2:18Meaning
A heart-cry to the Lord with unending tears “Their heart cried to the Lord” states the basic action: deep, communal anguish directed toward God. The “wall of the daughter of Zion” is addressed as if the city’s very defenses could weep. The command is to let tears run day and night “like a river,” allowing no pause. Even the “apple of your eye” (the eye itself) is told not to stop—an image of uninterrupted weeping.
Unit 2 (v. 19a): Rise and cry out through the night watches
The voice presses for active, continual lament: “Arise” and “cry out in the night.” The timing is specific—“at the beginning of the watches”—as though each new segment of the night should restart the prayer. The passage treats night not as rest but as a repeated opportunity to call to God.
Unit 3 (v. 19b–c): Pour out the heart and lift up hands for the children
“Pour out your heart like water” urges complete, unsparing honesty and emotional release “before the face of the Lord.” “Lift up your hands” portrays open-handed pleading. The reason given is not abstract: it is “for the life of your young children,” who are collapsing from hunger in public view “at the head of every street,” showing the crisis is widespread and visible.