Lamentations 3:27 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth— We observed in the introduction to this book, that there are some commentators, and Michaelis among the rest, who conceive "that it was composed upon the death of king Josiah." They allege, that on an attentive perusal it will be found, that there is nothing in this book which might not have been written on the death of Josiah, which was a great calamity to his country: for Jerusalem, together with her new king, fell into the hands of the victor about three months after this misfortune, and was obliged to submit to a foreign prince, and to receive a tributary king from him; all which cannot be supposed to have passed without a siege, and the ruin of the walls of Jerusalem. The author of the second book of Chronicles expressly asserts, 2 Chronicles 35:25 that Jeremiah lamented the death of Josiah, together with other poets; and that his Lamentations and their elegies were reserved for the use of posterity. Why should we therefore doubt that this book contains those identical lamentations which are mentioned by the author of the book of Chronicles? Or, what reason is there for referring them to another calamity, which, it does not appear, or at least we are not sure, that he ever celebrated? To this we may add, that there are some things in the book of Lamentations which do not seem reconcileable to the time of Nebuchadrezzar, and to the time of the conflagration of the city and temple; especially when he attempts to beguile or sooth his troubles, in the words of the present verse, It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. This expression is proper only for a young man, not for one who was advanced in years, as Jeremiah was in the 11th year of Zedekiah. As for the complaint, chap. Lamentations 5:7. Our fathers have sinned, and are not, and we have borne their iniquities, Jeremiah could not have made use of it in the person of those who lived in the time of Zedekiah, without impeaching his piety; for that race was far more vicious and depraved than their progenitors, and being deservedly punished for their personal crimes, there was no necessity to trace their calamities so far backward. This expression might with some justice, if ever it could, have been made use of by the Jews in the reign of Josiah, who was a very pious king, a reviver of true religion, and who brought back his people to the worship of Jehovah, who had been offended by the sins of their forefathers, especially by those of Manasseh. In confirmation of this opinion, the reader is desired to refer to 2 Kings 23:25-26. Such are the proofs by which Michaelis and others support their opinion. The reader will consider what has been advanced on the other side, and judge for himself. We shall take notice of chap. Lamentations 5:7 when we come to it. As to the present verse, the argument drawn from it does not appear to carry great weight. The plain meaning of it seems to be, that it is useful and advantageous for a man to have been inured, even from his earliest days, to those restraints which arise from the sense of the duty we owe to God, and of the obedience we ought to pay to his laws, as well as to those afflictions which are the school of virtues holiness, and piety.