SEV Biblia, Chapter 1:4
Dálet : Las calzadas de Sion tienen luto, porque no hay quien venga a las solemnidades; todas sus puertas están asoladas, sus sacerdotes gimen, sus vírgenes afligidas, y ella tiene amargura.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Lamentations 1:4
Verse 4. The ways of Zion do mourn] A fine prosopopoeia. The ways in which the people trod coming to the sacred solemnities, being now no longer frequented, are represented as shedding tears; and the gates themselves partake of the general distress. All poets of eminence among the Greeks and Romans have recourse to this image. So Moschus, in his Epitaph on Bion, ver. 1-iii. - ailina moi stronaceite napai, kai dwrion udwr kai potamoi klaioite ton imeroenta biwna. nun futa moi muresye, kai alsea nun goaoisye, k. t. l.
"Ye winds, with grief your waving summits bow, Ye Dorian fountains, murmur as ye flow; From weeping urns your copious sorrows shed, And bid the rivers mourn for Bion dead.
Ye shady groves, in robes of sable hue, Bewail, ye plants, in pearly drops of dew; Ye drooping flowers, diffuse a languid breath, And die with sorrow, at sweet Bion's death." FAWKES.
So Virgil, AEn. vii., ver. 7lix. - Te nemus Anguitiae, vitrea te Fucinus unda Te liquidi flevere lacus.
"For thee, wide echoing, sighed th' Anguitian woods; For thee, in murmurs, wept thy native floods." And more particularly on the death of Daphnis, Eclog. v. ver. xxiv. - Non ulli pastos illis egere diebus Frigida, Daphni, boves ad flumina: nulla neque amnem Libavit quadrupes, nec graminis attigit herbam.
Daphni, tuum Poenos etiam ingemuisse leones Interitum, montesque feri, sylvaeque loquuntur.
"The swains forgot their sheep, nor near the brink Of running waters brought their herds to drink: The thirsty cattle of themselves abstained From water, and their grassy fare disdained.
The death of Daphnis woods and hills deplore; The Libyan lions hear, and hearing roar." DRYDEN.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 4. The ways of Zion do mourn , etc.] Being unoccupied, as in ( 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, ( 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 to Jerusalem, whither the ten tribes went up to worship three times in the year, and used to travel in companies, which made it delightful and comfortable, and pleasant to look at, now none to be seen upon them; which was matter of grief to those that wished well to Zion; as it is to all truly godly persons to observe that the ways and worship of God are not frequented; that there are few inquiring the way to Zion above, or travelling in the road to heaven; as also when there are few that worship God in Zion below, or ask the way unto it, or walk in the ordinances of it: because none come to the solemn feasts . Aben Ezra understands this of the sanctuary itself; which sense Abendana mentions; expressed by the word here used; and so called, because all Israel were convened here; but the Targum and Jarchi more rightly interpret it of the feasts, the three solemn feasts of the passover, pentecost, and tabernacles, at which all the males in Israel were obliged to appear; but now, the temple and city being in ruins, none came to them, which was a very distressing case; as it is to good men, when upon whatever occasion, either through persecution, or through sloth and negligence, the ministry of the word, and the administration of ordinances, particularly the Lord’s supper, the solemn feasts under the Gospel dispensation, are not attended to: all her gates are desolate ; the gates of the temple; none passing through them into it to worship God, pray unto him, praise him, or offer sacrifice; or the gates of the city, none going to and fro in them; nor the elders sitting there in council, as in courts of judicature, to try causes, and do justice and judgment: her priests sigh ; the temple burnt; altars destroyed, and no sacrifices brought to be offered; and so no employment for them, and consequently no bread; but utterly deprived of their livelihood, and had good reason to sigh. The Targum adds, “because the offerings ceased:” her virgins are afflicted ; or, “are sorrowful” f12 ; are in grief and mourning, that used to be brisk and gay, and to play with timbrels at their festivals; so the Targum paraphrases it, “the virgins mourn because they cease to go out on the fifteenth of Ab, and on the day of atonement, which was the tenth of Tisri, to dance in the dances:” and she [is] in bitterness ; that is, Zion; or the congregation of Israel is in bitterness of spirit, in great affliction and distress; her name might be rightly called Marah; (see Ruth 1:20).
Matthew Henry Commentary
The miserable state of Jerusalem, the just consequences of its sins (Lam. 1:1-11) Jerusalem represented as a captive female, lamenting, an seeking the mercy of God. (Lam. 1:12-22)
Lam. 1:1-11 The prophet sometimes speaks in his own person; at othe times Jerusalem, as a distressed female, is the speaker, or some of the Jews. The description shows the miseries of the Jewish nation Jerusalem became a captive and a slave, by reason of the greatness of her sins; and had no rest from suffering. If we allow sin, our greates adversary, to have dominion over us, justly will other enemies also be suffered to have dominion. The people endured the extremities of famin and distress. In this sad condition Jerusalem acknowledged her sin, an entreated the Lord to look upon her case. This is the only way to make ourselves easy under our burdens; for it is the just anger of the Lor for man's transgressions, that has filled the earth with sorrows lamentations, sickness, and death.
Lam. 1:12-22 Jerusalem, sitting dejected on the ground, calls on thos that passed by, to consider whether her example did not concern them Her outward sufferings were great, but her inward sufferings wer harder to bear, through the sense of guilt. Sorrow for sin must be great sorrow, and must affect the soul. Here we see the evil of sin and may take warning to flee from the wrath to come. Whatever may be learned from the sufferings of Jerusalem, far more may be learned from the sufferings of Christ. Does he not from the cross speak to every on of us? Does he not say, Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? Le all our sorrows lead us to the cross of Christ, lead us to mark his example, and cheerfully to follow him __________________________________________________________________
Original Hebrew
דרכי 1870 ציון 6726 אבלות 57 מבלי 1097 באי 935 מועד 4150 כל 3605 שׁעריה 8179 שׁוממין 8074 כהניה 3548 נאנחים 584 בתולתיה 1330 נוגות 3013 והיא 1931 מר׃ 4751
