Let all their wickedness come before you; and do unto them, as you have done unto me for all my transgressions: for my sighs are many, and my heart is faint.
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George Leo Haydock
AD 1849
Let. He prays not for their ruin, but predicts it; and wishes rather that they would be converted. (Calmet)
Historical interpretation LET ALL EVIL BE PRESENT: TAU is interpreted ‘signs’ in plural, as that is shown with this sign, to which many significant things refer. Hence: Mark Tau upon the foreheads of the men that sigh. In this the cross of Christ is understood, just as its own shape testify to, and as in Greek omega is the final letter, so in Hebrew TAU, whence the Lord says: I am Alpha and Omega: the Beginning and the End. Likewise TAU therefore signifies the cross, with which the foreheads are signed, as not to be slayed by the killers. TAU are therefore the signs of the cross, or rather it is the cross itself, whence it is placed upon the foreheads of the men that mourn, but then it was the sign of the future cross, now it is the cross itself. Besides, TAU is the last of the Hebrew letters, which are as many as the books of the Old Testament, for which they stand as signs. Indeed, as TAU is the last of the alphabet, so is the cross of Christ for those books, he who is the end of the...
Thau- ‘signs’
be present- that you seemed to not know.
of them- of future goods.
as- under present circumstances.
made vintage- through them.
my iniquities- that is to say rightly.
sighs are many- because the aberrations are manifold.
Here a vindicated Judah (Jerusalem) is sought. First is recalled the fault within memory. As expressed: "Let all their evil-doing come before thee." That is, from their sins. For, Psalm l09(l08):l4: exclains: "May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the Lord, and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out!"
Second, a penalty is sought. As said: "and dealwith them as thou hast dealt with me because of my transgressions." And, as said above in Verse 12: "which the Lord inflicted on the day of his fierce anger."
Third, a cause is assigned. As Verse 22 concludes: I, for my groans are many and my heart is faint." Namely, due to the evils that I (Judah, Jerusalem), suffer from such enemies. As Jeremiah 8:18: declares: "My grief is beyond healing, my heart is sick within me."
