Lecture 4

^3:10^ Daleth. He has become to me as a bear lying in wait: as a lion in a secret place.

^3:11^ Daleth. He has turned aside my paths, and has broken me in pieces, he has made me forsaken.

^3:12^ Daleth. He has bent his bow, and set me as a mark for his arrows.

48. Here he shows the mode of their affliction.

And first, that it is done deceitfully;

second, that it is done openly, at he has bent his bow (Lam 3:12).

third, that it is done abundantly, at he has filled me (Lam 3:15).

Concerning the first, he does two things.

First, he presents the deceit of their enemies: he, that is, Nebuchadnezzar, who fights against me with ambushes, has become to me as a bear, in which his cruelty is signified, and as a lion, in which is designated his power. And I will be to them as a lioness, as a leopard in the way of the Assyrians (Hos 13:7).

Second, he excludes ambushes, or their plans for them, in which they repel the ambushes of their enemies: he has turned aside my paths. Above: he has made me forsaken, wasted with sorrow all the day long (Lam 1:13).

He has bent his bow. Here he shows that he afflicted him publicly and openly; and concerning this, he does three things.

First, he presents the proposition: bow, the judgment, or the army of their enemies; as a mark, towards which all publicly shoot arrows. He has bent his bow (Ps 7:13). He has broken me, and has set me up to be his mark (Job 16:13).