thou say, O Lord, Thou hast spoken against this place to cut it off that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate forever, reminding the Lord, as it were, that the threats of His prophecy must be fulfilled. V. 63. And it shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this book, the communication contained on this roll, that thou shalt bind a stone to it and cast it into the midst of Euphrates, in a symbolical act expressing the fulfilment of the prophecy upon Babylon, v. 64.

and thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her; and they, the Babylonians, shall be weary, they shall be so overcome that it would be impossible for them to recover their strength. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah, the last chapter being in the nature of a historical epilog added by some other inspired writer. To proclaim the Word of God to friend and foe alike, regardless of consequences, that is a characteristic of the true servant of the Lord.

Historical Conclusion of the Book of

Jeremiah's Prophecies.

CIRCUMSTANCES ATTENDING THE CAPTURE OF JERUSALEM.-V. 1. Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when he began to reign, when Nebuchadnezzar made him a tributary ruler over Judah, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. Note that the entire account of the chapter is parallel and, in part, supplementary to the narrative of 2 Kings 24, 18-25,7 and Jer. 39, 1-7. V. 2. And he did that which was evil in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. Cp. 2 Chron. 36, 11-13. V. 3. For through the anger of the Lord it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, His wrath over their idolatry causing Him to cast them from His presence and to permit the rebellion of Zedekiah, which resulted in the final overthrow of the southern kingdom, till He had cast them out from His presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. V. 4. And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem and pitched against it, establishing the camp of the besieging army, and built forts against it round about, very likely towers of wood used for purposes of observation and as foundations for casting missiles into the city. V. 5. So the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. V. 6. And in the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the famine was sore in the city, reaching a height which made conditions very serious, so that there was no bread for the people of the land. V. 7. Then the city was broken up, the enemies penetrating through the outer line of defenses, and all the men of war fled and went forth out of the city by night, by the way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king's garden; (now, the Chaldeans were by the city round about;) and they went by the way of the plain, down toward the

lowlands of the Jordan, near Jericho. Cp. chap. 39, 4-7. V. 8. But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him, for in a panic, as they were, there was no thought of real resistance. V. 9. Then they took the king and carried him up unto the king of Babylon, to Riblah, in the land of Hamath, where Nebuchadnezzar had meanwhile established his headquarters, leaving the taking of Jerusalem to one of his generals, Nebuzar-adan, where he gave judgment upon him, for perjury and rebellion. V. 10. And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes; he slew also all the princes of Judah in Riblah, because they had agreed to, and promoted, the rebellion of Zedekiah. V. 11. Then he put out the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him in chains, which meant the extremity of humiliation, and carried him to Babylon, and put him in prison till the day of his death, literally, "in the house of visitations," in penal servitude, which may have been a little less dishonorable than incarceration, for which reason he may also have had an honorable burial. Cp. chap. 34, 1-5. V. 12. Now, in the fifth month, in the tenth day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, came Nebuzar-adan, captain of the guard, one of the chief officers of the Chaldean king, which served the king of Babylon, into Jerusalem, or, having started from Riblah on the seventh, he actually reached Jerusalem on the tenth, 2 Kings 25, 8, v. 13. and burned the house of the Lord, the magnificent Temple of Solomon, and the king's house; and all the houses of Jerusalem and all the houses of the great men, all the prominent buildings of the city, burned he with fire; v. 14. and all the army of the Chaldeans that were with the captain of the guard brake down all the walls of Jerusalem round about, so that all its fortifications were demolished down to the very foundations. V. 15. Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, carried

TIVES.

DISPOSITION OF THE SPOIL AND OF THE CAP- V. 16. But Nebuzar-adan, the captain of the guard, left certain of the poor of the land, of those who had no possessions in money or goods, for vine-dressers and for husbandmen, so that the country would not revert to a wilderness on account of total neglect. V. 17. Also the pillars of brass that were in the house of the Lord, on either side of the main entrance of the Sanctuary, 1 Kings 7, 15, and the bases, and the brazen sea that was in the house of the Lord, the Chaldeans brake, in order to make all these pieces fit for transportation, and carried all the brass of them to Babylon. V. 18. The caldrons also, large pots used for sacrificial worship, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the bowls, and the spoons, vessels for incense, and all the vessels of brass wherewith they ministered, took they away, all those used for the altar of burnt offerings in the Court of the Priests. V. 19. And the basins, and the fire-pans, and the bowls, and the caldrons, and the candlesticks, and the spoons, and the cups, all these used chiefly in the ministrations of the Holy Place; that which was of gold in gold, and that which was of silver in silver, in either case of solid metal, not of some cheap alloy or merely plated, took the captain of the guard away. V. 20. The two pillars, one sea, and twelve brazen bulls that were under the bases, 1 Kings 7, 23-26, which King Solomon had made in the house of the Lord. The brass of all these vessels was without weight, its mass beyond calculation. V. 21. And concerning the pillars, the height of one pillar was eighteen cubits, and a fillet of twelve cubits did compass it, that, in round numbers, being the circumference of either of the pillars; and the thickness thereof was four fingers; it was hollow. The thirty-five cubits of 2 Chron. 3, 15 either refer to a different cubit, or they give the sum total of both pillars less the bases. V. 22. And a chapiter, or capital, of brass was upon it, and the height of one chapiter, that is, of its upper part, where it curved away from the shaft, was five cubits, with network and pomegranates upon the chapiters round about, all of brass, in the nature of ornaments in chains or festoons. The second pillar also and the pomegranates were like unto these. V. 23. And there were ninety and six pomegranates on a side, set towards the four winds or sides; and all the pomegranates upon the net

cluding those on the corners of the capitals. V. 24. And the captain of the guard took Seraiah, the chief priest, not identical w the man named chap. 51, 59, and Zephaniah, the second priest, a very important member of the hierarchy, and the three keepers of the door, officers of the Temple-guard. V. 25. He took also out of the city an eunuch, which had the charge of the men of war, the commander of the city forces, and seven men of them that were near the king's person, of the king's intimate counselors, which were found in the city; and the principal scribe of the host, an officer in the direct service of the commander-in-chief, who mustered the people of the land, enrolling them for military service; and threescore men of the people of the land that were found in the midst of the city, either leaders in the rebellion or such as had distinguished themselves in the defense of the city. V. 26. So Nebuzar-adan, the captain of the guard, took them and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah. V. 27. And the king of Babylon smote them, for the part they had taken in the rebellion of Judah, and put them to death in Riblah, in the land of Hamath, the Syrian province in the extreme northern part of Palestine. Thus Judah was carried away captive out of his own land. There follows a summary or enumeration of the prominent captives. V. 28. This is the people whom Nebuchadrezzar carried away captive: in the seventh year, at the first captivity under Jehoiachin, three thousand Jews and three and twenty, these being of the tribe of Judah only, those from other tribes being more than twice as many; v. 29. in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar, after his actual accession to the throne, but nineteen years after he had gotten into power, 2 Kings 25, 8, he carried away captive from Jerusalem eight hundred thirty and two persons; v. 30. in the three and twentieth year of Nebuchadrezzar, Nebuzar-adan, the captain of the guard, carried away captive of the Jews seven hundred forty and five persons; all the persons, evidently of the tribe of Judah alone, not including any of the other tribes who had sought and found refuge in Jerusalem since the fall of the northern kingdom, were four thousand and six hundred, not including the general multitude, and the women and children. V. 31. And it came to pass in the seven-and-thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin, king of Judah, in the twelfth month, in the five and twentieth day of the month, the decree being issued on that day, although it was not carried out till two days later, 2 Kings 25, 27, that Evilmerodach, king of Babylon, son and successor of Nebuchadrezzar, in the first year of his reign, lifted up the head of Jehoia

chin, king of Judah, and brought him forth out of prison, delivering him from the special bondage in which he had been held all these years, v. 32. and spake kindly unto him and set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon, captive monarchs of other conquered nations, v. 33. and changed his prison-garments, witnesses of his deep humiliation;

and he did continually eat bread before him all the days of his life. V. 34. And for his diet there was a continual diet given him of the king of Babylon, every day a portion, until the day of his death, all the days of his life. Cp. 2 Kings 25, 27-30. The same Lord who humbles the proud transgressors is able also to exalt those who turn to Him in true repentance.

The Jews had the custom of singing songs of lamentation after the death of some beloved person, some of these elegies being of unusual beauty and power. Cp. 2 Sam. 1, 17; 3, 33. In a similar way they mourned over the destruction of cities and countries. Cp. Amos 7, 1; Ezek. 26, 17.

It is no matter for surprise, then, that we find an entire group of such songs concerning the destruction of Jerusalem and the devastation of Judah, the poems contained in the Lamentations of Jeremiah. These elegies were evidently composed while Jerusalem lay in ruins, some time between 587 and 536. And since the author appears as an eye-witness of the catastrophe, a fact which is brought out also by the vividness of his presentation, it seems plausible to place the date of the poems in the early decades of the sixth century before Christ.

Both the Jewish Synagog and the Christian Church state that Jeremiah is the author of Lamentations, this statement being made expressly in the introduction to the book which was added by the Greek translators in the version known as the Septuagint. The language of the book is characterized by the same emphasis upon the guilt of the Jews, the frequent repetition of the same expressions and figures of speech, the reference to words of the

Law, and a certain broadness and monotony of narration which is so obvious in the Book of Jeremiah. It was natural, therefore, that the various Bible versions placed Lamentations immediately after the book of Jeremiah's prophecy, although they are strictly poetical in character and for this reason might be grouped with Job, the Psalms, and the poetical books of Solomon.

We have five chapters, that is, five poems in the Book of Lamentations, all of them, with the exception of the last, in the form of an alphabetical acrostic, chapter 3 having three verses for every letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Chapter 1 is a lamentation over the exile of the Jews and the misery of the ruined city, chapter 2 a song of Jerusalem's destruction and the mockery of the enemies, chapter 3 an elegy picturing the grievous sufferings of the pious, but also the hope of eventual deliverance, chapter 4 a discourse on the fact that the destruction of the Temple and the distress of the city were well deserved, and chapter 5 a prayer to God that He would not forget the pitiful condition of His stricken people, but give them speedy help.1)

1) Cp. Fuerbringer, Einleitung in das Alte Testament, 70-72; Concordia Bible Class, May, 1919, 71. 72.

Lamentation over the Destruction of the

City, the Nation, and the Temple. DESCRIPTION OF THE SHAMEFUL LOT WHICH HAS COME UPON JERUSALEM.-V.1. How doth the city sit solitary that was full of people! It is a strong expression of horrified astonishment over the fact that the formerly populous city is now lonely and deserted, sitting alone in deep mourning. How is she become as a widow! She no longer enjoys the fellowship of Jehovah, her Husband, and she has lost her children, who have been killed in battle

and carried away into exile. She that was great among the nations and princess among the provinces, her rule being accepted more or less continuously in the surrounding provinces from the Brook of Egypt to the Euphrates, how is she become tributary! herself condemned to servitude and to the payment of tribute-money. V. 2. She weepeth sore in the night, the slumber being driven away from her eyelids by the greatness of her sorrow, and her tears are on her cheeks, since they flow without stop

cause

ping and have no chance to dry; among all her lovers, who formerly professed affection for her, she hath none to comfort her; all her friends, upon whom she depended for assistance, have dealt treacherously with her, deserting her in the midst of the dangers which came upon her; they are become her enemies, their former profession of loyalty changing to open hostility. V. 3. Judah is gone into captivity, led away into exile, beof affliction, the misery upon the country on account of the occupation of the land by the Chaldeans, and because of great servitude, the servile work which was included in the tributary service exacted by the conquerors; she dwelleth among the heathen, sojourning among them, as it were, in the hope of finding some measure of security; she findeth no rest, being disappointed also in this respect; all her persecutors overtook her between the straits, so that there was no outlet for her, no chance to escape. V. 4. The ways of Zion do mourn, all the roads leading to the capital lying desolate, because there are no pilgrims found there, because none come to the solemn feasts, the great festivals of the Jewish year; all her gates are desolate, for there is no longer the happy traffic of former years; her priests sigh, under the heavy oppression which they suffer and because the Temple and its worship are no longer in existence, her virgins are afflicted, since their joyful singing no longer enlivened the great festivals, and she is in bitterness, she feels her misfortunes with poignant grief. V. 5. Her adversaries are the chief, that is, the head, the rulers of Judah, her enemies prosper, their good fortune intensifying the darkness of her own calamity; for the Lord hath afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions, the punishment which she was suffering being fully deserved; her children are gone into captivity before the enemy, literally, "her infants in absence of strength before the pursuer." V. 6. And from the daughter of Zion all her beauty is departed, the presence of Jehovah and His glory in her midst; her princes are become like harts that find no pasture, so that they have no strength to flee and escape from the enemy, and they are gone without strength before the pursuer. Cp. 2 Kings 25, 3. 4. V. 7. Jerusalem remembered in the days of her affliction and of her miseries all her pleasant things that she had in the days of old, the members of the Jewish Church recalling with eager remembrance the glorious evidences of God's blessing which had been theirs, when her people fell into the hand of the enemy, and none did help her, the days of her calamity contrasting very strikingly with her former state of blessedness; the adversaries saw her and did mock at her Sabbaths. As the Jewish day of rest was a favorite object of mockery on the part of the

enemies, so they now thought it a huge joke that a general and lasting Sabbath had come upon their country. V. 8. Jerusalem hath grievously sinned, chiefly by joining in the idolatry of Israel and the heathen nations, therefore she is removed, as one separated from the congregation on account of legal impurity; all that honored her despise her because they have seen her nakedness, her sins and vices having now become known; yea, she sigheth, since now at last she has, in a measure, come to the realization of her transgressions, and turneth backward, withdrawing from men, so that her shame may no longer be witnessed. V. 9. Her filthiness is in her skirts, as of a woman Levitically unclean; she remembereth not her last end, she did not consider the result of her persistent iniquity, therefore she came down wonderfully, the greatness of her fall being such as to cause men to marvel; she had no comforter, no one to take her part with so much as a word of consolation. It is for this reason that her sighing is heard: O Lord, behold my affliction; for the enemy hath magnified himself, increasing his insolence and violence. The prophet now continues his description of Jerusalem's misery. V. 10. The adversary hath spread out his hand upon all her pleasant things, blasphemously robbing even the precious vessels and appointments of the Temple; for she hath seen that the heathen entered into her Sanctuary, whom thou didst command that they should not enter into thy congregation, the heathen as such being excluded from the Temple, except where they were proselytes of righteousness. They had been excluded from the Sanctuary, but here they entered with blasphemous intent, ruthlessly trampling down and robbing just as they chose. V. 11. All her people sigh, with the calamity of the severe famine as a further cause for groaning, they seek bread; they have given their pleasant things for meat to relieve the soul, no valuables being too precious, in this emergency, where the question is to save lives. Their groaning arises in a fervent appeal: See, O Lord, and consider, for I am become vile, an object of wretchedness. The first step of true repentance is a full and unequivocal acknowledgment of one's own sinfulness and a corresponding free confession of it to the Lord.

THE LAMENT OF THE CITY AND THE ANSWER OF THE LORD. — V. 12. Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? Will none of those who are witnesses of her misery and shame take the proper notice of her calamity? Behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow which is done unto me, wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of His fierce anger. The greatness of Jerusalem's misery was so unusual that men seeing it were bound to conclude that there was a special hand and work of God in it. The picture is that of an outcast by the wayside

begging the passers-by for at least some show of sympathy. And it may be said that Jerusalem, in this instance, prefigures Christ, whom the language is prophetically made to suit. V. 13. From above hath He sent fire into my bones, which are here thought of as organs of the body that are first to feel a racking pain, and it prevaileth against them, 80 that the very vital powers are affected; He hath spread a net for my feet, to entangle her in His judgments; He hath turned me back, making it impossible to become free from the meshes of the net; He hath made me desolate and faint all the day. The city is thus pictured as a person whose happiness is destroyed and whose health is broken. V. 14. The yoke of my transgressions is bound by His hand, sin being not only a taskmaster, but a yoke pressing the sinner down, with God Himself, as it were, holding the reins firmly twisted round His hand, so that escape is impossible; they are wreathed, the many cords of sin being woven together increasing the load, and come up upon my neck, binding the sinners to their wilful transgressions; He hath made my strength to fall, so that it is entirely broken; the Lord hath delivered me into their hands from whom I am not able to rise up, whom she did not have the strength to resist. V. 15. The Lord hath trodden under foot all my mighty men in the midst of me, slaying them while they were engaged in the defense of the city; He hath called an assembly against me to crush my young men, the very expression setting forth the strange contrast and the severity of the punishment; the Lord hath trodden the virgin, the daughter of Judah, as in a wine-press. Cp. Joel 4, 13; Is. 63, 2. 3. V. 16. For these things I weep, giving free rein to her tears, mine eye, mine eye, runneth down with water, because the comforter that should relieve my soul is far from me, the friends to whom she might have looked for words and deeds which would restore her soul having forsaken her; my children are desolate because the enemy prevailed, the enemy being still in power, with the result that the inhabitants of Jerusalem were destroyed, that they perished most miserably. V. 17. Zion spreadeth forth her hands, in a gesture imploring help, and there is none to comfort her; the Lord hath commanded concerning Jacob that his adversaries should be round about him, his very neighbors being his enemies and seeking his destruction. Jerusalem is as a

menstruous woman among them, shut out from intercourse with people and from attendance at the Temple-worship. These facts impress Jerusalem as being important and true; she must admit their justice. V. 18. The Lord is righteous, just in His treatment of the rebellious city; for I have rebelled against His commandment. Hear, I pray you, all people, and behold my sorrow, since she feels the need of sympathy; my virgins and my young men are gone into captivity, this fact showing the very climax of her afflictions. V. 19. I called for my lovers, the nations which had professed an interest of true affection, but they deceived me; my priests and mine elders gave up the ghost in the city, both the spiritual and the temporal rulers expiring in the neighborhood of the Sanctuary of Jehovah, while they sought their meat to relieve their souls, the very nobles of the people being obliged to seek food of any kind whatsoever, if it only would suffice to preserve their lives. V. 20. Behold, O Lord, for I am in distress, she implored Him to observe how badly she fared. My bowels are troubled, being violently excited with excessive grief; mine heart is turned within me, for I have grievously rebelled, the punishment being altogether deserved, in the full measure in which it struck her. Abroad the sword bereaveth, as the battle demanded its victims; at home there is as death, namely, by famine and pestilence. V. 21. They have heard that I sigh, the former friends and allies being fully aware of her groaning; there is none to comfort me, for they all ignore her trouble. All mine enemies have heard of my trouble; they are glad that Thou hast done it, rejoicing over the Lord's punishment upon Zion. Thou wilt bring the day that Thou hast called, the day of wrath with whose coming the Lord had threatened for many years, and they shall be like unto me, for the Lord would visit her enemies as He had punished her. V. 22. Let all their wickedness come before Thee, for a just punishment, and do unto them as Thou hast done unto me for all my transgressions, according to the same righteous judgment; for my sighs are many, and my heart is faint. This is not a vindictive prayer, but a plea for justice, which repentant believers of all times may well send up to the throne of God. The very punishment of God upon rebellious children is intended to change into a blessed experience of good.

Lamentation over the Destruction of Zion and the Desolation of Judah.

A DESCRIPTION OF JEHOVAH'S JUDGMENT. V. 1. How hath the Lord covered the daughter of Zion, His own city, formerly the

seat of His Church, with a cloud in His anger, with the chilly darkness of ignominy and shame, and cast down from heaven unto the earth the beauty of Israel, the glory of the capital itself, chosen by God, as