John Gill Bible Commentary

All thy lovers have forgotten thee,.... The Egyptians and Assyrians, whom they sought unto for help, and entered into an alliance with, and who promised them great things; but forgot their promises and forsook them: they seek thee not; to ask of thy welfare, as the Targum adds; they do not, visit thee, nor inquire after thine health, or how it is with thee, having no manner of care and concern for thee; this has been the case of the Jews for many ages: for I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one; so it might seem to be; and thus it might be interpreted by them, as if the Lord acted the part of an enemy, and a very cruel one, that had no mercy; though he corrected them, as in Jer 30:11, in measure, moderation, and mercy: or else the meaning is, that he wounded them, when their nation, city, and temple, were destroyed, by the hand and means of an enemy, even a very cruel and merciless one, the Romans: for the multitude of thine iniquity; because thy sins were increased; a very wicked people the Jews were, not only before they went into the Babylonish captivity, but after their return; and in the times of Christ and his apostles; who complain of their covetousness, hypocrisy, adultery, thefts, murders, and sacrilege; and particularly they were in the above manner chastised by means of the Romans, for their unbelief and rejection of the true Messiah, and the persecution of his followers.