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!
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