Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Lamentations 1:15
The Lord hath trodden under foot all my mighty [men] in the midst of me: he hath called an assembly against me to crush my young men: the Lord hath trodden the virgin, the daughter of Judah, [as] in a winepress.
15. hath called a solemn assembly ] or, sacrificial banquet. Cp. Jer 46:10; Isa 34:6; Eze 39:17 ff.; Zep 1:7 f. The festival is not for Israel but for the enemy, and that which is to be celebrated, the overthrow of the flower of the Jewish army.
hath trodden, etc.] hath trodden the winepress of the virgin daughter of Judah. For treading the winepress, as a phrase to express the wrath of God, cp. Isa 63:3; Joe 3:13; Rev 14:19; Rev 19:15, and for the virgin ( daughter), Jer 14:17; Jer 18:13 (where see note), Jer 31:4. The expression is used to indicate inviolate security, and Zion (the speaker) here identifies it with the people of Judah collectively.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Lam 1:15-17
The Lord hath trodden under foot all my mighty men.
Supreme penalties
1. When God meaneth to afflict us, He will spoil us of all our helps wherein we may have any confidence.
2. God can as easily destroy in a fenced city as in a battle.
3. It is God that ruleth even the wicked, and setteth them on work against His servants.
4. Men can no more escape Gods hand in punishing them, than the grapes can fly from the treader of the winepress.
5. The niceness of those that have lived daintily (the virgin) is no reason to free them, but rather a provocation to bring afflictions upon them.
(1) The pampering of ourselves is none of the ends for which God bestoweth His blessings upon us.
(2) Such coy niceness as many be of is seldom without special sins that are incident to that condition, which God will not let pass unpunished.
6. Except the children forsake their sins, they shall not be spared for the godliness of their parents. (J. Udall.)
For these things I weep.
Grief in view of punishment
1. It is not only lawful, but also necessary, for the godly to be so greatly grieved, when God punisheth them for their sins, as may draw them into extreme weeping.
2. No adversity hath warrant to grieve us so much as the punishment of God upon us for our sins (Luk 23:28).
3. There is none so stout, or hardhearted, but afflictions will bring him down.
4. It is a grievous plague to be deprived of comforters in affliction; the contrary whereof is an exceeding blessing.
5. It is the duty of everyone to comfort and relieve others that be in distress.
(1) God hath so commanded (Gal 6:2).
(2) We are members one of another (1Co 12:27).
(3) We may have the like need ourselves another time.
6. The Church, as also the commonwealth, is to declare herself a kind mother to everyone that is trained up therein, and to have compassion of their miseries, helping them to the uttermost.
7. It is the property of carnal friends to be friendly only whilst prosperity is upon us; but if our adversaries prevail against us, they are gone. (J. Udall.)
Zion spreadeth forth her hands.–
The appeal for help
1. It is a necessary duty in Gods people to seek out all good means of their release from troubles.
2. God often frustrateth the lawful endeavours of His children of that good issue which is expected, and yet liketh well that they should use means to bring the same to pass.
3. The wicked have no power against Gods people, but that which is given them from the Lord.
4. Gods people are more grievously afflicted and reproached in the world than any else, and the godliest most of all. (J. Udall.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 15. Called an assembly] The Chaldean army, composed of various nations, which God commissioned to destroy Jerusalem.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
In the midst of me, may be interpreted either as pleonastical, or as denoting the place in which they lost their valiant men, viz. in the midst of the city during the siege, not in the field.
He hath called an assembly against me to crush my young men; instead of those solemn assemblies that were wont to be called together within Jerusalem by sound of trumpet for the solemn worship of God, God had called an assembly of Chaldeans as adversaries against the city, to crush the inhabitants of it.
The Lord hath trodden the virgin, the daughter of Judah, as in a wine-press; God had trodden upon the Jews as men use to stamp grapes in a wine-press, where they use to crush them to pieces to get out the juice, and then they throw the husks, that are good for nothing, upon the dunghills. These are but various expressions to set out the misery into which God had brought this people for their sins.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
15. trodden, c.MAURER,from Syriac root, translates, “cast away” so 2Ki23:27. But Ps 119:118,supports English Version.
in . . . midst of meTheyfell not on the battlefield, but in the heart of the city; a sign ofthe divine wrath.
assemblythe collectedforces of Babylon; a very different “assembly” from thesolemn ones which once met at Jerusalem on the great feasts. TheHebrew means, literally, such a solemn “assembly” orfeast (compare La 2:22).
trodden . . . virgin . . . ina wine-presshath forced her blood to burst forth, as the redwine from the grapes trodden in the press (Isa 63:3;Rev 14:19; Rev 14:20;Rev 19:15).
Ain.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
The Lord hath trodden under foot all my mighty [men] in the midst of me,…. As a causeway is trodden; or as mire is trodden under foot in the streets; so were the mighty and valiant men, the soldiers and men of war, trodden under foot and destroyed by the Chaldeans in the streets of Jerusalem, and in the midst of Judea; the Lord so permitting it:
he hath called an assembly against me to crush my young men; the army of the Chaldeans, which were brought against Jerusalem by a divine appointment and call; against whom the choicest and stoutest of them, even their young men, could not stand; but were crushed and broken to pieces by them. The word for “assembly” sometimes signifies an appointed time; a time fixed for solemn festivals, and for calling the people to them; and so the Targum here,
“he hath called or appointed a time to break the strength of my young men;”
the time of Jerusalem’s destruction by the Babylonians:
the Lord hath trodden the virgin, the daughter of Judah, [as] in a winepress; in the winepress of his wrath; or however in the winepress of the Babylonians, who are compared to one; into whose hands the Jews falling, were like grapes cast into a winepress, and there trodden by men, in order to squeeze and get out the wine; and in like manner were their blood squeezed out of them and shed. The Targum interprets it of the blood of virginity being poured out, as wine in a press; the virgins of Judah being ravished and defiled by the enemy.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
She first says, that all her valiant men had been trodden underfoot. Now we know how much the Jews trusted in their men even to the very time when they were wholly subdued. As then they had shewed so much insolence and pride towards the prophets, it hence became a cause of greater sorrow, when Jerusalem herself saw that she was destitute of every protection, and that her valiant men were trodden under foot. She says, in the midst of me. And this ought to be observed; for if they had fallen on the field of battle, if they had been taken in the fields by their enemies, such a thing would not have been so grievous: but that they had been thus laid prostrate, in the very bosom of the city, was indeed a token of vengeance from above. We now see that this circumstance was not superfluous, that all the valiant men of Jerusalem were laid prostrate in the midst of her.
It is then said that it was the fixed time, when God destroyed her chosen men, or her youth. Should it seem preferable to take מועד, muod, as meaning a congregation, I do not object; yet I do not approve of this meaning, for it seems forced. It agrees better with the context to regard it as the fixed time, the time before appointed by God to destroy all the strong men. (140)
There is then another metaphor used, — that God had trodden the winepress as to the daughter of Zion. This figure occurs elsewhere, as in Isa 63:1,
“
Who is this that cometh from Edom? and why are his garments red?”
For the Prophet wonders how God could come forth from Edom, sprinkled with blood. God answers, “The winepress have I trod alone;” that is, because he had avenged the wrongs done to his people. For we know that the Idumeans had always been incensed against the miserable Jews. Then God, in order to shew that lie was the defender of his Church, says that he came from Edom, and was sprinkled and even made wet with blood. As when any one is red with wine after having toiled in the winepress, so also is the representation in this place. We have also seen in Jer 51:33, that Babylon was like a threshing-floor. The metaphor, indeed, is different, but bears a likeness to the present. As, then, God is said to tread, or to thresh, when he afflicts any land, so he is said to tread the winepress, as here. (141) It follows, —
(140) If the word be rendered “assembly,” or congregation, the meaning is, the assembly of the Chaldeans, and an allusion, as Gataker says, is made to the calling of the people to their feasts. It is rendered “time” by the Sept. and the Vulg., but “assembly” by the Syr. To call against or upon one a fixed time, is no suitable expression. Our version is no doubt right; and with it agree Blayney and Henderson. — Ed.
(141) The words are as follows, —
The winepress has the Lord trodden as to the virgin, the daughter of Judah.
The ל sometimes means “as to,” or, with respect to. “The daughter of Judah” is in apposition with “virgin.” — Ed
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(15) Trodden under foot.Better, hath made contemptible, as those who are weighed in the balance and found wanting.
All my mighty men . . .The adjective is used elsewhere of bulls (Psa. 22:12; Isa. 34:7), but stands here for the heroes of Judah, who fell, not in open battle, but ignominiously in the midst of the captured city.
He hath called an assembly.The point of the phrase lies in its being that commonly used for proclaiming a religious festival (Lev. 23:4). Here the festival is proclaimed, not for Jerusalem, but against her, and is to be kept by those who exult in the slaughter of her youthful warriors.
The Lord hath trodden the virgin . . .Better, hath trodden the winepress for the virgin . . . For the winepress as the symbol of judgment and slaughter, see Isa. 63:2; Rev. 14:19; Rev. 19:15.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
15. The Lord Here, and in thirteen other places, we have Adonai, while the name Jehovah is less prominent, “as if in their punishment the people felt the lordship of the Deity more, and his covenant love to them less.”
Hath trodden under foot More literally, hath taken away, or, as yet others translate, hath made contemptible.
Called an assembly More literally, with Gesenius, Keil, and most others, proclaim a festival. To this festival God invites the nations to crush the young men of Jerusalem. Hath trodden the virgin, etc. Better, hath trodden the wine-press for the virgin.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Lam 1:15. The Lord hath trodden the virgin, the daughter of Judah, as in a wine-press As in a wine-vat. This metaphor is easily to be understood of causing such an effusion of blood in Jerusalem, as to resemble the treading of the juice out of the ripe grapes in vintage-time. See Isa 63:2-3. Rev 14:20; Rev 19:15.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Lam 1:15 The Lord hath trodden under foot all my mighty [men] in the midst of me: he hath called an assembly against me to crush my young men: the Lord hath trodden the virgin, the daughter of Judah, [as] in a winepress.
Ver. 15. The Lord hath trodden underfoot. ] As unsavoury salt; that is, he hath covered with the greatest contempt.
All my mighty men.
In the midst of me.
He hath called an assembly against me.
The Lord hath trodden her as in a winepress.
a Dr Playfair.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
mighty men = valiant ones. Hebrew. ‘abir. Not the same word as in Lam 3:1, Lam 3:27, Lam 3:35, Lam 3:39.
called = proclaimed. Same word as in verses: Lam 1:19, Lam 1:21.
an assembly = a festal gathering. Now that Israel’s feasts had ceased, there was another of a different nature and with a different object.
winepress. Hebrew. gath, where the grapes were trodden. Not the vat (yekeb) into which the juice was received.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
trodden: 2Ki 9:33, 2Ki 24:14-16, 2Ki 25:4-7, Psa 119:118, Isa 5:5, Isa 28:18, Jer 50:26, *marg. Dan 3:13, Mic 7:10, Mal 4:3, Luk 21:24, Heb 10:29
crush: Lam 3:34, Deu 28:33, Jdg 10:8,*marg. Jer 51:34
the virgin: etc. or, the winepress of the virgin, etc. Jer 14:17
as in: Isa 63:3, Rev 14:19, Rev 14:20, Rev 19:15
Reciprocal: 2Ki 19:21 – The virgin Isa 23:12 – thou oppressed Isa 25:10 – even Isa 28:3 – shall Isa 37:22 – The virgin Isa 51:20 – sons Jer 18:13 – virgin Jer 31:4 – O Lam 2:21 – my virgins Joe 3:13 – for the press
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Lam 1:15. Mighty men refers to the princes and others who were leaders in the nation who had been taken into captivity (2Ki 25:14-16). When Jeremiah says me he is impersonating the nation as a whole. The last part of the verse is a figurative description of the siege of Jerusalem and the downfall that followed.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
1:15 The Lord hath trodden under foot all my mighty [men] in the midst of me: he hath called an assembly against me to crush my young men: the Lord hath trodden the virgin, the daughter of Judah, [as] in a {q} winepress.
(q) He has trodden them underfoot as they tread grapes in the winepress.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
He had removed all the strong young men from the city, and He had trodden Jerusalem down as a virgin in a winepress. He had squeezed all the life out of her.
Four metaphors describe God’s judgment of Jerusalem in the last four verses: fire (Lam 1:12), a net (Lam 1:13), a yoke (Lam 1:14), and a winepress (Lam 1:15).