JERUSALEM'S DESOLATION AND GUILT The Lord hath trodden as in a wine-press the daughter of Judah. 17Zion spreadeth out her hands, there is none to comfort her; Jehovah hath commanded regarding Jacob, that his adversaries should vah's surround him;d It is Jeho will Jerusalem indeed hath become an unclean thing in their eyes. 18 Jehovah, he is in the right, for I have rebelled against his command, Yet hear ye, all ye peoples, and behold my sorrow; My maidens, together with my young men, have gone into captivity. 19I have called to those who love me, but they also have deceived me; My priest and mine elders in the city expire from hunger, They have sought to find food for themselves, but they have found nothing. 20 Behold, O Jehovah, for I am in distress, my soul is troubled; My heart is disturbed within me," for I have grievously rebelled; Outside the sword bereaveth, within there is death. 21 Hearh how I pour forth sighs-there is none to comfort me! Mine enemies have all heard of my misfortune, they rejoice that thou hast done it; Thou hast brought the dayi that thou hast proclaimed because of all my sins, Just as thou hast done to me, do also to them, § 24. Prayer of the Persecuted Survivors in the Judean Community, Lam. 5 Lam. 5 1Remember, O Jehovah, what hath befallen us,k Look and see our disgrace. 115 The treading of the wine-press is also employed in Is. 632, 6 as a figure of judgment and complete destruction. y 115 The Heb. adds virgin, but cf. and 22, 5, where the present expression occurs without virgin, which is here probably a gloss. 116 So Gk. and Lat. The Heb. repeats mine eye; but this destroys the regular metre and is simply a scribal error. a116 Lit., my soul. b116 I. e., the citizens of Judah. 117 I. e., Judah's allies. d117 Or those who encircle him should be his enemies. e119 From hunger is not found in the text but is required by the metre and has probably been omitted as the result of a common scribal error. 1119 The second half of the vs. has been retained in the Gk., Syr., and Arabic, together with the gloss, that they might revive their spirits forever, which has taken the place of the original in the Heb. 8120 Lit., inward parts; according to the Hebrews the seat of the emotions. h121 Jehovah, not the passers by, as in 12, is addressed. i121 Cf. 15. i122 Reversing the two parts of this vs., as the metre demands. § 24 Cf., for date and interpretation, Introd., p. 20. This poem is an important historical source throwing light upon conditions in the Judean community during the first half of the Persian period. In conclusion it presents the question of why and how long Jehovah will seemingly forget his people. It is the same question that is uppermost in the literature of this period: Mal. 3, Job 3-31, and many pss., e. g., 16 and 22. The na tion's confes sion of guilt Prayer for ven geance The great calamity a punishment for the nation's sins k51 Lit., what is to us. Pitiable fate of the survivors The tragic contrast with Judah's former prosperity Appeal to Jehovah to restore his people 2Our inheritance is turned over to aliens,1 Our wood cometh to us by purchase. We are weary, but find no rest. "We have given the hand to the Egyptians, And to the Assyrians, that we might be sated with food." 7Our fathers sinned and are no more,P While we must bear their guilt. Slaves have dominion over us, With none to deliver from their hand. The virgins in the cities of Judah. And the children stumble under the wood. 14The elders have ceased from the gate, 19Thou art enthroned forever, O Jehovah, Thy throne is from generation to generation. 152 I. e., the Edomites. m 54 I. e., not having any title to the land or the cisterns, we must purchase our water. n55 Correcting two scribal errors. 056 This vs. is obscure. It is not clear whether the reference is to the past experience of the nation or to the present fortunes of the exiles. In the latter case the reference to Assyria, which fell in 605-4 B.C., is unexpected, although even in post-exilic literature Assyria continued to figure as the great Eastern power. P57 For this popular proverb, cf. Jer. 3129, Ezek. 181, II Kgs. 2326, 243. 458 The reference may be to the Bab. governors or to the local landowners. Cf. Nehemiah's reference to Tobiah as the Ammonite slave, Neh. 219. 59 I. e., sudden Bedouin attacks, which have ever been the terror of the inhabitants of Palestine when the local government has been weak. 519 Cf. also Pss. 456, 10212. PRAYER OF THE SURVIVORS IN THE JUDEAN COMMUNITY 20 Why dost thou forget us forever, And forsake us these many years? 21 Restore us, O Jehovah, and we will be restored; Renew our days as of old. 22Or hast thou completely rejected us, Art thou very wroth against us? § 25. A Jewish Patriot's Meditation on Jehovah's Leadership of His People, Lam. 3 Lam. 3 1I am the man who hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath. 2He hath led me and caused me to walk in darkness, without light. 3Surely against me he hath turned his hand all the day. Jeho vah's afflic tion of his servant in the 4My flesh and my skin hath he wasted; he hath broken my bones. "Against me he hath builded and enclosed me with bitterness" and weariness. past "He hath made me to dwell in dark places, like those long dead. 'He hath walled me about so that I cannot go forth; he hath made heavy my chain. Though I cry and call for help, he shutteth out my prayer. 'He hath walled up my ways with hewn stone; he hath twisted my paths. 10 He is to me as a bear lying in wait, as a lion in lurking places. "He hath turned aside my steps and mangled me;" he hath made me forlorn. 14To all peoples* I am become a derision, and their song all the day. 15He hath filled me to the full with bitterness; he hath sated me with gall. 16He hath broken my teeth with gravel; he hath heaped me with ashes. 17 And he hath deprived my soul of its peace; I forgot prosperity, 18 And I said: 'My strength is gone, and my hope in Jehovah.' 19The remembrance of mine affliction and my bitterness is wormwood and gall, 20 My soul doth ever remember them and is bowed down within me. t521 So the parallel in Jer. 3118 and the demands of the context. The Heb. adds to thee. § 25 For the probable date and origin of this poem, cf. Introd. p. 20. This poetic monologue presents a problem that also arises in connection with many pss. of the Psalter. Does the speaker speak for himself or for his nation? The portrait in the first part of the poem has many points of contact with the suffering servant of Jehovah in Is. 42-53 or of Ps. 22. As in those familiar passages, the picture of suffering is superlative and transcends that of the ordinary individual. It is an epitome of Israel's woes in the years following 586 B.C. If we follow the Syr. and certain Heb. MSS. of 14 the conviction grows that we have here a collective description of the nation's woes, into which the poet has woven the results of his own observation and personal experience. At certain points he turns preacher, as in 21-39, and sets forth certain fundamental spiritual truths with rare power and winsomeness. In 40-47 he throws off the individual form of address and speaks to and in behalf of the nation. The poem contains many passages of great literary and spiritual beauty. 35 Lit., gall. The exact meaning of this vs. is not certain. Many would revise funda mentally. 311 I. e., carrying on the figure of a ravenous wild beast. w313 I. e., shafts from his quiver. This is a characteristic Heb. idiom. x314 So Syr. and many MSS. Heb., my people. y316 Lit., made me bend under the burden. 317 So Gk. Heb., thou hast. Lit., he hath caused my soul (i. e., me) to reject peace (or welfare). 319 Punctuating the Heb. slightly differently than in the traditional text which reads remember. His goodness to those who patiently trust bim His yoke is placed on men for a loving purpose His judg ments are just Call to national confession and petition for mercy The cry of woe and distress 21 This I recall to mind; therefore I have hope: 22 Jehovah's lovingkindnesses do not cease, for they never fail. 25 Jehovah is good to those who wait for him, to onef who seeketh him. 26It is good quietly to hope for the salvation of Jehovah. 27It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. 28 Let him sit alone and be silent, when Jehovah hath laid it upon him. 32Though he grieve, he will have compassion according to the greatness of his lovingkindness, 33 For he doth not willinglyi afflict nor grieve mankind. 34 The crushing under foot of all the prisoners of earth, 35 The wresting of the rights of a man before the Almighty, 36 The subverting a man in his cause, doth the Lord not see? 37 Who is it that saith, and it is, when the Lord commandeth it not? 38 Out of the mouth of the Almighty doth there not come evil and good? 39Why should a mortal complain, a man for the punishment of his sins? 4o Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to Jehovah. 42 We have transgressed and have rebelled; thou hast not pardoned. 45 Thou hast made us an offscouring and refuse in the midst of the peoples. 47 Terror and destruction are upon us, devastation and ruin.' 48 Mine eye runs down with streams of water, for the wreck of my people, 49 Mine eye pours down unceasingly, without any respite, 50 Until Jehovah look down and behold my sorrow from heaven, 51 For he affecteth my soul, because of the woes of my city.< 52They have hunted me like a bird; they who are mine enemies without cause, 53In the dungeon they have cut off my life, and have cast a stone upon me.1 b321 The this refers to the statement regarding Jehovah's goodness that follows. 322 So one Heb. MS., Syr., and Targ. d323 Heb., thy. e324 A scribe, destroying the metre, has introduced the longer idiom, my soul saith, i. e., I myself say. 1325 Lit., soul, equivalent to the Eng., one or person. 8329 I. e., better humble his pride to the ground or fill his mouth with dust than speak resentfully of Jehovah's providence. h331 The metre and the parallel in 33 indicate that a word or two has been dropped out of the text which must be supplied. 1333 Lit., from the heart. 1341 So Gk., Syr., and Lat. Heb., heart. k351 This vs. has suffered badly in transmission. The Heb. reads all the daughters of my people. The reconstruction given above is only conjectural. 1353 I. e., cast me, like Jeremiah, into a dungeon to die. A JEWISH PATRIOT'S MEDITATION 54Waters flowed over my head; I said, 'I am lost.' 55I called on thy name, O Jehovah, from the lowest dungeon. 56 Thou heardest my voice; oh close not thine earm to my cry! 57On the day that I called upon thee thou drewest near; thou saidst, ‘Fear not.' 580 Lord, thou didst plead my cause; thou redeemedst my life. 590 Jehovah, thou hast seen my wrong; vindicate my cause. 60 Thou hast seen all their vengeance and all their devices against me; 62 The utterances of my foes, and their mutterings against me each day. 64Thou wilt repay them, O Jehovah, for the work of their hands. 65 Thou wilt give them blindness of vision, thy curse upon them. 66 Thou wilt pursue them in wrath and destroy them from under the heavens." m356 Heb. adds to my breathing. The metre and the variations of the VSS. leave little doubt that this is a later interpolation. 358 Lit., thou didst plead the cause of my soul; but soul here, as usually, means physical life. 361 The repetition of the same second member in 60, 61 is probably due to a scribal error, although it may have been introduced in the original for the sake of emphasis. curse. p363 I. e., songs of mockery. 4365 Lit., blindness of heart; but here, as usually, the heart stands for mental power. 366 So certain Gk. MSS. Heb. adds of Jehovah, destroying the metre and directness of the The divine deliver ance Concluding appeal for vin dication and vengeance |