Lecture 12

^2:12^ Lamed. They said to their mothers: ‘Where is corn and wine,’ when they fainted away as the wounded in the streets of the city: when they breathed out their souls in the bosoms of their mothers.

34. Here he exposes the course of their death, in order to excite greater mercy.

And first, the petition they make to their mothers: where is corn and wine, as if dying: “Give us food to eat.” The little ones have asked for bread, and there was none to break it unto them (Lam 4:4).

Second, their need for asking: when they fainted away, because they were dying of hunger; in the streets, as if in the sight of all, and nobody could remedy it. He that shall abide in this city, shall die by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence (Jer 21:9).

Third, their most bitter death: **when they breathed out their souls in the bosoms of their mothers. She set him on her knees until noon, and then he died (2 Kgs 4:20).