Zion spreads forth her hands, and there is none to comfort her: the LORD has commanded concerning Jacob, that his adversaries should be round about him: Jerusalem is as an unclean thing among them.
All Commentaries on Lamentations 1:17 Go To Lamentations 1
Thomas Aquinas
AD 1274
Here is first a loud lamentation, second, it is due to a captivity during the reign of Sedecias, (Zedekiah, the last king of Judah), when the people were totally captive.
As to this situation three more ideas are proposed. First, is the siege, or blockade, as bewailed, second the captivity itself. As further on said: "The Lord is in the right for I have rebelled against his word." (Verse 18 "Sade").
Third, is the corruption, due to a famine. As further on declared: "I called to my lovers but they deceived me, my priests and elders perished in the city, while they sought food to revive their strength." (Verse 19 "Coph")
Regarding the siege, or blockade, three further notions are made. First is reckoned a lack of friends, who could be of aid in preventing the siege. As declared: "Zion stretches out her hands, but there is none to comfort her" (V 17). That is, as if, seeking aid from the Egyptians. As finally expressed in Chapter 5:6: "We have given the hand to Egypt, and to Assyris, to get bread enough." Or, also aid from the Lord God. As the prophet Isaiah expresses: "When you spread forth your hands, I will hide my eyes from you" (Is 1:15).
Second, as to the captivity itself, the arrival of the enemy is considered in Verse 17: "the Lord has commanded against Jacob that his neighbors should be his foes." Namely, like the Chaldeans. As Isaiah 10:6 proclaimed: "and against the people of my wrath I commanded him to take spoil and seize plunder.
Third, the consumption, due to famine, considers the management of the siege. As Verse 17 says finally: "Jerusalem has become a filthy thing among them." That is, against Jerusalem, no one advances in order to defend it. As Jeremiah 2:2 declares: "None who seek her need weary themselves; in her mouth they will find her."
