Behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes - Here is an intimation that the stroke he was to suffer was to be above all grief; that it would be so great as to prevent the relief of tears.

Curae leves loquuntur, graviores silent,

is a well-accredited maxim in such cases. Superficial griefs affect the more easily moved passions; great ones affect the soul itself, in its powers of reasoning, reflecting, comparing, recollecting, etc., when the sufferer feels all the weight of wo.

Neither shall thy tears run down - Τουτο γαρ ιδιον των οφθαλμων εν τοις μεγαλοις κακοις· εν μεν γαρ ταις μετριαις συμφοραις αφθονως τα δακρυα καταρῥει, - εν δε τοις ὑπερβαλλουσι δεινοις φευγει και τα δακρυα και προδιδωσι και τους αφθαλμους· Achill. Tat. lib. 3. c. 11. For this is the case with the eyes in great calamities: in light misfortunes tears flow freely, but in heavy afflictions tears fly away, and betray the eyes.

the desire

Ezekiel 24:18,21,25 So I spoke to the people in the morning: and at even my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded...

Proverbs 5:19 Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy you at all times; and be you ravished always with her love.

Songs 7:10 I am my beloved's, and his desire is toward me.

with a

Job 36:18 Because there is wrath, beware lest he take you away with his stroke: then a great ransom cannot deliver you.

yet

Ezekiel 24:21-24 Speak to the house of Israel, Thus said the Lord GOD; Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the excellency of your strength...

Leviticus 10:2,3 And there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD...

Jeremiah 22:10,18 Weep you not for the dead, neither bemoan him: but weep sore for him that goes away: for he shall return no more...

1 Thessalonians 4:13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brothers, concerning them which are asleep, that you sorrow not...

thy tears

Jeremiah 9:1,18 Oh that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears...

Jeremiah 13:17 But if you will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride; and my eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears...

Lamentations 2:18 Their heart cried to the LORD, O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night: give yourself no rest...

run [heb] go

The End
'1. And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he, and all his host, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it; and they built forts against it round about. 2. And the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah. 3. And on the ninth day of the fourth month the famine prevailed in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land. 4. And the city was broken up, and all the …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture