Attributed commentary excerpt
Barnes' Notes on Lamentations 1:13
A historical reference excerpt for this verse. Read it alongside the biblical text and other available sources.
Notes on the Whole Bible
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · 19th-century historical commentary
Source: BibleWord.ai's local reference edition of this named work.
The lamentation of the city, personified as a woman in grief over her fate. Lamentations 1:13 It prevaileth - Or, hath subdued. He hath turned me back - Judaea, like a hunted animal, endeavors to escape, but finds every outlet blocked by nets, and recoils from them with terror and a sense of utter hopelessness. Lamentations 1:14 Bound by his hand - As the plowman binds the yoke upon the neck of oxen, so God compels Judah to bear the punishment of her sins. They are wreathed, and ... - Or, they are knotted together, “they come up” etc. Judah’s sins are like the cords by which the pieces of the yoke are fastened together Jeremiah 27:2; they are knotted and twined like a bunch upon the neck, and bind the yoke around it so securely that it is impossible for her to shake it off. He hath made ... - Or, it hath made “my strength” to stumble. The yoke of punishment thus imposed and securely fastened, bows down her strength by its weight, and makes her totter beneath it. The Lord - The third distich of the verse begins here, and with it a new turn of the lamentation. The title Adonai (properly, my Lord) is in the Lamentations used by itself in fourteen places, while the name Yahweh is less prominent; as if in their punishment the people felt the lordship of the Deity more, and His covenant-love to them less. Lamentations 1:15 The Lord hath trodden under foot - Or, אדני 'ădonāy has made contemptible (i. e. put into the balance, made to go up as the lighter weight, and so made despicable) “my war-horses” (put metaphorically for heroes). In the midst of me - They had not fallen gloriously in the battlefield, but remained ignominiously in the city. Assembly - Or, “a solemn feast;” the word especially used of the great festivals Leviticus 23:2. אדני 'ădonāy has proclaimed a festival, not for me, but against me. The Lord hath trodden ... - Or, “אדני 'ădonāy hath trodden the winepress for the virgin daughter of Judah.” See Jeremiah 51:14 note. By slaying Judah’s young men in battle, God is trampling for her the winepress of His indignation. return to 'Top of Page'
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