Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Lamentations 2:2
The Lord hath swallowed up all the habitations of Jacob, and hath not pitied: he hath thrown down in his wrath the strongholds of the daughter of Judah; he hath brought [them] down to the ground: he hath polluted the kingdom and the princes thereof.
2. Lhr restores the triple metre by some condensation and transposition.
habitations ] The word is that which is used for the dwellings and pasture grounds of shepherds, and thus refers to the country parts of Judaea, as opposed to the fortresses, “strong holds,” that follow.
hath profaned ] By their fall the king’s princes have been deprived of that sanctity which has hitherto been their character. For the discussion of the origin of this conception of sanctity as pertaining to kings and in a somewhat less degree to all others of royal blood Pe. refers to Frazer’s Golden Bough, pt. 1. ‘The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings’ (1911).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Habitations – The dwellings of the shepherds in the pastures Jer 49:19. These are described as swallowed up by an earthquake, while the storm itself throws down the fortified cities of Judah.
Polluted – i. e. profaned it, made common or unclean what before was holy.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 2. The Lord hath swallowed up] It is a strange figure when thus applied: but Jehovah is here represented as having swallowed down Jerusalem and all the cities and fortifications in the land: that is, he has permitted them to be destroyed. See La 1:5.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The Lord hath swallowed up all the habitations of Jacob, and hath not pitied; as he hath had no respect to his own house, so he hath had much less respect to the common habitations of the Jews.
He hath thrown down in his wrath the strong holds of the daughter of Judah; their military fortifications have been of no use to them, he hath made them to touch the ground, i.e. suffered the enemies to batter them to the earth.
He hath polluted the kingdom and the princes thereof; that is, either delivered them into the hands of pagans, whom to touch they judged a legal pollution, or else dealt with them as with a polluted thing, east them off, or brake them in pieces. All this is made the effect of Gods wrath, and his work; for as a man is said to do that which he encourageth others to do, and assists them in doing; so God is said to have done this, because he did not only suffer the Chaldeans to do it, but used them as a rod in his hand, inclining them to do it, and assisting them in the execution of his wrath.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
2. pollutedby delivering itinto the hands of the profane foe. Compare Ps89:39, “profaned . . . crown.”
Gimel.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
The Lord hath swallowed up all the habitations of Jacob, and hath not pitied,…. As he regarded not his own habitation the temple, nor the ark his footstool, it is no wonder he should be unconcerned about the habitations of others; as of the inhabitants of the land of Judea and of Jerusalem, particularly of the king, his nobles, and the great men; these the Lord swallowed up, or suffered to be swallowed up, as houses in an earthquake, and by an inundation, so as to be seen no more; and this he did without showing the least reluctance, pity, and compassion; being so highly incensed and provoked by their sins and transgressions:
he hath thrown down in his wrath the strong holds of the daughter of Judah; not only the dwelling houses of the people, but the most fortified places, their castles, towers, and citadels:
he hath brought [them] down to the ground; and not only battered and shook them, but beat them down, and laid them level with the ground; and all this done in the fury of his wrath, being irritated to it by the sins of his people; even the daughter of Judah, or the congregation thereof, as the Targum:
he hath polluted the kingdom, and the princes thereof; what was reckoned sacred, the kingdom of the house of David, and the kings and princes of it, the Lord’s anointed; these being defiled with sin, God cast them away, as filth to the dunghill, and gave them up into the hands of the Gentiles, who were reckoned unclean; and thus they were profaned. Jarchi interprets these princes of the Israelites in common, who were called a kingdom of priests; and makes mention of a Midrash, that explains them of the princes above, or of heaven.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The Lord has destroyed not merely Jerusalem, but the whole kingdom. , “to swallow up,” involves the idea of utter annihilation, the fury of destruction, just in the same way as it viz. the fury is peculiar to , the overflowing of anger. “He hath not spared” forms an adverbial limitation of the previous statement, “unsparingly.” The Qeri , instead of , is an unnecessary and unpoetic emendation. , all the pastures of Jacob. According to its etymology, means a place where shepherds or nomads rest, or stay, or live; here, it is not to be understood specially of the dwellings as contrasted with, or distinguished from the pasture-grounds, but denotes, in contrast with the fortresses ( ), the open, unfortified places of the country in which men and cattle enjoy food and rest. “The strongholds of the daughter of Judah” are not merely the fortifications of Jerusalem, but the fortresses generally of the country and kingdom of Judah; cf. Jer 5:17; Jer 34:7. , “to cast down to the ground” (used of the pulling down of walls, cf. Isa 25:12), is an epexegesis of , as in Exo 13:14, and is not to be joined (in opposition to the accents) with what succeeds, and taken figuratively. For neither does need any strengthening, nor does suitably apply to the kingdom and its princes. The desecration of the kingdom consisted in its being dishonoured by the disgraceful conduct of its rulers; cf. Psa 89:40.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
He pursues the same subject, but in other words. He first says, that God had without pardon destroyed all the habitations of Jacob; some read, “all the beauty (or the ornament) of Jacob.” But the other rendering is more suitable, that he had destroyed all the habitations of Jacob; and then that he had demolished in his indignation, etc. The word is derived from what means excess; but we know that all words signifying wrath are transferred to God, but they do not properly belong to him. God, then, in his violent wrath had demolished all fortresses, and cast them to the ground; and afterwards, that he had profaned, etc.
This profanation of the kingdom, and of the princes, corresponds with the former verse, where he said that God had not remembered his footstool for we know that the kingdom was sacerdotal and consecrated to God. When, therefore, it was polluted, it follows that God in a manner exposed his name to reproach, because the mouth of all the ungodly was thus opened, so that they insolently poured forth their slanders. That God, then, spared not the kingdom nor the Temple, it hence followed that his wrath against the Jews was dreadful. Now, as he is a righteous judge, it follows, that such was the greatness of the sins of the Jews, that they sustained the blame for this extreme sacrilege; for it was through their sins that God’s name was exposed to reproach both as to the Temple and the kingdom.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(2) The habitations of Jacob . . .The term is used primarily for the dwellings of shepherds, and it accordingly stands here for the open unwalled villages as contrasted with the fortified towns that are here mentioned.
He hath polluted the kingdom.See Psa. 89:39. The term involves the thought that it had been a consecrated thing. It had become unclean, first through the sins, and then through the defeat and degradation, of its rulers.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
2. The Lord hath not pitied Such a clause as this illustrates one characteristic feature of the Hebrew language, which, having few adjectives and adverbs, resorts to various expedients to supply the deficiency. Here a sentence is used for an adverb, the whole being equivalent to some such word as unsparingly or unpityingly.
Habitations of Jacob The word rendered “habitations,” means the places where the shepherds stay, and so includes not only dwellings but especially pasture grounds. These are swallowed up, or destroyed, showing that the ruin spreads from Jerusalem into the whole country round about.
Polluted Reduced it from its high and distinguishing glory to be a common and unclean thing.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Lam 2:2. And hath not pitied He hath not spared. Houbigant.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Lam 2:2 The Lord hath swallowed up all the habitations of Jacob, and hath not pitied: he hath thrown down in his wrath the strong holds of the daughter of Judah; he hath brought [them] down to the ground: he hath polluted the kingdom and the princes thereof.
Ver. 2. The Lord hath swallowed up all the habitations of Jadah. ] K , a as the sea swalloweth up a ship; as an earthquake swalloweth up whole townships; as fire swalloweth up fuel, or as Moses’ serpent swallowed up the sorcerers’ serpents.
And hath not pitied.
He hath thrown down.
He hath brought them down to the ground.
He hath polluted the kingdom and the priests.
a Septuag.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
swallowed up: i.e. as by an earthquake.
habitations = the open villages of the shepherds, in contrast with the strongholds of the next lines.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
swallowed: Lam 2:17, Lam 2:21, Lam 3:43, Job 2:3, *marg. Psa 21:9, Isa 27:11, Jer 13:14, Jer 21:7, Eze 5:11, Eze 7:4, Eze 7:9, Eze 8:18, Eze 9:10, Zec 11:5, Zec 11:6, Mat 18:33
he hath thrown: Lam 2:5, Lam 2:17, Jer 5:10, Mic 5:11, Mic 5:12, Mal 1:4, 2Co 10:4
brought them down to: Heb. made to touch, Isa 25:12, Isa 26:5, Psa 89:39
polluted: Psa 89:39, Psa 89:40, Isa 23:9, *marg. Isa 43:28, Isa 47:6
Reciprocal: 2Sa 20:19 – swallow Neh 2:17 – Ye see Psa 56:1 – swallow Isa 22:5 – breaking Jer 5:17 – they shall impoverish Jer 9:11 – the cities Jer 39:8 – burned Lam 2:8 – destroying Eze 36:3 – swallowed Hos 8:8 – swallowed
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Lam 2:2. Hath swallowed up is a figurative reference to the overwhelming of the homes of the people. Daughter of Judah has the same meaning as daughter of Zion in the preceding verse. The Lord is said to have done these things, but we should understand that he accomplished it through the services of the Babylonians.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Lam 2:2-4. The Lord hath swallowed up the habitations, &c. Without showing any pity or concern for them. He hath thrown down the strong holds, &c. Hath suffered the enemies to batter down their fortifications to the ground. He hath polluted the kingdom, &c. He hath shown no regard for the kingdom which himself had settled upon the family of David, but involved the royal family in one common destruction with the rest of the people. The expression is much the same with that of Psa 89:39, Thou hast profaned his crown by casting it to the ground. Lowth. He hath cut off, &c., all the horn of Israel Namely, their strength and glory, and especially their kingly dignity. He hath drawn back his right hand, &c. He hath withdrawn his wonted assistance, and given us up into the hands of our enemies. Or, as Blaney rather thinks, the right hand of Israel may be here intended, namely, his exertions of strength represented as rendered ineffectual by God, or turned away from obstructing the progress of the enemy; just as God says, Jer 21:4, that he would turn aside the weapons of war that were in the hands of the Jews, so as to prevent their hindering the Chaldean army from entering the city. He burned against Jacob round about God hath consumed them, not on this or that part merely, but everywhere, as a fire which seizes a house, or a heap of combustible matter, on all sides at once. He hath bent his bow like an enemy, &c. God, whom by their sins they had provoked, and made their enemy, behaved himself as such toward them, bending his bow, as it were, and stretching out his right hand to destroy them. And slew all that were pleasant to the eye The chief in worth and dignity; those who were in the flower of their age, the joy and delight of their parents. He poured out his fury like fire Which devours all before it, without any discrimination.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
He had devoured the cities of the Judahites without sparing them, and had overpowered their strongholds. He humbled the kingdom of Judah and its princes.