1:1 Aleph. How doth the city sit solitary that was full of people! how is the mistress of the Gentiles become as a widow: the princes of provinces made tributary!



ALEPH: ‘doctrine’, that man may know both himself and God. This, the Jewish
people did not have and were thus subject to the enemies.

Historical interpretation
HOW DOTH THE CITY SIT SOLITARY: that is to say Jerusalem, deprived of its
people, full of disgrace, humiliated among her enemies, once populous and
glorious among her enemies; THE MISTRESS OF THE GENTILES IS BECOME AS A
WIDOW, deserted by her kings, forsaken by her priests, the temple profaned and
the glory of the vessels repudiated, deprived of God’s assistance; THE MISTRESS
OF THE GENTILES, whom she before had overthrown or forced under the yoke.

Allegorical interpretation
The Church is to be lamented with more tears than her sins require, being
made a WIDOW due to the absence of her spouse. HOW DOTH THE CITY SIT
SOLITARY, forsaken by the assistance of God and the angels! If the bridegroom
were together with the bride, the bride need not be mourned for, since the children of the bridegroom cannot mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them, but they rejoice with joy because of the bridegroom’s voice, but when they noticed that their mother, that is to say the Church, had been widowed from the bridegroom, it was fit that not only the sons cry, but also all their friends. Hence Jeremiah deplored more than everyone and on behalf of everyone not the ruin of boulders but of men.