The Song of Solomon : and the Lamentations of Jeremiah

ii. iS-22.] THE CALL TO PRAYER 169
On the other hand, it is to be observed that the
general title " Lord " {Adonai) is also employed in
the very next verse in the direct call to prayer. The
heart, too, is mentioned again there as it is here, and
that to express the inner being and deepest feelings of
the afflicted city. It seems unlikely that the elegist
would mention a heart-cry of the enemies and describe
this as addressed to " The Lord."
Probably then we should apply this opening clause
to the Jews, although they had not been named in the
near context, a construction favoured by the abrupt
transitions in which the elegist indulges elsewhere.
It is the heart of the Jews that cried unto the Lord.
Now the question arises. How shall we take this assertion
in view of the words that follow ? The common
reading supposes that it introduces the immediately
succeeding sentences. The heart of the Jews calls to
the wall of the daughter of Zion, and bids it arise and
pray. But with this construction we should look for
another word (such as " saying ") to introduce the
appeal, because the Hebrew word rendered " cried "
is usually employed absolutel}^, and not as the preface
to quoted speech. Besides, the ideas would be strangely
involved. Some people, indefinitely designated " they,"
exhort the wall to weep and pray ! How can this
exhortation to a wall be described as a calling to the
Lord ? The complication is increased when the prayer
follows sharply on the anonymous appeal without a
single connecting or explanatory clause.
A simpler interpretation is to follow Calvin in
rendering the first clause absolutel}'-, but still applying
it to the Jews, who, though they are not named here,
are supposed to be always in mind. We may not
agree with the stern theologian of Geneva in asserting