Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Lamentations 2:13
What thing shall I take to witness for thee? what thing shall I liken to thee, O daughter of Jerusalem? what shall I equal to thee, that I may comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Zion? for thy breach [is] great like the sea: who can heal thee?
13. shall I testify unto thee ] or, as mg. take to witness for thee. If the MT. be right, we can only explain it as meaning, Of what shall I assure thee? But it is better, specially in view of the parallel clause, to read with an inconsiderable change in the original ( ’e‘rk for ’‘d k), for “testify” compare.
great like the sea ] without measure.
who can heal thee? ] Cp. Jer 30:12 f.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Equal – i. e. compare. Zions breach, i. e. her destruction, is measureless, like the ocean.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 13. What thing shall I take] Or, rather, as Dr. Blayney, “What shall I urge to thee?” How shall I comfort thee?
Thy breach is great like the sea] Thou hast a flood of afflictions, a sea of troubles, an ocean of miseries.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The sum of this verse is, that the miserable condition of the people was both incomparable and incurable. There was no people whose miserable condition was in any degree parallel to the misery of the Jews. It is some comfort to persons in misery to consider that others are and have been, as miserable as they, but the prophet had not this topic from whence to fetch an argument of comfort to the Jews; there were none to whom he could liken them, nor was there any present cure for them; their breach was like a sea-breach, where the waters come in with such a torrent, that while the tide abates there is no making any bank of defence against them.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
13. What thing shall I take towitnessWhat can I bring forward as a witness, or instance, toprove that others have sustained as grievous ills as thou? I cannotconsole thee as mourners are often consoled by showing that thy lotis only what others, too, suffer. The “sea” affords theonly suitable emblem of thy woes, by its boundless extent and depth(Lam 1:12; Dan 9:12).
Nun.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
What thing shall I take to witness for thee?…. What argument can be made use of? what proof or evidence can be given? what witnesses can be called to convince thee, and make it a clear case to time, that ever any people or nation was in such distress and calamity, what with sword, famine, pestilence, and captivity, as thou art?
what thing shall I liken thee to, O daughter of Jerusalem? what kingdom or nation ever suffered the like? no example can be given, no instance that comes up to it; not the Egyptians, when the ten plagues were inflicted on them; not the Canaanites, when conquered and drove out by Joshua; not the Philistines, Moabites, Edomites, and Syrians, when subdued by David; or any other people:
what shall I equal to thee, that I may comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Zion? for this is one way that friends comfort the afflicted, by telling them that such an one’s case was as bad, and worse, than theirs; and therefore bid them be of good heart; bear their affliction patiently; before long it will be over; but nothing of this kind could be said here; no, nor any hope given it would be otherwise; they could not say their case was like others, or that it was not desperate:
for thy breach [is] great like the sea; as large and as wide as that: Zion’s troubles were a sea of trouble; her afflictions as numerous and as boisterous as the waves of the sea; and as salt, as disagreeable, and as intolerable, as the waters of it: or her breach was great, like the breach of the sea; when it overflows its banks, or breaks through its bounds, there is no stopping it, but it grows wider and wider:
who can heal thee? it was not in the power of man, in her own power, or of her allies, to recover her out of the hands of the enemy; to restore her civil or church state; her wound was incurable; none but God could be her physician. The Targum is,
“for thy breach is great as the greatness of the breach of the waves of the sea in the time of its tempest; and who is the physician that can heal thee of thy infirmity?”
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Against such terrible misery, human power can give neither comfort nor help. “What shall I testify to you?” the Kethib is a mistake in transcription for ( Qeri), because is not commonly used in the Kal. , to bear witness, is mostly construed with , against or for any one, but also with acc., 1Ki 21:10, 1Ki 21:13, in malam , and Job 29:11, in bonam partem . Here it is used in the latter sense: “give testimony to thee” for the purpose of instruction and comfort, – not of a calamity that has happened elsewhere, as Calvin and Thenius explain, though against the construction of the verb with the accus.; still less “to make one swear” (Gesenius, Ewald). That the prophetic witness is meant here in the sense of encouragement by instruction, warning, and comfort, is evident from the mention of the testimony of the false prophets in Lam 2:14. “What shall I compare to thee?” i.e., what kind of misfortune shall I mention as similar to yours? This is required by the principle derived from experience: solamen miseris socios habuisse malorum . , “that I may comfort thee.” The reason assigned, viz., “for thy destruction is great, like the sea” (i.e., immense), follows the answer, understood though not expressed, “I can compare nothing to thee.” The answer to the last question, “Who can heal thee?” ( with ) is, “no man;” cf. Jer 30:12. Reasons are assigned for this in Lam 2:14-16.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
When we wish to alleviate grief, we are wont to bring examples which have some likeness to the case before us. For when any one seeks to comfort one in illness, he will say, “Thou art not the first nor the last, thou hast many like thee; why shouldest thou so much torment thyself; for this is a condition almost common to mortals.” As, then, it is an ordinary way of alleviating grief to bring forward examples, the Prophet says, “What examples shall I set before thee? that is, why or to what purpose should I mention to thee this or that man who is like thee? or, What then shall I call thee to witness, or testify to thee?,” But I prefer this rendering, “To what purpose should I bring witnesses to thee, who may say that they have seen something of a like kind? for these things will avail thee nothing.” (161)
The Prophet, then, means that comforts commonly administered to those in misery, would be of no benefit, because the calamity of Jerusalem exceeded all other examples, as though he had said, “No such thing had ever happened in the world; God had never before thundered so tremendously against any people; were I, then, to seek to bring examples to thee, I should be utterly at a loss; for when I compare thee with others in misery, I find that thou exceedest them all. “We now, then, perceive the meaning of the Prophet: he wished by this mode of speaking to exaggerate the grievousness of Jerusalem’s calamity, for she had been afflicted in a manner unusual and unheard of before; as though he had said that the Jews had become miserable beyond all other nations. Why then should I bring witnesses before thee? and why should I make any one like thee? why should I make other miserable people equal to thee? He adds the reason or the end (for the ו, vau, here ought to be so rendered) that I might comfort thee, that is, after the usual manner of men. He afterwards adds, because great as the sea is thy breach or breaking; that is, “Thy calamity is the deepest abyss: I cannot then find any in the whole world whom I can compare to thee, for thy calamity exceeds all calamities; nor is there anything like it that can be set before thee, so that thou art become a memorable example for all ages.”
But when we hear the Prophet speaking thus, we ought to remember that we have succeeded in the place of the ancient people. As, then, God had formerly punished with so much severity the sins of his chosen people, we ought to beware lest we in the present day provoke him to an extremity by our perverseness, for he remains ever like himself. But whenever it may happen that we are severely afflicted and broken down by his hand, let us still know that there is yet some comfort remaining for us, even when sunk down in the lowest depth. The Prophet, indeed, exaggerates in this place the evils of the people; but he had previously begun to encourage the faithful to entertain hope; and he will again repeat the same doctrine. But it was necessary for the Prophet to use such words until those who were as yet torpid in their sins, and did not sufficiently consider the design of God’s vengeance, were really humbled. He adds, —
(161) The simpler rendering would be, “What shall I testify (or declare) to thee?” So the Sept: or, “What shall I call thee to witness?” — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
EXEGETICAL NOTES.
() Lam. 2:13. He is ready, as a servant of the All-merciful and All-wise, to speak on His behalf, so as to alleviate the clamant wretchedness; but he feels unable. What shall I testify to thee? No message is given to him from the Most High, and no resemblance to her condition is perceptible on the broad surface of past or present human life. What liken to thee, O daughter of Jerusalem? The case is unparalleled, and there are no lessons applicable. What shall I compare to thee and comfort thee [with], O virgin daughter of Zion? For great is thy breach like the sea. Who will heal thee? Ruin had extended as far as to the horizon of the peoples existence, and to the deep springs of thought. True, there had not been wanting men who professed to be commissioned by Jehovah to declare that all would be well. They healed the hurtthe word here translated breachof the daughter of my people lightly, saying, Peace, peace, when there is no peace.
HOMILETICS
INEXPRESSIBLE RUIN
(Lam. 2:13)
I. Is incomparable with any ordinary calamity. What thing shall I take to witness for thee? What thing shall I liken to thee? What shall I equal to thee? Great as may be our distress, it is some comfort, slight though it be, to know there are others more or less unfortunate. But in this case, the prophet has no message from Jehovah to afflicted Judah, nor can he offer the ordinary human consolation of saying that others have had equal or worse sorrow to bear. The lamentable condition of Jerusalem was unparalleled; there had been nothing like it. No city had been so highly privileged with Divine honours: no city had been so signally punished. Behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow (chap. Lam. 1:12). Jeremiah had exhausted all his powers of description. Desperate indeed must be the state of Judah when such a master of similes had to confess his inability to coin an adequate comparison.
II. Is measureless as the illimitable ocean. For thy breach is great like the sea. In his extremity to find some comparison, the prophet mentions the sea, which, on account of its vast dimensions, its illimitable depth and breadth, could alone furnish a fitting emblem of the magnitude of the devastation effected by the Chaldeans. The indefiniteness of the figure thus used reveals at once the straits to which the writer was reduced, and the utter ruin in which Judah was overwhelmed. Thou hast a flood of afflictions, a sea of troubles, an ocean of miseries.
III. Is beyond the power of human consolation and repair. What shall I equal to thee, that I may comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Zion? who can heal thee? Human words fail; human help is powerless. There is no comfort in man, or in any number of men. If there is to be any relief or restoration, it must come from God. He alone can change ruin into prosperity, misery into joy, darkness into light. A traveller in Madeira set off one morning to climb the summit of a lofty mountain to gaze upon the distant scene and enjoy the balmy air. He had a guide, and they had with difficulty ascended some two thousand feet, when a thick mist was seen descending upon them, obscuring the heavens. The traveller thought there was no hope left but to retrace their steps or be lost. But as the cloud came nearer and darkness enveloped them, the guide stepped on before, penetrating the mist, calling out every now and then, Press on, master, press on; theres light beyond! They did press on, and in a few minutes, emerging from the thick mist, found themselves gazing upon a scene of transcendent beauty. Above, the sky was bright and cloudless; below, the almost level cloud through which they had passed was silvered with the rays of the sun, like a field of untrodden snow. In the darkest experiences, if we will but listen, we may hear the voice of our Divine Guide exclaiming, Press on, press on; there is light beyond!
LESSONS.
1. Great indeed is the calamity that baffles human ingenuity to describe.
2. The nation is utterly undone when smitten by the hand of God.
3. God alone can repair the damage His righteous anger has inflicted.
ILLUSTRATIONS.Drifting to ruin. Two or three miles above the falls of Niagara an Indian canoe was one day observed floating quietly along, with its paddle on its side. At first it was supposed to be empty. No one could imagine a man would expose himself to such well-known danger; but a turn of the current revealed an Indian lying asleep at the bottom. The spectators were shocked, and shouted to rouse him, but in vain. It seemed more like death than sleep which held him. All hope of rescue was gone, and they hurried along the shore in alarm to see the end. It soon came, for the torrent was now rolling so rapidly that they could scarcely keep pace with the object of their interest. At length the roar of the water, which had been hitherto almost buried within the high banks below, by a sudden change of the wind broke upon them with double violence. This dreadful noise, with which the Indian ear was so familiar, did at last arouse him. He was seen to start up and snatch his paddle. But it was too late. The same dinning sound which had roused him from insensibility told him at the same time that it was in vain to seek safety now by paddling, nor indeed had he time to try. Upright as he stood he was swept over the awful precipice, and the boat and its occupant were seen no more.
Ruin and responsibility. Julian the Apostate had for his coat of arms on his escutcheon an eagle struck through the heart with a shaft feathered from her own wing, with the motto, Our death flies to us with our own feathers, and our wings pierce us to the very heart. The moral is, that if a man receives injury, he alone has caused it, and is alone to blame.
Unutterable ruin. Every man feels, and not strangely, that there never were such experiences of life as his own. No joy was ever like our joy, no sorrow ever like our sorrow. Indeed, there is a kind of indignation excited in us when one likens our grief to his own. The soul is jealous of its experiences, and does not like pride to be humbled by the thought that they are common. For though we know that the world groans and travails in pain, and has done so for ages, yet a groan heard by our ear is a very different thing from a groan uttered by our mouth. The sorrows of other men seem to us like clouds of rain that empty themselves in the distance, and whose long-travelling thunder comes to us mellowed and subdued; but our own troubles are like a storm bursting right overhead and sending down its bolts upon us with direct plunge.Beecher.
Ruin the punishment for sin. Fearful it is to consider that sin does not only drive us into calamity, but it makes us also impatient, and embitters our spirit in the sufferance: it cries aloud for vengeance, and so torments men before the time with such fearful outcries and horrid alarms, that their hell begins before the fire is kindled. It hinders our prayers, and consequently makes us hopeless and helpless. It perpetually affrights the conscience, unless by its frequent stripes it brings a callousness and an insensible damnation upon it. It makes us lose all that Christ purchased for usall the blessings of His providence, the comforts of His Spirit, the aids of His grace, the light of His countenance, the hopes of His glory.Jeremy Taylor.
The pain, the disappointment, the dissatisfaction that wait on an evil course, show that the soul was not made to be the instrument of sin, but its lofty avenger. The desolated affections, the haggard countenance, the pallid and sunken cheek, the sighings of grief, proclaim that these are ruins indeed; but they proclaim that something noble has fallen into ruin, proclaim it by signs mournful yet venerable, like the desolation of an ancient temple, like its broken walls and fallen columns, and the hollow sounds of decay that sink down heavily among its deserted recesses.Dewey.
Helpless ruin appeals to our sympathy. Helplessness appealing to our pity begets affection. In one of the cottages of my country parish dwelt a poor idiot child, horrible to all eyes but her parents, and so helpless that, though older than sisters just blooming into womanhood, she lay, unable either to walk or speak, a burden on her mothers lap almost the whole day longa heavy handful to one who had the cares of a family, and was the wife of a hard-working man, and a most painful contrast to the very roses that flung their bright clusters over the cottage window, as well as to the lark that, pleased with a grassy turf, carolled within its cage. Death, in most instances an unwelcome visitor, came at lengthto her and to their relief. Relief! so I thought; and when the father came with an invitation to the funeral, so I said. Though not roughly, but inadvertently spoken, the word jarred on a tender chord; and I was more than ever taught how helplessness begets affection in the very measure and proportion of itself, when he burst into a fit of sorrow, and, speaking of his beautiful boys and blooming girls, said, If it had been Gods will, I would have parted with any of them rather than her.Guthrie.
No hope but in God. The ninth capital in the Ducal Palace at Venice is decorated with figures of the eight virtuesFaith, Hope, Charity, Justice, Temperance, Prudence, Humility, and Fortitude. The virtues of the fourteenth century are somewhat hard-featured, with vivid and living expression, and plain everyday clothes of the time. Charity has her lap full of apples, and is giving one to a little child, who stretches his arm for it across a gap in the leafage of the capital. Fortitude tears open a lions jaws; Faith lays her hand on her breast as she beholds the cross; and Hope is praying, while above is a hand seen emerging from sunbeamsthe hand of God, and the inscription above is Spes optima in Deo. This design is rudely imitated by the fifteenth century workmen: the virtues have lost their hard features and living expression; they have now all got Roman noses, and have had their hair curled. Their actions and emblems are, however, preserved until we come to Hopeshe is still praising, but she is praising to the sun only: the hand of God is gone!Ruskin.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(13) What thing shall I take to witness . . .Practically the question is the same as that which follows, and implies that there was no parallel to the sufferings of Zion in the history of the past. Had there been, and had it been surmounted, it might have been cited in evidence, and some consolation might have been derived from it. As it was there was no such parallel, no such witness. Her breach, i.e., her ruin, was illimitable as the ocean, and therefore irremediable.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
13. What thing, etc. All words fail. No comparison is adequate. No comfort meets the case. Your misery is great like the sea, illimitable, over-passing all measure.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Prophet Addresses Jerusalem Recognising That That Her Unique State Is Such That He Can Offer No Comfort Because All Is Against Her ( Lam 2:13-17 ).
The prophet sees the people of Jerusalem as being in a state never before experienced and as being unhealable. This is because their prophets are offering them foolishness, passers-by are looking at, and exclaiming in amazement at, what has happened to them, and their enemies are gloating over them, viewing what has happened to them as a triumph.
Lam 2:13
(Mem) What shall I testify to you?
What shall I liken to you, O daughter of Jerusalem?
What shall I compare to you?
That I may comfort you, O virgin daughter of Zion?
For your breach is great like the sea,
Who can heal you?
The prophet can think of no comparison that he can draw on so that he can comfort the people of Jerusalem. He does not know how to speak to them and advise them. Such is the situation that he does not know what to say. Never before had they found themselves so bereft. He sees them as unhealable. Their ‘breach’ being great like the sea indicates a gaping wound (compare Isa 30:26; Jer 6:14; Jer 8:11; Jer 10:19), which is seemingly unhealable. But the word is regularly translated as ‘destruction’, and that is favoured by many.
Lam 2:14
(Nun) Your prophets have seen for you,
False and foolish visions,
And they have not uncovered your iniquity,
To bring back your captivity,
But have seen for you false oracles,
And causes of banishment.
Their dilemma was partly due to their prophets who had seen for them false and foolish visions which had resulted in their banishment (Jer 2:8; Jer 5:13; Jer 6:14; Jer 8:11; Jer 14:14; Jer 27:9-10; Jer 28:1-4; Jer 28:10-11; etc). Jeremiah had regularly had to counteract them. They had failed to uncover the iniquity of the people which alone could have prevented their captivity, and could even have once more restored them to their land. This was why they were in the state that they were..
Lam 2:15
(Samek) All who pass by,
Clap their hands at you,
They hiss and wag their head,
At the daughter of Jerusalem,
(saying), “Is this the city that men called The perfection of beauty,
The joy of the whole earth?”
Indeed their state was such that passers-by marvelled and demonstrated by their actions their feelings at what had happened to Jerusalem They clapped their hands in glee, hissed in derision, and wagged their heads in amazement, asking each other (and Jerusalem), “Is this the city that men called The perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth?” For ‘the perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth’ compare Psa 48:2; Psa 50:2, speaking of Zion. See also Isa 13:19 of Babylon; Eze 27:3 of Tyre. The city had been beautiful to behold. But now it was a heap of ruins.
Lam 2:16
(Pe) All of your enemies,
Have opened their mouth wide against you.
They hiss and gnash the teeth,
They say, ‘We have swallowed her up.
Certainly this is the day which we looked for,
We have found, we have seen it.’
Finally their open enemies had opened their mouths against them, hissed and gnashed their teeth, all indications of their hatred. And as they did so they had gloated, declaring that they had swallowed her up, and rejoicing because it was the day that they had looked for, the day which they had at last found so that they could see Jerusalem’s demise.
Lam 2:17
(Ayin) YHWH has done what he purposed,
He has fulfilled his word which he commanded in the days of old,
He has thrown down,
And he has not pitied,
And he has caused the enemy to rejoice over you,
He has exalted the horn of your adversaries.
But it is now emphasised that it was not really the enemy who had done this. It was YHWH Who had accomplished a purpose determined long before. It was He Who had thrown them down. And He had not pitied them. He it was Who had caused their enemies to rejoice over them, and had given those enemies strength by making their horns victorious.
Yet in this lay hope. If it was YHWH Who had done it, YHWH could reverse it if only they sought Him in repentance.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Lam 2:13. What thing shall I take to witness for thee With what likeness shall I compare thee? “What instance can I bring of any calamity like thine? that such an example may be some mitigation of thy misery.” See Lowth, and Houbigant.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
What thing shall I take to witness for thee? what thing shall I liken to thee, O daughter of Jerusalem? what shall I equal to thee, that I may comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Zion? for thy breach is great like the sea: who can heal thee? Thy prophets have seen vain and foolish things for thee: and they have not discovered thine iniquity, to turn away thy captivity; but have seen for thee false burdens and causes of banishment. All that pass by clap their hands at thee; they hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying, Is this the city that men call The perfection of beauty, The joy of the whole earth? All thine enemies have opened their mouth against thee: they hiss and gnash the teeth: they say, We have swallowed her up: certainly this is the day that we looked for; we have found, we have seen it. The LORD hath done that which he had devised; he hath fulfilled his word that he had commanded in the days of old: he hath thrown down, and hath not pitied: and he hath caused thine enemy to rejoice over thee, he hath set up the horn of thine adversaries. Their heart cried unto the Lord, O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night: give thyself no rest; let not the apple of thine eye cease. Arise, cry out in the night: in the beginning of the watches pour out thine heart like water before the face of the Lord: lift up thy hands toward him for the life of thy young children, that faint for hunger in the top of every street. Behold, O LORD, and consider to whom thou hast done this. Shall the women eat their fruit, and children of a span long? shall the priest and the prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord? The young and the old lie on the ground in the streets: my virgins and my young men are fallen by the sword; thou hast slain them in the day of thine anger; thou hast killed, and not pitied. Thou hast called as in a solemn day my terrors round about, so that in the day of the LORD’S anger none escaped nor remained: those that I have swaddled and brought up hath mine enemy consumed.
There is somewhat very blessed in this address of the Prophet to the Lord, in the close of the Chapter. Pouring out the heart before the Lord, and spreading all our sorrows at the mercy-seat; these are among the sure tokens of grace. It is a certain sign that our afflictions are sanctified, when these effects follow. When our exercises lead our hearts to God, and not lead them from God. When Jesus is still loved as Jesus, and his grace and righteousness still sought after, and still above all things valued. Neither doth the soul’s humble submission to the Lord’s will under sorrowful exercises, become unsuitable or unbecoming, to be accompanied with earnest prayers to be delivered from them. Jesus himself is here our great example: who, when he came purposely to do away sin by suffering, yet in His agonies desired the cup might pass from him, Mat 26:39 . But while by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving we make our requests known unto God; the work of grace will always induce not only a composed resignation, but more than this, even a perfect approbation, that all is right, though the cup of sorrow be not taken away. Shall not the judge of all the earth do right
REFLECTIONS
READER! it will be our wisdom from the perusal of the lamentations of the mournful Prophet, to gather consolation to our exercises, and. the exercises of Zion in all ages: and study to learn those sweet and gracious lessons the Holy Ghost intended, from such a record in his sacred scripture.
We see then in this part of the history of the Church, to what a state of sorrow God’s people may be brought, when their sins and backslidings testify against them. And will not God in every age, chasten the same in his people? Will he overlook sin in them, more than in the world? Nay, will He not chastise them much more, in proportion as sin in them is more offensive in the divine eye, than in
others? Sin indeed, as sin, is the same thing in all. But, nevertheless, it is worse in God’s children than in the ungodly; just as a weed in a garden, though the same as in the hedge or field, is yet more offensive, and more proper to be rooted out. Let us learn therefore from hence, how sure sin, in all its various forms, must induce the divine displeasure, and bring on the chastisement of God.
In the next place, let us under all our exercises of affliction trace our sorrows to the source, and when we find the Achan in the camp, bring all with deep contrition before the Lord: and say in the Lord’s own words, take away all iniquity and receive us graciously, so will we render the calves of our lips!
And above all, Reader! see to it, that in all our sorrow for sin, and desires after pardon from the guilt of it, the whole is done with an eye to Christ. It is He which hath borne our sins and carried our sorrows; and it is wholly in respect to him and his finished salvation, that God pardons the sin and accepts the sinner. Even the corrections of the Lord are not for the satisfaction of God’s justice, for that justice hath been fully satisfied by the blood of the cross; and the chastisement of our peace was upon him, by whose stripes we are healed. But all corrections for sin become the testimony of God’s holiness; and are in the charter of grace so set forth, and not by way of expiation. Therefore with an eye to Jesus, and the everlasting efficacy of his sin-cleansing blood, let our sorrow for sin, and repentance towards God be always accompanied: And oh! how sweet and precious the thought, that the same merit is in the blood of the Lamb as ever, though new contracted defilement be in his people, from day to day. Precious Jesus! thou hast made my peace by the blood of thy cross.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Lam 2:13 What thing shall I take to witness for thee? what thing shall I liken to thee, O daughter of Jerusalem? what shall I equal to thee, that I may comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Zion? for thy breach [is] great like the sea: who can heal thee?
Ver. 13. What thing shall I take to witness for thee? ] q.d., Thou art such a mirror of God’s heavy judgments, that I know not whence to borrow arguments, nor where to find examples for thy comfort, so matchless is thy misery. It exceedeth that of the Egyptians under Moses, of the Canaanites under Joshua, of the Philistines under David, of the Hebrews under Eli, &c. It is even imparallel and inexpressible. I have but one simile to set it forth by, and it is this,
Thy breach is great, like the sea.
Who can heal thee?
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
shall I take: Lam 1:12, Dan 9:12
for: 2Sa 5:20, Psa 60:2, Jer 14:17, Eze 26:3, Eze 26:4
who can: Jer 8:22, Jer 30:12-15, Jer 51:8, Jer 51:9
Reciprocal: 2Ki 19:21 – The virgin Isa 3:7 – healer Isa 30:26 – bindeth Isa 37:22 – The virgin Jer 6:2 – daughter Jer 14:19 – no healing Jer 30:7 – so Jer 31:4 – O Lam 1:9 – she had Eze 13:5 – gaps Eze 27:32 – What city Eze 32:31 – shall be Amo 5:2 – virgin Nah 3:7 – who Mat 11:16 – whereunto Mar 4:30 – General Mar 13:19 – in those Luk 7:31 – Whereunto Luk 13:18 – Unto Joh 11:19 – to comfort
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Lam 2:13. Jeremiah is without words to express fully his anxiety for his people or to say anything that would cause them to be consoled. Thy breach refers to the great gap that had been made in the defences and general provisions of security. Who can heal it indicates that nothing can be done for the present to head off the calamity facing the nation. It will be well for the reader to see the long note produced at 2Ki 22:17, volume 2 of this Commentary,
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
2:13 {i} What thing shall I take to witness for thee? what thing shall I liken to thee, O daughter of Jerusalem? what shall I equal to thee, that I may comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Zion? for thy breach [is] great like the sea: who can heal thee?
(i) Meaning that her calamity was so evident that it needed no witnesses.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Jeremiah struggled to find adequate words to comfort his people because their ruin had been so devastating. Jerusalem was a place of no comfort.