Deeper Commentary
Lamentations 5:1 Remember, Yahweh, what has come on us: look, and see
our reproach- The invitation to "look" must be understood in the
context of how Jeremiah has complained that God placed a cloud between
Himself and His people, through which no prayer could pass (Lam. 3:44). And
in Lam. 4:16 he has just stated that God was not looking at His condemned
people. He said that in depression, just spot staring at the reality of
suffering they were then experiencing. If it felt like God had permanently
cast them off, then that was how he felt it was. But now he accepts that
although God apparently will not look at them, yet He can be appealed to.
But still he is asking God to simply take pity upon the tragedy of suffering
people; he still must factor in the critical aspects of repentance and
forgiveness.
Lamentations 5:2 Our inheritance is turned to strangers, our houses to
aliens-
To
lose an inheritance was a major tragedy in the thought of those times. The
loss of inheritance was not a tragedy unfelt by God. God
was losing His inheritance in that He was allowing it to be consumed (Jer.
12:9), 'polluting it' (Is. 47:6). No man would ever spoil his own
inheritance like this; but God did, such was His belief in the need to
punish His people for their sins. And yet the metaphor of lost / spoilt
inheritance reflects how painful this was for God, felt as a personal
loss. The whole idea elicits sympathy for God in this tragic loss.
Lamentations 5:3 We are orphans and fatherless; our mothers are as widows-
Again we note Jeremiah's intense identification with those who had
suffered. For he speaks of "we" and "our", rather than of "they" and
"theirs". Surely Jeremiah means to remind God of His special care for
these categories in His law.
Lamentations 5:4 We have drunken our water for money; our wood is sold to
us- Perhaps the Bedouin tribes took over Jerusalem after it fell, and
sold water and firewood to the Jews. See on :9.
Lamentations 5:5 Our pursuers are on our necks: we are weary, and have no
rest- Again his depression leads to exaggeration; there is no evidence
that the Jews were moved around the Babylonian empire, making them find no
rest. He himself had urged them to build houses in Babylon and settle down
there. Being restless was a result of breaking the covenant (s.w. Dt.
28:65) which Jeremiah had repeatedly accused them of doing. They were
suffering far less than their iniquities deserved. They refused to repent
and in that sense they had no rest to their souls. If they had accepted
the yoke of Babylon, then they could have rested in their own land (s.w.
Jer. 27:11). Jeremiah had advocated accepting this yoke; and yet again he
seems somewhat out of step with God as he complains about it.
Lamentations 5:6 We have given the hand to the Egyptians, to the Assyrians,
to be satisfied with bread- Jeremiah appears to be writing here at the
time of the siege or even after it, when Egypt was already no longer a
viable help, having been crushed at the battle of Carchemish. And yet even
then it would appear from Ez. 29:16 that they still vainly looked to Egypt
for help, and the survivors of the siege fled there despite being warned
not to. The attraction of trusting human strength rather than Yahweh was
so great. Instead of watching or looking to Egypt they should have looked
to and waited upon Yahweh.
To give the hand was a metaphor for making a covenant agreement. Ez. 17:18 roundly condemns it as unfaithfulness to God. Yet Jeremiah appears to justify the way Judah had done this by saying that they did it "for bread" (Lam. 5:6), as if the famine sent by God to bring about their repentance was so severe that the alliances were not just for political and military protection, but for basic food. This was how low the one time beautiful prostitute of Ez. 16 had fallen; just "for bread" she made the agreements which meant that she had to have the idols of these people in the Jerusalem temple. Clearly these 'givings of the hand' were wrong, and yet Jeremiah laments as if they were somehow justifiable. But Ez. 17 clearly condemns them as immoral acts. For God as Judah's husband would surely provide her with bread. The lack of it was to bring her back to Him, but instead she responded by madly making more spiritually adulterous covenants. We too can respond to God's chastening hand either by total repentance and casting ourselves upon Him, or by madly seeking to get around His chastisement by yet further sin and unfaithfulness.
But perhaps here we have the beginnings of a sense of repentance; for now finally Jeremiah begins to look back at their spiritually adulterous covenants with the nations, and recognizes that their exile is due to that. See on :16.
Lamentations 5:7 Our fathers sinned, and are no more; we have borne their
iniquities-
Lamentations 5:8 Servants rule over us: there is none to deliver us out of
their hand- The servants who ruled over them on behalf of Babylon
were the likes of "Tobiah the servant" (Neh. 2:10,19). It seems that they
made the remaining Jews work for them as slaves and day labourers (:13).
But this was exactly the abuse which they tolerated in their society even
during the siege of Jerusalem; and it was exactly because they refused to
release their servants and stop abusing them, that they became abused
labourers and slaves (Jer. 34:17). So there was in fact a potential
deliverer "out of their hand"; but that depended upon repentance, which is
a theme Jeremiah is so loath to raise.
Lamentations 5:9 We get our bread at the peril of our lives, because of
the sword of the wilderness- A reference to marauding Arab Bedouin
bands. See on :4.
Lamentations 5:10 Our skin is black like an oven, because of the burning
heat of famine- After the siege was over, Jerusalem was burnt and the
survivors almost perished of hunger. But famine was a punishment for sin
and breaking the covenant. The prophecies of judgment implied at times
that none would survive. The fact some came out of the fiery oven of
Jerusalem, albeit with blackened skin, was to be seen as a sign of God's
grace- and yet Jeremiah laments it.
Lamentations 5:11 They ravished the women in Zion, the virgins in the
cities of Judah- "Virgins" can mean simply 'young women'.
Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Hosea have all presented Judah as a prostitute and
unfaithful lover. She had made covenants of unique loyalty with the
nations, undertaking to worship their gods. And then they discovered that
she had made such covenants with multiple nations, and her temple in
Jerusalem was full of the gods of her various lovers. She is therefore
presented as a suffering the judgment of a prostitute, being burnt by
fire; after having her skirts pulled above her head and being gang raped
beforehand for good measure (Jer. 13:22,26 etc.). This is the shocking
picture of her judgment which we find in the prophets. But Jeremiah so
takes the side of his people that he presents this as meaning that she as
an innocent, upright woman who was raped by some heartless beast.
Lamentations 5:12 Princes were hanged up by their hand: the faces of
elders were not honoured- The judgment of the royal family and
elders was a major part of Jeremiah's message. And yet he seems to
lament that they were not more respected by their conquerors. On one hand,
his almost fanatical taking of Israel's side, totally identifying with
their feelings, represents the passionate love and pity of God for His
condemned people. And yet on the other hand, Jeremiah appears to be out of
step with God's own perspective on the princes and elders as expressed in
His own word through Jeremiah. Perhaps in this we see Jeremiah revealing
to us the deep tension within God Himself when it came to judging His
people; see on Hos. 11:8.
Lamentations 5:13 The young men were made to grind at the mill; the
children stumbled under the wood- Jer. 52:11 LXX says that the
captive Zedekiah was put "in the mill", as if he was in hard labour, now
blinded, exactly like Samson (Jud. 16:21), and as the young men were made
to (Lam. 5:13). And the similarities continued, in that it seems Zedekiah
likewise did finally repent.
Perhaps the young men did likewise.
It seems that they made the remaining Jews work for them as slaves and day labourers (:8). But this was exactly the abuse which they tolerated in their society even during the siege of Jerusalem; and it was exactly because they refused to release their servants and stop abusing them, that they became abused labourers and slaves (Jer. 34:17). So there was in fact a potential deliverer "out of their hand"; but that depended upon repentance, which is a theme Jeremiah is so loath to raise.
Lamentations 5:14 The elders have ceased from the gate, the young men from
their music- But there was great corruption in "the gate"; and the
music of the young men was a reflection of their rejection of God. These
young men and elders were those condemned in Am. 6:1-7: "Woe to those who
are at ease in Zion... Those who put far away the evil day, and cause the
seat of violence to come near; who lie on beds of ivory, and stretch
themselves on their couches... who strum on the strings of a harp; who
invent for themselves instruments of music, like David did; who
drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the best oils; but they
are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph. Therefore they will now go
into captivity with the first who go captive; and the feasting and
lounging will end". So again we see Jeremiah in depression focusing just
upon the immediate experience, without wishing to recall the wider
context.
Lamentations 5:15 The joy of our heart is ceased; our dance is turned into
mourning- That their joy should cease was specifically prophesied for
their disobedience, in these very Hebrew words (Is. 24:8; Hos. 2:11). And
yet Jeremiah laments it. But he surely saw the connection with these
prophecies, and that his feelings of lamentation were in fact their
fulfilment; and so this leads him to the obvious conclusion: that the real
problem is Judah's sin, and they need to repent. As he lamented that the
girls were no longer dancing but mourning, his thoughts were led to his
own earlier words of Jer. 31:4,13- that a restored, repentant Israel would
again dance, and when David repented, his mourning was turned into dancing
(s.w. Ps. 30:11). And thus we come to the climax of the book, in the
unreserved, unqualified repentance of the next five verses.
Lamentations 5:16 The crown is fallen from our head: woe to us! For we
have sinned- As noted on Lam. 1:1; 3:40, Lam. 5:16-21 is the climax of the
book of Lamentations. And the point is that we have here a total
confession of sin, and appeal for God to turn them to Himself (:21) and
restore His relationship and Kingdom with Judah as before (:21). The book
of Lamentations begins with Jeremiah bitterly complaining that God is as
good as dead (see on Lam. 1:1), with him looking solely at the tragedy
before his eyes, and progresses to a climax of unconditional repentance in
Lam. 5:16-21. But the progression is a jagged graph. There have been
points at which he does recognize that the sufferings are directly due to
Judah's sins, he increasingly sees that there is a future hope and the God
of judgment is also a God of grace. And he vaguely implies that repentance
is needed, but always quickly returns to accusing God of unreasonable
behaviour; and as noted on Lam. 3:40-42, the appeals for repentance are
very qualified and still accuse God of injustice. But now in these verses
he does speak clearly of the need for repentance, without excuses,
justification, reservation or qualification. The path of Jeremiah was
intended by God and himself to be that of Israel; for he had so intensely
identified with them throughout the Lamentations.
It was because of this that "the crown" had fallen and the royal family had been ended (s.w. Jer. 13:18; Ez. 21:26). This may appear obvious to us, but in depression and focus upon the immediate tragedy, it was not so obvious to Jeremiah. But now he grasps it.
Throughout the book of Jeremiah, and often in Ezekiel, I have made the point that so much hinged upon whether Judah repented after Jerusalem fell. If they did, then the new covenant would have been accepted by them, and the promises of the restored Kingdom would have come true. They generally did not repent, but it was Jeremiah's heartfelt desire that they did, following his own example. And so he wished them to identify with his feelings of anger with God, his struggle with God, his confusion... and thereby to be led to this conclusion of the matter in repentance and desperate appeal for restoration. But it seems Judah got caught up in the early stages of grief, never moved on from them, and failed to follow through to this confession of sin and appeal for restoration which we have in Lam. 5. The last verse of the book (Lam. 5:22) appears starkly out of context with the immediately preceding verses, with their appeal for restoration and confession of sin: "But You have utterly rejected us; You are very angry against us". I suggest this is purposeful, because this is as it were Judah's response to the book and the appeal to repent and appeal for restoration. They remained caught up in their grief and refused to repent and return to God because they considered He had removed Himself too far from them. And so the great prophetic potentials for a repentant Judah, described in such detail in the book of Jeremiah, didn't then come about; although the prophecies are reapplied and rescheduled to fulfilment in the last days.
Lamentations 5:17 For this our heart is faint; for these things our eyes
are dim- The stress is upon "for this"- their sins (:16). Jeremiah's
faint heart (Lam. 1:13 s.w.) was our heart; his sudden
realization of sinfulness and repentance was to be a pattern for them. It
was because of their sin that dimness had come upon them, and they could
not see their way; specifically because they had not given glory to Yahweh
in repentance (Jer. 13:16 cp. Josh. 7:19). And therefore repentance would
give glory to Yahweh, and lift the dimness upon their hearts and eyes.
Lamentations 5:18 for the mountain of Zion, which is desolate: the foxes
walk on it- Now he recognizes that the tragic desolation of Zion,
with unclean animals wandering around it, was not so much due to God nor
the Babylonians, as Jeremiah has previously lamented; but was essentially
due to their sins (:16). The sanctuary would be "desolate" because of
their sins (s.w. Lev. 26:31). And after a period of desolation there would
be repentance and restoration (Lev. 26:35,43 s.w.). And so- 'let us repent
right now if we want to see that restoration'. That was the glaringly
obvious conclusion, and now Jeremiah grasps it. The unclean foxes wandered
upon Zion because her prophets had been as foxes (s.w. Ez. 13:4).
Lamentations 5:19 You, Yahweh, remain forever; Your throne is from
generation to generation- If God's rulership would be "forever", then
He must rule or be king over someone. He must therefore always have a
people; and so Jeremiah reasons that God should not forsake His people
"forever". See on :20. Solomon had imagined that Yahweh would "remain
forever" in the temple (s.w. 1 Kings 8:13). The temple was now in ruins,
and so Jeremiah was driven to the conclusion that because Yahweh Himself
would "remain forever", therefore He must indwell not a sacred space, but
a group of people in whom He would dwell by His Spirit. And so He asks God
in :20,21 not to delay, but to revive that people spiritually so that He
might dwell in them. God's eternity was therefore of itself an implication
that He would revive Zion (Ps. 102:12,13). Zion, however it might be
redefined, would "remain forever" as God Himself would (Ps. 125:1).
Jeremiah himself had taught earlier that if Zion repented, then like her
God, her people would "remain forever" (Jer. 17:25; 25:5, also Ez. 37:25).
But this remaining forever was related to entering the new covenant, and
that required repentance; and it required an acceptance of a Messianic
seed of David, whose throne like Yahweh's would be from generation to
generation (Ps. 89:4 s.w.).
Lamentations 5:20 Why do You forget us forever, and forsake us so long
time?- As explained on :19, this is more of a rhetorical question.
Because Yahweh was to remain forever, and forever have a people; therefore
He would not forget and forsake His people forever. The period between the
fall of Jerusalem and this lamentation was hardly a "long time". Perhaps
that was how Jeremiah felt, as every moment of desolation appeared to drag
eternally. Jeremiah was urging God not to forsake and forget the people,
but to take the initiative in spiritually reviving them (:21). Yet perhaps
Jeremiah was inspired to use this term "so long time" because his words
and feelings here were to be the template and prototype for Judah's final
repentance, whenever that would be, perhaps a "long time" in the future.
Lamentations 5:21 Turn us to Yourself, Yahweh, and we shall be turned.
Renew our days as of old- This is the climax of the Lamentations. The
appeal is not just for Judah to repent as Jeremiah, their representative,
had done. Recognizing how critical is repentance in the return and
restoration, it is asking God to take the initiative and give the people
repentance. There is again the play on the word shub; returning /
repenting would be the basis for God's returning and restoring of His
people. The new covenant involved an offer of God's direct working upon
the heart of His people, turning them so that they repented (see on Jer.
31:19). Repentance itself [not just forgiveness] is therefore a gift (Acts
3:26; 11:18)- to those who want it, or for those who have the likes of
Jeremiah praying for them to receive it. And those who accept the new
covenant today experience this same gift of the Spirit. And now Jeremiah
begs for this gift of the new covenant to be given to his people, so that
the restoration of the kingdom as in the "days of old" can begin. "Renew"
is also translated 'rebuild', and is used of the rebuilding at the
restoration (s.w. Is. 61:4).
Lamentations 5:22 But You have utterly rejected us; You are very angry
against us-
This could be read as by the LXX in the past tense: "For thou hast indeed
rejected us; thou hast been very wroth against us", as if it is yet
another statement that God's judgments of them were just. But as explained
on :16, it may be an intended juxtaposition with the preceding impassioned
statement of repentance and begging for restoration; and the point would
be that because they did not repent, God's rejection of them continued.
Jeremiah’s prophecies of gracious restoration were known by the exiles;
but many passages in Isaiah, the Psalms (e.g. Ps. 137:7-9) and
Lamentations indicate that the exiles had little conviction they would be
fulfilled, considering Judah as “utterly rejected” by God, and just
getting on with their lives in Babylon without any real hope in God’s
salvation. Considering the prosperity of their lives there, this was an
all too convenient conclusion for them to draw. Once again we see that
false interpretation of Scripture invariably has a moral subtext to it.
And the belief that God is so angry with our sins that we have no real
chance of revival... is attractive because it enables us to remain in our
status quo, no matter how miserable it is. The conservatism of human
nature makes this sadly so attractive to many people, as it was to Judah.
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