Jerusalem hath grievously sinned; therefore she is removed: all that honoured her despise her, because they have seen her nakedness: yea, she sigheth, and turneth backward.
Ver. 8. Jerusalem hath grievously sinned.] Perpetuo, assidue, et graviter peccavit. Heb., Hath sinned sin, hath sinned sinningly, doing wickedly as she could, Jer 3:4 and having many transgressions wrapped up in her sins and their circumstances. Lev 16:21 And this is here acknowledged as the true cause of her calamity. Profane persons lay all the blame in this case upon God, as he in the poet -
“ O patria, O divum domus Ilium, et inclyta bello
Maenia Dardanidum: ferus omnia Iupiter Argos
Transtulit …
Postquam res Asiae Priamique evertere gentem
Immeritam visum superis, ”& c. - Virg., Aeneid., ii.
Therefore she is removed.] Heb., Therefore is she unto removing or wandering, as Cain was a when he went to live in the land of Nod, or as a menstruous woman is separated from the society of others. Nidah for Niddah.
All that honoured her.] When her ways pleased the Lord.
Because they have seen her nakedness.] Her infamous wickednesses, for which she hath done penance, as it were, and is therefore despised. Or else it is a term taken from a naked captive woman.
Yea, she sigheth, and turneth backward,] sc., To hide her nakedness from public view. Or, going into captivity, she looked her last look toward her dear country, and fetched a sigh.
a Ad modum Cain fratricidae. - Piguier.