to show that “liver” is used for “heart,” or even for “gall,” although Job 16:13 is unwarrantably adduced in support of this position. A closely related expression, certainly, is found in Job 30:16; Psa 42:5, where the soul is said to be poured out; but the liver is different from , the principle of the corporeal life. If the liver was called because, according to Galen, de usu partium , vi. 17 (in Gesen. Thes. p. 655), omnium viscerum et densissimum et gravissimum est , then it may be regarded, instead of , as the chief bodily organ through which not merely lust, but also pain, is felt; and the pouring out of the liver on the earth may thus mean that the inner man is dissolved in pain and sorrow, – perishes, as it were, through pain. For it is evident from the context, and universally admitted, that it is the effect of pain in consuming the bodily organs that is here meant to be expressed. is a genuine Jeremianic expression (cf. Jer 6:14; Jer 8:11, Jer 8:21, etc.), which again occurs in Lam 2:13, Lam 3:47-48, and Lam 4:10. In what follows, some harrowing details are given regarding the destruction of the daughter of Zion. for , while (or because) children and sucklings were pining away on the streets of the city. This figure of heartrending misery is further carried out in Lam 2:12, for the purpose of vividly setting forth the terrible distress. Gerlach is wrong in thinking that the writer brings forward such sad scenes as would be likely to present themselves in the period immediately after the destruction of the city. For, the fact that, in Lam 2:10, the eye of the mourner is directed to the present, is far from being a proof that Lam 2:11 and Lam 2:12 also treat of the present; and the imperfect , Lam 2:12, is not parallel in time with , Lam 2:12, but designates the repetition of the action in past time. “The children say to their mothers, Where is corn and wine?” i.e., Give us bread and wine, or, Where can we eat and drink? Corn and must (as in Jer 31:12, etc.) are mentioned as the usual means of nourishment of the Israelites. , “corn,” is used poetically for bread (cf. Psa 78:24), – not pounded or roasted grain, which was used without further preparation (Thenius), and which is called , Lev 23:14; 1Sa 17:17; 2Sa 17:28. The sucklings poured out their soul, i.e., breathed out their life, into the bosom of their mothers, i.e., hugging their mothers, although these could not give them nourishment; cf. Lam 4:4.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
The Prophet himself now speaks, and says that his eyes were consumed with tears, while weeping on account of the calamities of the people: even in the deepest grief tears at length dry up; but when there is no end of weeping, the sorrow, which as it were never ripens, must necessarily be very bitter. Jeremiah then expresses now the vehemence of his grief when he says that his eyes failed through shedding tears. He said in Jer 9:0, “Who will give me eyes for fountains?” that is, who will make my eyes to turn into fountains, that they may continually flow? and this he said, because he saw how dreadful a vengeance of God impended over the obstinate. But now, when he sees accomplished what he had dreaded, he says, that his eyes were consumed with weeping.
To the same purpose is what he adds, that his bowels were disturbed. It is the same verb as we have seen before, חמרמרו, chemermeru; which some render “bound,” as we also said then. I know not why one expositor has changed what he had elsewhere said rightly; he puts here, “swollen have my bowels.” But I see no reason why the verb should be taken here in a different sense, for it immediately follows, my liver is poured forth on the ground. He may, indeed, have included other parts of the intestines by stating a part for the whole. The word here properly means the liver, as when Solomon says,
“
He hath pierced my liver.” (Pro 7:23.)
But Jeremiah, in short, shews that all his faculties were so seized with grief, that no part was exempt. He then says that his liver was poured forth, but in the same sense in which he said that his bowels were disturbed. They are indeed hyperbolical expressions; but as to the meaning, Jeremiah simply expresses his feelings; for there is no doubt but that he was incredibly anxious and sorrowful on account of so great a calamity; for he not only lamented the adversity in no ordinary way, but he also considered how wicked was that obstinacy in which the people had hardened themselves for almost fifty years; for he had spent himself in vain, not for a short time, but for nearly fifty years he never ceased to speak to them. He then, no doubt, thought within himself what the people had deserved, so that he had no common dread of God’s vengeance. This, then, was the reason why he said that his bowels were disturbed and his liver poured forth. (158) He, however, mentions the cause of his sorrow, even the breach or destruction of the daughter of his people; and he mentions one thing in particular, because the little one and he who sucked the breasts vanished away in the streets of the city; for so I render the verb עתף, otheph, which properly means to cover; but its secondary meaning is to vanish away, as we shall again presently see. It was, indeed, a miserable sight, when not only men and women were everywhere slain, but when, through famine, little children also fainted. We, indeed, know that infants move our pity, for the tears of a child in hunger penetrate into our inmost souls. When, therefore, little children and those who hung on their mothers’ breasts, cried through the streets of the city, it must have touched the most iron hearts. It was then not without reason that Jeremiah referred to this in particular, that little children and sucklings vanished away, not in a deserted and barren land, but in the very streets of the city. It follows, —
(158) The verbs here are all in the past tense, and the versions so render them. Our version is wrong, as well as that of Blayney and Henderson, in rendering them in the present tense; for the Prophet is describing how he felt when he witnessed the destruction of Jerusalem, —
11. Consume with tears did my eyes, agitated were my bowels, Poured out on the ground was my liver, for the breach of the daughter of my people, When faint did the child and the suckling in the streets of the city.
—
Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
EXEGETICAL NOTES.
() Lam. 2:11. So exasperating is his misery that he feels as if organic parts of his body were dismembered. My eyes fail with tears, my bowels are troubled, my liver is poured upon the groundan effect of terrible grief, showing how body and soul are sympathetic with each other over the breach of the daughter of my people. This shattered condition was replete with the harrowing details of suffering, as when the young children and the sucklings faint in the streets of the city.
() Lam. 2:12. His ears heard their piteous cravings, while to their mothers they are saying, Where is corn and wine, solid and liquid nourishment. Even when listening, his eyes saw the older children faint as the wounded in the streets of the city, and infants in arms poured their souls into their mothers bosom, which could supply no aliment.
HOMILETICS
THE UTTER EXHAUSTION OF GRIEF
(Lam. 2:11-12)
I. Because of the hopelessness of the desolation endured. For the destruction of the daughter of my people (Lam. 2:11). The desolation is complete. Everything is destroyedTemple, home, army, nation, wealth, food, and the very capacity to rouse themselves from the torpor of despair. When the light of hope is quenched it is impossible to put forth effort. Paralysis is destruction.
II. Because of the heart-rending spectacle of little children fainting in the streets and dying in their mothers arms, while they vainly moan for food. Because the children and the sucklings swoon in the streets. They say to their mothers, Where is corn and wine? when their soul was poured out into their mothers bosom (Lam. 2:11-12). The harrowing details here given are the most affecting that have yet been depicted by the graphic and versatile pen of the prophet. The cryan oft-repeated cry, as the tense meansof the children for food, which the mothers were powerless to supply, only added to the tortures they already suffered. So completely prostrate were they with their misery, that they saw their children die with indifference, and could not conceal an unnatural relief when they heard their last sob. Excessive grief blunts the edge of the finest natural instincts.
III. Because all the powers for expressing emotion are completely spent. Mine eyes do fail with tears, my bowels are troubled, my liver is poured upon the earth (Lam. 2:11). Jeremiah employs the terms in ordinary use, and as they were popularly understood. As the heart was regarded by the Jews as the seat of the intellect, so the liver, as the chief of the large viscera classed together under the name of bowels, was supposed to be the seat of the emotions. By the pouring out, therefore, of the liver upon the ground was meant that his feelings had entirely given way under the acuteness of his sorrow, and he could no longer restrain them.Speakers Comm. The agony of grief was passed. It was quelled by sheer exhaustion. He wept till he could weep no more. He grieved till he was incapable of feeling his grief. A tearless sorrow is the most dangerous, and the most difficult to cure.
LESSONS.
1. There is a limit to the greatest human sorrow.
2. There is a moment in the experience of the sufferer when death itself is welcome.
3. The greatest sorrow is a painful testimony to the desolating power of sin.
ILLUSTRATIONS.Grief prostrating. Late in the afternoon of a summer day I entered a quiet graveyard where slept one of my dearest friends. It occupied the brow of a hill, which, with many a knoll and graceful undulation, sloped to the green meadow, watered by a winding stream, now catching, at its repeated curves, the rays of the setting sun. On the left was a pleasant wood, where the sturdy pine and fruit-bearing beech concealed narrow paths to cool caves and mossy banks. White birches and the trembling aspen, with the sweet-scented willow, grew upon the right, and from beyond rose the curling smoke from the cottage-houses. A robin sang its song of love and praise, a sparrow passed me bearing food to its little progeny, and the chirp of the merry grasshopper mingled with the hum of hundreds of flitting insects. But for this peace-breathing scene I had no greeting. The wild storm, thunder, rain, and darkness had been more welcome. Yielding utterly to my grief, I threw myself upon the sod, and took no heed of time. There came over me a sense of utter and hopeless desolation; an agony like that of death turned to bitterness the blessings of my lot.
Grief is a flower as delicate and prompt to fade as happiness. Still it does not wholly die. Like the magic rose, dried and unrecognisable, a warm air breathed on it will suffice to renew its bloom.De Gasparin.
Misery makes indelible impressions. The rapidity with which ideas grow old in our memories is in a direct ratio to the squares of their importance. Their apparent age runs up miraculously, like the value of diamonds, as they increase in magnitude. A great calamity, for instance, is as old as the trilobites an hour after it has happened. It stains backward through all the leaves we have turned over in the book of life before its blot of tears or of blood is dry on the page we are turning. Did you ever happen to see that most soft-spoken and velvet-handed steam-engine at the Mint? The smooth piston slides backwards and forwards as a lady might slip her delicate finger in and out of a ring. The engine lays one of its fingers calmly but firmly upon a bit of metal; it is a coin now, and will remember that touch, and tell a new race about it, when the date upon it is crusted over with twenty centuries. So it is that a great silent-movingsilent-moving an hour or a momentas sharp an impression as if it had taken half a lifetime to engrave it.Holmes.
Distress exhausting. Distress is trouble of a mental kind, tending to despair. Tribulation may be described as the fighting without, whilst distress may be described as the fears within. That kind of trouble is indicated which comes upon a wrestler when his antagonist has succeeded in throwing him after a long struggle, has got his foot on him, is holding him down, and all seems to be up with him. Before, when wrestling, he was troubled, now he is distressed. Thus we see that the afflictions contemplated by the terms tribulation and distress are no light ones; and it is little wonder that, under the strain of such untoward circumstances of outward and inward trouble, the Christian should lose heart and fear the worst.
Grief excessively indulged. Ebenezer Adams, an eminent member of the Society of Friends, on visiting a lady of rank, whom he found, six months after the death of her husband, seated on a sofa covered with black cloth and in all the dignity of woe, approached her with great solemnity, and gently taking her by the hand, thus addressed her: So, friend, I see, then, thou hast not yet forgiven God Almighty. This reproof had so great an effect on the lady, that she immediately laid aside her violent grief, and again entered on the discharge of the duties of life.
The cure of excessive sorrow. A pale mourner stood bending over the tomb, and his tears fell fast and often. As he raised his humid eyes to heaven, he cried, My brother! O my brother. A sage passed that way and said, For whom dost thou mourn? One, replied he, whom I did not sufficiently love while living, but whose inestimable worth I now feel. What wouldst thou do if he were restored to thee? The mourner replied that he would never offend him by an unkind word, but would take every occasion to show his friendship, if he could but come back to his fond embrace. Then, waste not thy time in useless grief, said the sage; but if thou hast friends, go and cherish the living, remembering that they will one day be dead also.
Like the passengers through the tunnelled Alps from the dark, cold, stifling air, emerging on the broad light-flooded plains of Lombardy, it is often by a way which they know not, gloomy and underground, that the convoy is carried which Gods Spirit is bringing to the wealthy place; and your present grief you will have no reason to regret if it introduce you to Gods friendship and to joys which do not perish in the using. Affliction is Gods message.Hamilton.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
II. THE PROPHETS SINCERE SYMPATHY FOR HIS PEOPLE Lam. 2:11-16
TRANSLATION
(11) MY eyes are spent with weeping, my inward parts are troubled, my heart is poured out to the ground because of the destruction of the daughter of my people, because infants and babies have fainted in the streets of the city. (12) To their mothers they said, Where is the grain and wine? as they faint like wounded men in the streets of the city, as their life is poured out upon the bosom of their mothers. (13) What shall I testify to you? To what shall I liken you in order to comfort you, O virgin daughter of Zion? For vast as the sea is your destruction! Who shall heal you? (14) Your prophets have seen for you falsehood and foolishness; they have not exposed your iniquity in order to reverse your fortunes but have seen for you false and misleading oracles. (15) All who pass by clap their hands at you. They hiss and wag their heads at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying is this the city which was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of all the earth? (16) All your enemies rail against you, hissing and gnashing their teeth. They have said, We have swallowed her up! Ah, this is the day we longed for; we have found it! We have seen it!
COMMENTS
In Lam. 2:1-10 the prophet described what he saw when Jerusalem fell in 587 B.C. In Lam. 2:11-16 he describes whet he felt as he looked upon the pathetic plight of his kinsmen. His eyes shed tears till they could shed no more. His inward parts (lit., bowels) and heart (lit., liver) were overwhelmed by anguish. The tender-hearted prophet is particularly upset as he recalls the agonizing death of starvation to which the innocent babes and infants were subjected (Lam. 2:11). He hears their pitiful cry for food which had to remain unanswered. He sees them dying, some in the streets where they have been abandoned by their despairing mothers, others clutching to the breasts of their mothers who are helpless to do anything to preserve the young life (Lam. 2:12). The prophet tries desperately to think of a word of instruction, edification or comfort which he can bring to those people who had to live through the horrible days of Jerusalems fall. He tries to think of some like catastrophe with which to compare the present plight of his people. Search as he may he cannot find any tragedy equaling the destruction of the daughter of Zion. Her ruin is as unlimited and unfathomable as the ocean itself.
The lament of the prophet reaches a climax with the question asked at the end of Lam. 2:13, Who shall heal you? Certainly Zions wound, by human standards, is incurable. The prophets are certainly not able to help for they have never been able To correctly assess the situation in Zion. For a number of years they have actually encouraged the national hypocrisy and wickedness of their false and foolish visions. They have made no effort to expose iniquity, encourage repentance which would permit God to reverse the miserable condition of Zion. Their false and misleading oracles (lit., whitewash job) could not heal the wound of Zion (Lam. 2:14). Much less could the caravaneers and travelers who passed along the busy highways do anything to aid Zion. They have actually joined in the mockery of the fallen city by contemptuously clapping their hands, hissing and wagging their heads. Having looked upon the city which had been renown for its beauty they jeer, Is this the city which was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of all the earth? (Lam. 2:15). Still less would neighboring nations be able to heal the broken nation of Judah. They had actually been looking forward to the day when Jerusalem would fall and they would be able to swallow up the territory she once possessed (Lam. 2:16). Who then can heal the wound of Zion?
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(11) My liver is poured upon the earth . . .The phrase is not found elsewhere, but admits of an easy explanation. The liver, like the heart and the bowels, is thought of as the centre of all intense emotions, both of joy or sorrow (Pro. 7:23). As such it is represented as giving way without restraint (comp. Lam. 2:19), under the pressure of the horror caused by the calamities which the next words paint, by the starving children who fainted for hunger in the streets of the city.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
THE LAMENTATION, Lam 2:11-16.
11, 12. Liver is poured earth This language occurs nowhere else in the Old Testament, and the exact force of it is doubtful. “My soul is poured out” occurs in two passages, but this is easier. It would seem that “the liver” is taken as representing the large viscera, usually classed together under the general name of bowels, and regarded as the seat of the emotions. If so, the expression means that he could no longer restrain his feelings; that his grief must have vent in expression.
Swoon Rather faint; or, with Keil, pine away. No feature of the common calamity the utter desolation of the people is more graphic or more painful than the falling down of the children in the street from hunger, and their pitiful and oft repeated cry, Where is corn and wine? until they finally expire in the arms of their miserable mothers.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Vanity of Human Consolation Together with a Plea for Help
v. 11. Mine eyes do fail with tears, v. 12. They say to their mothers, v. 13. What thing shall I take to witness for thee? v. 14. Thy prophets have seen vain and foolish things for thee, v. 15. All that pass by clap their hands at thee, v. 16. All thine enemies have opened their mouth against thee, v. 17. The Lord hath done that which He had devised, v. 18. Their heart, v. 19. Arise, cry out in the night, v. 20. Behold, O Lord, and consider to whom Thou hast done this, v. 21. The young and the old lie on the ground in the streets, v. 22. Thou hast called as in a solemn day,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Lam 2:11. My liver, &c. Bishop Lowth explains it, “My vitals seem to be dissolved, and have lost all their strength.” See Job 16:13. Psa 22:14. The LXX. read My glory is cast down upon the ground. That the mental passions have a considerable influence upon the habit of the body in various instances, is a fact not to be questioned. And experience daily shews, that a violent uneasiness of mind tends greatly to promote a redundancy and overflowing of vitiated bile. The liver is the proper seat of the bile, where its secretions are carried on. Hence the prophet’s meaning in this place seems to be, that he felt as if his whole liver was dissolved, and carried off in bile, on account of the copious discharge brought on by continual vexation and fretting. Job expresses the same thing, when he says, Job 16:13. “He poureth out my gall upon the ground.”
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Lam 2:11 Mine eyes do fail with tears, my bowels are troubled, my liver is poured upon the earth, for the destruction of the daughter of my people; because the children and the sucklings swoon in the streets of the city.
Ver. 11. Mine eyes do fail with tears. ] Those fountains (as the Hebrew word signifieth) are even drawn dry. I have wept till I can weep no more, as David did; or I have wept myself blind, as Faustus the son of Vortigern (once king of England) is said to have done.
My bowels are troubled.
My liver is poured upon the earth.
For the destruction.
Because the children and sucklings swoon in the streets.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
troubled = moved, or in ferment.
liver. Figure of speech for the seat of the emotions. Compare Job 16:13.
children = babes.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
eyes: Lam 1:16, Lam 3:48-51, 1Sa 30:4, Psa 6:7, Psa 31:9, Psa 69:3, Isa 38:14
my bowels: Lam 1:20, Jer 4:19
my liver: Job 16:13, Psa 22:14
for: Lam 4:10, Isa 22:4, Jer 8:19-22, Jer 9:1, Jer 14:17
because: Lam 2:19, Lam 2:20, Lam 4:3, Lam 4:4, Lam 4:9, Lam 4:10, Luk 23:29
swoon: or, faint
Reciprocal: Deu 28:16 – in the city Deu 28:18 – the fruit of thy body Deu 28:32 – fail 1Sa 7:6 – drew water Job 30:27 – General Psa 6:6 – I water Psa 38:10 – the light Psa 137:1 – we wept Isa 32:12 – lament Isa 51:20 – sons Jer 4:11 – daughter Jer 6:26 – daughter Jer 9:10 – the mountains Jer 9:18 – our eyes Jer 10:19 – Woe Jer 37:21 – until Jer 44:7 – child Jer 51:22 – General Lam 1:4 – her priests Lam 5:17 – our eyes Eze 13:22 – with lies Eze 16:5 – eye
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Lam 2:11. The people of Israel were generally aware of the miserable condition and expressed their feelings in more ways than one. Tho greater portion of the several passages of this book are truly the sentiments of the people. However, while writing down their sentiments for the informatlon. of succeeding generations, Jeremiah Is giving release for his own persona! grief over the sorrowful plight of his beloved countrymen. Fail with tears means he had shed so many tears that his eyes were exhausted. Bowels are troubled denotes that his affections were stirred up over his concern for the nation. Liver is used figuratively and refers to the heavy load of worry that was agitating the prophet, caused by the fainting condition of the people, especially as it affected the children who were dependents.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
B. Jeremiah’s grief 2:11-19
This section contains five pictures of Jerusalem’s condition. [Note: Dyer, "Lamentations," pp. 1215-16.]
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Jeremiah had exhausted his capacity for weeping and sorrowing over the destruction of his people; he felt drained emotionally. He observed small children and infants fainting in the streets for lack of food and drink. They were dying in their mothers’ arms for lack of nourishment. Jerusalem was a place of starvation.