Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Lamentations 5:14
The elders have ceased from the gate, the young men from their music.
14. from the gate ] the place of social enjoyment and conversation, answering to our clubs and other places of entertainment. See on Jer 14:2.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The gate – The gate was the place for public gatherings, for conversation, and the music of stringed instruments.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 14. The elders have ceased from the gate] There is now no more justice administered to the people; they are under military law, or disposed of in every sense according to the caprice of their masters.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Our grave men were wont to sit and execute judgment in the gates, but now there is no such thing. Our young men were wont to play on music, and to have their merry meetings, but they are also ceased.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
14. Aged men in the East meet inthe open space round the gate to decide judicial trials and to holdsocial converse (Job 29:7;Job 29:8).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
The elders have ceased from the gate,…. Of the sanhedrim, or court of judicature, as the Targum; from the gate of the city, where they used to sit and try causes; but now there was nothing of this kind done:
the young men from their music; vocal and instrumental; the latter is more particularly specified, though both may be intended; neither were any more heard; their harps were hung upon the willows on the banks of Euphrates, which ran through the city of Babylon, Ps 137:1.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Here the Prophet briefly shews that the city was reduced to ruins, so that nothing but desolation could be seen there. For when cities are inhabited, judges sit at the gate and young men exercise themselves in lawful pursuits; but he says that there were no judgments; for at that time, as it is well known, they were wont to administer justice and to hold assemblies at the gates of cities. It was then the same as though all civil order had been abolished.
Then he adds, the young men had ceased from their own beating or musical songs. The meaning is, that there was so great a desolation in the city, that, it was no more a city. For men cannot dwell together without laws and without courts of justice. Where courts of justice are closed up, where laws are mute, where no equity is administered, there barbarity prevails, which is worse than solitude; and where there are no assemblies for legitimate amusements, life becomes brutal, for we know that man is a sociable being. By these words, then, the Prophet shews that a dreadful desolation appeared in the city after the people had gone into exile. And among the Chaldeans, and in Assyria, they had not their own judges nor any form of government, for they were dispersed and scattered, and that designedly, that they might not unite together any more; for it was the purpose of the Chaldeans to obliterate by degrees the very name of the people; and hence they were not there formed into a community. So justly does the Prophet deplore their desolation even in exile. It follows, —
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
EXEGETICAL NOTES.
Lam. 5:14. Entire collapse of interest in the common ways of life was shown by the abandonment of public meetings and social pastimes. The elders ceased from [frequenting] the gate. They had gone thither as to the usual gathering-place; they adjudicated, advised, had general intercourse, and received the marks of respect suggested by the lawThou shalt rise up before the hoary head and honour the face of the old man (Lev. 19:32); but that resort was no longer theirs. Moreover, the buoyancy of youthful spirits was crushed down. Young men ceased from their music, accompanied by instruments.
Lam. 5:15. The iron had entered the soul. Ceased is the joy of our heart, and past pleasures had become a pain; turned into mourning our dance.
HOMILETICS
BUSINESS AND RECREATION
(Lam. 5:14-15)
I. Are necessary in all organised communities. Commercial activity and prosperity lead to a more highly organised condition of social life. To prevent the clashing and confusion of the multiplicity of interests generated by an increasing commerce, certain rules are laid down for general observance. It is only thus that law and order can be maintained. It is soon recognised that business and pleasure must be judiciously combined in order to develop a healthy and vigorous people. Incessant labour would grind down and destroy the force of the national character, and an uninterrupted round of pleasure would weaken and dissipate its enterprise and energy. The happy medium in promoting what is best in both individual and national life is found in the wise alternation of work and recreation.
Run if you will, but try to keep your breath;
Work like a man, but dont be worked to death.
II. Are evidences of a happy and contented people. The gate of an Eastern city is the common rendezvous of the citizens for both business and recreation. There the venerable counsellors sit in repose and dignity to discuss and settle disputes. There the traders vend their wares. There the young life of the city expresses its exuberant joy in song and dance. Here we have a picture of prosperity, peace, and happiness. No people will be long content where there is not a thriving commerce, a reverence for law and age, ample employment and food, and the opportunity for innocent recreation.
III. Their absence a pathetic sign of general desolation. The elders have ceased from the gate, the young men from their music. The joy of our heart is ceased; our dance is turned into mourning (Lam. 5:14-15). The aged magistrates no longer frequent the gate, the bazaars of the merchants are deserted, the busy murmur of buying and selling is hushed, the instruments of music are laid aside unstrung, the voice of singing is no longer heard, and the spirits of the youthful dancers are crushed. Business and pleasure alike are abandoned. The joy of happier times is turned into mourning. The prophet could give no more graphic a picture of the desolation and ruin that had settled down upon the land.
LESSONS.
1. The character and condition of a nation may be read in its commerce and recreations.
2. Work and play are alike necessary in the development of national life.
3. When the spring of enterprise is broken, a nation sinks into decay.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES
Lam. 5:14-15. The extinction of national life:
1. When the wise and aged are no longer interested in public affairs.
2. When the voice of mirth is hushed.
3. When youth has lost its elasticity and hope.
ILLUSTRATIONS.The dignity of labour. It is time that the opprobrium of toil were done away. Ashamed of toil, art thou? Ashamed of thy dingy workshop or dusty labour-field, of thy hard hand, scarred with service more honourable than that of war, of thy soiled and weather-stained garments, on which Mother Nature has embroidered, amidst sun and rain, amidst smoke and steam, her own heraldic honours? Ashamed of these tokens and titles, and envious of the flaunting robes of imbecile idleness and vanity? It is treason to Nature, it is impiety to Heaven. Toiltoil either of the brain, of the heart, or of the handis true nobility.
Business not to absorb all our time. Who gave thee leave, Christian, to overlade thyself with the encumbrances of life? Is not God the Lord of thy time, as of everything else? He does indeed allow thee a fair portion for the lower employments of the body, but did He ever intend to turn Himself out of all? This is as if the sailors, who are allowed by the merchant some small adventure for themselves, should fill the ship, and leave no stowage for his goods; or as if a servant should excuse himself to his master, when reproved for neglecting his duty, by saying he could not do it because he was drunk.Gurnall.
Business and religion. Piety does not retreat from business, but it seizes business, sanctifies it, and makes it sacred. If I understand religion, it is to open a shop, it is to freight ships, it is to keep accounts, it is to write up your ledgers, it is to wear an apron till it be as holy as a bishops sleeve, and to wield a spade as responsibly and devoutly as a monarch sways a sceptre. The true characteristic of religion is to go down into everything, rise up to the highest, till, like the atmosphere, it embraces all in its beneficent and beautiful folds.Cumming.
Recreation. Lute-strings sound all the sweeter for being sometimes let down; and fields sowed every year become barren. So it is with body and mind.
A primitive Christian playing with birds vindicated his conduct by comparison with the bow, which, if constantly bent, becomes useless. Recreation is a second creation.
Pleasure itself unsatisfying. George Moore, when a wealthy man, wrote in his diaryAfter this we kept a great deal of company. The house was looked upon as a work of art. All our friends expected to be invited to see it and partake of our hospitality. We accordingly gave a large dinner weekly, until we had exhausted our numerous friends and acquaintances. But happiness does not flow in such a channel. Promiscuous company takes ones mind away from God and His dealings with men; and there is no lasting pleasure in the excitement.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(14) Have ceased from the gate.The gate in an Eastern city was the natural place of meeting for the elder citizens as for counsel and judgment (Rth. 4:1; Jos. 20:4), and also for social converse (Job. 29:7; Pro. 31:23). The music of this verse and the dancing of the next point to a like interruption of the social joys of the young.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
14. From the gate The place for rest and recreation, for business and social converse. In a land in which there were no public houses or public baths the gates were ordinarily the only available places of common resort.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The elders have ceased from the gate,
The young men from their music.
The area within and around the gate of the city was where much local activity took place. It was often the only place in the city where there was an open space. Most cities were unplanned and simply a mass of houses huddled together. But the space before the gate was always left open. There the elders of the city would meet to deliberate and make decisions, and try local cases (Job 29:7; Pro 31:23). There too they would sit and watch the movement of people through the gates and enjoy amusements and entertainment, whilst the young men would take the opportunity to show off their musical skills. But in woebegone Judah no such activities were occurring. Life was low key.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Lam 5:14 The elders have ceased from the gate, the young men from their musick.
Ver. 14. The elders have ceased from the gate. ] Where they were wont to sit, Gen 34:20 to judge between party and party.
The young men from their music.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
elders: Lam 1:4, Lam 1:19, Lam 2:10, Deu 16:18, Job 29:7-17, Job 30:1, Isa 3:2, Isa 3:3
the young: Job 30:31, Isa 24:7-11, Jer 7:34, Jer 16:9, Jer 25:10, Eze 26:13, Rev 18:22
Reciprocal: Rth 4:2 – the elders Psa 137:4 – How shall Isa 24:11 – all joy
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Lam 5:14. The gates of cities were the places of communication between them, and the elders or older men were the ones who occupied that position (Job 29:7-8). But that setup was absent, for the elders had been carried into captivity. Under these conditions the musicians would have no inclination to play.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
5:14 The elders have ceased from the {h} gate, the young men from their music.
(h) There were no more laws nor form of commonwealth.