Lamentations 3:9

“He hath enclosed my ways with hewn stone, etc.] Not with a hedge of thorns, or mud walls, but with a fence of stones; and these not rough, and laid loosely together, but hewn and put in order, and well cemented. The Targum is, with marble hewn stones, which are harder than common stones, and not so easily demolished; this may respect the case of the prophet in prison, and in the dungeon, and in Jerusalem, when besieged; or in general his afflictive state, from whence he had no prospect of deliverance; or the state of the Jews in captivity, from which there was no likelihood of a release; he hath made my paths crooked; or, “perverted my ways” f56; so that he could not find his way out, when…”

“hewn stone--which coheres so closely as not to admit of being broken through. paths crooked--thwarted our plans and efforts so that none went right.”

“Inclosed - Or, hedged Lamentations 3:7. Hath, made crooked - Or, “hath” turned aside. A solid wall being built across the main road, Jeremiah turns aside into by-ways, but finds them turned aside, so that they lead him back after long wandering to the place from where he started. return to 'Top of Page'”

“Enclosed - He has defeated all my methods and counsels for security, by insuperable difficulties like walls of hewn stone. Crooked - Nay, God not only defeated their counsels, but made them fatal and pernicious to them. Lamentations 3:15”

“3:9 blocked my way . . . made my road crooked: Sin causes confusion and cuts a person or a community off from a happy future. Innocent people know the future as a straight path that is easy to follow (Prov 21:8). Isaiah imagined God’s activities as a procession on a straight road that his worshipers would prepare (Isa 40:3).”

“made: Lam 3:11; Isa 30:28, Isa 63:17 Lamentations 3:10”