CHAPTER 5. THE PROPHET CALLS ON YHWH TO OBSERVE THE SAD STATE OF HIS PEOPLE AND PLEADS WITH HIM AS THE ETERNAL ONE TO SHOW MERCY. In this final lament the prophet outlines in some detail the sad state of YHWH's people in the period after the destruction of Jerusalem, ending it with a plea that He m... [ Continue Reading ]
Remember, O YHWH, what is come on us, Behold, and see our reproach. The prophet calls on YHWH to remember all that had come on them and to consider the reproach that they were under, something that he will now deal with in detail. The first person plural indicates the prophet's identification with... [ Continue Reading ]
Our inheritance is handed over to strangers, Our houses to aliens. They had had to stand by and watch while their land had been handed over to foreigners, and aliens had taken possession of their houses. They had lost the inheritance that YHWH had given them. Note that this was the fulfilment of t... [ Continue Reading ]
We are orphans and fatherless, Our mothers are as widows. They were orphans and fatherless, and their mothers were as widows because the menfolk had been carried off to Babylon, or had been drafted in for slave labour. There is an irony here in that they themselves had been guilty of neglecting th... [ Continue Reading ]
We have drunk our water for money, Our wood is sold to us. Previously the water from their springs and rivers, and from their own cisterns, had been freely available to them. Now they were being charged tolls for the privilege of using it. Furthermore the trees from which they been able freely to... [ Continue Reading ]
Our pursuers are on our necks, We are weary, and have no rest. The ‘pursuers' are probably the men set to watch over them as they went about their working day, or as they followed other pursuits. These ‘pursuers' were seemingly relentless in ensuring that they did not slacken off. Instead of them... [ Continue Reading ]
We have given the hand to the Egyptians, And to the Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread. In view of the mention of the Assyrians some see this as looking back to the past when they had had to come to an agreement with either Egypt or Assyria in order to be satisfied with bread, rather than looki... [ Continue Reading ]
Our fathers sinned, and are not, And we have borne their iniquities. The prophet acknowledged that their fathers had sinned and were no longer alive. They had suffered the penalty of sin. And now their offspring themselves were ‘bearing their iniquities'. The sins of the fathers were being visited... [ Continue Reading ]
Servants rule over us, There is none to deliver us out of their hand. It is an open question here whether this means ‘servants' of the king of Babylon, signifying Babylonian officials (in which case Deuteronomy 28:48 applies), or ex-Israelite servants promoted to positions of authority by the Baby... [ Continue Reading ]
We get our bread at the peril of our lives, Because of the sword of the wilderness. When they left the safety of their cities and went into the countryside, which was now bare and neglected, in order to grow their food, the Israelites were always in danger of Bedouin raiders, or local bandits who... [ Continue Reading ]
Our skin is stirred up (or ‘black') like an oven, Because of the burning heat of famine. The starvation conditions in which they were living had had its effect on their bodies. Their skin glowed like the stirred up ashes of a baker's oven, caused by the feverish heat of hunger. (For the meaning ‘s... [ Continue Reading ]
They ravished the women in Zion, The virgins in the cities of Judah. The Israelite women were now easy prey for the Babylonian soldiers so that many women, including virgins, were ravished in Jerusalem, and many virgins in the cities of Judah. Few were safe from their attentions. Israel were a con... [ Continue Reading ]
Princes were hanged up by their hand, The faces of elders were not honoured. The cruelty of conquerors was well known. The ‘princes' may well have been dead, for the display of the dead bodies of important people was a regular practise (compare Saul and his princely sons in 1 Samuel 31:10; 1 Samue... [ Continue Reading ]
The young men bore the burden of the mill, And the children stumbled under the wood. The use of hand mills with which people in ancient towns regularly ground their grain was commonplace. But it was seen as the work of women or slaves. Now, however, it was the young men of Israel who were being fo... [ Continue Reading ]
The elders have ceased from the gate, The young men from their music. The area within and around the gate of the city was where much local activity took place. It was often the only place in the city where there was an open space. Most cities were unplanned and simply a mass of houses huddled toge... [ Continue Reading ]
The joy of our heart is ceased, Our dance is turned into mourning. No longer were the inhabitants of Judah joyful at heart. Life under an oppressive regime had removed all the joy out of life. And instead of meeting to dance, the women would gather to mourn.... [ Continue Reading ]
The crown is fallen from our head, Woe to us! for we have sinned. The crown is fallen from our head' might be a reference to the fact that they no longer had a king ruling over them. But far more likely in mind was the festal garland crown often worn at feasts. Compare Isaiah 28:1 where it had bec... [ Continue Reading ]
For this our heart is faint, For these things our eyes are dim, It was because of all these things that their heart was faint, and their eyes were dim with weeping. Life had become a burden, full of sorrow and tears.... [ Continue Reading ]
For the mountain of Zion, which is desolate, The jackals walk on it. Capping all that has gone before was the fact that the mountain of Zion, that mountain that had once throbbed with the sound of worshippers walking in and around the Temple, was now desolate. It had become the haunt and walking p... [ Continue Reading ]
Why do you forget us for ever, And forsake us for so long a time? The incongruity of the situations in which God's people found themselves as described in this chapter, as compared with YHWH's eternal throne, now raises questions in the prophet's mind. Why does this powerful almighty King leave th... [ Continue Reading ]
Turn you us unto you, O YHWH, and we will be turned, Renew our days as of old. Unless (ki 'im) you have utterly rejected us, You are very angry against us. But he also realises that they cannot expect YHWH to act if they remain unchanged. There had to be a true turning to God. But he recognises... [ Continue Reading ]