Lamentations 1:15

Lam 1:15 The Lord hath trodden under foot all my mighty [men] in the midst of me: he hath called an assembly against me to crush my young men: the Lord hath trodden the virgin, the daughter of Judah, [as] in a winepress.

Ver. 15. The Lord hath trodden underfoot.] As unsavoury salt; that is, he hath covered with the greatest contempt.

All my mighty men.] Vulgate, My magnificos, or gallants, in whom I too much trusted.

In the midst of me.] In the very bosom of their mother; as Caracalla killed his brother Geta, consecrating the sword wherewith he so killed him.

He hath called an assembly against me.] Vocant adversum me tempus, so the Vulgate version hath it; and Calvin to the same purpose, He hath called the time against me - i.e., a set time wherein to destroy my strong ones. Howbeit one {a} maketh this inference from the words, for the very time which we have condemned, we shall be condemned; and for every day which we have spent idly, we shall be shent severely. This is true, but little to the present purpose; like as Hushai said, Ahithophel’s counsel was good, but not now.

The Lord hath trodden her as in a winepress.] By another like metaphor, God is said to have threshed Babylon as a threshingfloor. {Jer 51:33}

{a} Dr Playfair.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Lam_1:15-17

The Lord hath trodden under foot all my mighty men.

Supreme penalties

1. When God meaneth to afflict us, He will spoil us of all our helps wherein we may have any confidence.

2. God can as easily destroy in a fenced city as in a battle.

3. It is God that ruleth even the wicked, and setteth them on work against His servants.

4. Men can no more escape Gods hand in punishing them, than the grapes can fly from the treader of the winepress.

5. The niceness of those that have lived daintily (the virgin) is no reason to free them, but rather a provocation to bring afflictions upon them.

(1) The pampering of ourselves is none of the ends for which God bestoweth His blessings upon us.

(2) Such coy niceness as many be of is seldom without special sins that are incident to that condition, which God will not let pass unpunished.

6. Except the children forsake their sins, they shall not be spared for the godliness of their parents. (J. Udall.)

For these things I weep.

Grief in view of punishment

1. It is not only lawful, but also necessary, for the godly to be so greatly grieved, when God punisheth them for their sins, as may draw them into extreme weeping.

2. No adversity hath warrant to grieve us so much as the punishment of God upon us for our sins (Luk_23:28).

3. There is none so stout, or hardhearted, but afflictions will bring him down.

4. It is a grievous plague to be deprived of comforters in affliction; the contrary whereof is an exceeding blessing.

5. It is the duty of everyone to comfort and relieve others that be in distress.

(1) God hath so commanded (Gal_6:2).

(2) We are members one of another (1Co_12:27).

(3) We may have the like need ourselves another time.

6. The Church, as also the commonwealth, is to declare herself a kind mother to everyone that is trained up therein, and to have compassion of their miseries, helping them to the uttermost.

7. It is the property of carnal friends to be friendly only whilst prosperity is upon us; but if our adversaries prevail against us, they are gone. (J. Udall.)

Zion spreadeth forth her hands.--

The appeal for help

1. It is a necessary duty in Gods people to seek out all good means of their release from troubles.

2. God often frustrateth the lawful endeavours of His children of that good issue which is expected, and yet liketh well that they should use means to bring the same to pass.

3. The wicked have no power against Gods people, but that which is given them from the Lord.

4. Gods people are more grievously afflicted and reproached in the world than any else, and the godliest most of all. (J. Udall.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1:15 his beloved city: God had given special care to Jerusalem, like a father protecting his daughter. But her sins had been persistent, and her punishment was horrible. • like grapes . . . trampled in a winepress: This common procedure for extracting juice from grapes is used vividly in Isa 63:3 to show the horrors of punishment. In Rev 14:18-20; 19:15, the image graphically represents universal judgment.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

He hath trodden them underfoot as they tread grapes in the winepress.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

trodden, &c.--MAURER, from Syriac root, translates, "cast away"; so Kg2 23:27. But Psa 119:118, supports English Version.

in . . . midst of me--They fell not on the battlefield, but in the heart of the city; a sign of the divine wrath.

assembly--the collected forces of Babylon; a very different "assembly" from the solemn ones which once met at Jerusalem on the great feasts. The Hebrew means, literally, such a solemn "assembly" or feast (compare Lam 2:22).

trodden . . . virgin . . . in a wine-press--hath forced her blood to burst forth, as the red wine from the grapes trodden in the press (Isa 63:3; Rev 14:19-20; Rev 19:15).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 15. Called an assembly] The Chaldean army, composed of various nations, which God commissioned to destroy Jerusalem.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

She first says, that all her valiant men had been trodden underfoot. Now we know how much the Jews trusted in their men even to the very time when they were wholly subdued. As then they had shewed so much insolence and pride towards the prophets, it hence became a cause of greater sorrow, when Jerusalem herself saw that she was destitute of every protection, and that her valiant men were trodden under foot. She says, in the midst of me. And this ought to be observed; for if they had fallen on the field of battle, if they had been taken in the fields by their enemies, such a thing would not have been so grievous: but that they had been thus laid prostrate, in the very bosom of the city, was indeed a token of vengeance from above. We now see that this circumstance was not superfluous, that all the valiant men of Jerusalem were laid prostrate in the midst of her.

It is then said that it was the fixed time, when God destroyed her chosen men, or her youth. Should it seem preferable to take מועד, muod, as meaning a congregation, I do not object; yet I do not approve of this meaning, for it seems forced. It agrees better with the context to regard it as the fixed time, the time before appointed by God to destroy all the strong men.

There is then another metaphor used, — that God had trodden the winepress as to the daughter of Zion. This figure occurs elsewhere, as in Isaiah 63:1,

“Who is this that cometh from Edom? and why are his garments red?”

For the Prophet wonders how God could come forth from Edom, sprinkled with blood. God answers, “The winepress have I trod alone;” that is, because he had avenged the wrongs done to his people. For we know that the Idumeans had always been incensed against the miserable Jews. Then God, in order to shew that lie was the defender of his Church, says that he came from Edom, and was sprinkled and even made wet with blood. As when any one is red with wine after having toiled in the winepress, so also is the representation in this place. We have also seen in Jeremiah 51:33, that Babylon was like a threshing-floor. The metaphor, indeed, is different, but bears a likeness to the present. As, then, God is said to tread, or to thresh, when he afflicts any land, so he is said to tread the winepress, as here. It follows, —

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(15) Trodden under foot.—Better, hath made contemptible, as those who are weighed in the balance and found wanting.

All my mighty men . . .—The adjective is used elsewhere of bulls (Psa_22:12; Isa_34:7), but stands here for the heroes of Judah, who fell, not in open battle, but ignominiously “in the midst” of the captured city.

He hath called an assembly.—The point of the phrase lies in its being that commonly used for proclaiming a religious festival (Lev_23:4). Here the festival is proclaimed, not for Jerusalem, but against her, and is to be kept by those who exult in the slaughter of her youthful warriors.

The Lord hath trodden the virgin . . .—Better, hath trodden the winepress for the virgin . . . For the winepress as the symbol of judgment and slaughter, see Isa_63:2; Rev_14:19; Rev_19:15.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

15. hath called a solemn assembly] or, sacrificial banquet. Cp. Jer_46:10; Isa_34:6; Eze_39:17 ff.; Zep_1:7 f. The festival is not for Israel but for the enemy, and that which is to be celebrated, the overthrow of the flower of the Jewish army.

hath trodden, etc.] hath trodden the winepress of the virgin daughter of Judah. For treading the winepress, as a phrase to express the wrath of God, cp. Isa_63:3; Joe_3:13; Rev_14:19; Rev_19:15, and for the virgin (daughter), Jer_14:17; Jer_18:13 (where see note), Jer_31:4. The expression is used to indicate inviolate security, and Zion (the speaker) here identifies it with the people of Judah collectively.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Lord hath trodden under foot all my mighty men in the midst of me,.... As a causeway is trodden; or as mire is trodden under foot in the streets; so were the mighty and valiant men, the soldiers and men of war, trodden under foot and destroyed by the Chaldeans in the streets of Jerusalem, and in the midst of Judea; the Lord so permitting it:

he hath called an assembly against me to crush my young men; the army of the Chaldeans, which were brought against Jerusalem by a divine appointment and call; against whom the choicest and stoutest of them, even their young men, could not stand; but were crushed and broken to pieces by them. The word for "assembly" sometimes signifies an appointed time; a time fixed for solemn festivals, and for calling the people to them; and so the Targum here,

"he hath called or appointed a time to break the strength of my young men;''

the time of Jerusalem's destruction by the Babylonians:

the Lord hath trodden the virgin, the daughter of Judah, as in a winepress; in the winepress of his wrath; or however in the winepress of the Babylonians, who are compared to one; into whose hands the Jews falling, were like grapes cast into a winepress, and there trodden by men, in order to squeeze and get out the wine; and in like manner were their blood squeezed out of them and shed. The Targum interprets it of the blood of virginity being poured out, as wine in a press; the virgins of Judah being ravished and defiled by the enemy.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Mighty. Hebrew, "magnificent" princes, (Luke xxii. 25.) or warriors. --- Time of vengeance. All in animated. Hebrew also, "a troop" of Chaldeans, chap. ii. 22. --- Juda. God, as the first cause, punishes the Jews by war.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

In the midst of me, may be interpreted either as pleonastical, or as denoting the place in which they lost their valiant men, viz. in the midst of the city during the siege, not in the field.

He hath called an assembly against me to crush my young men; instead of those solemn assemblies that were wont to be called together within Jerusalem by sound of trumpet for the solemn worship of God, God had called an assembly of Chaldeans as adversaries against the city, to crush the inhabitants of it.

The Lord hath trodden the virgin, the daughter of Judah, as in a wine-press; God had trodden upon the Jews as men use to stamp grapes in a wine-press, where they use to crush them to pieces to get out the juice, and then they throw the husks, that are good for nothing, upon the dunghills. These are but various expressions to set out the misery into which God had brought this people for their sins.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

15. The Lord — Here, and in thirteen other places, we have Adonai, while the name Jehovah is less prominent, “as if in their punishment the people felt the lordship of the Deity more, and his covenant love to them less.”

Hath trodden under foot — More literally, hath taken away, or, as yet others translate, hath made contemptible.

Called an assembly — More literally, with Gesenius, Keil, and most others, proclaim a festival. To this festival God invites the nations to crush the young men of Jerusalem. Hath trodden the virgin, etc. — Better, hath trodden the wine-press for the virgin.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Hath trodden under foot; rather, hath rejected; i.e. hath punished. Comp. Psa_119:118, Psa_119:119, where "thou rejectest same verb as here all them that wander from thy statutes" is followed by "thou puttest away all the ungodly of the earth like dross," Hath called an assembly; rather, hath proclaimed a festival. When Jehovah summons the instruments of his vengeance, the prophets describe it as the "proclaiming a festival." The Persians or Chaldeans, as the case may be, obey the summons with a holy glee, and destroy the enemies of the true God. (comp. Isa_13:3) Hath trodden, etc.; rather, hath trodden the winepress for (i.e. to the ruin of) the virgin daughter of Zion. The poet. carries on the figure of the festival. It is a vintage which is to be celebrated, such a vintage as is described in Isa_63:3. (comp. Joe_3:13) The choicest youth of Judah are to be cut off like grapes from the vine. "Virgin daughter" is a frequent figure to express inviolate security. (so Jer_14:17)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

An assembly - God had called an assembly of Chaldeans against the city, to crush the inhabitants of it. Trodden - God had trodden upon the Jews as men use to stamp grapes in a wine- press.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

General Information:

In this section Jerusalem is portrayed as a woman speaking about herself. (See: Personification)

mighty men

"strongest soldiers"

an assembly

Here the enemy army attacking Jerusalem is spoken of as if it were a meeting of people who have come together in order to accuse and condemn someone. AT: "a great army" (See: Metaphor)

to crush my vigorous men

This speaks of the enemy army defeating the soldiers of Jerusalem as if they crushed them. AT: "to defeat my vigorous men"

vigorous men

This refers to men at the strongest time of their lives.

The Lord has trampled ... in the winepress

Here the judgment of God is described as if Jerusalem were grapes on which he had trampled in order to squeeze out the juice. AT: "It is as though the Lord has trampled upon the virgin daughter of Judah in a winepress" (See: Metaphor)

the virgin daughter of Judah

This is a poetic name for Jerusalem, which is spoken of here as if it were a woman. The word "virgin" suggests that this woman is pure. (See: Metaphor)

translationWords

lord

might

assembly

virgin

kingdom of Judah

grape

winepress

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

The Lord has trampled Heb. סִלָה. He trampled and trod, an expression of (Isa. 62:10): “pave, pave the highway (סֹלוּ סֹלוּ הַמְסִלָה),” [meaning to beat down the road].

He summoned an assembly against me Heb. מוֹעֵד, a gathering of troops to come against me. And our Sages expounded what they expounded (Pes. 77a, Ta’an. 29a, Sanh. 104b): Tammuz of that year was a full (thirty-day) month; [i. e., the Tammuz] of the second year from the Exodus from Egypt. Therefore, the return of the Spies occurred on the night of the ninth of Av, upon which their weeping was established for generations (Ta’an. ad loc., Sanh. ad loc., Sotah 35a).

the Lord has trodden as in a wine press An expression of massacre, like (Isa. 63:3): “A wine press I trod alone.” As one treads grapes to extract their wine, so did He trample the women to extract their blood.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.