Our holy and beautiful temple, where our fathers praised You, has been burned with fire, and all that was dear to us lies in ruins.
As we have the Lamentations of Jeremiah, so here we have the Lamentations of Isaiah; the subject of both is the same - the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans and the sin of Israel that brought that destruction - only with this difference, Isaiah sees it at a distance and laments it by the Spirit of prophecy, Jeremiah saw it accomplished. In these verses, I.
Commenting on Isaiah 64:6-12
Our holy and our beautiful house,.... Meaning the temple, the house of God, as Aben Ezra: called "holy", because dedicated to holy uses; where the holy sacrifices were offered up, the holy service of God performed; and where the holy God granted his presence, and where were the symbols of it: and "beautiful", in its building, as the first temple was that was built by...
house--the temple. beautiful--includes the idea of glorious (Mar 13:1; Act 3:2). burned-- (Psa 74:7; Lam 2:7; Ch2 36:19). Its destruction under Nebuchadnezzar prefigured that under Titus. pleasant things--Hebrew, "objects of desire"; our homes, our city, and all its dear associations.