Lamentations 1:4

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 there is no longer any one going out and in through them, and men no longer assemble there. The reason why the priests and the virgins are here conjoined as representatives of the inhabitants of Jerusalem is, that lamentation is made over the cessation of the religious feasts. The virgins are here considered as those who enlivened the national festivals by playing, singing, and dancing: Jer 31:13; Psa 68:26; Jdg 21:19, Jdg 21:21; Exo 15:20. נגות (Niphal of יגה) is used here, as in Zep 2:13, of sorrow over the cessation of the festivals. Following the arbitrary rendering, ἀγόμενοι, of the lxx, Ewald would alter the word in the text into נהוּגות, "carried captive." But there is no necessity for this: he does not observe that this rendering does not harmonize with the parallelism of the clauses, and that נהג means to drive away, but not to lead captive. (Note: See, however, Sa1 20:2, with Keil's own rendering, and Isa 20:4, with Delitzsch's translation. - Tr.) והיא, "and she (Zion) herself" is in bitterness (cf. Rut 1:13, Rut 1:20), i.e., she feels bitter sorrow. In Lam 1:6, Lam 1:7,…

We have here the first alphabet of this lamentation, twenty-two stanzas, in which the miseries of Jerusalem are bitterly bewailed and her present deplorable condition is aggravated by comparing it with her former prosperous state; all along, sin is acknowledged and complained of as the procuring cause of all these miseries; and God is appealed to for justice against their enemies and applied to for compassion towards them. The chapter is all of a piece, and the several remonstrances are interwoven; but here is, I. A complaint made to God of their calamities, and his compassionate consideration desired (Lam 1:1-11). II. The same complaint made to their friends, and their compassionate consideration desired (Lam 1:12-17). III. An appeal to God and his righteousness concerning it (Lam 1:18-22), in which he is justified in their affliction and is humbly solicited to justify himself in their deliverance.

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.