The yoke of my transgressions is bound by his hand: they are woven together, and come up upon my neck: he has made my strength to fall, the Lord has delivered me into their hands, from whom I am not able to rise up.
All Commentaries on Lamentations 1:14 Go To Lamentations 1
Thomas Aquinas
AD 1274
Here is indicated the rigor in justice of the Lord God, insofar as a divine judge. Around this idea three further notions are proposed.
First is considered a diligent concorn about sin. As said""My transgressions were bound into a yoke. That is, as one diligently considers a yoke of affliction, that must be interpreted as from effects of many sins. For, the prophet Jeremiah declares: "And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 'Jeremiah, what do you see?' and I said, 'I see a rod of almond" (Jer l:ll).
Second is noticed the severe effect from the punishment. As expressed: "by his hand they were fastened together", Namely, such evils were like a chain, and unbreakable like a bond.
Then: "they were set upon my neck". That is, while one suffers punishments for sins. As Psalm 38(37):4 exclaims: "For my iniquities have gone over my head; they weigh like a burden too heavy for me."
Third, an evasion of time is excluded, due to a weakness. As: "he caused my strength to fail". And, at another time, it was due to the enemy's power. For,"the Lord gave me into the hands of those whom I cannot understand." Namely, the Chaldeans. Thus, Psalm 3l(30):l0 states: "My strength fails because of my misery, and my bones waste away."
