For the inhabitant of Maroth waited carefully for good: but evil came down from the LORD unto the gate of Jerusalem.
Ver. 12. For the inhabitant of Maroth waited carefully for good] Or, shall grieve for the good, viz. that he hath lost in the common calamity; grieve till he be heart sick, as Amos 6:6, or wait till he faint, for "hope deferred maketh the heart sick," Proverbs 13:12. The name of this city is Maroth, that is, bitternesses; and bitter things shall befall her, see Ruth 1:20, because together with the good of piety, which she ought to have waited upon, she hath lost the good of prosperity, which in vain she hath waited for. "The expectation of the wicked is wrath," Proverbs 11:23 .
But evil came down from the Lord] It is he that sends and sets the enemy to work; as Titus acknowledged, at the last destruction of Jerusalem, that he only lent his hands to the Divine justice. It was God that stirred up enemies to revolted Solomon. And Job descried God's hand on the arms of the Sabean robbers.