Lamentations 3:37

Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not?

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(37-39) New grounds of patient faith are given: (1) In an echo from Psalm 33:9, affirming the sovereignty of God. The evil which He permits is under the control of this loving purpose; and (2) as far as it is not absolute evil, may be said to come from Him.

Benson Commentary

Lamentations 3:37-38. Who is he that saith — That commands an event to take place, or predicts that it shall take place, and it cometh to pass accordingly, when the Lord commandeth not? — Or who designs a thing, and brings his designs to effect, when the Lord is against him? “Haughty tyrants may boast of their power as if they were equal to Omnipotence itself; but still it is God’s prerogative to bring to pass whatever he pleases, without any let or impediment, only by speaking, or declaring his purpose, that the thing should be done, as he did at the beginning of the creation: see Psalm 33:7. And as he makes men the instruments of his vengeance when he sees fit, so he can restrain their cruelty whenever he pleases.” — Lowth. Out of the mouth of the Most High proceedeth not evil and good? — Do not calamities, as well as prosperous events, happen by God’s will and pleasure? The sum is: Nothing comes to pass in the world but by the disposal of the divine providence, which is directed by infinite wisdom, justice, and goodness. The inspired writer seems to be arguing himself and the people of God into a quiet submission to the divine will in their afflictions, from the consideration of the hand of God in them.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

3:37-41 While there is life there is hope; and instead of complaining that things are bad, we should encourage ourselves with the hope they will be better. We are sinful men, and what we complain of, is far less than our sins deserve. We should complain to God, and not of him. We are apt, in times of calamity, to reflect on other people's ways, and blame them; but our duty is to search and try our own ways, that we may turn from evil to God. Our hearts must go with our prayers. If inward impressions do not answer to outward expressions, we mock God, and deceive ourselves.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Why then does a loving God, who disapproves of suffering when inflicted by man upon man, Himself send sorrow and misery? "Because of sins."

Lamentations 3:37

Literally, "Who is this that spake and it was done, though אדני 'ădonāy commanded it not?"

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

37-39. Who is it that can (as God, Ps 33:9) effect by a word anything, without the will of God?

Matthew Poole's Commentary

The sense of these words is doubted by none, that nothing cometh to pass in the world but by the disposal of Divine Providence, either effecting it by an immediate influence, or permitting it; but to what end these words are brought in in this place is not so generally agreed. Some think they are brought in to check the blasphemy of some that spake of what had befallen the Jews as a thing which God had no hand in. Others think they are brought in as expounding that term that went before, The Lord seeth not. Though God doth not approve of sinful actions, nor incline any man’s heart or will to them, yet God hath a hand in the permission of the most cruel and unjust actions, which he could easily hinder. I should rather incline to interpret them as an argument brought by the prophet in the name of the people of God, arguing themselves into a quiet submission to the afflictive providences under which they laboured from the consideration of the superior hand of God in them; as Christ told Pilate, Thou couldst not have had any power against me, if it had not been given thee from above. Shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it? Amos 3:6.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass?.... Or, "who that says this shall be, and it cometh to pass?" or, "who is he that saith this shall come to pass?" (i) this, or that, or the other thing, he wills and desires, and his heart is set upon:

when the Lord commandeth it not? has not willed and decreed it, but determined the contrary; for nothing escapes his knowledge and foreknowledge; or can resist his will; or control his power; or frustrate his councils, and counterwork his designs; whatever schemes men form to get riches, obtain honour, do mischief to others, prolong life to themselves, and perpetuate their names to posterity, being contrary to the purpose of God, never succeed; whenever they do succeed in any of the above instances, it is because God has commanded, or he has determined, it should be so; as in the instances of Joseph's brethren, in their usage of him; and of the Jews, in the crucifixion of Christ, Proverbs 16:9. The Targum is,

"who is the man that saith, and evil is done in the world; but because they have done what was not commanded from the mouth of the Lord?''

(i) So some in Gataker.

Geneva Study Bible

Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord {r} commandeth it not?

(r) He shows that nothing is done without God's providence.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

37. Cp. Psalm 33:9.

37–39. The order of thought in this group is, All events are absolutely in the hands of God. Thus calamity and prosperity come in response to His command. But it is man’s sin that procures for him the former; he therefore may not complain.

Pulpit Commentary

Verses 37-54. - EXHORTATION TO REPENTANCE; RENDERED, LAMENTATION. Verses 37, 38. - True, God does not desire our misfortunes. But equally true is it that they do not happen without his express permission (comp. Isaiah 45:7; Amos 3:6). Verse 37. - That saith, and it cometh to pass (comp. Psalm 33:9; Genesis 1:3, etc.). Lamentations 3:37

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Lamentations 3:37 brings the answer to this question in a lively manner, and likewise in an interrogative form: "Who hath spoken, and it came to pass, which the Lord hath not commanded?" The thought here presented reminds us of the word of the Creator in Genesis 1:3. The form of the expression is an imitation of Psalm 33:9. Rosenmller gives the incorrect rendering, Quis est qui dixit: factum est (i.e., quis audeat dicere fieri quicquam), non praecipiente Deo; although the similar but more free translation of Luther, "Who dares to say that such a thing happens without the command of the Lord?" gives the sense in a general way. The meaning is as follows: Nothing takes place on the earth which the Lord has not appointed; no man can give and execute a command against the will of God. From this it further follows (Lamentations 3:38), that evil and good will proceed from the mouth of the Lord, i.e., be wrought by Him; on this point, cf. Isaiah 45:7; Amos 3:6. לא תצא gives no adequate meaning unless it be taken interrogatively, and as indicating what is usual - wont to be. And then there is established from this, in Lamentations 3:39, the application of the general principle to the particular case in question, viz., the grievous suffering of individuals at the downfall of the kingdom of Judah. "Why does a man sigh as long as he lives? Let every one [sigh] for his sins." Man is not to sigh over suffering and sorrow, but only over his sin. התאונן occurs only here and in Numbers 11:1, and signifies to sigh, with the accessory notion of murmuring, complaining. חי appended to אדם is more of a predicate than a simple attributive: man, as long as he lives, i.e., while he is in this life. The verse is viewed in a different light by Pareau, Ewald, Neumann, and Gerlach, who combine both members into one sentence, and render it thus: "Why doth a man complain, so long as he lives, - a man over the punishment of his sins?" [Similar is the rendering of our "Authorized" Version.] Neumann translates: "A man in the face of [Ger. bei] his sins." But this latter rendering is lexically inadmissible, because על esua in this connection cannot mean "in view of." The other meaning assigned is improbable, though there is nothing against it, lexically considered. For though חטא, sin, may also signify the punishment of sin, the latter meaning does not suit the present context, because in what precedes it is not said that the people suffer for their sins, but merely that their suffering has been appointed by God. If, then, in what follows, there is an exhortation to return to the Lord (Lamentations 3:40.), and in Lamentations 3:42 a confession of sins made; if, moreover, Lamentations 3:39 forms the transition from Lamentations 3:33-38 to the exhortation that succeeds (Lamentations 3:40.); then it is not abstinence from murmuring or sighing over the punishment of sins that forms the true connecting link of the two lines of thought, but merely the refraining from complaint over sufferings, coupled with the exhortation to sigh over their won sins. Tarnov also has viewed the verse in this way, when he deduces from it the advice to every soul labouring under a weight of sorrows: est igitur optimus ex malis emergendi modus Deum excusare et se ipsum accusare.