In that day shall one take up a parable against you, and lament with a doleful lamentation, and say, We be utterly spoiled: he hath changed the portion of my people: how hath he removed it from me! turning away he hath divided our fields.

In that day shall they take up a parable against you, and lament with a doleful lamentation, and'say, We are utterly ruined: he changeth the portion of my people: how doth he remove it from me! to the rebellious he divideth our fields.

In that day a parable shall be taken up upon you, and a song shall be sung with melody by them that say: We are laid waste and spoiled: the portion of my people is changed: how shall he depart from me, whereas he is returning that will divide our land?

In that day shall they take up a proverb concerning you, and lament with a doleful lamentation, and say, We are utterly spoiled: he hath changed the portion of my people: how hath he removed it from me! He hath distributed our fields to the rebellious.

In that day shall they take up a parable against you, and lament with a doleful lamentation, and say, We be utterly spoiled: he changeth the portion of my people: how doth he remove it from me! to the rebellious he divideth our fields.

In that day shall one take up a parable against you, and lament with a grievous lamentation, and say, We are utterly wasted: he hath changed the portion of my people: how hath he removed it from me! turning away he hath divided our fields.

In that day doth one take up for you a simile, And he hath wailed a wailing of woe, He hath said, We have been utterly spoiled, The portion of my people He doth change, How doth He move toward me! To the backslider our fields He apportioneth.

In that day shall one take up a parable against you, and lament with a doleful lamentation, and say, We be utterly spoiled: he has changed the portion of my people: how has he removed it from me! turning away he has divided our fields.

In that day this saying will be said about you, and this song of grief will be made: The heritage of my people is measured out, and there is no one to give it back; those who have made us prisoners have taken our fields from us, and complete destruction has come to us.

In that day shall they take up a parable against you, And lament with a doleful lamentation, and say: 'We are utterly ruined; He changeth the portion of my people; How doth he remove it from me! Instead of restoring our fields, he divideth them.'

In that day, a parable will be taken up about you, and a song will be sung with sweetness, saying: "We have been devastated by depopulation." The fate of my people has been altered. How can he withdraw from me, when he might be turned back, he who might tear apart our country?

In die illo tollent super eos parabolam, et lugebunt (sunt quidem verba singularis numeri, ys' et nhh; caeterum indefinita est locutio; nam qui subau diunt conductios homines, quibus solebat injungi haec provincia, ut lugubres cantus conciperent ad cladem aliquam, nescio an assecuti sint mentem Prophetae: tamen hoc relinquo in medio, quia alibi vidimus fuisse tunc cantores in luctu, quemadmodum etiam alibi erunt Praeficae, hoc est, mulieres lamentatrices; caeterum malo indefinite accipere; Tollent igitur super vos parabolam et lugebunt) luctu lamentabili (vel, lamento lamenti,) dicendo, Vastando vastati sumus; partem populi mei mutavit; quomodo tollent a nobis ad restituendum? Agros nostros dividet.

The verse is in broken sentences; and hence interpreters vary. But the meaning of the Prophet appears to me to be simply this, In that day they shall take up a proverb against you; that is, it will not be an ordinary calamity, but the report concerning it will go forth every where so that the Jews will become to all a common proverb. This is one thing. As to the word msl, meshil, it is taken, we know, for a weighty saying, and in the plural, weighty sayings, called by the Latins, sentences (sententias) or sayings, (dicta,) and by the Greeks, apophthegmata. apophthegmata, But these sayings were thus called weighty by the Hebrews, because he who elevated his style, made use especially of figurative expressions, to render his discourse nobler and more splendid. [1] Hence many render this word, enigmas. It accords well with the Prophet's meaning, to suppose, that proverbial sayings would spread every where respecting the Jews, especially as calamities were usually described in a plaintive song. They shall then mourn over you with lamentable mourning. But this ought to be referred to the fact, -- that the calamity would be every where known. It yet seems that this sentence is applied afterwards to the Jews themselves, and not unsuitably. But it is an indefinite mode of speaking, since the Prophet speaks not of one or two men, but of the whole people. They shall then mourn in this manner, Wasted, we have been wasted: the portion of my people has he changed -- (it is the future instead of the past) -- He has then changed the portion of my people This may be applied to God as well as to the Assyrians; for God was the principal author of this calamity; he it was who changed the portion of the people: for as by his blessing he had long cherished that people, so afterwards he changed their lot. But as the Assyrians were the ministers of God's vengeance, the expression cannot be unsuitably applied to them. The Assyrian then has taken away the portion of my people And then he says, How has he made to depart, or has taken away, or removed from me, (literally, to me,) to restore, -- though svv, shibeb, may be from the root svv, shub, it yet means the same, -- How then has he taken away from us to restore our fields he divides, that is, which he has divided; for the relative 'sr, asher, is understood and there is also a change of time. Now as the discourse, as I have said, is in broken sentences, there are various interpretations. I however think that the Prophet simply means this -- How as to restoring has he taken away our fields, which he hath divided? that is, How far off are we from restitution? for every hope is far removed, since the Lord himself has divided among strangers our land and possession; or since the enemies have divided it among themselves; for it is usual after victory, for every one to seize on his own portion. Whether then this be understood of the Assyrians, or rather be referred to God, the meaning of the Prophet seems clearly to be this, -- that the Jews were not only expelled from their country but that every hope of return was also taken away, since the enemies had parted among themselves their inheritance, so that they who had been driven out, now in vain thought of a restitution. [2] But I read this in the present time; for the Prophet introduces here the Jews as uttering this lamentation, -- "It is now all over with us, and there is no remedy for this evil; for not only are we stripped of all our property and ejected from our country, but what has been taken away by our enemies cannot be restored to us, inasmuch as they have already parted our possessions among themselves, and every one occupies his own portion and his own place, as though it were his own inheritance. We have therefore to do, not only with the Assyrians in general, but also with every individual; for what every one now occupies and possesses he will defend, as his rightful and hereditary possession." Some conjecture from this verse, that the discourse belongs rather to the Israelites, who were banished without any hope of return; but no necessity constrains us to explain this of the Israelites; for the Prophet does not declare here what God would do, but what would be the calamity when considered in itself. We have indeed said already in many places, that the Prophets, while threatening, speak only of calamities, desolations, deaths, and destructions, but that they afterwards add promises for consolation. But their teaching is discriminative: when the Prophets intend to terrify hypocrites and perverse men, they set forth the wrath of God only, and leave no hope; but when they would inspire with hope those who are by this means humbled, they draw forth comfort to them even from the goodness of God. What is here said then may fitly and really be applied to the Jews. It follows --

Footnotes

1 - Very similar is the description of msl by Lowth in his Praelections; he describes it as that style which is sententius, figurative, and sublime -- Sententiosum, figuratum, et sublime docendi genus He says also that the word means often a saying, anaxiom, a short sentence compactly formed -- est quoevis sententia sive axioma scite graviterque dictum, paucis concinnatum, et ad gnomon firmam compositum, 1 Samuel 24:14, Prael. 4. And this is evidently its meaning here, -- a common saying, everywhere known. -- Ed.

2 - Most commentators agree as to the general meaning of this verse, which is clearly stated here: but their versions differ. Newcome, following the Septuagint, renders the verbs in the first and second lines in a passive sense, but Henderson gives them an active meaning, supplying "one" as the nominative case, i.e., the person, who utters the lamentation afterwards mentioned. The two last lines are the most difficult. Marckius has this version, -- Quomodo subtraxit mihi! Avertenti agros nostros distribuit! That of Junius and Tremelius is essentially the same, only the verbs are put in the present tense. Newcome's rendering is this, -- How hath he withdrawn it form me! To an apostate he hath divided our fields! To call the king of Babylon an apostate, seems incongruous, as it cannot be applied to any one but who has turned away from true religion. The most obvious and literal rendering is that given by Marckius, with the exception of the tense. I offer the following version of the whole verse, with no alteration in the text, except the supplying of a v before 'mr which is found in several MSS., -- In that day shall be taken up concerning you a proverb, And lament a lamentation will the oppressed, And say will the desolate, -- "We are destroyed, The portion of my people he changes; How he takes away from me! To the alienator of my fields he divides them! It is a proverb, a common saying, and a lament, that would be uttered, as the Prophet foretells, at the time of the expulsion of the people from the land, when it would be taken possession of by their enemies. -- Ed.

In that day shall one take up a parable against you - The mashal or likeness may, in itself, be any speech in which one thing is likened to another:
1) "figured speech,"
2) "proverb," and, since such proverbs were often sharp sayings against others,
3) "taunting figurative speech."
But of the person himself it is always said, he "is made, becomes a proverb" Deuteronomy 28:37; 1-Kings 9:7; 2-Chronicles 7:20; Psalm 44:15; Psalm 69:12; Jeremiah 24:9; Ezekiel 14:8. To take up or utter such a speech against one, is, elsewhere, followed by the speech itself; "Thou shalt take up this parable against the king of Babylon, and say," Isaiah 14:4. "Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and say," Habakkuk 2:6. Although then the name of the Jews has passed into a proverb of reproach (Jerome, loc. cit.), this is not contained here. The parable here must be the same as the doleful lamentation, or dirge, which follows. No mockery is more cutting or fiendish, than to repeat in jest words by which one bemoans himself. The dirge which Israel should use of themselves in sorrow, the enemy shall take up in derision, as Satan does doubtless the self-condemnation of the damned. Ribera: "Men do any evil, undergo any peril, to avoid shame. God brings before us that deepest and eternal shame," the shame and everlasting contempt, in presence of Himself and angels and devils and the good Psalm 52:6-7; Isaiah 66:24, that we may avoid shame by avoiding evil.
And lament with a doleful lamentation - The words in Hebrew are varied inflections of a word imitating the sounds of woe. It is the voice of woe in all languages, because the voice of nature. Shall wail a wail of woe, It is the funeral dirge over the dead Jeremiah 31:15, or of the living doomed to die Ezekiel 32:18; it is sometimes the measured mourning of those employed to call forth sorrow Amos 5:16; Jeremiah 9:17, Jeremiah 9:19, or mourning generally 1-Samuel 7:2; Jeremiah 9:18. Among such elegies, are still Zion-songs, (elegies over the ruin of Zion,) and mournings for the dead. The word woe is thrice repeated in Hebrew, in different forms, according to that solemn way, in which the extremest good or evil is spoken of; the threefold blessing, morning and evening, with the thrice-repeated name of God Numbers 6:24-26, impressing upon them the mystery which developed itself, as the divinity of the Messiah and the personal agency of the Holy Spirit were unfolded to them. The dirge which follows is purposely in abrupt brief words, as those in trouble speak, with scarce breath for utterance. First, in two words, with perhaps a softened inflection, they express the utterness of their desolation. Then, in a threefold sentence, each clause consisting of three short words, they say what God had done, but name Him not, because they are angry with Him. God's chastisements irritate those whom they do not subdue .
The portion of my people He changeth;
How removeth He (it) as to me!
To a rebel our fields He divideth.
They act the patriot. They, the rich, mourn over "the portion of my people" (they say) which they had themselves despoiled: they speak, (as men do,) as if things were what they ought to be: they hold to the theory and ignore the facts. As if, because God had divided it to His people, therefore it so remained! as if, because the poor were in theory and by God's law provided for, they were so in fact! Then they are enraged at God's dealings. He removeth the portion as to me; and to whom giveth He our fields?
"To a rebel!" the Assyrian, or the Chaldee. They had deprived the poor of their portion of "the Lord's land" . And now they marvel that God resumes the possession of His own, and requires from them, not the fourfold Exodus 22:1; 2-Samuel 12:6; Luke 19:8 only of their spoil, but His whole heritage. Well might Assyrian or Chaldee, as they did, jeer at the word, renegade. They had not forsaken their gods; - but Israel, what was its whole history but a turning back? "Hath a nation changed their gods, which yet are no gods? But My people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit" Jeremiah 2:11.
Such was the meaning in their lips. The word "divideth" had the more bitterness, because it was the reversal of that first "division" at the entrance into Canaan. Then, with the use of this same word Numbers 26:53, Numbers 26:55-56; Joshua 13:7; Joshua 14:5; Joshua 18:2, Joshua 18:5, Joshua 18:10; Joshua 19:51, the division of the land of the pagan was appointed to them. Ezekiel, in his great symbolic vision, afterward prophesied the restoration of Israel, with the use of this same term Ezekiel 47:21. Joel spoke of the parting of their land, under this same term, as a sin of the pagan (Joel 4:2, (Joel 3:3 in English)). Now, they say, God "divideth our fields," not to us, but to the pagan, whose lands He gave us. It was a change of act: in impenitence, they think it a change of purpose or will. But what lies in that, we be "utterly despoiled?" Despoiled of everything; of what they felt, temporal things; and of what they did not feel, spiritual things.
Despoiled of the land of promise, the good things of this life, but also of the Presence of God in His Temple, the grace of the Lord, the image of God and everlasting glory. "Their portion" was changed, as to themselves and with others. As to themselvcs, riches, honor, pleasure, their own land, were changed into want, disgrace, suffering, captivity; and yet more bitter was it to see others gain what they by their own fault had forfeited. As time went on, and their transgression deepened, the exchange of the portion of that former people of God became more complete. The casting-off of the Jews was the grafting-in of the Gentiles Acts 13:46. Seeing ye judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo! we turn to the Gentiles. And so they who were "no people" Romans 10:19, became the people of God, and they who were His people, became, for the time, "not My people" Hosea 1:9 : and "the adoption of sons, and the glory, and the covenants, and the lawgiving, and the service of God, and the promises" Romans 9:4-5, came to us Gentiles, since to us Christ Himself our God blessed forever came, and made us His.
How hath He removed - The words do not say what He removed. They thought of His gifts, the words include Himself. They say "How?" in amazement. The change is so great and bitter, it cannot be said. Time, yea eternity cannot utter it. "He hath divided our fields." The land was but the outward symbol of the inward heritage. Unjust gain, kept back, is restored with usury Proverbs 1:19; it taketh away the life of the owners thereof. The vineyard whereof the Jews said, the inheritance shall be ours, was taken from them and given to others, even to Christians. So now is that awful change begun, when Christians, leaving God, their only unchanging Good, turn to earthly vanities, and, for the grace of God which He withdraws, have these only for their fleeting portion, until it shall be finally exchanged in the Day of Judgment Luke 16:25. Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and thou art tormented.
Israel defended himself in impenitence and self-righteousness. He was already the Pharisee. The doom of such was hopeless. The prophet breaks in with a renewed, "Therefore." He had already prophesied that they should lose the lands which they had unjustly gotten, the land which they had profaned. He had described it in their own impenitent words. Now on the impenitence he pronounces the judgment which impenitence entails, that they should not be restored

Take up a parable against you - Your wickedness and your punishment shall be subjects of common conversation; and a funeral dirge shall be composed and sung for you as for the dead. The lamentation is that which immediately follows: We be utterly spoiled; and ends, Are these his doings? Micah 2:7.

In that day shall [one] take up a parable against you, and lament with a doleful lamentation, [and] say, (b) We be utterly spoiled: he hath changed the portion of my people: how hath he removed [it] from me! turning away he hath divided our fields.
(b) Thus the Jews lament and say that there is no hope of restitution, seeing their possessions are divided among the enemies.

In that day shall one take up a parable against you,.... Making use of your name, as a byword, a proverb, a taunt, and a jeer; mocking at your calamities and miseries: or, "concerning you" (c); take up and deliver out a narrative of your troubles, in figurative and parabolical expressions; which Kimchi thinks is to be understood of a false prophet, finding his prophecies and promises come to nothing; or rather a stranger, a bystander, a spectator of their miseries, an insulting enemy, mimicking and representing them; or one of themselves, in the name of the rest:
and lament with a doleful lamentation; or, "lament a lamentation of lamentation" (d): a very grievous one; or, "a lamentation that is", or "shall be", or "is done" (e); a real one, and which will continue:
and say, we be utterly spoiled; our persons, families, and friends; our estates, fields, and vineyards; our towns and cities, and even our whole land, all laid waste, spoiled, and plundered:
he hath changed the portion of my people; the land of Israel, which was the portion of the people of it, given unto them as their portion by the Lord; but now he, or the enemy the Assyrian, or God by him, had changed the possessors of it; had taken it away from Israel, and given it to others:
how hath he removed it from me! the land that was my portion, and the portion of my people; how comes it to pass that he hath taken away that which was my property, and given it to another! how strange is this! how suddenly was it done! and by what means!
turning away, he hath divided our fields; either God, turning away from his people, because of their sins, divided their fields among their enemies; "instead of restoring" (f), as some read it, he did so; or the enemy the Assyrian, turning away after he had conquered the land, and about to return to his own country, divided it among his soldiers: or, "to the perverse", or "rebellious one (g), he divideth our fields"; that is, the Lord divides them to the wicked, perverse, and blaspheming king of Assyria; so the word is used of one that goes on frowardly, and backslides, Isaiah 57:17.
(c) "super vos", Pagninus, Montanus; "de vobis", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "super vobis", Cocceius. (d) "et lamentabitur lamentum lamenti", Montanus. (e) "factum est", De Dieu; "ejulatu vero", Cocceius; "actum est", Burkius. (f) "pro reddendo", Castalio. (g) "aversus, refractarius", Drusius; "ingrato et rebelli", De Dieu.

one take up a parable against you--that is, Some of your foes shall do so, taking in derision from your own mouth your "lamentation," namely, "We be spoiled," &c.
lament with a doleful lamentation--literally, "lament with a lamentation of lamentations." Hebrew, naha, nehi, nihyah, the repetition representing the continuous and monotonous wail.
he hath changed the portion of my people--a charge of injustice against Jehovah. He transfers to other nations the sacred territory assigned as the rightful portion of our people (Micah 1:15).
turning away he hath divided our fields--Turning away from us to the enemy, He hath divided among them our fields. CALVIN, as the Margin, explains, "Instead of restoring our territory, He hath divided our fields among our enemies, each of whom henceforward will have an interest in keeping what he hath gotten: so that we are utterly shut out from hope of restoration." MAURER translates as a noun, "He hath divided our fields to a rebel," that is, to the foe who is a rebel against the true God, and a worshipper of idols. So "backsliding," that is, backslider (Jeremiah 49:4). English Version gives a good sense; and is quite tenable in the Hebrew.

A parable - A taunting proverb. And lament - Your friends for you, and you for yourselves. He - God. Portion - Their wealth, plenty, freedom, joy and honour, into poverty, famine, servitude, grief and dishonour. How - How dreadfully hath God dealt with Israel; removing their persons into captivity, and transferring their possession to their enemies? Turning away - Turning away from us in displeasure. God hath divided our fields among others.