Ezekiel 3, The Obligation of the Scroll

God has handed Ezekiel a scroll.The scroll has writing on both sides, writing that carries "lament, mouring and woe" (Ezekiel 2:9-10.) Its message will be a very painful one for Ezekiel.

Ezekiel 3:1-3, Eat the scroll

And he said to me, "Son of man, eat what is before you, eat  this scroll; then go and speak to the house of Israel." So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat.   

Then he said to me, "Son of man, eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it." So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth.   

Ezekiel is commanded to eat the scroll he was given. He does so, and it tastes as sweet as honey.

In the New Testament, the prophet John is given a scroll to eat before he too prophesies (Revelation 10:8-11.)

Both Mackie and Duguid see in Ezekiel many references to Eden or its reversal. Here the scroll is not attractive but tastes good, the opposite of the fruit in the garden in Genesis 3:6. And here Ezekiel is commanded to eat; in the garden of Eden Adam and Eve were forbidden from eating.

Ezekiel 3:4-9, Hardened and obstinate

He then said to me: "Son of man, go now to the house of  Israel and speak my words to them. You are not being sent to a people of obscure speech and difficult language, but to the house of Israel-- not to many peoples of obscure speech and difficult language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely if I had sent you to them, they would have listened to you. 

But the house of Israel is not willing to listen to you  because they are not willing to listen to me, for the whole house of Israel is hardened and obstinate. But I will make you as unyielding and hardened as they are. I will make your forehead like the hardest stone, harder  than flint. Do not be afraid of them or terrified by them, though they are a rebellious house."   

Ezekiel is being sent to a people who speak the same language as he does. But that does not matter. They will still not listen. And so Ezekiel will be hardened to be able to stand up to them.

Ezekiel 3:10-11, Go!

And he said to me, "Son of man, listen carefully and take to heart all the words I speak to you. Go now to your countrymen in exile and speak to them. Say to them, `This is what the Sovereign LORD says,' whether they listen or fail to listen."   

Ezekiel must go speak, regardless of the outcome.

Ezekiel 3:12-15, A loud rumbling sound

Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me a loud rumbling sound--May the glory of the LORD be praised in his dwelling place!--the sound of the wings of the living creatures brushing against each other and the sound of the wheels beside them, a loud rumbling sound. The Spirit then lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit, with the strong hand of the LORD upon me.

I came to the exiles who lived at Tel Abib near the Kebar River. And there, where they were living, I sat among them for seven days--overwhelmed.   

Ezekiel is then lifted up and carried away to the exiles living in Tel Abib, near the Kebar River. The Spirit (and the winged creatures) seem to be the method of transportation. (Is this a physical transportation? Or a vision?) Along the way, Ezekiel is angry and bitter; when he arrives he is overwhelmed with his message and sits among the refugees for seven days. Alexander suggests that since seven days was a standard time for mourning, Ezekiel is being "commissioned to proclaim Judah's funeral dirge."

Ezekiel 3:16-21, Duties of a watchman

At the end of seven days the word of the LORD came to me: "Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of  Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to a wicked man, `You will surely die,' and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil  ways in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. But if you do warn the wicked man and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his evil ways, he will die for his sin; but you will have saved yourself.   

"Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and does evil, and I put a stumbling block before him, he will die. Since you did not warn him, he will die for his sin. The righteous things he did will not be remembered, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. But if you do warn the righteous man not to sin and he does not sin, he will surely live because he took warning, and you will have saved yourself."  

Ezekiel is to be a "watchman", one posted at the walls of a city to warn of impending trouble. This is a serious and very demanding duty. He will be held accountable for the outcomes of others' lives, unless he has taken steps to give appropriate warning.

Ezekiel 3:22-27, Tongue, bound and unbound

The hand of the LORD was upon me there, and he said to me, "Get up and go out to the plain, and there I will speak to  you."

So I got up and went out to the plain. And the glory of the LORD was standing there, like the glory I had seen by the Kebar River, and I fell facedown.  Then the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet. He spoke to me and said: "Go, shut yourself inside your house. And you, son of man, they will tie with ropes; you will be bound so that you cannot go out among the people. I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you will be silent and unable to rebuke them, though they are a rebellious house. 

But when I speak to you, I will open your mouth and you shall say to them, `This is what the Sovereign LORD says. 'Whoever will listen let him listen, and whoever will refuse let him refuse; for they are a rebellious house. 

In verse 26, Ezekiel is not allowed to "rebuke" (Hebrew: mochiach) or mediate for the people. As Mackie points out (in the seventh Bible Project Ezekiel class video, beginning at the 11th minute) this is a strange concept -- Ezekiel is not allowed to pray for the people of Jerusalem. The judgment is coming and will not be turned back. At this time, faraway in Jerusalem, the prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 7:16-19 and Jeremiah 11:9-14) is being told the same thing.

Ezekiel's mouth and tongue will be kept still for a time, but then he will be given things to speak. Ezekiel has an obligation to speak out, regardless of the outcome.

Ezekiel 2, Go to Israel

Ezekiel has seen a strange sight, a wheel with creatures, and above the wheel and icy plane and above that plane a throne with a bright dramatic being, YHWH, sitting on it. Now God speaks.

Ezekiel 2:1-5, Speak to them

He said to me, "Son of man, stand up on your feet and I will speak to you."   

As he spoke, the Spirit came into me and raised me to my  feet, and I heard him speaking to me. He said: "Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me; they and their fathers have been in revolt against me to this very day. The people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and stubborn. Say to them, `This is what the Sovereign LORD  says.' And whether they listen or fail to listen--for they are a  rebellious house--they will know that a prophet has been among them.   

Ezekiel is addressed as "son of man" (Hebrew ben adam, literally "son of human".) This is a strange phrase which appears (says Alexander, p. 761) ninety times in Ezekiel and twice in the book of Daniel. The term does not appear elsewhere in the Old Testament. In Daniel 8:17, the term is used to address Daniel. In Daniel 7:13, the phrase is in Arabic, not Hebrew, and represents a human messianic figure. 

Ezekiel is to be sent to Israel, to speak to them. Regardless of their response, Ezekiel is at least communicating God's message.

Commentators note that the Israelites are described as "a rebellious nation" but the Hebrew word translated "nation" is goyim, which is a plural. It is possible that both Israel/Samaria and Judah are referenced here. Duguid argues that there is a deliberate reversal of roles here: the Gentiles are called "a people" while Israel is called "nations."

Ezekiel 2:6-8, Briers, thorns, scorpions

And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns are all around you and you live among scorpions. Do not be afraid of what they say or terrified by them, though they are a rebellious house. 

The persistent stubborness of the people of Israelites is a theme of this book. Ezekiel is warned that the people will not listen, but he is not to be afraid. Mackie says that we are to recall the curse of Adam (Genesis 3:17-19) in this passage.

Ezekiel 2:9-10, A scroll

You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious. But you, son of man, listen to what I say to you. Do not rebel like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you." 

Then I looked, and I saw a hand stretched out to me. In it was a scroll, which he unrolled before me. On both sides of it were written words of lament and mourning and woe.  

Ezekiel is told not to be rebellious like the people of Israel. He has a message to give them. Indeed, it is handed to him on a scroll. The scroll has writing on both sides, writing that carry dark and painful words. Ezekiel will be made to internalize (literally) the message of that scroll.

Ezekiel 1, Four Living Creatures and a Throne

We begin the scroll of Ezekiel, a prophet who lived at the end of the sixth century BC, during the beginning of the Babylonia exile. 

Ezekiel 1:1-3, By the Kebar River
In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month on the fifth day, while I was among the exiles by the Kebar River, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God.   

On the fifth of the month--it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin--the word of the LORD came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, by the Kebar River in the land of the Babylonians. There the hand of the LORD was upon him.   

Ezekiel's vision begins in Babylon, during the exile. The vision begins in first person and then shifts to third person, describing Ezekiel's environment prior to details of the vision. One might suggest that verses 2 and 3 form an editorial comment by one who arranged the scroll. The author expects that the reader knows about King Jehoiachin or can look him up in the other scrolls.

The fifth year of Jehoiachin is around 593 BC. Jerusalem has not yet fallen to Nebuchadnezzar's army. The phrase "thirtieth year" probably refers to Ezekiel's age. He would have been allowed to serve as a priest in the temple when he turned thirty but now, when he reaches that precious milestone, he is instead faraway on the outskirts of Babylon. The Kebar River, says Ralph Alexander, "flowed southeast from the city of Babylon."

Ezekiel 1:4-11, A windstorm

I looked, and I saw a windstorm coming out of the north--an immense cloud with flashing lightning and surrounded by brilliant light. The center of the fire looked like glowing metal, and in the fire was what looked like four living creatures. In appearance their form was that of a man, but each of them had four faces and four wings. Their legs were straight; their feet were like those of a calf and gleamed like burnished bronze. Under their wings on their four sides they had the hands of a man.

All four of them had faces and wings, and their wings touched one another. Each one went straight  ahead; they did not turn as they moved. 

The third person narrative shifts to first person, with a dramatic image, a cloud of flashing fire, lighting and four living creatures. Apparently the four living creatures, arranged around the glowing metal, each has four wings and four faces? 

The center of the fire looks like "glowing metal", a translation of chashmal, a rare Hebrew word that became "elektron" in the Septuagint and eventually (see here) the Hebrew word for electricity.

Ezekiel 1:10-11, The faces

Their faces looked like this: Each of the four had the face  of a man, and on the right side each had the face of a lion, and on the left the face of an ox; each also had the face of an eagle. Such were their faces. Their wings were spread out upward; each had two wings, one touching the wing of another creature on either side, and two wings covering its body. 

The four faces (that each had?) were those of human, lion, ox and eagle. Two of the wings of one creature spread out and touched the wings of two others, so one might imagine a four sided bright cloud with sides formed by these four creatures. Similar (but slightly different) visions appear in Isaiah 6:1-4 and, in the New Testament, in Revelation 4:6-8.

Ezekiel 1:12-14, Four living creatures

Each one went straight ahead. Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, without turning as they went.   

The appearance of the living creatures was like burning coals of fire or like torches. Fire moved back and forth among the creatures; it was bright, and lightning flashed out of it. The creatures sped back and forth like flashes of lightning.   

The four living creatures seemed to go in any direction, without turning their heads. They are bright lights, with fire and lightning and the creatures themselves seem to move back and forth like lightning.

Ezekiel 1:15-21, Full of eyes

As I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the ground beside each creature with its four faces.  This was the appearance and structure of the wheels: They sparkled like chrysolite, and all four looked alike. Each appeared to be made like a wheel intersecting a wheel.   

As they moved, they would go in any one of the four directions the creatures faced; the wheels did not turn about as the creatures went. Their rims were high and awesome, and all four rims were full of eyes all around. When the living creatures moved, the wheels beside them moved; and when the living creatures rose from the ground, the wheels also rose. Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, and the wheels  would rise along with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. When the creatures moved, they also moved; when the creatures stood still, they also stood still; and when the creatures rose from the ground, the wheels rose along with  them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

Below each creature is a wheel. Each wheel "intersected a wheel". The wheels have very large rims that are "full of eyes." The wheels and creatures move in sync with this bright shining thunderstorm. It is apparently significant that "the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels" (whatever that means.)

Ezekiel 1:22-28,  Icy expanse

Spread out above the heads of the living creatures was what  looked like an expanse, sparkling like ice, and awesome. Under the expanse their wings were stretched out one toward  the other, and each had two wings covering its body. When the creatures moved, I heard the sound of their wings,  like the roar of rushing waters, like the voice of the Almighty, like the tumult of an army. When they stood  still, they lowered their wings. 

Then there came a voice from above the expanse over their heads as they stood with lowered wings. Above the expanse over their heads was what looked like a throne of sapphire, and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man. I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up he looked  like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him. Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. When I saw it, I  fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking. 

Above the creatures is an icy plane, an icy ceiling. Above that ceiling was a sapphire throne with a radiant One on the throne.

This first chapter of Ezekiel describes what theologian call a theophany, a physical appearance of God. In the Old Testament these are dramatic (eg. the fire and cloud of the Exodus, eg. Exodus 13:21-22.) In the book of Ezekiel there will be a continued emphasis on the terrifying and majestic otherwordliness of the Creator of the universe.

Tim Mackie, in the Bible Project class on Ezekiel, points out that Ezekiel is seeing, in far off Babylon, God's presence, which he would normally expect to see only in the temple in Jerusalem. For a Israelite raised to be a priest in the temple, this is a shock. (A Bible Project class video devoted to the vision of chapter 1 is here.)

Lamentations 5, Remember Us!

We read the final poem of the book of Lamentations. Unlike the previous four chapters, this is not an acrostic. The acrostic form has been abandoned, even though there are 22 verses.

This lament gives a vivid description of any city ravaged by war. The people starve; the women and children are the most vulnerable. During the Babylonian exile, there were regular days of fasting and mourning over lost Jerusalem. (See Zechariah 7:5.) The commentator Gunkel, as reported by House (p. 455) suggests that this psalm would have been sung during those fasts.

Lamentations 5:1, Remember us

Remember, LORD, what has happened to us; look, and see our disgrace. 

The psalm begins with a plea that YHWH "remember" them, that is, pay careful attention to the plight of the people and act to save them. This is a communal prayer. The people are disgraced, in pain, hurting and together call on YHWH.

This chapter has some similarities to Psalm 74, which also laments over the destruction of Jerusalem and asks God to "remember" the people of Judah.

Lamentations 5:2-6, Our disgrace

Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our homes to foreigners. 

We have become fatherless, our mothers are widows. 

We must buy the water we drink; our wood can be had only at a price. 

Those who pursue us are at our heels; we are weary and find no rest. 

We submitted to Egypt and Assyria to get enough bread. 

The disgrace of Jerusalem is described. In their starvation, the people of Judah gave in to both Egypt and Assyria (earlier) or Babylonia (later.)

Lamentations 5:7-10, Our ancestors sinned

Our ancestors sinned and are no more, and we bear their punishment. 

Slaves rule over us, and there is no one to free us from their hands. 

We get our bread at the risk of our lives because of the sword in the desert. 

Our skin is hot as an oven, feverish from hunger. 

It is suggested that the punishment does not fit the crime -- it was the ancestors who disobeyed God but it is their children and descendants who are ruled over by slaves; it is the descendants who struggle to find bread and are feverish from hunger. (See Ezekiel 18 for a rebuttal to verse 7.)

Being ruled by slaves was the deepest of insults. The slaves mentioned here were most likely low-level Babylonian officials assigned to administer this backwater province after its conquest.

Lamentations 5:11-13, Raped, tortured, abused

Women have been violated in Zion, and virgins in the towns of Judah. 

Princes have been hung up by their hands; elders are shown no respect. 

Young men toil at the millstones; boys stagger under loads of wood. 

The poverty and dangers in verses 7-10 are now replaced by serious crimes. Women are raped, princes are hung up, the young men and boys are forced into abusive labor. (Commentators agree that being "hung up by their hands" is a sign of execution, either as a way of executing someone or, more likely, as something done after execution. When Jerusalem is overrun, the sons of King Zedekiah were killed (2 Kings 25:7.)

Lamentations 5:14-18, Dancing turns to mourning

The elders are gone from the city gate; the young men have stopped their music.

Joy is gone from our hearts; our dancing has turned to mourning. 

The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us, for we have sinned! 

Because of this our hearts are faint, because of these things our eyes grow dim 

for Mount Zion, which lies desolate, with jackals prowling over it. 

The beauty and joy of the city is long gone. The few people who remain are in pain. 

The word translated jackals is shual, describing a cunning canine, like a fox or coyote (unlike Lamentations 4:3, where the NIV translates an unknown word as "jackals".)

Lamentations 5:19-20, Why?

You, LORD, reign forever; your throne endures from generation to generation. 

Why do you always forget us? Why do you forsake us so long? 

YHWH is addresses as the eternal king. Returning to the plea at the beginning of the chapter, the words "remember" and "look and see" are replaced by their opposites, "forget" and "forsake."

Lamentations 5:21-22, Unless...

Restore us to yourself, LORD, that we may return; renew our days as of old 

unless you have utterly rejected us and are angry with us beyond measure.

The poet begs for restoration. The song ends on a voice of despair. Is it possible that God has utterly rejected them and turned away from them?  (Although Jeremiah's writings can be depressing, they at least included a claim that in some later day, God would restore Israel.)

The ending of this psalm is so dismal and discouraging that, says Ellison (p. 733), in the reading of this chapter at the Jewish fast day of Tisha b'Av, verse 21 is repeated after verse 22, so that the song ends with some small encouragement!

Lamentations 4, Dead City, Dying Children

The devastation of Jerusalem is described in this short acrostic poem of lament.

Lamentations 4:1-2, Children mere pots of clay

How the gold has lost its luster, the fine gold become dull! 

The sacred gems are scattered at every street corner. 

How the precious children of Zion, once worth their weight in gold, 

are now considered as pots of clay, the work of a potter’s hands! 

The sacred gems -- the valuable people, precious children of Jerusalem -- are now just debris.

The English word "How" is a translation of ’ê·ḵāh, which begins with the letter aleph. This word echoes laments of David, often beginning with "How long, O Lord?" (See Psalm 13:1-2, also Psalm 79:5, Psalm 89:46 and, in the New Testament, Revelation 6:10.)

Lamentations 4:3-4, Begging children

Even jackals offer their breasts to nurse their young,

 but my people have become heartless like ostriches in the desert. 

Because of thirst the infant’s tongue sticks to the roof of its mouth; 

the children beg for bread, but no one gives it to them. 

The children are dying of thirst and hunger. Even the wild jackals nurse their young but the starving people of Jerusalem have abandoned for their children.

The meaning of the Hebrew word tannah, here translated "jackal", is uncertain. (The King James Version translates the word as "dragon", both here and in Malachi 1:3, the only other place where it occurs in the Old Testament manuscripts.)

Lamentations 4:5, Brought up in purple, ending in ash

Those who once ate delicacies are destitute in the streets. 

Those brought up in royal purple now lie on ash heaps. 

Even royalty -- those wealthy enough to wear purple -- are desperate.

Lamentations 4:6, Worse than Sodom

The punishment of my people is greater than that of Sodom, 

which was overthrown in a moment without a hand turned to help her. 

The prophet identifies with the people of Jerusalem as "my people." He has suffered with them. Jerusalem's lengthy siege and destruction is more horrible than Sodom's, a city which was destroyed in a moment. This is because Jerusalem's sins were worse than Sodom's (see Ezekiel 16:44-52.)

The Hebrew text for this verse uses the Hebrew word avon, "iniquity", not "punishment", but many translations (such as the NIV) view that word as implying "the [punishment of] the iniquity." Ellison (p. 727) says that sin and its punishment go together (in Hebrew thought) and so accepts the translation of the NIV.

Lamentations 4:7-8, Dirty and shriveled

Their princes were brighter than snow and whiter than milk, 

their bodies more ruddy than rubies, their appearance like lapis lazuli. 

But now they are blacker than soot; they are not recognized in the streets. 

Their skin has shriveled on their bones; it has become as dry as a stick. 

The rich princes, once healthy and elegantly dressed, appearing like precious jewelry, are now dirty, muddy, hungry, with shriveling skin.

Lamentations 4:9-10, Cooking children

Those killed by the sword are better off than those who die of famine; 

racked with hunger, they waste away for lack of food from the field. 

With their own hands compassionate women have cooked their own children, 

who became their food when my people were destroyed. 

The dead are better than the dying, who are starving and succumb to killing their own children in order to eat them! (This horror had occurred previously -- a siege of Samaria in 2 Kings 6:25-29 led to a similar result.)

Lamentations 4:11, Fire in Zion

The LORD has given full vent to his wrath; he has poured out his fierce anger. 

He kindled a fire in Zion that consumed her foundations. 

The prophet turns from the suffering of Jerusalem to an explanation of its cause. All of this suffering is YHWH's judgment and punishment on Jerusalem. It is because of His wrath that the city burns.

Lamentations 4:12-13, The blood of the righteous.

The kings of the earth did not believe, nor did any of the peoples of the world, 

that enemies and foes could enter the gates of Jerusalem. 

But it happened because of the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests, 

who shed within her the blood of the righteous. 

Many believed that the city could not be taken but eventually Nebuchadnezzar conquered it -- and the writer blames this on the sins of Jerusalem's false prophets and priests, who led the people astray and killed the righteous.

Lamentations 4:14-16, Unclean!

Now they grope through the streets as if they were blind. 

They are so defiled with blood that no one dares to touch their garments. 

“Go away! You are unclean!” people cry to them.“Away! Away! Don’t touch us!”

When they flee and wander about, people among the nations say, “They can stay here no longer.”

The LORD himself has scattered them; he no longer watches over them. 

The priests are shown no honor, the elders no favor. 

The false prophets and priests, defiled by their injustices, with blood on their hands, now stagger through the streets, abused by the public. They are treated like lepers. When they flee to other countries, the abuse continues.

Lamentations 4:17-20, Pursued, captured

Moreover, our eyes failed, looking in vain for help; 

from our towers we watched for a nation that could not save us. 

People stalked us at every step, so we could not walk in our streets. 

Our end was near, our days were numbered, for our end had come. 

Our pursuers were swifter than eagles in the sky; 

they chased us over the mountains and lay in wait for us in the desert. 

The LORD’s anointed, our very life breath, was caught in their traps. 

We thought that under his shadow we would live among the nations. 

The narration returns to first person, the prophet identifying with his people. The people of Jerusalem foolishly hoped in another country (most likely Egypt, see Jeremiah 37:3-10) in their war with Babylonia. When Nebuchadnezzar's army finally broke through, even the king (Hezekiah) fled the city but was quickly captured. (See 2 Kings 25:1-7.)

Lamentations 4:21-22, Don't rejoice, Edom!

Rejoice and be glad, Daughter Edom, you who live in the land of Uz.

 But to you also the cup will be passed; you will be drunk and stripped naked. 

Your punishment will end, Daughter Zion; he will not prolong your exile. 

But he will punish your sin, Daughter Edom, and expose your wickedness.

The first line of verse 21 is sarcastic. Edom, representative of all enemies of Israel, should not rejoice for she too will be judged and punished. 

This song ends with a small hint of future hope. The judgment of Jerusalem will eventually end (although it may take a very long time....)

Lamentations 3, Take Up My Case!

This poem is an interesting acrostic, with each letter of the alphabet at the beginning of three consecutive lines, in an  aaabbbccc ... pattern; it has three verses per letter just as Psalm 119 has eight verses per letter.

Commentator Ellison does not see Jeremiah as a possible author of the other chapters of Lamentations but does see Jeremiah as the likely author of this lament. 

Lamentations 3:1-6, Facing God's wrath

I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of the LORD’s wrath. 

He has driven me away and made me walk in darkness rather than light; 

indeed, he has turned his hand against me again and again, all day long. 

He has made my skin and my flesh grow old and has broken my bones. 

He has besieged me and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship. 

He has made me dwell in darkness like those long dead. 

The prophet-author, possibly Jeremiah, cries for help, listing the pain he has suffered. The pain is both physical and emotional. He has been "driven" from God, like one drives away an animal (Ellison.) The darkness in the last line is a hint at the nearness of death.

Besides the prophet Jeremiah, there are a number of other interesting individuals suggested as author of this song of lament. Both King Jehoaichin and King Zedekiah have been suggested (House, p. 406.) After he was captured by the Babylonians, Zedekiah was blinded and imprisoned. It is easy to imagine a repentant Zedekiah writing these words.

Lamentations 3:7-9, Blocked prayer

He has walled me in so I cannot escape; he has weighed me down with chains. 

Even when I call out or cry for help, he shuts out my prayer. 

He has barred my way with blocks of stone; he has made my paths crooked. 

The prophet prays but feels that only the walls hear him, that God has shut out his prayers and refuses to listen.

Lamentations 3:10-15, Mangled

Like a bear lying in wait, like a lion in hiding, 

he dragged me from the path and mangled me and left me without help. 

He drew his bow and made me the target for his arrows. 

He pierced my heart with arrows from his quiver. 

I became the laughingstock of all my people; they mock me in song all day long. 

He has filled me with bitter herbs and given me gall to drink. 

The prophet is mangled, pierced, hurt. God has abandoned him and given him only bitter gall to drink. See Job 16:12-14 for a similar description of Job's pain.

Lamentations 3:16-20, Broken teeth

He has broken my teeth with gravel; he has trampled me in the dust. 

I have been deprived of peace; I have forgotten what prosperity is. 

So I say, “My splendor is gone and all that I had hoped from the LORD.” 

I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. 

I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. 

The image is that of someone shoved face down on the ground, with a heavy hand grinding his face into the dirt. 

Lamentations is rarely quoted in American churches. Like most of Job, Ecclesiastes and various psalms of lament, there is strong cry of despair in these verses. Indeed, so far, the lamentations have been too pessimistic to even attribute to Jeremiah. But the one passage that people like to quote follows below.

Lamentations 3:21-24, New every morning

Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: 

Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. 

They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 

I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” 

The tone of the poem shifts suddenly. After twenty lines of pain and despair, there is suddenly a vision of hope, of a love of God that looks through the darkness and plans longterm good.

The first Hebrew word in verse 22 is hesed, translated here "great love."

Lamentations 3:25-30, Hope, with face in the dust

The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; 

it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. 

It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young. 

Let him sit alone in silence, for the LORD has laid it on him. 

Let him bury his face in the dust— there may yet be hope. 

Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him, and let him be filled with disgrace. 

The acrostic structure demands that the first letter of verses 25 to 27 be teth and so each verse begins  with the Hebrew word towb, "good." That word is used seven times in Genesis 1 to describe the beauty of creation. In a strong statement of trust, the prophet declares that it is good to wait for God's eventual salvation and to hope, even if his face is buried in the dust or his check turned to receive a strike.

Lamentations 3:31-33, Unfailing love

For no one is cast off by the Lord forever. 

Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. 

For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to anyone. 

The prophet's outlook is longterm -- yes, there is grief, but also compassion. God still has "unfailing love" (hesed.)

In the original Hebrew verse 31 is quite short. Have we lost a phrase?

Lamentations 3:34-36, Injustice

To crush underfoot all prisoners in the land, 

to deny people their rights before the Most High,

to deprive them of justice— would not the Lord see such things? 

The author (if Jeremiah) may be remembering his own imprisonment and suffering. It was wrong to abuse people in the way that the Jerusalem ruler abused Jeremiah and others who were faithful to God.

Lamentations 3:37-39, All from God

Who can speak and have it happen if the Lord has not decreed it? 

Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and good things come? 

Why should the living complain when punished for their sins? 

Despite the suffering, both good things and painful calamities come from God.

Lamentations 3:40-45, We lift up our hands

Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the LORD. 

Let us lift up our hearts and our hands to God in heaven, and say: 

“We have sinned and rebelled and you have not forgiven. 

“You have covered yourself with anger and pursued us; you have slain without pity. 

You have covered yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can get through. 

You have made us scum and refuse among the nations. 

The singer calls on people, even when their face is in the dust, to turn to YHWH and lift up both hearts and hands in repentance and confession. Even the paths of prayer to God are blocked!

The last verses, while describing their pain, agree that God has a right to do these things.

Lamentations 3:46-51, Streams of tears

“All our enemies have opened their mouths wide against us. 

We have suffered terror and pitfalls, ruin and destruction.” 

Streams of tears flow from my eyes because my people are destroyed. 

My eyes will flow unceasingly, without relief, 

until the LORD looks down from heaven and sees. 

What I see brings grief to my soul because of all the women of my city. 

The singer's tears are described as an unceasing flow. Among all the ruin and destruction, he is especially pained by the suffering of the women of the city. In any war, women and their children lead the suffering.

The Hebrew words of verse 47 , pa-ḥaḏ wā-p̄a-ḥaṯ hā-yāh ... haš-šêṯ wə-haš-šā-ḇer, have a rippling alliteration not quite caught in the NIV's "terror and pitfalls, ruin and destruction." 

Lamentations 3:52-54, Thrown into a pit

Those who were my enemies without cause hunted me like a bird. 

They tried to end my life in a pit and threw stones at me; 

 the waters closed over my head, and I thought I was about to perish. 

In Jeremiah 38:6, Jeremiah is thrown into a cistern. This might -- or might not -- be the event described here. If it is, the water closing over the prophet's head in metaphorical.

Lamentations 3:55-60, Take up my case

I called on your name, LORD, from the depths of the pit. 

You heard my plea: “Do not close your ears to my cry for relief.” 

You came near when I called you, and you said, “Do not fear.” 

You, Lord, took up my case; you redeemed my life. 

LORD, you have seen the wrong done to me. Uphold my cause! 

You have seen the depth of their vengeance, all their plots against me. 

Out of the depths of the pit, the singer called to God, who heard his plea and took uphis case. The singer then continues his pleas -- "You, God," he says, "please keep note of their plots!"

Lamentations 3:61-66,  Pay them back

LORD, you have heard their insults, all their plots against me— 

what my enemies whisper and mutter against me all day long. 

Look at them! Sitting or standing, they mock me in their songs. 

Pay them back what they deserve, LORD, for what their hands have done. 

Put a veil over their hearts, and may your curse be on them! 

Pursue them in anger and destroy them from under the heavens of the LORD.

The prophet's enemies insult and mock him. (See Jeremiah 18:18 for one example.) He wants his enemies paid back for their brutality and oppression. Following the spirit of the imprecatory psalms, he calls on God to put a veil over their hearts and to curse them and destroy them!

Some Random Thoughts

I met my wife, Jan, through the ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ. That ministry simplified the gospel message into a little tract called, The Four Spiritual Laws.  Law 1 said, 

"God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life."

I question that now. Or, more accurately, I question the implications of those words. I would argue that 

"God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life

[BUT THE PLAN IS A LONGTERM ONE 

ACROSS DECADES OR EVEN CENTURIES 

AND YOUR ROLE IN THAT PLAN 

MAY INVOLVE SOME PAIN AND SUFFERING!]

I think Jeremiah -- and Job -- would agree. The plan (and it is indeed wonderful) is to be part of a an eternal kingdom (Hebrews 11:13-16), and an ambassador (2 Corinthians 5:20-21) for that kingdom. There are times when that ambassador role -- or just life itself -- may leave one face down in the dust (verses 25-30, above.)