Lamentations 1:4

“The ways of Zion do mourn, etc.] Being unoccupied, as in (<070506>Judges 5:6); or unfrequented: this is said by a rhetorical figure; as ways may be said to rejoice, or look pleasant and cheerful, when there are many passengers in them, going to and fro; so they may be said to mourn, or to look dull and melancholy, when no person is met with, or seen in them; thus Jerusalem and the temple being destroyed, the ways which led from the one to the other, and in which used to be seen great numbers going up to the worship of God, which was pleasant to behold, (<194204>Psalm 42:4); now not one walking in them, and all overgrown with grass; and those roads which led from the several parts of the land…”

“feasts--the passover, pentecost (or the feast of weeks), and the feast of tabernacles. gates--once the place of concourse.”

“Zion, as the holy city, is the symbol of the religious life of the people, just as Judah in the previous verse represents their national life. The “virgins” took a prominent part in all religious festivals Jeremiah 31:13; Exodus 15:20. return to 'Top of Page'”

“She - Persons of all ages and ranks are in bitterness. Lamentations 1:10”

“1:4 Jerusalem (Hebrew Zion): In the Psalms and in the prophetic books, Zion represents the city of Jerusalem. In Lamentations, Zion is a poetic name for the city, even in ruins. Hebrews 12:22-24 speaks of the heavenly Zion (see also Rev 14:1-5). • The annual festivals in Jerusalem were the Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Harvest, Harvest (Pentecost), Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and Shelters (Tabernacles). • The main duties of the priests were carried out in the Temple and its surrounding area. Since the Temple was in ruins, they had no jobs and hence no future.”

“ways: Lam 2:6, Lam 2:7, Lam 5:13; Isa 24:4-6; Jer 14:2; Mic 3:12 all her gates: Lam 2:9; Jer 9:11, Jer 10:22, Jer 33:10-12 her priests: Lam 1:11, Lam 1:12, Lam 1:18-20, Lam 2:10, Lam 2:11, Lam 2:19-21; Isa 32:9-14; Joe 1:8-13 Lamentations 1:5”

“Zion (i.e., Jerusalem, as the holy city) is laid waste; feasts and rejoicing have disappeared from it. "The ways of Zion" are neither the streets of Jerusalem (Rosenmller), which are called חוּצות, nor the highways or main roads leading to Zion from different directions (Thenius, who erroneously assumes that the temple, which was situated on Moriah, together with its fore-courts, could only be reached through Zion), but the roads or highways leading to Jerusalem. These are "mourning," i.e., in plain language, desolate, deserted, because there are no longer any going up to Jerusalem to observe the feasts. For this same reason the gates of Zion (i.e., the city gates) are also in ruins, because…”