SONGS OF LAMENTATION I. DIRGES OVER FALLEN HEROES II Sam. 117-26, 333, 34, Jer. 2210 II. DIRGES OVER THE FALLEN NATION Am. 51, 2, Jer. 917-22, Lam. 2, 4, 1, 5, 3 SONGS OF LAMENTATION I DIRGES OVER FALLEN HEROES II Sam. 117-26, 333, 34, Jer. 2210 § 16. David's Lament over Saul and Jonathan, II Sam. 117-28 II Sam. 1 17Then David sang this dirge over Saul and Jonathan his son David's 18 (behold, it is written in the Book of Jashar), and said: Weep, O Judah! 19Grieve, O Israel! On thy heights are the slain! 20 Tell it not in Gath, Declare it not in the streets of Askelon; Lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, 21 Ye mountains of Gilboa, may no dew descend, 22 From the blood of the slain, The bow of Jonathan turned not back, The sword of Saul returned not empty. 23Saul and Jonathan, the beloved and the lovely! In life and in death they were not parted; They were swifter than eagles, 24Daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, Who put golden ornaments on your garments [and say]: §16 This is one of the most beautiful elegies in the O.T. and beyond reasonable doubt comes from Israel's greatest king. Cf. Introd., p. 17, and Vol. II, § 21. dirge The greatness of the calamity Brav ery and attractiveness of the fallen Saul's services to Israel David's love for Jonathan Epilogue Jonathan, in thy death hast thou wounded me! 26I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan! Thou wert surpassingly dear to me, Thy love to me was far more than the love of woman! How have the mighty fallen, And the weapons of war perished! § 17. David's Lament over Abner, II Sam. 333, 34 II Sam. 3 33 And the king sang a dirge for Abner and said: Must Abner die as dies the impious fool? 34Thy hands were not bound, Thy feet were not put into fetters; As one falls before ruthless men, thou didst fall. § 18. Jeremiah's Lament over the Fate of Jehoahaz, Jer. 2210 Weep rather for him who is gone, for he shall not return, Call to the mourn ing women II DIRGES OVER THE FALLEN NATION Am. 51, 2, Jer. 917-22, Lam. 2, 4, 1, 5, 3 § 19. Amos's Dirge over the Impending Fall of Northern Israel, Am. 51, 2 Am. 5 Hear the word which I take up against you, even a dirge, O house of Israel: 2Fallen, no more to rise, is the virgin Israel! Hurled down upon her own soil she lies, with none to raise her! § 20. Jeremiah's Lament over the Impending Fall of Judah, Jer. 917-22 Jer. 9 17Summon the mourning women that they may come; And send for the wise women 18that they may quickly raise for us their voices in wailing; That our eyes may run down with tears, and our eyelids flow with water. 19 For a sound of wailing is heard from Zion, ‘How are we ruined! §17 This is an excellent example of the popular dirge. 19 In these dirges the object of the lament is not an individual but the nation. They are a fitting prologue to the longer dirges in Lam. which deal with the same theme. § 20 Cf. Vol. III, § 79. for detailed notes. Cf. also Jer. 127-12, Vol. III, § 94, for a similar dirge over sinful Judah. JEREMIAH'S LAMENT OVER JUDAH We are greatly confounded, because they have cast down our dwellings !' 20 Hear, O women, and let your ears receive my words; And teach your daughters wailing, and each her neighbor a dirge: The dirge 21' Death is come up into our windows, it has entered into our palaces, Cutting off the children from the streets, the young men from the open that spaces. 22 The dead bodies of men fall as dung upon the open field, they are to sing And as the handful after the harvester, with none to gather them.' hovah's dire judg Judah (Lam. § 21. Jehovah's Overwhelming Judgment upon Jerusalem, Lam. 2 Lam. 2 'How the Lord hath beclouded in his anger the daughter of Zion! 1. JeHe hath cast down from heaven to earth the beauty of Israel, a And he hath not kept in remembrance his footstool in the day of his anger. ment "The Lord hath swallowed up without mercy every habitation of Jacob,b upon He hath thrown down in his wrath the strongholds of the daughter of Judah, He hath struck to the ground, he hath polluted her king and her princes. He hath cut off in the fierceness of his angerd all of Israel's strength, He hath drawn back his right hand from before the enemy, He hath burnt in Jacob like a flame, which devours on all sides. "He hath bent his bow as an enemy, he hath stood as an adversary, He hath slain all the desirable men in the tent of Zion," e He hath poured out his fury as fire [on the daughter of Judah].h 21-5) "He hath torn down as a vine his dwelling,' he hath destroyed his assem- 2. Also bling place, He hath caused to be forgotten in Zion, the fast day and the sabbath, § 21 The metrical structure of this poem is remarkably symmetrical. Only a few later glosses have crept in to disturb the regular rhythm of the five-beat measure. It falls naturally into two great divisions. Vss. 1-12 describe the fate of the different classes in the community upon whom the calamity had fallen with greatest severity. In the second general division, 13-22, the cause of the great judgment is presented and the nation is called upon to raise its voice in petition to Jehovah for pity, not because divine mercy is deserved but because of the overwhelming character of the judgment. As has been stated in the Introd., p. 19, the date of this poem is between 586 and 561 B.C. 21 Either the temple or the ark. b22 The metrical structure of this vs. is unusual, but no satisfactory reconstruction has been found. 22 So Syr. Heb., the kingdom. d23 So. Syr. and Lat. Heb., in fierce anger. e23 Lit., horn, as the symbol of strength. 124 The Heb. adds, interrupting the sense and metrical structure, his right hand. 24 Lit., the desires of the eye, in the tent of the daughter of Zion, i. e., the citizens of Jerusalem. b24 The last part of this vs. that has been lost and is supplied according to the demands of the parallelism from 5. 126 So Gk. Heb., garden. 12 Heb., hut; the reference, however, is clearly to the temple and the original probably read as above. * 2 The Heb. adds Jehovah, but to preserve the metre in the Eng. it has been omitted. upon the temple and its service (6, 7) |