Judah has gone into captivity because of affliction, and because of great servitude. She dwells among the nations. She finds no rest. All her persecutors overtook her within the straits.
Parallel Translations
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Judah has gone into captivity because of affliction, and because of great servitude. She dwells among the nations. She finds no rest. All her persecutors overtook her within the straits.
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Judah is gone into captivity because of affliction, and because of great servitude: she dwelleth among the heathen, she findeth no rest: all her persecutors overtook her between the straits.
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Judah is gone into exile because of affliction, and because of great servitude; she dwelleth among the nations, she findeth no rest; all her pursuers overtook her within the straits.
Cross-references (17)
Passages linked to Lamentations 1:3 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Deuteronomy 28:64-67 Yahweh will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth. There you will serve other gods which you have not known, you nor your fathers, even wood and stone. Among these nations you will find no ease, and there will be no rest for the sole of your foot; but Yahweh will give you there a trembling heart, failing of eyes, and pining of soul. Your life will hang in doubt before you. You will be afraid night and day, and will have no assurance of your life. In the morning you will say, “I wish it were evening!” and at evening you will say, “I wish it were morning!” for the fear of your heart which you will fear, and for the sights which your eyes will see.
- Lamentations 2:9 Her gates have sunk into the ground. He has destroyed and broken her bars. Her king and her princes are among the nations where the law is not. Yes, her prophets find no vision from Yahweh.
- Leviticus 26:36-39 “ ‘As for those of you who are left, I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies. The sound of a driven leaf will put them to flight; and they shall flee, as one flees from the sword. They will fall when no one pursues. They will stumble over one another, as it were before the sword, when no one pursues. You will have no power to stand before your enemies. You will perish among the nations. The land of your enemies will eat you up. Those of you who are left will pine away in their iniquity in your enemies’ lands; and also in the iniquities of their fathers they shall pine away with them.
- 2 Kings 24:14-15 He carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valor, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and the smiths. No one remained, except the poorest people of the land. He carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, with the king’s mother, the king’s wives, his officers, and the chief men of the land. He carried them into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon.
- 2 Kings 25:11 Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive the residue of the people who were left in the city, and those who fell away, who fell to the king of Babylon, and the residue of the multitude.
- 2 Kings 25:21 The king of Babylon attacked them, and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was carried away captive out of his land.
- 2 Chronicles 36:20-21 He carried those who had escaped from the sword away to Babylon, and they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia, to fulfill Yahweh’s word by Jeremiah’s mouth, until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. As long as it lay desolate, it kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.
- Jeremiah 13:19 The cities of the South are shut up, and there is no one to open them. Judah is carried away captive: all of them. They are wholly carried away captive.
- Jeremiah 16:16 “Behold, I will send for many fishermen,” says Yahweh, “and they will fish them up. Afterward I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them from every mountain, from every hill, and out of the clefts of the rocks.
- Jeremiah 24:9 I will even give them up to be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth for evil; to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places where I will drive them.
- Jeremiah 39:9 Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive into Babylon the residue of the people who remained in the city, the deserters also who fell away to him, and the residue of the people who remained.
- Jeremiah 52:8 but the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him.
- Jeremiah 52:15 Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the poorest of the people, and the residue of the people who were left in the city, and those who fell away, who fell to the king of Babylon, and the residue of the multitude.
- Jeremiah 52:27-30 The king of Babylon struck them, and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was carried away captive out of his land. This is the number of the people whom Nebuchadnezzar carried away captive: in the seventh year, three thousand twenty-three Jews; in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, he carried away captive from Jerusalem eight hundred thirty-two persons; in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the Jews seven hundred forty-five people: all the people were four thousand six hundred.
- Lamentations 4:18-19 They hunt our steps, so that we can’t go in our streets. Our end is near. Our days are fulfilled, for our end has come. Our pursuers were swifter than the eagles of the sky. They chased us on the mountains. They set an ambush for us in the wilderness.
- Ezekiel 5:12 A third part of you will die with the pestilence, and they will be consumed with famine within you. A third part will fall by the sword around you. A third part I will scatter to all the winds, and will draw out a sword after them.
- Amos 9:1-4 I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and he said, “Strike the tops of the pillars, that the thresholds may shake; and break them in pieces on the head of all of them; and I will kill the last of them with the sword: there shall not one of them flee away, and there shall not one of them escape. Though they dig into Sheol, there my hand will take them; and though they climb up to heaven, there I will bring them down. Though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out there; and though they be hidden from my sight in the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent, and it will bite them. Though they go into captivity before their enemies, there I will command the sword, and it will kill them. I will set my eyes on them for evil, and not for good.
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain Interpreters apply this, but in my view improperly, to…
Interpreters apply this, but in my view improperly, to the captivity of the people; on the contrary, the Prophet means that the Jews had been scattered and sought refuges when oppressed, as they were often, by the tyranny of their enemies, and then by degrees he advances to their exile; for he could not have said all things at the same time. Let, then, the order in which he speaks be observed: before he bewails their exile, he says that Judah had been scattered; for many, fleeing the cruelty of enemies, went into voluntary exile. We have before seen that many concealed themselves with the Moabites; nor is there a doubt but that many went into Egypt: in short, there was no country in which some of the Jews were not fugitives.
The real meaning, then, of the Prophet here is, that the Jews had migrated, that is, had left their own country and fled to other countries, because they were subjected to miseries and cruel servitude.
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Some take the words in a passive sense, even that Judah migrated, because they had inhumanly oppressed their servants. But I suspect what has led them astray, they thought that exile is meant here; and then one mistake produces another; for it would have been absurd to say, that the Jews had migrated into exile on account of affliction, and had migrated willingly; for we know that they were violently driven by the Chaldeans. They did not, then, willingly migrate. When these two things could not be connected, they thought that the cruelty of the Jews is what is referred to, which they had exercised towards their own brethren. But the migration of which the Prophet speaks is improperly applied, as I have said, to the captivity; but on the contrary, he means those who had removed into different parts of the world, because this was more tolerable than their condition in their own country. And we hence learn how severely they had been harassed by the Chaldeans, for they had willingly fled away, though, as we know, exile is hard. We then conclude that it was a barbarous and a violent oppression, since the Prophet says, that the Jews thus went into exile of their own accord, and sought hiding-places either in Egypt or in the land of Moab, or among other neighboring nations.
He afterwards adds another evil, that they never found rest; and lastly, that they had been taken by their enemies between straits, so that no escape was possible. It must have been a sad condition for the people to live in a foreign land; for we know that such a precarious life differs but little from death; and there were no contiguous nations by whom the Jews were not hated. When they then fled to such people, it was no small evil. But when they had nowhere a quiet abode, the indignity was still greater, and this is what the Prophet now refers to. But when we flee and tremblingly turn here and there, it is one of the greatest of evils to fall into the hands of enemies, and to be taken by them when we are enclosed as it were between two walls, or in a narrow passage, as some explain the word. It follows, —
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain For her cruelty toward the poor and oppression of…
For her cruelty toward the poor and oppression of servants, Jer. 34:11.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Lam 1:3 Judah is gone into captivity because of…
Lam 1:3 Judah is gone into captivity because of affliction, and because of great servitude: she dwelleth among the heathen, she findeth no rest: all her persecutors overtook her between the straits.
Ver. 3. Judah is gone into captivity.] But with no goodwill. God hath driven them out for their cruel oppressions and hard usage of their poor brethren that served them; thus the Chaldee paraphrast, and not amiss. Others {a} thus: Judah, i.e., the inhabitants of the kingdom, goeth away, i.e., willingly leave their country, goods, and dwelling, sc., before the desolation of Jerusalem, because of affliction, i.e., extremity of trouble, and great slavery, &c.
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She dwelleth among the heathen.] Where she can get nothing better than guilt or grief.
She findeth no rest.] No more than did the dove in the deluge. {Gen 8:9}
All her persecutors took her in the straits,] i.e., At the most advantage to mischief her - a term taken from hunters or highwaymen. The Chaldees took the city when it had been first distressed with famine; and then the Jews that went down to Egypt for succour and shelter after Gedaliah’s death, they caught there, as mice in a trap, as this prophet had foretold them (Jer 42:1-22; Jer 43:1-13; Jer 44:1-30), but they would not be warned. Mitsraim proved to be their Metsarim - i.e., Egypt their pound, or prison.
{a} Jun., Udal.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain This is expounded as the cause why the Jews…
This is expounded as the cause why the Jews were carried into captivity, because of the servitude and oppression exercised amongst them, oppression by their rulers, and servitude more generally, keeping their servants beyond the year of jubilee, when they ought to have set them at liberty; and that this was one cause appeareth from Jer 34:17; or if
because of affliction, & c. be joined to the next words, the sense is plain,
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she dwelleth amongst the heathen, by reason of her low condition, and the state of servitude she is in; where she, that is, the Jews, have neither any satisfaction nor quiet in their own minds, nor are they by their enemies suffered to be at quiet any where. Those that pursued them with all violence to destroy them overtook them in places where they could not escape them, as huntsmen and others take their game by driving them into strait and narrow places.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Judah is gone into captivity,.... Not only Jerusalem the…
Judah is gone into captivity,.... Not only Jerusalem the metropolis of Judea was destroyed, but the whole country was ravaged, and the inhabitants of it carried captive into Babylon:
because of affliction, and because of great servitude; because of their sins in oppressing and afflicting their poor brethren, and retaining them in a state of bondage after their seven years' servitude, contrary to the law of God; for which they were threatened with captivity, Jer 34:13; so the Targum,
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"the house of Judah went into captivity, because they afflicted the fatherless and the widows; and because of the multitude of service which they caused their brethren the children of Israel to serve, who were sold unto them; and they did not proclaim liberty to their servants and maidens, who were of the seed of Israel:''
or, "through affliction, and through great servitude" (l); that is, through the affliction and servitude they suffered by the Chaldeans, into whose hands they fell; though some understand it of the Jews, who, to escape the affliction and servitude of the Chaldeans, went into a kind of voluntary captivity, fleeing to the countries of Moab, Ammon, and Edom, during the siege of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans; see Jer 40:11;
she dwelleth among the Heathen; the uncircumcised and the unclean; and so was deprived of both her civil and religious liberties; having no opportunity of worshipping God, and enjoying him in his courts, as formerly; and which must be very uncomfortable living, especially to those who were truly gracious:
she findeth no rest. The Targum adds,
"because of the hard service to which they subjected her;''
she found no natural rest, being carried from place to place; nor civil rest, being kept in hard bondage; nor spiritual rest, being deprived of the worship and ordinances of God; and being conscious of her sins, which had brought all this misery on her:
all her persecutors overtook her between the straits; having hunted her as men hunt wild beasts, and get them into some strait and difficult place, and then seize on them. The Targum interprets it, between the borders; or between the hedges, as Ben Melech; and so Jarchi, of the borders of a field and vineyard; and of a ditch on the one side and the other, that there is no room to escape; and who makes mention of a Midrash, that explains it not of place, but time, between the seventeenth day of Tammuz, and the ninth of Ab; see Jer 52:7.
(l) "per afflictionem"; "hic, non prae, sed per significat", Grotius; "vel prae afflictione, sub. a Chaldaeis perpessa"; so some in Vatablus.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Because - Because of the servitude and oppression exercised…
Because - Because of the servitude and oppression exercised among them: oppression by their rulers, and servitude more generally; keeping their servants beyond the year of jubilee, when they ought to be set at liberty. The straits - Those that pursued them overtook them in places where they could not escape.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 3. Between the straits.] She has been brought…
Verse 3. Between the straits.] She has been brought into such difficulties, that it was impossible for her to escape. Has this any reference to the circumstances in which Zedekiah and the princes of Judah endeavoured to escape from Jerusalem, by the way of the gates between the two walls? Jer 52:7.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Lam 1:3. Judah is gone into captivity because of…
Lam 1:3. Judah is gone into captivity because of affliction, &c. — Her miseries have received their finishing stroke in a total captivity among, and bondage to, heathen and infidels, because of the oppression exercised by her rulers and others, and the servitude to which they obliged their subjects and inferiors. This is the interpretation adopted by the Chaldee paraphrast, who represents the Jews as having been carried into captivity, in retaliation of their having oppressed the widows and the fatherless among them, and prolonged illegally the bondage of their brethren who had been sold for slaves. But, as the word גלה, here used, does not necessarily signify to go into captivity, but often to remove, or go into exile, whether voluntarily or by compulsion; Blaney thinks that “a voluntary migration of the Jews is here intended, many of whom, previous to the captivity, had left their country, and retired into Egypt and other parts, to avoid the oppressions and servitude that they had reason to apprehend from the Chaldeans, who had invaded, or were about to invade, their land. Either of these senses,” however, he observes, “is competent; and the interpretation according to them will be found to suit perfectly with the subsequent members of the period.” She findeth no rest — No satisfaction of mind, no settled place of abode, no remission of labour, terror, and suffering; but, deprived of all peace and comfort, is continually exposed to every insult and outrage, and to all manner of oppressions and vexations. All her persecutors — Or pursuers, rather; overtook her between the straits — That is, all her enemies have taken the opportunity of her being in a difficult and distressed condition, to oppress and injure her. The expression is metaphorical, taken from those who hunt their prey, which they are wont to drive into some strait and difficult passage, from whence it cannot escape.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Because of ... - i. e. the people, not…
Because of ... - i. e. the people, not of Jerusalem only, but of the whole land, “is gone into exile to escape from the affliction and laborious servitude,” to which they are subject in their own land.
Persecutors ... between the straits - Rather, “pursuers ... in the midst of her straits.” The Jews flee like deer to escape from the invading Chaldaeans, but are driven by them into places from where there is no escape.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Rest. Many returning to join Godolias, chap. xl. 7.…
Rest. Many returning to join Godolias, chap. xl. 7. (Calmet) --- The Jews who beheld their brethren led away to Babylon, retired into Egypt, but were in misery. (Worthington)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain (Jer 52:27).
(Jer 52:27).
because of great servitude--that is, in a state "of great servitude," endured from the Chaldeans. "Because" is made by VATABLUS indicative of the cause of her captivity; namely, her having "afflicted" and unjustly brought into "servitude" the manumitted bond-servants (Jer 34:8-22). MAURER explains it, "Judah has left her land (not literally 'gone into captivity') because of the yoke imposed on it by Nebuchadnezzar."
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no rest-- (Deu 28:64-65).
overtook her between . . . straits--image from robbers, who in the East intercept travellers at the narrow passes in hilly regions.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 3. Because of affliction — The unendurable pressure of…
3. Because of affliction — The unendurable pressure of evil upon them in their own land has driven them into exile.
Between the straits — The word here rendered “straits” is elsewhere translated “pain,” “distress.” See Psa_116:3; Psa_118:5. The idea is, that her persecutors came upon her when unable either to resist or flee.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 3. is gone into captivity because of affliction] The…
3. is gone into captivity because of affliction] The better rendering is, is gone into exile (so mg.) because of affliction, i.e. the long sufferings of the Jews at the hands of Egypt and Chaldaea had induced many of them to go voluntarily to dwell in other lands. That this frequently took place we gather from Jer_40:11. This is better than the alternative rendering (taken) out of affliction (into Babylon), as this would be a lightening of the picture hardly in consonance with the purpose of the writer. If, however, this latter be the sense, the word “servitude” will be illustrated by the “hard service” inflicted on exiles in Babylon according to Isa_14:3.
within the straits] distresses, oppression. The Jews have been hemmed in and harassed by their foes.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (3) Because of affliction.—The Authorised version suggests the thought…
(3) Because of affliction.—The Authorised version suggests the thought that the words refer to the voluntary emigration of those who went to Egypt and other countries (Jer_42:14), to avoid the oppression to which they were subject in their own land. The Hebrew admits, however, of the rendering “from affliction,” and so the words speak of the forcible deportation of the people from misery at home to a yet worse misery in Babylon as the land of their exile. Even there they found no “rest” (Deu_28:65) Their persecutors hunted them down to the “straits” from which no escape was possible.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Is gone into captivity because of affliction; rather, is…
Is gone into captivity because of affliction; rather, is gone into exile, etc. The poet is not thinking of the deportation of the captives, but of those Jews who sought refuge for themselves in foreign lands. (Jer_40:11) An objection has been raised to this view that the number of fugitive Jews would not be large enough to warrant their being called "Judah." But we might almost as well object on a similar ground to the application of the term "Judah" to the Jews who were carried to Babylon. The truth may, perhaps, be that, after the fall of Jerusalem, the Jewish nation became split up into three parts:
(1) the Jews who succeeded in escaping into Egypt or elsewhere;
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(2) those who were carried captive;
(3) the mass of the common people, who remained on their native soil, Keil, however, retains the view of the Authorized Version, only substituting "out of" for "because of." "Out of" the misery into which the Jews had been brought by the invasions of Necho and Nebuchadnezzar they passed into the new misery of captivity. Among the heathen; rather, among the nations. Between the straits. The phrase is peculiar, and reminds us of Psa_118:5, "Out of the strait I called unto thee." "A strait," or narrow place, clearly means adversity, just as "a large place" (Psa_118:5) means prosperity.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Judah is gone into captivity because of affliction.
Lam_1:3
Judah is gone into captivity because of affliction.
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Afflictive dispensations
1. The outward things of this life are the soonest lost; and being enjoyed, the most uncertain.
(1) They are most subject to all kinds of enemies.
(2) God knoweth that we may best want them.
Learn to make least account of them, as things without which we may be perfectly happy. Endeavour most of all to obtain the true knowledge and fear of God, which is the treasure laid up in heaven (Mat_6:19-20).
2. It is natural for a man to seek to better his outward estate, and his duty to seek far and near for the freedom and rest of conscience (2Ch_11:13-17).
3. It is better to live anywhere than in our own country where our governors seek to oppress us, for their hatred being assisted with their might will never let us live in any tolerable peace.
4. Of two evils, we may and ought to choose the less, to avoid the greater.
5. It is grievous and dangerous to dwell among the ungodly.
(1) They can administer no true comfort unto us.
(2) They are strong to draw us to evil.
6. When God means to punish, He stirs up means; but when He means it not, the means shall not prosper.
7. There is no place or means to escape Gods hand, when He means to punish.
8. There is no kind of people so generally and so evil entreated in their adversity as the godly.
9. This people seemeth to be utterly overthrown for ever, and yet they returned unto their land and became a commonwealth again. So is it often with the Church of God (Psa_139:1, etc.). This teaches us--
(1) Never to despair, though our calamities be never so many and grievous.
(2) That there is no assured safety, but in the true fear of God. (J. Udall.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain (ג) Lam_1:3. Judah, the population of the whole territory,…
EXEGETICAL NOTES.—
(ג) Lam_1:3. Judah, the population of the whole territory, with that of Jerusalem, is taken into exile, a subjugated, impoverished remnant being left. From affliction, the same expression occurs in Exo_3:17 and Psa_108:4, and from much servitude, not, as might seem intimated by the Authorised Version and Revised Version, that the Jews were led into captivity because of the manumitted Hebrew servants being again subjected to bondage by their richer brethren (Jer_34:8-12); not that the Jews fled as voluntary emigrants to escape the oppression of conquerors; but that, from the low depth of misery into which they had been brought by the invasions and exactions of foreign powers, from months of faction and coercion and famine, they were taken into the lower depth of being made captives. In Babylon, in the centre of old world civilisation, with its traffic and magnificence, she has not found rest. Nebuchadnezzar employed “them upon those large works of irrigation and the building of cities, for which his ambition required labourers, just where they were forced to share and contribute to Babylonian life.” Thou didst show them no mercy; upon the aged hast thou very heavily laid thy yoke (Isa_48:6). All her pursuers have overtaken her between the straits; they laid affliction upon her when she was already pressed in by trouble; hit her when she was down.
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HOMILETICS
THE JUDGMENT OF OPPRESSION
(Lam_1:3)
I. The oppressor is in turn oppressed. “Judah is gone into captivity because of affliction and because of great servitude.” The prophet would probably have in view the circumstances narrated in Jeremiah 34, where the Jewish princes and people were threatened with captivity, because, in violation of the law, they withdrew the grant of liberty made to their servants, and reduced them to their former servitude, aggravated with increased exactions. It is an oft-repeated charge against the Jews that they robbed and oppressed their own countrymen; and the day came when they were robbed and oppressed by their powerful conquerors. It is a cruel abuse of power when it is used to injure the helpless. Every act of wrong-doing carries within it the germ of future recompense. The boomerang rebounds towards the man who threw it.
II. The judgment is constant. “She dwelleth among the heathen; she findeth no rest.” The endless and impossible tasks imposed on others are now allotted to the oppressors. There is no prospect of release—they dwell among the heathen; no prospect of abatement—they find no rest. Judgment knows nothing of pity: while the sinner remains obdurate, its mission is to punish. There is no change in the punishment until there is a moral change in the offender. Divine mercy alone can break the entail of suffering, and that can be effected only by satisfying the claims of justice.
III. The judgment cannot be evaded by flight. “All her persecutors over took her between the straits.” Zedekiah and the princes of Judah strove to escape from besieged Jerusalem, but the wary Chaldeans pursued and captured them (Jer_52:7-8). The people fled to the mountain passes, but they were there confronted by the enemy, and flight was impossible. Like hunted deer, whichever way they turned, they found themselves within the toils of the invaders. The conquerors held them as in a grip of steel. The day came when the Chaldeans were similarly helpless in the hands of a superior force. Judgment perpetually dogs the heel of the oppressor, and every possible avenue of escape is carefully guarded. Oppression is the attempt of an imperious will to have its own way, and it does not answer. “Not thy will but mine be done,” changed Paradise into a desert. “Not My will but Thine be done,” changed the desert into Paradise, and made Gethsemane the gate of glory.
LESSONS.—
1. Oppression is a short-sighted policy.
2. The spoils gained by oppression are worthless.
3. The law of retribution is always at work.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES
Lam_1:3. “Judah is gone into captivity because of affliction and great servitude.” A time of trouble.
1. Should induce careful self-examination.
2. Should lead us to reflect whether we have caused trouble to others.
3. Is a call to repentance and moral reform.
—“She dwelleth among the heathen, she findeth no rest.” The changes of life.
1. Often bring us into the midst of strange, unfriendly associations.
2. Interfere with growth in personal piety.
3. Disturb the soul’s peace.
—“All her persecutors overtook her between the straits.” The spirit of persecution.
1. Instigated by hatred to the good.
2. Is vigilant and active in its cruel pursuits.
3. Takes advantage of the helplessness of its victims.
ILLUSTRATIONS.—The oppressor punished. There is an Eastern fable that a wicked and oppressive king was once kissed on either shoulder by the Evil One. Immediately there sprang therefrom two serpents, who, furious with hunger, attacked the man and strove to eat into his brain. The terrified king tried to tear them away and cast them from him, when, to his horror, he found they had become part of himself. So is it with those who yield to anger or any other evil passion. The man who tyrannises over others becomes by and by the victim of his own tyrannical temper, and all efforts to deliver himself are in vain; it has become a part of himself. Wrong-doing carries with it its own punishment. In its earlier stages we fancy it will be easy at any time to do right; but when we try, we are helpless.
The oppressor a selfish man.
“He pours no cordial in the wounds of pain;
Unlocks no prison, and unclasps no chain.
His heart is like the rock, where sun nor dew
Can rear one plant, or flower of heavenly hue.
No thought of mercy there may have its birth,
For helpless misery or suffering worth.
The end of all his life is paltry pelf,
And all his thoughts are centred on himself.
The wretch of both worlds; for so mean a sum,
First starved in this, then damned in that to come!”
A time of trouble. If God brings us into difficulties, we may be sure He will bring us out again; but no such confidence should be ours if we bring ourselves into them.
Trouble and the way out. An expedition started from Buenos Ayres to explore the Pilcomayo River, South America, with the view of establishing a water communication between the Argentine Republic and Bolivia. For the first fortnight the explorers made fair progress, but after that the navigation was difficult and slow, it being necessary to construct dams across the river below their vessel and wait till the water accumulated sufficiently to float it. At length they could proceed no farther, and remained in the same position for months. Having exhausted all their provisions, and their efforts at foraging proving unsuccessful, they daily expected the arrival of a relief party, and were daily disappointed. When they were wasting with famine and had given up all hope, they were surprised one morning by hearing a bugle blast, and knew they were saved. Only those who have been in extremity can realise how exquisite is the joy of sudden and unexpected rescue.—The Scottish Pulpit.
The changes of life. A mill-owner was obliged to dismiss several of his hands. Among them was a man whose faith and trust in God always led him to say, “The Lord will provide.” One day when he had eaten his last morsel of food, and his faith was tried to the utmost, some street-boys, opening his door, flung in a dead raven, shouting mockingly, “The Lord will provide.” He quietly took up the dead bird and tenderly stroked its plumage. Suddenly he felt something hard in the crop of the bird, and wondering what it was, he took a knife and opened it. To his amazement he found there a gold chain. He felt here was God providing for him and his family. He went straight to a jeweller, telling his story, and asked if he would buy it. The jeweller saw it to be a chain of great value, with initials on it, and said, “If you could learn the name of the owner, would you return it?” “Certainly,” replied the workman. “Well then,” said the jeweller, “it belongs to your late master.” Hearing that, the man set off without delay and put the chain into his master’s hands, who received it with great joy, as he had on missing it accused one of his servants of theft. Greatly struck with his workman’s honesty, he told him he wished him to return to his employment, as he could not part with so honest a man. In the most trying changes of life it is best to do what is right.
Persecution. A sensation was caused in Hungary by a certain Count, a large landed proprietor, giving orders that thenceforth no Protestant was to be engaged in the service of his estate, and that Protestants already employed were disqualified from any further promotion. Any officials who married Protestants were to be at once dismissed. This high-handed procedure was the more remarkable as religious toleration was recognised as a supreme political and social principle, there being already eight different Christian denominations. Persecution and bigotry are weeds difficult to eradicate, and there is no knowing into what eccentric and tyrannical forms they may develop.—The Scottish Pulpit.
God the Helper of the persecuted. Have faith, O you who suffer for the noble cause, the apostles of a truth which the world of to-day comprehends not, warriors in the sacred fight whom it yet stigmatises with the name of rebels. To-morrow victory will bless the banner of your crusade. Walk in faith and fear not. That which Christ has done, humanity may do. Believe, and you will conquer. Action is the word of God; thought alone is but His shadow. They who disjoin thought and action seek to divide Deity, and deny the Eternal unity. They who are not ready to bear witness to their faith with their blood are no true believers. From your cross of sorrow and persecution proclaim the religion of the epoch. Soon shall it receive the consecration of faith. From our cross of misery and persecution we men of exile, the representatives of heart and faith of the enslaved races, of millions of men constrained to silence, will respond to your appeal, and say to our brothers, The alliance is founded. Answer your persecutors with the formula, God and the people. They may rebel and blaspheme against it for a while, but it will be accepted and worshipped by the peoples.—Mazzini.
The spirit of persecution inexorable. A poor Anabaptist, guilty of no crime but his fellowship with a persecuted sect, had been condemned to death. He had made his escape, closely pursued by an officer of justice, across a frozen lake. It was late in the winter, and the ice had become unsound. It trembled and cracked beneath his footsteps, but he reached the shore in safety. The officer was not so fortunate. The ice gave way beneath him, and he sank into the lake uttering a cry for succour. There were none to hear him except the fugitive whom he had been hunting. Dirk Willemzoon, for so was the Anabaptist called, instinctively obeyed the dictates of a generous nature, returned, crossed the quaking and dangerous ice at the peril of his life, extended his hand to the enemy, and saved him from certain death. Unfortunately for human nature, it cannot be added that the generosity of the action was met by a corresponding heroism. The officer was desirous, it is true, of avoiding the responsibility of sacrificing the preserver of his life, but the burgomaster of Asperen sternly reminded him to remember his oath. He accordingly arrested the fugitive, who, in the month of May following, was burned to death under the most lingering tortures.—Motley’s “Dutch Republic.”
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
In these verses, Jerusalem and Judah are spoken of as if they were women. (See: Personification)
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After poverty and affliction
"After suffering poverty and affliction"
Judah has gone into exile
Here Judah refers to its inhabitants. AT: "the people of Judah have gone into exile" or "the people of Judah have been taken into a foreign land" (See: Metonymy)
She lives ... finds
Here the kingdom of Judah is described as a woman. "She" also stands for the citizens of Judah. AT: "Her people live ... they find" (See: Personification and Metonymy)
finds no rest
"does not find rest" or "is always afraid"
All her pursuers overtook her in her desperation
This speaks of the people of Judah being captured by their enemies as if they were a woman who was captured by those pursuing her. (See: Personification)
All her pursuers overtook her
"Everyone who was chasing her managed to capture her" or "Everyone who was hunting for her found her"
in her desperation
The word "desperation" can be expressed as an adjective. AT: "when she was desperate" or "when she was distressed" (See: Abstract Nouns)
translationWords
afflicted
Judah
rest
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 1:3 The woman of 1:1 is the nation of…
1:3 The woman of 1:1 is the nation of Judah. • led away into captivity: This happened four times: 605 BC (Dan 1:3-4); 597 BC (2 Kgs 24:12-16; Jer 52:28; Ezek 1:2-3); 586 BC (2 Kgs 25:5-7, 18-21; Jer 39:5-10; 52:29); and 581 BC (Jer 52:30).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.