Keil and Delitzsch Commentary - Lamentations 2:13 - 2:13

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Keil and Delitzsch Commentary - Lamentations 2:13 - 2:13


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Against such terrible misery, human power can give neither comfort nor help. "What shall I testify to you?" the Kethib אעודך is a mistake in transcription for אֲעִידֵךְ (Qeri), because עוּד is not commonly used in the Kal. הֵעִיד, to bear witness, is mostly construed with בְּ, against or for any one, but also with acc., 1Ki 21:10, 1Ki 21:13, in malam, and Job 29:11, in bonam partem. Here it is used in the latter sense: "give testimony to thee" for the purpose of instruction and comfort, - not of a calamity that has happened elsewhere, as Calvin and Thenius explain, though against the construction of the verb with the accus.; still less "to make one swear" (Gesenius, Ewald). That the prophetic witness is meant here in the sense of encouragement by instruction, warning, and comfort, is evident from the mention of the testimony of the false prophets in Lam 2:14. "What shall I compare to thee?" i.e., what kind of misfortune shall I mention as similar to yours? This is required by the principle derived from experience: solamen miseris socios habuisse malorum. וַאֲנַחֲמֵךְ, "that I may comfort thee." The reason assigned, viz., "for thy destruction is great, like the sea" (i.e., immense), follows the answer, understood though not expressed, "I can compare nothing to thee." The answer to the last question, "Who can heal thee?" (רָפָא with לְ) is, "no man;" cf. Jer 30:12. Reasons are assigned for this in Lam 2:14-16.