Lamentations 1:15

15 "The Lord has refused to accept any of our soldiers. He has sent for an army to crush our young men. We are like grapes in the Lord's winepress. He has stomped on us, even though we are his very own people.

Lamentations 1:15 Meaning and Commentary

Lamentations 1:15

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.

Lamentations 1:15 In-Context

13 "He sent fire down from heaven. It went deep down into our very bones. He spread a net to catch us by the feet. He stopped us right where we were. He made our city empty. We are sick all the time.

14 "We must carry the heavy load of our sins. He tied it on us with his hands. Our sins are heavy on our necks. The Lord has taken away our strength. He has handed us over to our enemies. We can't win the battle over them.

15 "The Lord has refused to accept any of our soldiers. He has sent for an army to crush our young men. We are like grapes in the Lord's winepress. He has stomped on us, even though we are his very own people.

16 "That's why we are sobbing. Tears are flowing from our eyes. No one is near to comfort us. No one can heal our spirits. Our children don't have anything. Our enemies are much too strong for us."

17 Zion reaches out its hands. But no one is there to comfort its people. The LORD has ordered that the neighbors of Jacob's people would become their enemies. Jerusalem has become polluted among them.