Lamentations 5:13

Lam 5:13 They took the young men to grind, and the children fell under the wood.

Ver. 13. They took the young men to grind,] i.e., To do any base and abject business. {Exo 11:5; Exo 12:29} Frustra enim hic Hieronymus et alii Sodomiticum quid cogitant.

And the children fell under the wood.] Being not able to stand under such unreasonable burdens as were laid upon their backs.

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.

Their slavery was so great, that they were not able to abide it.

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

young men . . . grind--The work of the lowest female slave was laid on young men (Jdg 16:21; Job 31:10).

children fell under . . . wood--Mere children had to bear burdens of wood so heavy that they sank beneath them.

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 13. They took the young men to grind] This was the work of female slaves. See Clarke on Isa 47:2.

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

I cannot proceed farther now.

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.

(13) They took . . .—Better, Young men bear the mill: i.e., were not only set to grind the handmill, which was itself the work of a menial slave, commonly of women, but were made to carry the mill itself, probably as they marched along with the Chaldæan armies on their way to Babylon. (Comp. Isa_47:2.) So in like manner the next clause describes the sufferings of the striplings, who were made to carry the wood which was used as fuel or other purposes, and who literally “fell” (or staggered) under their burdens.

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

13. Tenderness of age did not secure against the most oppressive and menial of labours.

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.

They took the young men to grind,.... In the mill, which was laborious service; and which persons were sometimes put to, by way of punishment; and was the punishment of servants; see Jdg 16:21. Some render it, "the young men bore the grist" (x); carried the corn, the meal ground, from place to place. The Targum is,

"the young men carried the millstones;''

and so Jarchi, they put millstones upon their shoulders, and burdens so as to weary them. Ben Melech, from their Rabbins, relates, that there were no millstones in Babylon; wherefore the Chaldeans put them upon the young men of Israel, to carry them thither. The Vulgate Latin version is,

"they abused the young men in an unchaste manner;''

suggesting something obscene intended by grinding; see Job 31:10; but the context will not admit of such a sense:

and the children fell under the wood; such loads of wood were laid upon them, that they could not bear them, but fell under them. Aben Ezra understands it of moving the wood of the mill, of turning the wooden handle of it; or the wooden post, the rider or runner, by which the upper millstone was turned: this their strength was not equal to, and so failed. The Targum interprets it of a wooden gibbet, or gallows; some wooden engine seems to be had in view, used as a punishment, which was put upon their necks, something like a pillory; which they were not able to stand up under, but fell.

(x) "juvenes farinam portaverunt"; so some in Gataker; "juvenes molam tulerunt", Cocceius; "juvenes ad molendum portant", Junius & Tremellius.

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

They took the young men to grind - Or, “The young men” have borne the mill, a menial and laborious task usually performed by slaves (compare Isa 47:2).

The children fell under the wood - Or, lads have stumbled under burdens of wood. By lads are meant youths up to the age of military service; another form of menial labor.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Indecently, like the Sodomites. Hebrew, "they made the young men grind" at the mill, in their prison, (Haydock) as Samson (Judges xvi. 21.) and Sedecias (according to the Septuagint, chap. lii. 11.) were forced to do. To grind is often used in a bad sense; but it is not necessary to adopt it here. (Calmet) (Amama) --- The Chaldeans treated their captives without pity or shame. (Haydock) --- Wood; burdens, or stumbling-blocks, unless they were crucified; or, "roasted," if we admit a small alteration in the Hebrew, chap. iv. 10. (Calmet) --- They were forced to grind naked, and were beaten with staves. (Worthington)

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).

Their base, servile condition is expressed by the labour they were put to, which was either grinding in the mill, (an ordinary employment of slaves in those countries,) or carrying millstones; and the younger children in carrying great burdens of wood, under which they fell, as being not able to stand under the burdens laid upon them.

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

They took the young men to grind; rather, the young men have borne the mill. The lower millstone seems to have been specially hard, and therefore heavy, (see Job_41:24) and to carry it about must have required a more severe exertion even than the constant turning of the mill handle. Dr. Thomson "cannot recall an instance in which men were grinding at the mill" ("The Land and the Book," edit. 1881, p. 108), and Exo_11:5 and Mat_24:41 presuppose that it was women"s work. The conquered Jewish youths, however, share the fate of Samson"Eyeless, in Gaza, at the mill with slaves. ("Samson Agonistes," 41.) "Eyeless," indeed, they may some of them have been, as putting out the eyes was a common Oriental punishment. (comp. Jer_39:7) The children. This is, perhaps, too strong. The Hebrew na"ar is applicable, not only to children, but to youths at the age for marriage (Gen_34:19) or war. (1Ki_20:15) The wood; not the wooden handle of the mill, but the wood required for fuel.

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

Fell - Not being able to stand under the burdens laid upon them.

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

Young men are forced

This can be stated in active form. AT: "They force young men" (See: Active or Passive)

boys stagger under heavy loads of wood

The boys are forced to carry the loads of wood. AT: "boys stagger because they are forced to carry heavy loads of wood" or "they force the boys to carry heavy loads of wood which make them stagger" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

the city gate

This is where the elders would give legal advice, but also where people would meet socially.

the young men have left their music

Playing music was part of the social life at the city gate. This speaks of the men no longer playing their music as if the act of playing music were a place that they left. AT: "the young men have stopped playing their music" (See: Metaphor)

translationWords

elder

gate

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

Young men carried the millstones When the enemies led them away in neck irons, they would place millstones and burdens on their shoulders in order to tire them. Similarly: and youths fail under [loads of] wood, meaning that their strength failed. The expression of failing applies to the weakening of the strength, as is stated in Ezra (Neh. 4:4), “And Judea said: The porter’s strength has failed (כָּשַּׁל).” Similarly, (above 1:14) “and caused my strength to fail (הִכְשִּׁיל).”

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.