Observing the Poetic Repetition for the Emphasis of Established Elements in the Text:
 
1 Remember[a], YHVH (Mercy) Lord,[b] what has fallen on us; consider[a], and see[a] this our shame![c]
2 Our inheritance[d] has been overturned[n] by strangers,[e] and our houses[d] given to foreigners. [e]
3 We have become orphans without a father,[f] our mothers are like widows. [f]
4 We buy[g] the water[i] we drink, and hire[g] our wood.
5 They are upon our necks in pursuit of us; we labour receiving no rest.[h]
6 To Egypt[e]  (double distress) we have pleaded with (given) our hand and sought the Assyrians[e]  (a step), to be satisfied with bread.[i]
7 Our fathers have missed the mark[l] set by God’s holiness (chata: sinned) and are no more, but we are burdened[q] by their perversions[m] (avon: premeditated iniquity).
8 Servants rule over us; there is nothing to deliver[n] us from their hand.
9 At the risk of our souls we get our bread,[i] because of the sword in the desert.
10 Our skin is like blackened food from an oven,[q] because of the raging heat[q] of famine.[i]
11 They raped[c] and abused the women in Zion, [d] the virgins in the cities of Judah. [d]
12 Princes were hung up by their hands, [c] the faces of the elderly were not honoured. [c]
13 Young men grind at the millstones; [h] boys stagger under the burden[h] of wood.
14 The elders have ceased, are on a shabbat[h] from gathering at the gate, likewise the young men from their music.[j]
15 Joy is taking a shabbat, [h] stopped, is the joy of our core being; our dancing has turned into mourning.[j]
16 The crown[k] has fallen[c] from our head. Oiy, we beg You, for we have missed the mark[l] set by Your holiness (chata: sinned)!
17 Because of this our core being is faint;[i] because of these things our eyes have become dark;[a]
18 Because Mount Zion[d] is desolate, with foxes (enemies of God’s vineyard) walking on it.
19 You, YHVH (Mercy) Lord, [b] abide forever;[p] Your throne[k] from generation to generation.
20 Why do You continue to forget[o] us, and forsake[o] us for so many days?[r]
21 Turn us back[n] to You, YHVH (Mercy) Lord, [b] and we will be returned[n]; renew our days[r] as of old.
22 Unless You despise us[o] like refuse, [c] Your wrath being on us exceedingly and continually?[p]
 
We note that this chapter begins with a petition for God to “remember,” to turn His gaze toward Judah, and concludes with a request for God to “turn” the hearts of the people back to Him.
 
This final section of carefully organized acrostic poetry begins with “overturning” and “desolation” and concludes with “returning” and “renewal.”
 
Mercy is defined by YHVH. Mercy both precedes and triumphs over, judgement.
 
 זְכֹ֤ר יְהוָה֙ מֶֽה־הָ֣יָה לָ֔נוּ ׳הַבֵּיט׳ ״הַבִּ֖יטָה״ וּרְאֵ֥ה אֶת־חֶרְפָּתֵֽנוּ׃
 
1 Remember, YHVH (Mercy) Lord, what has fallen on us; consider, and see this our shame!
 
The prophet/Judah does not ask God to recall something, rather this is a Biblical Hebrew way of pleading for God’s engagement with the matter at hand.
 
The Targum illuminates the text by specifically acknowledging that God has ordered all things.
 
“Remember, O Lord, what was decreed to befall us; look from heaven and see our disgrace.”
 
-Aramaic Targum on Lamentations 5:1
 
 נַחֲלָתֵ֙נוּ֙ נֶֽהֶפְכָ֣ה לְזָרִ֔ים בָּתֵּ֖ינוּ לְנָכְרִֽים׃
 
2 Our inheritance has been overturned by strangers, and our houses given to foreigners.
 
While the noun inheritance has a wide application, here it refers to Judah’s inheritance, Mount Zion, the Temple, the city of Jerusalem, the territory of Judah, the king of Judah, her priests (Levites) and nobles, and her progeny.
 
God Himself is the ultimate inheritance of the Jewish people, but He cannot be overturned.
 
The couplet “inheritance” and “houses” denotes a connection between inheritance and security of place, shelter, and the perpetuation of family, which qualifies under both designations.
 
The couplet of “strangers” and “foreigners” emphasises Judah’s defeat at the hands of heathen peoples. Ironic, given the fact that this is ultimately self-defeat due to the syncretised pagan practices of Judah at the time.
 
We note that the Hebrew זור zur foreigner, while a synonym for the Hebrew נכרי nokriy stranger, nonetheless differs in meaning slightly. זור zur foreigner, carries the added meaning of “turning aside to lodge,” specifically a visitor, whereas the Hebrew נכרי nokriy from the root נכר neker “unexpected calamity,” infers a foreigner or pagan who brings either potential or explicit harm to Israel/Judah.
 
The word “overturned” is significant for a number of reasons. Judah (Israel) had turned away from God and had been overturned by the consequences of her sin and perversion.
 
Turning is a primary action in the redemptive meta-narrative of God’s Word. The Hebrew root נפך naphach is used in verse 2 as a synonym and counterpoint to the Hebrew שוב shuv meaning “turn” which will be employed twice in the second to last verse(21) as a plea for the returning of Judah to God in right relationship. Thus, her overturning through turning away is redeemed through God’s turning her back to right relationship in Him in response to her humble and repentant cry for help.
 
 יְתוֹמִ֤ים הָיִ֙ינוּ֙ ׳אֵין׳ ״וְאֵ֣ין״ אָ֔ב אִמֹּתֵ֖ינוּ כְּאַלְמָנֽוֹת׃
 
3 We have become orphans without a father, our mothers are like widows.
 
The Hebrew text makes a couplet of “orphans” and the “fatherless” both as a way to emphasize the weight of Judah’s reality and as a way to denote the sense Judah has of having lost both her earthly fathers and her heavenly Father. Of course it’s impossible for her to lose God except by her own wilful refusal of Him. And, even then, she has lost Him only by delusion and not in reality. 
 
“Our mothers are like widows” is probably an allusion to the enslavement and forced labour of Judah’s men. The Targum supports this idea.
 
“We have become like orphans who have no father, our mothers like widows whose husbands have gone into the cities of the sea and it is uncertain if they are alive.”
 
-Aramaic Targum on Lamentations 5:3
 
 מֵימֵ֙ינוּ֙ בְּכֶ֣סֶף שָׁתִ֔ינוּ עֵצֵ֖ינוּ בִּמְחִ֥יר יָבֹֽאוּ׃
 
4 We buy the water we drink, and hire our wood.
 
This is an expression of utter vulnerability. Water, which was once readily available and without cost is now being sold to the people of Judah by her captors, thus draining her of the little she has left. Water of course being essential to life. Likewise wood for heating families on cold winters nights in Jerusalem, or in the desert in transit toward captivity, and for construction.
 
Water, food, wood for shelter, fire and warmth, all essential for human survival, are now being sold to people who have nothing to buy them with.
 
 עַ֤ל צַוָּארֵ֙נוּ֙ נִרְדָּ֔פְנוּ יָגַ֖עְנוּ ׳לֹא׳ ״וְלֹ֥א״ הֽוּנַֽח־לָֽנוּ׃
 
5 They are upon our necks in pursuit of us; we labour receiving no rest.
 
Judah, whose neck has been stiff toward God in her pride is now subjugated under the yoke of slavery to Babylon. The labour of both remnant city dwellers and captive slaves is fruitless because it is purposed to supply Judah’s enemies. Therefore, she has no rest, having not given the land of the territory of Judah her God appointed rest for decades. Thus the seventy year captivity, a repayment for the failure to observe the שבתות Shabbatot (sabbaths), rests.
 
 מִצְרַ֙יִם֙ נָתַ֣נּוּ יָ֔ד אַשּׁ֖וּר לִשְׂבֹּ֥עַֽ לָֽחֶם׃
 
6 To Egypt (double distress) we have pleaded with (given) our hand and sought the Assyrians (a step), to be satisfied with bread.
 
This is a confession that acknowledges and observes Judah’s propensity for seeking help from sources other than YHVH.
 
The reference to Egypt may specifically refer to Zedekiah’s arrangement. [Jer. 37:7] The Assyrians had previously exiled the northern tribes, and yet Judah reached out even to the now defeated Assyrian remnant for help.
 
It’s worth noting that while Israel/Judah are dispersed to nations such as Egypt and Assyria, the goal God has established for all Israel is her return to the land God has covenanted, in salvation and right relationship to God. [Isaiah 11:16]
 
Both these attempts to seek help from human rulers rather than from the God of Israel are evidence of “Our fathers having missed the mark…” (see following verse)
 
 אֲבֹתֵ֤ינוּ חָֽטְאוּ֙ ׳אֵינָם׳ ״וְאֵינָ֔ם״ ׳אֲנַחְנוּ׳ ״וַאֲנַ֖חְנוּ״ עֲנֹתֵיהֶ֥ם סָבָֽלְנוּ׃
 
7 Our fathers have missed the mark set by God’s holiness (chata: sinned) and are no more, but we are burdened by their perversions (avon: premeditated iniquity).
 
As in the previous chapter both חתא chata: sin and עון avon: premeditated iniquity are used to show the depths of Judah’s sin, her descent into perversions of the worst kind.
 
The perversions engaged by their fathers have been adopted by the children and the fruit of these perversions have now become a burden on them. Not because their fathers practiced them but because they chose to practice them. All are held to account for their own sin. No one will stand at the judgement and be allowed to excuse themselves based on the actions of anyone else.
 
 עֲבָדִים֙ מָ֣שְׁלוּ בָ֔נוּ פֹּרֵ֖ק אֵ֥ין מִיָּדָֽם׃
 
8 Servants rule over us; there is nothing to deliver us from their hand.
 
Those who once served the rulers and middle class of Judah are now ruling over them. Servants were most often foreigners. Thus the people of Judah are now completely subjugated even within their remnant and captive dwellings.
 
“The sons of Ham, who were given as slaves to the sons of Shem, ruled over us and there was no one to deliver us from their hands.”
 
-Aramaic Targum on Lamentations 5:8
 
 בְּנַפְשֵׁ֙נוּ֙ נָבִ֣יא לַחְמֵ֔נוּ מִפְּנֵ֖י חֶ֥רֶב הַמִּדְבָּֽר׃
 
9 At the risk of our souls we get our bread, because of the sword in the desert.
 
In order to get bread they must venture unarmed into wilderness areas where not only enemy soldiers but also bandits lurk to attack them.
 
 עוֹרֵ֙נוּ֙ כְּתַנּ֣וּר נִכְמָ֔רוּ מִפְּנֵ֖י זַלְעֲפ֥וֹת רָעָֽב׃
 
10 Our skin is like blackened food from an oven, because of the raging heat of famine.
 
Famine has brought fever, emaciated bodies with a blackened pallor, and death.
 
The imagery of burning and blackened skin carries a sense of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.
 
The Psalmist writes:
 
“Let him rain coals on the wicked; fire and sulphur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.”
 
-Tehillim (Psalms) 11:6
 
 נָשִׁים֙ בְּצִיּ֣וֹן עִנּ֔וּ בְּתֻלֹ֖ת בְּעָרֵ֥י יְהוּדָֽה׃
 
11 They raped and abused the women in Zion, the virgins in the cities of Judah.
 
The Targum makes yet another prophetic albeit retrospective connection between the destruction of the two Temples in Jerusalem.
 
“Women who were married to men in Zion were raped by Romans and virgins in the cities of Judah by Chaldeans (Babylonians).”
 
-Aramaic Targum on Lamentations 5:11
 
שָׂרִים֙ בְּיָדָ֣ם נִתְל֔וּ פְּנֵ֥י זְקֵנִ֖ים לֹ֥א נֶהְדָּֽרוּ׃
 
12 Princes were hung up by their hands, the faces of the elderly were not honoured.
 
“The king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and also slaughtered all the officials of Judah at Riblah.”
 
-Yirmiyahu (Jeremiah) 52:10
 
בַּחוּרִים֙ טְח֣וֹן נָשָׂ֔אוּ וּנְעָרִ֖ים בָּעֵ֥ץ כָּשָֽׁלוּ׃
 
13 Young men grind at the millstones; boys stagger under the burden of wood.
 
This can be understood as the plain meaning suggests, to refer to slavery and forced labour in mills and wood cutting etc.
 
It is also thought to describe a cruel practice of the Babylonians when bringing conquered enemies into captivity, as described by Rashi:
 
“Encumbered with millstones. When the enemies led them away in neck irons, they would place on their shoulders millstones and burdens in order to tire them. *Alternatively, ‘youths were forced to grind wheat,’ a task which drains their strength. (Ibn Ezra) And similarly, “[and boys] staggered with beams,” [meaning that] their strength failed. The expression of staggering כִּשְׁלוֹן applies to the weakening of strength, as is stated in Ezra, “And Yehudah said, ‘the strength of the bearer has failed,’” *Nechemyah 4:4. and similarly, “He has caused my strength to fail.” *Eichah 1:14.”
 
-Rashi on Lamentations 5:13
 
 זְקֵנִים֙ מִשַּׁ֣עַר שָׁבָ֔תוּ בַּחוּרִ֖ים מִנְּגִינָתָֽם׃
 
14 The elders have ceased, are on a shabbat from gathering at the gate, likewise the young men from their music.
 
The use of the Hebrew שָׁבָ֔תוּ shavato from שבת shabbat which does mean “cease” but is also the Hebrew noun denoting the Sabbath, adds an interesting remez (hint) to the text. It is as if the inability of the elders to meet in the gate and convene over matters of justice and provision, is part of the God appointed rest for the land, which had been neglected by Judah in her apostacy.
 
The Targum retrospectively understands the elders as being members of the Sanhedrin:
 
“The elders ceased from the gates of the Sanhedrin; and the young men from their houses of music.”
 
-Aramaic Targum on Lamentations 5:11
 
 שָׁבַת֙ מְשׂ֣וֹשׂ לִבֵּ֔נוּ נֶהְפַּ֥ךְ לְאֵ֖בֶל מְחֹלֵֽנוּ׃
 
15 Joy is taking a shabbat, stopped, is the joy of our core being; our dancing has turned into mourning.
 
Once again the word play concerning the Hebrew שבת shabbat is employed for emphasis.
 
Joy is robed of its restful application and celebratory dancing collapses in grief. This, because the land has been robbed of its joy, the rhythm of rest (shabbat) and planting, harvest and rest (shabbat).
 
 נָֽפְלָה֙ עֲטֶ֣רֶת רֹאשֵׁ֔נוּ אֽוֹי־נָ֥א לָ֖נוּ כִּ֥י חָטָֽאנוּ׃
 
16 The crown has fallen from our head. Oiy, we beg You, for we have missed the mark set by Your holiness (chata: sinned)!
 
The collective glory has fallen from the head of Judah. Her human king has fallen at the hands of Babylon.
 
Iben Ezra understands the crown to refer to the Temple.
 
The subsequent plea is one of genuine repentance. As if to say, “We had sought the wrong crown, You alone O God are King!”
 
 עַל־זֶ֗ה הָיָ֤ה דָוֶה֙ לִבֵּ֔נוּ עַל־אֵ֖לֶּה חָשְׁכ֥וּ עֵינֵֽינוּ׃
 
17 Because of this our core being is faint; because of these things our eyes have become dark;
 
Judah, through the mouth of the prophet, confesses her awareness of the fact that it is her own sin that has made her faint. Her own sin has blinded her and caused her to focus on darkness.
 
The Targum reads:
 
“Because of our Temple, which is desolate, our heart was weak. And because of these people of the House of Israel who went into exile from there our eyes have become dim.”
 
-Aramaic Targum on Lamentations 5:17
 
 עַ֤ל הַר־צִיּוֹן֙ שֶׁשָּׁמֵ֔ם שׁוּעָלִ֖ים הִלְּכוּ־בֽוֹ׃
 
18 Because Mount Zion is desolate, with foxes (enemies of God’s vineyard) walking on it.
 
Foxes are symbolic of enemies, demons, pests.
 
“Catch the foxes for us, The little foxes that spoil and ruin the vineyards, While our vineyards are in blossom.”
 
-Shir Hashiriym (Song of Songs) 2:15
 
The Talmud Bavliy tells a story of the Rabbi Akiva during the period of the Roman destruction of the second Temple:
 
“Rav Akiva and his companions were walking together; they saw a fox come out of the holy of holies; they wept, but he laughed or rejoiced; they wept, that in the place where the stranger that drew near should die, now foxes walked upon it; he laughed or rejoiced, because, as this prophecy was fulfilled, so would others that predicted good things.”
 
-Talmud Bavliy Maccot, fol. 24. 1. 2.

 אַתָּ֤ה יְהוָה֙ לְעוֹלָ֣ם תֵּשֵׁ֔ב כִּסְאֲךָ֖ לְדֹ֥ר וָדֽוֹר׃
 
19 You, YHVH (Mercy) Lord, abide forever; Your throne from generation to generation.
 
Here Judah, by the mouth of the prophet, acknowledge that God alone is her King. His throne in the heavens imparts or withholds glory from Zion, and His rule is everlasting from לְדֹר וָדוֹר le’dor vador generation to generation.
 
This establishes God’s eternal purposes for His people in Him.
 
God does not “remain” as if there were ever a possibility that He might not remain, rather He “abides” or “dwells.” This does not require work on His part, it is an attribute of His nature.
 
The statement that makes up the present verse denotes humble contrition. Repentance begins by acknowledging who God is.
 
 לָ֤מָּה לָנֶ֙צַח֙ תִּשְׁכָּחֵ֔נוּ תַּֽעַזְבֵ֖נוּ לְאֹ֥רֶךְ יָמִֽים׃
 
20 Why do You continue to forget us, and forsake us for so many days?
 
Judah’s acknowledgement of God’s eternal rule doesn’t change the fact that she is, at this time, still suffering the consequences of her sin. She feels abandoned by God and wonders if He will forsake her forever. This is said in juxtaposition to God’s eternal nature and reign.
 
 הֲשִׁיבֵ֨נוּ יְהוָ֤ה׀ אֵלֶ֙יךָ֙ ׳וְנָשׁוּב׳ ״וְֽנָשׁ֔וּבָה״ חַדֵּ֥שׁ יָמֵ֖ינוּ כְּקֶֽדֶם׃
 
21 Turn us back to You, YHVH (Mercy) Lord, and we will be returned; renew our days as of old.
 
The truly repentant understand that they cannot save themselves. Atonement is needed and that atonement is beyond the ability of human beings to achieve. Therefore, the phrase “Turn us back.” The work of turning the human heart away from sin and toward God is the work of God’s Spirit through His atoning essence/blood, which is convergent in and transcends created mater.
 
Only if God turns Judah back will she truly be returned. Only He can renew her days. She has come to this realization due to her utter vulnerability. She is literally incapable of returning herself to Zion, Righteousness, God.
 
This verse of Lamentations has an established place in the Jewish prayer book* in a prayer honouring the role of the Torah in pointing us toward right relationship in God:
 
עֵץ חַיִּים
 
עֵץ חַיִּים הִיא לַמַּחֲזִיקִים בָּהּ. וְתמְכֶיהָ מְאֻשָּׁר
דְּרָכֶיהָ דַרְכֵי נעַם וְכָל נְתִיבותֶיהָ שָׁלום
הֲשִׁיבֵנוּ ה' אֵלֶיךָ וְנָשׁוּבָה. חַדֵּשׁ יָמֵינוּ כְּקֶדֶם
 
Eitz Chayiym
 
Eitz chayiym hi lamachazikim bah, v'tom'cheha m'ushar
D'racheha darchei noam v'chol n'tivoteha shalom
Hashivenu Adonai eilecha v'nashuva, chadesh yameinu k'kedem
 
Tree of Living
 
She is a tree of life for those who take hold of her,
And those who uphold her are filled with joy
Her ways are ways of pleasantness,​ and all of her paths are peace​
Turn us back to You, YHVH (Mercy) Lord, and we will be returned;
Renew our days as of old
 
*Eiytz Chayim – Orthodox Siddur
 
“Restore us, O Lord, to Yourself and we will return in complete repentance. May You renew our days for good as the festival days of old.”
 
-Aramaic Targum on Lamentations 5:21
 
 כִּ֚י אִם־מָאֹ֣ס מְאַסְתָּ֔נוּ קָצַ֥פְתָּ עָלֵ֖ינוּ עַד־מְאֹֽד׃
 
22 Unless You despise us like refuse, Your wrath being on us exceedingly and continually?
 
Judah doubts God’s choosing of her but God does not. He has chosen her and has already said that the fullness of her captivity will no longer be extended. [Lamentations 4:22]
 
The Sefaria (Jewish) translation of Lamentations 5:22 and the Targum repeat verse 21 following verse 22 so as to establish the fact that Judah’s doubts do not constitute God’s ongoing rejection of her.
 
“For you have utterly loathed us; you have been extremely angry with us. Restore us, O Lord, to yourself and we will return in complete repentance. May you renew our days for good as the festival days of old.”
 
-Aramaic Targum on Lamentations 5:22
 
“He will judge without mercy, those who show no mercy, and Mercy triumphs over judgement!”
 
-Yaakov (James) 2:13
 
Copyright 2025 Yaakov (Brown) Ben Yehoshua

​Observing the Poetic Repetition for the Emphasis of Established Elements in the Text:
 
3:45 You have placed us as scraps[a] and refuse[a] in the midst of the peoples (tribes).[b]
3:46 All our enemies[b] have opened their mouths against us.
3:47 Terror[c] and a pit trap[d] have come upon us, ruin[e] and shattering;[e]
3:48 Irrigation channels of water run down from my eyes[f], because of the breaking[g] of the daughter of my people[h].
3:49 My eyes split, flowing unceasingly[f], without intermission[f],
3:50 Until the YHVH Lord (Mercy)[j] looks down[q] and inspects[q] from the heavens[w].
3:51 My eyes affect my soul[f] severely because of all the daughters of my city.[h]
3:52 My enemies[b] without reason hunted me[d] down like a bird;
3:53 They have silenced me[i] in the pit[d]  and have thrown stones on me.[d]
3:54 Waters flowed over my head[i]; I said, “I am divided[g]!”
3:55 I called Your Name, YHVH Lord (Mercy) [j] , from the lowest cistern[d]  (pit within a dungeon). [ref. Jer. 38:6]
3:56 My voice You have heard[k], “Don’t hide Your ear[k] from my sighing[m] (breathing, spirit panting), from my cry for help[l].”
3:57 You drew near[n] on the day I called to You[l]; You said, “No fear!”[c]
3:58 You have contended[n]  Adonay (Master) with my soul’s strife[c]; You have redeemed my life[m].
3:59 You have seen[q] YHVH Lord (Mercy) [j]  the bending of me; Judge my case.
3:60 You have seen[q]  all their vengeance[d], all their premeditated plans[d] against me.
3:61 You have heard[k] their scorn[t], YHVH Lord (Mercy) [j] , all their schemes[d] upon me.
3:62 The language[r] of my assailants and their murmuring[r] against me continues all day long[s].
3:63 In their sitting[s] and their getting up[s], look[q]! I’m their song of mocking[t].
3:64 Turn back[u] on them what they deserve[v] YHVH Lord (Mercy) [j]  according to the work of their hands.
3:65 Give[u]  to them sorrowful blindness of heart[v], Your curse[v] will be on them.
3:66 Pursue them[u] in nostril flaring anger and annihilate[v] them from under the heavens[w] of YHVH Lord (Mercy) [j] !
 
סְחִ֧י וּמָא֛וֹס תְּשִׂימֵ֖נוּ בְּקֶ֥רֶב הָעַמִּֽים׃
 
3:45 You have placed us as scraps and refuse in the midst of the peoples (tribes).
 
This speaks to God casting off Judah like food scraps and garbage. The term “peoples” could be seen as synonymous with “heathens”, “Non-believers”, “Pagans.”
 
On the other hand, it is the Hebrew גוים goyim that is most often employed to represent the unbelieving nations whereas the Hebrew עמים amiym is most often used to refer collectively to the tribes of Israel. If this is the correct understanding, this verse makes Judah the refuse (lowest) among the tribes of Israel (those already in captivity as a result of the Assyrian invasion years earlier). This is significant because Judah is the tribe from whom the lineage of King David and the greater Son of David the King Messiah is reckoned.
 
The weight of the metaphor is extreme. Judah (Israel) has sunk so low as to be garbage among idolaters (nations or tribes). Judah’s willing participation in idolatry sees her made refuse to the false gods among the tribes of Israel and the nations.
 
Rashi cites the Mishnah concerning the translation of the Hebrew “סְחִ֧י וּמָא֛וֹס” sechiy umaos, as “phlegm and mucus”:
 
“Spittle, abominable. This is mucus; in the language of the Mishnah, ‘his phlegm and his mucus,’ [Maseches Bava Kama 3b]. which is drawn out through the lungs and emitted through the throat.”
 
- Rashi on Lamentations 3:45
 
 פָּצ֥וּ עָלֵ֛ינוּ פִּיהֶ֖ם כָּל־אֹיְבֵֽינוּ׃
 
3:46 All our enemies have opened their mouths against us.
 
This is the observation of the people of Judah that reflects the observation of the prophet by the Holy Spirit in Lamentations 2:26.
 
 פַּ֧חַד וָפַ֛חַת הָ֥יָה לָ֖נוּ הַשֵּׁ֥את וְהַשָּֽׁבֶר׃
 
3:47 Terror and a pit trap have come upon us, ruin and shattering;
 
The terror of the enemies of Judah pales in comparison to the terror they experience in the hands of the Living God.
 
The pit trap prepared for Judah corresponds to the dungeon-cistern prepared for Jeremiah.
 
“Ruin and shattering” are the couplet to “scrapes and refuse”.
 
 פַּלְגֵי־מַ֙יִם֙ תֵּרַ֣ד עֵינִ֔י עַל־שֶׁ֖בֶר בַּת־עַמִּֽי׃
 
3:48 Irrigation channels of water run down from my eyes, because of the breaking of the daughter of my people.
 
The irrigation metaphor is almost sardonic. Fresh water irrigation in a dry land is celebrated whereas salt water irrigation in a dry land is a curse.
 
The allusion to “the daughter of my people” emphasises the fact that the most vulnerable of Judah have been harmed. Her potential progeny defiled. Thus the flood of tears.
 
“Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!”
 
-Y’rmiyahu (Jeremiah) 9:1
 
“Like streams of water my eyes flowed with tears because of the destruction of the congregation of my people.”
 
-Aramaic Targum on Lamentations 3:48
 
 עֵינִ֧י נִגְּרָ֛ה וְלֹ֥א תִדְמֶ֖ה מֵאֵ֥ין הֲפֻגֽוֹת׃
 
3:49 My eyes split, flowing unceasingly, without intermission,
 
This is the couplet that corresponds to the previous verse. Here the flood of tears is emphatic. It is both unceasing and without intermission.
 
Unceasing because Judah has lost all including those most dear to her, and without intermission because God has not yet intervened to bring relief.
 
“My eye weeps tears and does not cease from crying. There is no respite from my anguish or anyone to comfort me;”
 
- Aramaic Targum on Lamentations 3:49
 
 עַד־יַשְׁקִ֣יף וְיֵ֔רֶא יְהוָ֖ה מִשָּׁמָֽיִם׃
 
3:50 Until the YHVH Lord (Mercy) looks down and inspects from the heavens.
 
This verse brings to mind the God of Mercy Himself. Here the intimate Proper Noun YHVH is employed to convey mercy.
 
He looks down in juxtaposition to His previous refusal to hear the prayers of the unrepentant wicked.
 
He looks down from the heavens as an allusion to His sovereignty over everything. The heavens, like all created things, are in Him. This poetic language simply seeks to convey within time and space things that are beyond the comprehension of the time bound.
 
“Until” is synonymous with “wait” and indicates the hope of the repentant.
 
“Until the Lord looks out and sees my humiliation from heaven.”
 
- Aramaic Targum on Lamentations 3:50
 
 עֵינִי֙ עֽוֹלְלָ֣ה לְנַפְשִׁ֔י מִכֹּ֖ל בְּנ֥וֹת עִירִֽי׃
 
3:51 My eyes affect my soul severely because of all the daughters of my city.
 
This makes a third reference to the eyes, this time showing the connection between what the eyes see and the entire soul-life of a person. To see the most precious and vulnerable of one’s family suffer unto death brings the utter collapse of the soul. The soul deflates under the weight of such a sight and every function of the body, mind and spirit is made subject to numb existence rather than vital life.
 
The city is of course Jerusalem.
 
“The weeping of my eyes is the cause of the affliction of my soul over the destruction of the districts of my people and the humiliation of the daughters of Jerusalem, my city.”
 
- Aramaic Targum on Lamentations 3:51
 
 צ֥וֹד צָד֛וּנִי כַּצִּפּ֖וֹר אֹיְבַ֥י חִנָּֽם׃
 
3:52 My enemies without reason hunted me down like a bird;
 
The enemies of Judah had no reason for their attack other than a desire to establish Empire (a counterfeit to the kingdom of God). However, the reason for her being hunted down is her own sin. The enemies of Judah hunted her without reason, but God had established reason in her discipline at the hands of the unreasonable.
 
The bird analogy again emphasises the heights from which Judah had fallen and her vulnerable position as the subject of a hunting party.
 
 צָֽמְת֤וּ בַבּוֹר֙ חַיָּ֔י וַיַּדּוּ־אֶ֖בֶן בִּֽי׃
 
3:53 They have silenced me in the pit and have thrown stones on me.
 
This again reflects Jeremiah’s position in the dungeon and is coupled with verse 55.
 
The added “and have thrown stones on me” confirms the firmly established nature of the discipline meted out by the Babylonians under God’s command.
 
Rashi understands the “stones” to refer to the stones placed over the mouths of cisterns used as dungeons/holding cells:
 
“And cast stones upon me. On the mouth of the well [dungeon]. That is what they did to Doniyeil (Daniel); and Yirmiyahu (Jeremiah) foresaw it with the Holy Spirit.”
 
- Rashi on Lamentations 3:53
 
 צָֽפוּ־מַ֥יִם עַל־רֹאשִׁ֖י אָמַ֥רְתִּי נִגְזָֽרְתִּי׃
 
3:54 Waters flowed over my head; I said, “I am divided!”
 
Waters over the head is a metaphor for death and shows the complete subjugation of the people. Death divides the body and spirit making a distinction between the temporary and the everlasting.
 
The head represents the king and when the king falls the kingdom is divided. Thus, “I am divided.” This is also prophetic of the division between Israel and Judah and the divided exiles of each group respectively.
 
“Waters flowed over my head. I said in my word, ‘I am cut off from the world.’”
 
- Aramaic Targum on Lamentations 3:54
 
“The waters rose, etc. When a person is in water up to his waist, there still is hope, but if the water rises over his head, he then says, ‘My hope is gone,’ but I do not do this, rather ‘I called out, etc.’”
 
-Rashi on Lamentations 3:54
 
 קָרָ֤אתִי שִׁמְךָ֙ יְהוָ֔ה מִבּ֖וֹר תַּחְתִּיּֽוֹת׃
 
3:55 I called Your Name, YHVH Lord (Mercy), from the lowest cistern (pit within a dungeon). [ref. Jer. 38:6]
 
The prophet/Judah/Israel/the Messiah, all call on YHVH.
 
Jeremiah calls from the cistern within the dungeon. Judah/Israel calls from the mire of her captivity. Messiah suffers her affliction and calls out to the Father “Abba”. Mercy Himself is looking down from the heavens and is present in Judah’s affliction.
 
This is finally a cry of genuine repentance from Judah. Therefore, where her prayers were once refused because they were not prayed from a truly repentant heart, they’re now received due to the humble nature they have adopted.
 
 קוֹלִ֖י שָׁמָ֑עְתָּ אַל־תַּעְלֵ֧ם אָזְנְךָ֛ לְרַוְחָתִ֖י לְשַׁוְעָתִֽי׃
 
3:56 My voice You have heard, “Don’t hide Your ear from my sighing (breathing, spirit panting), from my cry for help.”
 
Formerly God had refused (closed His ear intentionally) the unrepentant prayers of Judah, now He hears (in response to the humble petition) her genuine repentance. In fact, He has longed to hear her pray this way and is ready and willing to act in forgiveness.
 
The Hebrew reads more literally as “Don’t hide your ear from my spirit.”
 
“You received my prayer at that time, and now do not cover your ears from receiving my prayer to give me relief because of my plea.”
 
-Aramaic Targum on Lamentations 3:56
 
 קָרַ֙בְתָּ֙ בְּי֣וֹם אֶקְרָאֶ֔ךָּ אָמַ֖רְתָּ אַל־תִּירָֽא׃
 
3:57 You drew near on the day I called to You; You said, “No fear!”
 
Immediately in response to the genuine cry of repentance God draws near in intimate comfort and reconciliation.
 
He doesn’t say “Fear not.” The Hebrew reads “No fear!”
 
“Fear not” denotes a need for the comforted to overcome their own fear, whereas “No fear” is entirely the work of God, Who has commanded it so!
 
The Targum notes that it’s God’s living word, essence “Memra” (Davar, Logos ref. John 1) that speaks life into this reconciliation:
 
“You brought the malakh (messenger/angel) near to save me, in the day that I prayed to you. You said by your Memra, “No fear.””
 
-Aramaic Targum on Lamentations 3:57
 
“No fear! for I am with you: be not dismayed; for I am your Elohim: I will strengthen you; yes, I will help you; yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of My righteousness.”
 
-Y’shayahu (Isaiah) 41:10
 
 רַ֧בְתָּ אֲדֹנָ֛י רִיבֵ֥י נַפְשִׁ֖י גָּאַ֥לְתָּ חַיָּֽי׃
 
3:58 You have contended Adonay (Master) with my soul’s strife; You have redeemed my life.
 
The plain meaning is that God has fought against Judah’s enemies to prevent Judah/Israel’s annihilation and has kept her alive in order to return her to the land of Israel. However this can be understood in a number of ways:
 
·      God, Judah’s Master has Personally contended for her soul. He has paid the price for her, receiving her just punishment upon Himself.
·      God has contended with the wickedness within Judah’s soul and has overcome it for her sake.
·      God has brought clarity to Judah’s soul, showing her right from wrong and contending with her divided nature in order to impart His unified nature to her.
 
In all this He has redeemed her. She has not saved herself.
 
“You fought, O God, the battles of my soul. In the days past.”
 
-Rashi on Lamentations 3:58
 
“You have fought, O Lord, against those who made a quarrel with my soul. You delivered my life from their hands.”
 
-Aramaic Targum on Lamentations 3:58
 
 רָאִ֤יתָה יְהוָה֙ עַוָּ֣תָתִ֔י שָׁפְטָ֖ה מִשְׁפָּטִֽי׃
 
3:59 You have seen YHVH Lord (Mercy) the bending of me; Judge my case.
 
Once again the Holy Name denoting Mercy is used to emphasise that aspect of God’s character.
 
“The bending of me” can be read “My perversion” and thus the text can be understood in multiple ways.
 
·      “You have seen me bent by my enemies, afflicted”
 
“You have seen, O Lord, the wrong by which they wronged me. Judge my case.
 
-Aramaic Targum on Lamentations 3:59
 
·      “You have seen my perverse actions”
 
In either case “You can be trusted to judge my case fairly”. Where true repentance is involved the judgement will result in redemption.
 
 רָאִ֙יתָה֙ כָּל־נִקְמָתָ֔ם כָּל־מַחְשְׁבֹתָ֖ם לִֽי׃
 
3:60 You have seen all their vengeance, all their premeditated plans against me.
 
“All their vengeance has been revealed before you, all their evil plans against me.”
 
-Aramaic Targum on Lamentations 3:59
 
 שָׁמַ֤עְתָּ חֶרְפָּתָם֙ יְהוָ֔ה כָּל־מַחְשְׁבֹתָ֖ם עָלָֽי׃
 
3:61 You have heard their scorn, YHVH Lord (Mercy), all their schemes upon me.
 
God in mercy hears the scorn of Israel’s enemies. He keeps an account of the harm done against her.
 
 שִׂפְתֵ֤י קָמַי֙ וְהֶגְיוֹנָ֔ם עָלַ֖י כָּל־הַיּֽוֹם׃
 
3:62 The language of my assailants and their murmuring against me continues all day long.
 
The couplet of language and murmuring emphasises the malice and established wickedness of Israel’s enemies.
 
“Murmuring” can also be read as “meditation.” In other words, the enemies of Israel have premeditated the evil acts committed against her and are therefore subject to condemnation.
 
 שִׁבְתָּ֤ם וְקִֽימָתָם֙ הַבִּ֔יטָה אֲנִ֖י מַנְגִּינָתָֽם׃
 
3:63 In their sitting and their getting up, look! I’m their song of mocking.
 
Just as the righteous meditate on God’s word day and night, sitting at the table and getting up to go on their way (Deut. 6), so too in opposition to this the wicked mock (Psalm 1) both sitting at their tables and rising to go on their way.
 
“You know my sitting and my rising, You understand my thought afar off.”
 
-Tehillim (Psalms) 139:2
 
 תָּשִׁ֨יב לָהֶ֥ם גְּמ֛וּל יְהוָ֖ה כְּמַעֲשֵׂ֥ה יְדֵיהֶֽם׃
 
3:64 Turn back on them what they deserve YHVH Lord (Mercy) according to the work of their hands.
 
Verses 64 through 66 are rendered by the Septuagint and the Vulgate as prophecies rather than petitions. However, these verses are both petition and prophecy.
 
This petition asks in repentance, for justice to be enacted against the wickedness of Israel’s enemies. Babylon was not employed as a rod of discipline because she was righteous. God will not leave wickedness unpunished.
 
Against Babylon Jeremiah prophecies:
 
“Shout against her round about: she has given her hand: her foundations are fallen, her walls are thrown down: for it is the vengeance of YHVH: take vengeance upon her; as she has done, do unto her.”
 
-Yirmiyahu (Jeremiah) 50:15
 
 תִּתֵּ֤ן לָהֶם֙ מְגִנַּת־לֵ֔ב תַּאֲלָֽתְךָ֖ לָהֶֽם׃
 
3:65 Give to them sorrowful blindness of heart, Your curse will be on them.
 
This is a request for the fruit of the idolatrous to be allowed to come to its fullness. Those who wilfully blind themselves to God will receive the blindness that dooms the heart to destruction. Thus the observation of the prophet, “Your curse will be on them”!
 
 תִּרְדֹּ֤ף בְּאַף֙ וְתַשְׁמִידֵ֔ם מִתַּ֖חַת שְׁמֵ֥י יְהוָֽה׃
 
3:66 Pursue them in nostril flaring anger and annihilate them from under the heavens of YHVH Lord (Mercy)!
 
Just as God looked down from the heavens in mercy toward Judah/Israel (v. 50), so too He looks upon the wicked acts of Israel’s enemies and upon their false gods and causes both them and their false gods to perish from the face of the earth. That is, “from under the heavens.”
 
The phrase, “from under the heavens” is used rather than “from the face of the earth” because the Hebrew הארץ ha’aretz can mean “the land” and most often refers to the land of Israel. God will not only wipe the wicked nations from the face of the land of Israel, but also from the face of all the earth, “from under the heavens.”
 
“Thus shall you say unto them, the gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens.”
 
-Yirmiyahu (Jeremiah) 10:11
 
Copyright 2025 Yaakov (Brown) Ben Yehoshua

Observing the Poetic Repetition for the Emphasis of Established Elements in the Text:
 
3:24 “The LORD YHVH (MERCY)[a] is my portion” says my soul[e]; following this realisation I wait expectantly[f] for him.
3:25 The LORD YHVH (MERCY) a is good[g] to those whose hope[f] is in Him, to the soule who seeks Him;
3:26 It is good[g] to tremble[h] and wait[f] silently[i] for the salvation of The LORD YHVH (MERCY) [a].
3:27 It is good[g] for a man to bear the yoke[j] in his youth.
3:28 Let him sit silent[h/i] in isolation, for the LORD has lifted it onto him.
3:29 Let him put his mouth in the dust[h]—perhaps he will have hope[f].
3:30 Let him give his jaw to one who would strike him[j], and let him be satisfied with rebuke[h/j].
3:31 For Adonay (the Master)[b] does not cast off forever[k].
3:32 For there is grief[l], there is also compassion[k], so great is his unfailing kindness[k] (practiced love).
3:33 For he does not afflict[j] according to his heart[n] (core being) or grievel the children of a man.
3:34 To crush underfoot all the captives[m] of a land,
3:35 To pervert judgement[m] of a man before the face of Elyon the Most High[c],
3:36 To misrepresent[m] a human being in a dispute—does Adonay (the Master)[b] not see such a thing?
3:37 Who can speak something and have it come to pass if Adonay (the Master)[b] has not commanded it?
3:38 Is it not from the mouth of Elyon the Most High[c] that both the bad circumstances[j] (haraot pl.) and the good[g] (v’hatov sg.) come?
3:38 Alt. From the mouth of Elyon the Most High does not come both evils (haraot pl.) and the good (v’hatov sg.). [In the sense that God does not mix evil and good together or compromise the good, rather He makes a clear distinction between the two].
3:39 Why should a living person complain, a man upon whom sin resides[m]?
3:40 Let us search our ways[h] and test them[h], and let us turn perpetually to The LORD YHVH
(MERCY) [a].
3:41 Let us lift up our hearts[n] (inner person) and our hands to El God[d] in the heavens, saying:
3:42 “We have rebelled[m] and have been contentious[m] and you have not forgiven[p].
3:43 You have fenced[o] Yourself/us with anger and pursued us[j], slaying us without pity[j].
3:44 You have hedged[o] Yourself/us with a cloud[o] so that no prayer can pass through[p].  
 
חֶלְקִ֤י יְהוָה֙ אָמְרָ֣ה נַפְשִׁ֔י עַל־כֵּ֖ן אוֹחִ֥יל לֽוֹ׃
 
3:24 “The LORD YHVH (MERCY) is my portion” says my soul; following this realisation I wait expectantly for him.
 
The Holy Name denotes Mercy. The prophet/Judah/Israel/Messiah, acknowledge the everlasting fact that God is enough. When YHVH is my portion, allotment etc. I am secure, even in the midst of affliction. Therefore, when this realisation sets in I look to Him, waiting expectantly for Him to manifest His merciful grace. “Though He tarry, yet will I wait daily for His coming!” [the 12th of Maimonides’ 13 principles of faith]
 
This continues the repentant prayer of the preceding verses. To acknowledge that God is my portion is to accept my guilt and act in repentance. I therefore have my hope renewed in Him.
 
“The LORD is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup: You maintain my lot.”
 
-Tehillim (Psalms) 16:5 
 
This Psalm of David compares the LORD his portion with the sorrowful portion of false gods. David, speaking by the Holy Spirit, explains that when a person accepts YHVH as his portion, that person is the recipient and heir to a godly heritage, pleasant paths, counsel day and night and ultimately, resurrection unto life everlasting.
 
“My flesh and my heart (core being) fail: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.”
 
-Tehillim (Psalms) 73:26 
 
This Psalm of Asaph expresses repentance concerning the foolishness of being jealous of the prosperity of the wicked who, despite their temporary successes nonetheless end in destruction. The psalmist observes that in all circumstances God is with him and that even though his body and inner person may fail, God remains and strengthens his inner person; God Himself being his portion forever.
 
God being the portion of those made righteous through blood atonement received in repentance is also reminiscent of the Levitical priests who were not assigned a tribal region of land but instead received God as their inheritance (Num. 18:20; Deut. 18:1-2).
 
 ט֤וֹב יְהוָה֙ לְקוָֹ֔ו לְנֶ֖פֶשׁ תִּדְרְשֶֽׁנּוּ׃
 
3:25 The LORD YHVH (MERCY) is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the soul who seeks Him;
 
This reflects the themes of Psalms 16 and 73. According to His nature God is Good (Mark 10:18). His goodness is made manifest to those who place their hope in Him. Only the humble can receive God’s goodness, which is the true strength of the inner person (heart).
 
“But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”
 
-Hebrews 11:6
 
ט֤וֹב וְיָחִיל֙ וְדוּמָ֔ם לִתְשׁוּעַ֖ת יְהוָֽה׃
 
3:26 It is good to tremble and wait silently for the salvation of the LORD YHVH (MERCY).
 
God is holy and defines goodness. Therefore, to tremble before Him in silent humility, waiting on His redemptive work, is part of the greater meaning of goodness. Those who fear God will see an end to fear. Both the goal of the fear of the LORD and the destruction of all ungodly fear which is bound up in condemnation.
 
“But if we hope for that which we don’t see, we wait with patience for it.”
 
-Romans 8:25
 
While in the context of Lamentations 3 the salvation waited on in the immediate historical sense is ultimately deliverance from Babylonian captivity, it’s nonetheless also written in anticipation of the entry of Messiah into the chronology of time and space through the womb of Miriam (Mary).
 
ט֣וֹב לַגֶּ֔בֶר כִּֽי־יִשָּׂ֥א עֹ֖ל בִּנְעוּרָֽיו׃
 
3:27 It is good for a man to bear the yoke in his youth.
 
“It is good for a man to train his soul to bear the yoke of the commandments in his youth.”
 
-Aramaic Targum on Lamentations 3:27
 
The yoke is both the yoke of correction/firm physical discipline and the yoke of Biblical Instruction, Torah.
 
“Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you all shall find rest for your souls.”
 
-Mattisiyahu (Matthew) 11:29
 
To bear the discipline of God in youth is to receive godly, established outcomes. To receive the Instruction (Torah) of God as a measure of holiness when we’re young means being kept from falling off a cliff’s edge by a well-placed fence.
  
 יֵשֵׁ֤ב בָּדָד֙ וְיִדֹּ֔ם כִּ֥י נָטַ֖ל עָלָֽיו׃
 
3:28 Let him sit silent in isolation, for the LORD has lifted it onto him.
 
The yoke of the previous verse has been placed by God upon the one He loves (Heb. 12:6). Receiving this yoke in sober, silent, self-reflection is a precursor to active repentance and true contrition. 
 
“Let him sit alone and be silent, bearing the corrections which have come upon him, for the sake of the unity of the Name of the Lord, which have been sent to punish him for the minor sins which he has committed in this world, until He have mercy upon him and lift them from him so that He may receive him perfected in the world to come.”
 
-Aramaic Targum on Lamentations 3:28
 
“But each of you, when you pray, enter into your inner secret room, and when each of you has shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward each of you openly.”
 
-Mattisiyahu (Matthew) 6:6
 
יִתֵּ֤ן בֶּֽעָפָר֙ פִּ֔יהוּ אוּלַ֖י יֵ֥שׁ תִּקְוָֽה׃
 
3:29 Let him put his mouth in the dust—perhaps he will have hope.
 
This is an admonishment to act in humility and true repentance. Putting the mouth to the dust is symbolic of silencing one’s own rebellious speech, putting sinful speech to death (dust to dust).
 
The words “perhaps he will have hope” are not said to invoke doubt concerning the certain hope of the truly repentant, rather they express contrition; a heart posture that acknowledges that one who has sinned is not deserving of forgiveness. Forgiveness is not a right but a gift purchased at the highest of prices. One does not demand an undeserved gift but instead awaits the Giver with absolute humility. Prepared with a heart posture of gratefulness.
 
“Let him put his mouth to the dust and prostrate himself before his Master perhaps there is hope.”
 
-Aramaic Targum on Lamentations 3:29
 
 יִתֵּ֧ן לְמַכֵּ֛הוּ לֶ֖חִי יִשְׂבַּ֥ע בְּחֶרְפָּֽה
 
3:30 Let him give his jaw to one who would strike him, and let him be satisfied with rebuke.
 
Some translate “cheek” in the sense that the penitent person willing receives the blow of discipline as a slap on the cheek. I’ve translated more literally using “jaw” because the jaw symbolizes the words of the mouth spoken in error. The text is conveying something stronger than a simple stiff slap to the face. It’s denoting a broken jaw that will need resetting so as to establish the renewal of a pure pattern of speech learned from severe discipline. A lesson that will not be unlearned in a hurry.
 
Harsh rebuke is hard to swallow. Thus, only the truly humble can be satisfied by it.
 
 כִּ֣י ל֥אֹ יִזְנַ֛ח לְעבֿלָ֖ם אֲדֹנָֽי׃
 
3:31 For Adonay (the Master) does not cast off forever.
 
It’s wrong to translate this as some do “For no one is cast off by the Lord forever.” First because that is not what the Hebrew text says, and second because it contradicts Scripture (Psalm 37:9-11; Malachi 4:1-3; Daniel 12:2; 1 Cor. 6:9:20; Rev. 20:11-15; 22:15).
 
Adonay does not cast off forever those who receive His atoning sacrificial love in repentance.
 
Specifically in the context of the present text, Israel/Judah is the subject of the casting off, making the casting off through discipline temporary.
 
“For the LORD will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance.”
 
-Tehillim (Psalms) 94:14
 
The Targum rightly interprets:
 
“For the Lord will not neglect his servants forever…”
 
-Aramaic Targum on Lamentations 3:31a
 
 כִּ֣י אִם־הוֹגָ֔ה וְרִחַ֖ם כְּרֹ֥ב ׳חַסְדּוֹ׳ ״חֲסָדָֽיו׃״
 
3:32 For there is grief, there is also compassion, so great is his unfailing kindness (practiced love).
 
There is grief in affliction and there is also compassion of God poured out in the midst of affliction as He suffers with His people, on behalf of His people, so great is His faithful, practical love. It’s unfailing because He is eternal.

“1 At the same time,” saith the LORD, “will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people.” 2 Thus saith the LORD, “The people which were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest.” 3 The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, “Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. 4 Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: thou shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry.”

-Y’rmiyahu (Jeremiah) 31:1-4

“But first he breaks and afterwards he turns toward them and has mercy on the righteous in the abundance of his goodness.”
 
-Aramaic Targum on Lamentations 3:32

 כִּ֣י ל֤אֹ עִסָּה֙ מִלִּבּ֔בֿ וַיַּגֶּ֖ה בְּנֵי־אִֽישׁ׃  
 
3:33 For he does not afflict according to his heart (core being) or grieve the children of a man.
 
The grief that results from sin is not the result of a vindictive God but rather the fruit of humanity’s wilful rebellion.
 
“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
 
-2 Peter 3:9
 
God’s heart desire is to reconcile human beings to Himself in right loving relationship. In keeping with His own nature and the love defined by His holiness, He will not force love on humanity. Thus, while His desire for us is reconciliation to His loving care, those who wilfully and perpetually refuse His offer will receive the grief they have sown for themselves.
 
“For He does not torment wilfully nor cause men grief. From His heart and from His will; rather the sin causes [the grief].”
 
 Rashi on Lamentations 3:33-
 
לְדַכֵּא֙ תַּ֣חַת רַגְלָ֔יו כֹּ֖ל אֲסִ֥ירֵי אָֽרֶץ׃
 
3:34 To crush underfoot all the captives of a land,
 
The next 3 verses indict the wicked actions of those who pervert justice and exposes those evil acts before the all-seeing Creator.
 
This verse specifically reflects the actions of the Babylonians against Judah. But is equally applicable as an observation of the general practice of the empires of men.
 
“And I am very sore displeased with the goyim (heathens; nations other than Israel) who are at ease: for I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction.”
 
-Zechariah 1:15
  
לְהַטּוֹת֙ מִשְׁפַּט־גָּ֔בֶר נֶ֖גֶד פְּנֵ֥י עֶלְיֽוֹן׃
 
3:35 To pervert judgement of a man before the face of Elyon the Most High,
 
This can be read as an indictment against the injustices committed by Judah. These acts of sin were performed before God’s face. Wilful rebellion.
 
“And perverting the justice of a poor man in the presence of the Most High,”
 
-Aramaic Targum on Lamentations 3:35
 
We note that God is Named Elyon, Most High God in His position as God over all things, and thus over the actions of both the Babylonians and Judah/Israel.

 לְעַוֵּ֤ת אָדָם֙ בְּרִיב֔בֿ אֲדֹנָ֖י ל֥אֹ רָאָֽה׃  
 
3:36 To misrepresent a human being in a dispute—does Adonay (the Master) not see such a thing?
 
“You shall not bear false witness!”
 
-Shemot (Exodus) 20:16
 
Here God is Named Adonay (Master), Lord over all the earth and specifically over His people Israel/Judah. He is all seeing and thus sees every act of injustice performed by human beings.
 
 מִ֣י זֶ֤ה אָמַר֙ וַוֶֹ֔הִי אֲדֹנָ֖י ל֥אֹ צִוָּֽה׃
 
3:37 Who can speak something and have it come to pass if Adonay (the Master) has not commanded it?
 
No one can will their way out of a situation by deluding themselves into believing they can manifest their own destiny with their words. Nothing is established unless God allows it. In fact, only what He commands comes to pass.

 מִצִּ֤י עֶלְיבֿן֙ ל֣אֹ תֵצֵ֔א הָרָע֖בֿת וְהַטּֽבֿב׃
  
3:38 Is it not from the mouth of Elyon the Most High that both the bad circumstances (haraot pl.) and the good (v’hatov sg.) come?
 
3:38 Alt. From the mouth of Elyon the Most High does not come both evils (haraot pl.) and the good (v’hatov sg.). [In the sense that God does not mix evil and good together or compromise the good, rather He makes a clear distinction between the two].
 
We note that the evils or calamities are multiple. Thus we read bad circumstances plural and not evil singular. As a counterpoint the good is singular. Therefore, the singular and ultimate good (defined by God’s nature) subjugates and defeats the plural evils. (ref. Amos 3:6)
 
Elsewhere in Scripture we read that God forms Light (all existing in Him) and creates darkness (not all existing but created and subject to light), and that He forms Peace (all existing in Him as part of His nature) and creates from nothing, evil (created and not all existing) [Isaiah 45:6-7].
 
1 John 1:5 says that “God is Light and in Him there is no darkness.” In John’s letter Light is used as a metaphor for God’s pure character and darkness as a metaphor for evil actions. Yaakov (James) 1:13 reminds us that “God cannot be tempted with evil, and He Himself tempts no one.”
 
Therefore, God is not complicit in evil but is the Creator of it. This makes evil, a created thing like darkness, subject to the Creator Who manifests in all existing (not created) Light, manifesting  all existing Peace (not created). 
 
All things exist and have their being in God. The present text along with Isaiah 45:6-7 refute outright the eastern esoteric and Dharmic religious lie that good and evil are equitable forces within the universe. The universe itself also being a created thing and not a deity or person.
 
Within the context of the present lament, the writer is indicating that evil circumstances are allowed to happen only by God’s Word and that they are temporary, while the good remains eternally present because goodness is an attribute of God’s character whereas evil is a subordinate creation.
 
The prophet Iyov (Job) also acknowledges God’s sovereignty over both good and evil circumstances:
 
“But he said unto her, You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this Job did not sin with his lips.”
 
- Iyov (Job) 2:10
 
Ultimately, God orders all things and nothing is permitted outside of His authority because nothing exists outside of God.
 
The alternative reading, which is supported by the Targum, understands the text to be clarifying that God does not muddy the waters between evil and good but makes a clear distinction.
 
“From the mouth of God Most High there does not issue evil, rather by the hint of a whisper, because of the violence with which the land is filled. But when he desires to decree good in the world it issues from the holy mouth.”
 
-Aramaic Targum on Lamentations 3:38

 מַה־יִּתְאבֿנֵן֙ אָדָ֣ם חָ֔י גֶּ֖בֶר ׳עַל־חֶטְאבֿ׳ ״עַל־חֲטָאָֽיו׃״
  
3:39 Why should a living person complain, a man upon whom sin resides?
 
A person guilty of wilful sin has no right to complain about the affliction caused by his sin. Nor does he have the right to complain concerning the just punishment he receives.
 
 נַחְצְָּ֤שָׂ֤ה דְרָכֵ֙ינ֙וּ֙ וְֽנַחְקָֹ֔רָה וְנָשׁ֖וָּבָה עַד־יְהָֽוָֽה׃
 
3:40 Let us search our ways and test them, and let us turn perpetually to the LORD YHVH (MERCY).
 
This is a call to individual and national repentance. Because God is Holy, Merciful, Gracious, Faithful, Kind and pursues us in right relationship, let us soberly examine our rebellious and sinful ways and turn toward Him from our wicked position of having turned our backs to Him (a delusion). The text says “turn perpetually to the LORD.” Our turning toward Him begins and is ongoing in Messiah our Righteousness.
 
“Search me, El, and know my core being: Try me, and know my conflicting thoughts: And see if there be any wicked, idolatrous way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.”
 
-Tehillim (Psalms) 139:23-24 [Author’s translation]

 נִשָּׂ֤א לְבָבֵ֙נוּ֙ אֶל־כַּפָּ֔יִם אֶל־אֵ֖ל בַּשָּׁמָֽיִם׃
 
3:41 Let us lift up our hearts (inner person) and our hands to El God in the heavens, saying:
 
Let us willingly expose our filthy hearts that He might cleanse us, and our filthy hands that He might clean them.
 
“Let us lift our cleansed hearts and cast away theft and robbery from our hands. And let us repent before God the dwelling of whose Shekinah is in heaven above.”
 
-Aramaic Targum on Lamentations

“3 Who may ascend into the mountain of the LORD? or who shall stand in His holy place? 4 He that has clean hands, and a pure heart; who has not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. 5 He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation. 6 This is the generation of them that seek Him, that seek Thy face, O Jacob. Selah.”

-Tehillim (Psalms) 24:3-6
 
“After this manner therefore you all should pray: Our Father which art in the heavens, May Your Name by observed and practiced as being Holy.”
 
-Mattisiyahu (Matthew) 6:9
 
 נְַ֤חְנוּ פָשַׁ֙עְנ֙וּ֙ וּמִָ֔רִ֔ינוּ אַוָֹ֖ה ל֥אֹ סָלָֽחְוָֹ׃  
 
3:42 “We have rebelled and have been contentious and you have not forgiven.
 
A sober admission unto repentance. There is no forgiveness in rebellion. Forgiveness is offered to all but only the repentant receive it.
 
 סַכֹּ֤תָה בָאַף֙ וַֽוִֹרְדְּפֵ֔נוּ הָרַ֖גְוָֹ ל֥אֹ חָמָֽלְוָֹ׃
 
3:43 You have fenced Yourself/us with anger and pursued us, slaying us without pity.
 
“You have covered us in anger and pursued us in exile. You have killed and have not pitied.”
 
-Aramaic Targum on Lamentations 3:43
 
The fence, be it designed to make a distinction between God and sinful Judah or be it to act as a wall of imprisonment for Judah, nonetheless conveys the fierce anger of God’s discipline and wrath against wilful and ongoing sin.
 
The writer is simply making an observation of fact. There is a God established distinction between good and evil, the righteous and the wicked.
 
 סַכּ֤וֹתָה בֶֽעָנָן֙ לָ֔ךְ מֵעֲב֖וֹר תְּפִלָּֽה׃
 
3:44 You have hedged Yourself/us with a cloud so that no prayer can pass through.
 
The cloud is once more reminiscent of the cloud of the presence that both led and dwelt in the midst of Israel as she wandered from Egypt to the land of promise. (ref. Lam. 2:1)
 
Here, as in the previous verse the cloud/hedge acts as a barrier of distinction that refuses the unrepentant pleas of Judah until such a time as her prayers come from a truly humble and utterly contrite heart posture.
 
The Targum pictures this distinction as a barrier to the heavens:
 
“You have covered the heavens with your clouds of glory so that our prayers cannot cross to you.”
 
-Aramaic Targum on Lamentations 3:44
 
When prayers are prayed from the yetzer hara (evil inclination), no matter how pious the sound, they will be refused by God.
 
“I will not hear your prayers!”
 
-Isaiah 1:15, 59:2; Jeremiah 7:16
 
There are a number of clear reasons that God refuses prayers, each of them rooted in ingenuine heart posture:
 
•       Refusing to hear the genuine cry of others
 
“One who shuts his ear to the outcry of the poor will also call out himself, and not be answered.”
 
-Mishlei (Proverbs) 21:13
 
•       Ungodly doubt
 
“But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that person ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord,”
 
-Yaakov (James) 1:5-7
 
•       Pride
 
“But he gives more grace. Wherefore he says, ‘God resists the proud, but gives grace unto the humble.’”
 
-Yaakov (James) 4:6
 
•       Unjust violence
 
“So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; Yes, even though you offer many prayers, I will not be listening. Your hands are covered with blood.”
 
-Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 1:15
 
•       Unkindness toward a wife
 
“You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with someone weaker, since she is a woman; and show her honour as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered.”
 
-1 Peter 3:7
 
•       Selfish motives
 
“You ask and do not receive, because you ask with the wrong motives, so that you may spend what you request on your pleasures.”
 
-Yaakov (James) 4:3
 
•       A dedicated love of sin
 
“If I regard wickedness in my inner person, The Lord will not hear…”
 
-Tehillim (Psalms) 66:18
 
•       Leaders who mistreat God’s people Israel
 
“Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded: yes, they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer of God.”
 
-Micah 3:7 (ref. Micah 3)
 
Copyright 2025 Yaakov (Brown) Ben Yehoshua

Observing the Poetic Repetition for the Emphasis of Established Elements in the Text:
 
Both the Hebrew poetic and prophetic works include the use of repetition to emphasise elements, strengthen meanings and establish firm outcomes. The laments of Lamentations are thoughtful, passionate, carefully constructed and intentional in their Holy Spirit inspired message. The following annotated text shows the repeated themes and cross connections in the text that when observed carefully, illuminate the subject matter further.
 
It's significant that the abecedarian (each line beginning with a letter of the alphabet) form of this portion of Lamentations is threefold. Meaning, each letter of the Aleph Beit is used three times. This conveys an emphatic and immutable meaning.

3:1 I am the man who has seen affliction[a] in the rod[b] (tribe - shevet) of His wrath[c] (offense);
3:2 Me He drove[a] and walked into darkness and not light[d];
3:3 Indeed me He turned[a], even overturned with His hand[b], all the day[e].
3:4 He has worn out[a] my flesh and my skin[f]; He has broken[a] my bones[g].
3:5 All around me[h] He has established bitterness[a] and distress[a];
3:6 He has made me dwell in darkness, like the long dead[d].
3:7 He has walled me in[h] and I can’t get out[i]; He has weighed me down[h] with chains[i].
3:8 Also when I cry for help[j] and shout[j], He shuts out my prayer[k];
3:9 He has walled[h] in my ways[l] with hewn stone[h], He has made the paths[l] I tread crooked[m].
3:10 To me He is a bear waiting[n], a lion hiding[n] in a secret place;
3:11 My ways He has turned aside[m] and pulled to pieces[n], He has appointed for me desolation[d].
3:12 He has stood on His bow[b] and set me as the target[o] of His arrows[c]:
3:13 The arrows of His quiver[b] enter my kidneys[o] (Seat of emotion).
3:14 I have become a laughingstock[p] to all my tribe (amiy), their taunting song[p] lasts all day long[e].
3:15 He has filled me with bitterness[a], saturated me with wormwood[a] (curse).
3:16 And He has crushed my teeth[f] in gravel, ground me into the dust[g].
3:17 He has cast my soul far from peace[d], I forgot goodness[d].
3:18 I said, “My strength and hope have perished[f] from before the LORD[q] (YHVH).”
3:19 Remembering[r] my affliction and my misery[a] was wormwood[a] (curse) and poison[c];
3:20 Constantly remembering[r] them, I was bowed lows in my soul[t].
3:21 But this returned[s] to my heart[t] (inner person), upon this recollection[r] I wait expectantly[u]:
3:22 The faithful kindness[v] of the LORD[q] (YHVH) indeed never ends[w], the out workings of His[q] compassionate womb[v] (mercies) can never cease[w].
3:23 They are new to all the mornings[e] — great is Your[q] faithfulness[v], fidelity, trusted firmness!
 
It’s worth noting the couplets, triplets, quadruplets and phrases of refrain throughout this prophetic, poetic work. For example the “rod” of verse 1 is reflected in the “hand” of verse 3 and the “bow and quiver” of verses 12 & 13. Likewise the phrase “all day” in verse 3, which concerns the discipline of God’s wrath is repeated in verse 14 and finds its fullness in verse 23 as “all the mornings”, a counterpoint to the limited wrath (day) in the expression of mercy (days). “Bowed low in my soul” (humility) in verse 20 is countered by “returned to my heart [inner person] (receipt of remembrance)” in verse 21 and so on.
 
Ultimately the wrath of God is always preceded by Mercy and the outcome of judgement for the repentant is a return to Peace. “The Lamb slain before the foundation of the world.” (1 Peter 1:20; Rev. 13:8)

אֲנִ֤י הַגֶּ֙בֶר֙ רָאָ֣ה עֳנִ֔י בְּשֵׁ֖בֶט עֶבְרָתֽוֹ׃
 
3:1 I am the man who has seen affliction in the rod (tribe - shevet) of His wrath (offense);
 
Y’rmiyahu (Jeremiah) is the man who has seen the affliction brought by the rod of HaShem’s wrath. The man is also Judah/Israel, afflicted by Babylon according to God’s wrath against Israel’s wilful sin.
 
It’s significant that the Hebrew text reads הַגֶּבֶר Ha’gever (the man). Why not simply אֲנִי גֶּבֶר Aniy gever “I’m a man…”? The reason is that the writer/prophet (via his scribe – Barukh) is conveying something transcendent. “The Man” figuratively represented by the prophet, is in fact the Mashiyach Yeshua HaMelekh, Who is witness to all the sufferings of Israel and present in the midst of her, resurrected, trans-locational, slain before the foundation of the worlds.
 
Jeremiah is witness to the destruction of Jerusalem and Beit HaMikdash (the Temple). He is deeply impacted, having suffered the abusive taunts of his own people and the desolation levelled against his tribe as a result of their refusal to repent at the warning of his Holy Spirit breathed prophecies.
 
The שֵׁבֶט sheivet rod is that of God’s rule (Gen. 49:10) and discipline (2 Sam. 7:14). The Hebrew שבט shevet is more often translated “tribe.” The present verse makes sense when read both ways. Judah is the tribe of His wrath, and the affliction against Judah is the rod of God’s discipline. There is precedence for seeing the rod as representing the Babylonians who are acting as the physical manifestation of God’s discipline. The Assyrians have previously been described this way (Isa. 10:5).
 
Ibn Ezra understands the man afflicted to be a man of Judah other than Jeremiah, who is soberly reflecting on the affliction he has experienced as a result of his tribe’s offense, or the offense that he and his tribe have committed.
 
“And this one who laments said that the tribulation would torment him with the tribe of his transgression:”
 
-Ibn Ezra on Lamentations 3:1
 
However, this seems unlikely given that the remainder of the text infers God’s disciplinary love established against Judah/Israel. The “He” Who is the owner of the wrath, offense taken, is likely God Himself, Who is offended, and acts in His wrath in order to discipline the offenders.
 
Affliction and discipline fill the rhythm of the language that follows. The Hebrew poetic mechanism of repetition is amplified in these verses where we see the doubling of synonyms soon become a tripling and quadrupling, so that what is firmly established is made so clear as to be irrefutable. Bitterness and brokenness, light and dark, weariness and distress, weightiness and chains and so on.
 
 אוֹתִ֥י נָהַ֛ג וַיֹּלַ֖ךְ חֹ֥שֶׁךְ וְלֹא־אֽוֹר׃
 
3:2 Me He drove and walked into darkness and not light;
 
This poetic couplet finds its affirmation in the next verse. “He drove and walked” is reflected in “He turned, even over turned”, and “Into darkness and not light” is echoed in “Over turned by His hand all the day”.
 
The prophet speaks as sinful Judah/Israel who has been driven to exhaustion as she has been taken into the darkness of exile.
 
Jeremiah was unjustly imprisoned in the darkness of the dungeon. (Jer. 38) The prophet, as is so often the case, lives a life that prophetically reflects the plight of his people. Judah is without the Light of God, Whom she has spurned. The Temple of the LORD destroyed by the Babylonians and the appointed times silenced for a time.
 
“Light is sown for the righteous, and joy for the upright in heart.”
 
-Tehilim (Psalms) 97:11
 
By her own sin Judah has been driven into darkness. Thus there is no light, joy, prosperity at this time, because light is sown for the righteous and no one is made righteous except through atoning blood and repentance.
 
“Darkness and not light” is significant as a turn of phrase related to Yom HaDin, the Judgement Day of the LORD and is used elsewhere in Scripture:
 
“Woe to you who desire the day of the LORD! Why would you have the day of the LORD? It is darkness, and not light,”
 
-Amos 5:18 (ref. Job 12:25)
 
The prophet Jeremiah suffers the affliction of his people just as Messiah is afflicted in place of those deserving of condemnation. Like so many of the prophets Jeremiah is a type reflecting the all existing King Messiah Yeshua.
 
אַ֣ךְ בִּ֥י יָשֻׁ֛ב יַהֲפֹ֥ךְ יָד֖וֹ כָּל־הַיּֽוֹם׃
 
3:3 Indeed me He turned, even over turned by His hand, all the day.
 
This is a description of repeated blows and more literally a sifting of sorts that examines in the hand the quality of the subject. This examination continues throughout the metaphorical day of Judah’s journey into exile. Ultimately the subject (Judah) is overturned, face down in darkness, without light, just as the previous verse says.
 
We note that the prophet is suffering with the people, not because he is guilty but because he reflects the suffering Messiah Who is at this point in Israel’s history, yet to enter time and space. God is afflicted with His people even as He disciplines them, because in Him all things exist and have their being.
 
בִּלָּ֤ה בְשָׂרִי֙ וְעוֹרִ֔י שִׁבַּ֖ר עַצְמוֹתָֽי׃
 
3:4 He has worn out my flesh and my skin; He has broken my bones.
 
Rashi writes:
 
“Both young and old lay outdoors on the ground with neither pillow nor cushion, and their flesh wore out, when they were going into exile.”
 
The flesh and skin worn down like an old garment and the broken bones, express the physical affliction suffered by Judah as a result of God’s discipline. However, there is also a metaphorical distinction being made between the outer person (flesh and skin) and the inner person (bones). Just as the prophet Jeremiah alludes to the fire of God in his bones which must be spoken, so too the fire of God refines the bones of unrepentant Judah/Israel.
 
We are reminded again that the same Fire of God that warms the repentant consumes the unrepentant.
 
The Hebrew root בלה balah which is applied to the wearing out of clothing, is used here to describe the rubbing of skin to the point of exposed flesh.
 
The book of Job uses it in a similar sense:
 
והוא כרקב יבלה כבגד אכלו עשׁ׃”
 
He decays as a rotten thing, warn out like a moth eaten garment.”
 
-Iyov (Job) 13:28
 
Isaiah uses similar language in his anguished prophecy:
 
“I settled myself until morning; like a lion he breaks all my bones; from day to night you bring me to a completion.”
 
-Y’shayahu (Isaiah) 38:13
 
בָּנָ֥ה עָלַ֛י וַיַּקַּ֖ף רֹ֥אשׁ וּתְלָאָֽה׃
 
3:5 All around me He has established bitterness and distress;
 
The Hebrew רֹאשׁ rosh used here in the sense of poison, bitterness etc. is also the Hebrew root meaning head, leader etc. Thus, the Midrash Aggadah says that it represents Nebuchadnezzar the head of Babylon’s during the exile of Yehoyachin. The Midrash likewise assigns meaning to תְלָאָה tela’ah saying that it is a figurative weariness reflecting the completion of the task of exiling Judah/Israel by Nebuzaradan during the time of Tzidkiyahu.
 
The Targum on Lamentations 3:5 conveys an entirely different meaning:
 
“He has built siege works and surrounded the city. He has uprooted the heads of the people and wearied them.”
 
The ”bitterness and distress” amplify the “worn out flesh and broken bones” and continue the lament of “affliction”. Thus the emphasis on the suffering that results from wilful sin and its consequences.
 
בְּמַחֲשַׁכִּ֥ים הוֹשִׁיבַ֖נִי כְּמֵתֵ֥י עוֹלָֽם׃
 
3:6 He has made me dwell in darkness, like the long dead.
 
“He has caused me to dwell in a dark prison like the dead who have gone to the other world.”
 
-Targum on Lamentations 3:6
 
This is the couplet to the phrase “darkness and not light” from verse 2, and is pretext, along with verses 3 & 14, to the redemptive phrase “new every morning” in verse 23.
 
Keil and Delitzsch observe that this verse reflects verbatim the phrasing at the latter part of Psalms 143:3:
 
“For the enemy hath persecuted my soul; he hath smitten my life down to the ground; he hath made me to dwell in darkness, as those that have been long dead.”
 
Ibn Ezra calls this darkness מחשך בתוך מחשך “darkness within darkness.”
 
The Hebrew כְּמֵתֵי עוֹלָם reads more literally as, “like those dead perpetually” or “like those in the world of the dead.” Therefore, it’s referring both to those “long dead (past)” and to all who await the judgement. Olam meaning forever, perpetually, indefinitely and world/worlds.
 
 גָּדַ֧ר בַּעֲדִ֛י וְלֹ֥א אֵצֵ֖א הִכְבִּ֥יד נְחָשְׁתִּֽי׃
 
3:7 He has walled me in and I can’t get out; He has weighed me down with chains.
 
This emphasises the captivity which Judah has been exiled into and the inability of Judah to overcome her imprisonment. Judah is suffering the consequences of her sin and the walls of bondage that result. Within the walls of her cell are the chains that bind her and weigh her down further so that she is imprisoned and bound. This reflects Ibn Ezra’s wise observation that the darkness of Judah’s affliction is “darkness within darkness.”
 
Likewise the prophet Jeremiah experienced darkness within darkness in the mire of the pit within the dungeon in Jerusalem (Jeremiah 38). Ibn Ezra reads נחשתי  (chains) as כבלים (cables), and thus by inference makes a correlation between Jeremiah being lowered down into the muddy pit within the dungeon, and the present text.
 
Rashi sees a progression in the phrasing of this verse. Judah was “walled in” by the Babylonians, “Could not get out” because the armies of Nebuchadnezzar encompassed her, and was “weighed down with chains” because the Babylonians had literally fettered the feet, necks and noses of those being taken into exile.
 
גַּ֣ם כִּ֤י אֶזְעַק֙ וַאֲשַׁוֵּ֔עַ שָׂתַ֖ם תְּפִלָּתִֽי׃
 
3:8 Also when I cry for help and shout, He shuts out my prayer;
 
"Therefore do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them, nor make intercession to Me; for I will not hear you."
 
-Jeremiah 7:16
 
“He shuts out my prayer” In Jewish tradition there is a metaphorical idea of the windows of the heavens being shut to the prayers of the unrepentant. (ref. Rashi on Lamentations 3:8)
 
There is a point in time where the wilfully unrepentant cross a line from which there is no going back. Not even a righteous prophet can stand in the gap for his people once they have determined to be perpetually wicked. We see this same principle at work in Pharaoh’s wilful resistance to the many opportunities given him to repent. It’s not that God is unable to hear the prayers of the prophet, rather He refuses to accept them on behalf of the wilfully unrepentant.
 
The Targum further illuminates the text by alluding to the destruction of the Temple, “House of my prayer”
 
“Even when I cry out and pray the house of my prayer is blocked.”
 
-Targum on Lamentations 3:8
 
“Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:”
 
-Mishlei (Proverbs) 1:26
 
גָּדַ֤ר דְּרָכַי֙ בְּגָזִ֔ית נְתִיבֹתַ֖י עִוָּֽה׃
 
3:9 He has walled in my ways with hewn stone, He has made the paths I tread crooked.
 
In the physical the armies of Babylon had captured and walled in the residents of Jerusalem and forced the exiles to walk chained by the neck and nose in distress toward Babylon. Thus, “walled in” and “crooked paths”.
 
In the spiritual the walls of God’s discipline keep contained those who wilfully continue to sin and the bending of their paths forces them to walk where they don’t want to go. That is, toward discipline and repentance. Had God not acted in wrathful discipline against disobedient Judah/Israel, she would simply have continued in her sin unto utter annihilation. As it stands she is instead suffering temporary desolation unto restoration as a result of God’s grace.
 
“If I wish to go out, I do not go out in the roads paved in a straight way, because of the enemies, but I go out on the crooked road.”
 
-Rashi on Lamentations 3:9
 
“Hewn stones” are massive quarry stones that have been carved to stand as large foundations to form tall unsurpassable walls. Therefore, the meaning is that the obstacles God has put in place against Judah are beyond her power to overcome. The realisation then must be, that only God can help her in her state of affliction born of disobedience.
 
דֹּ֣ב אֹרֵ֥ב הוּא֙ לִ֔י ׳אַרְיֵה׳ ״אֲרִ֖י״ בְּמִסְתָּרִֽים׃
 
3:10 To me He is a bear waiting, a lion hiding in a secret place;
 
God Himself is personified as a Bear and a Lion. “Hiding in a secret place” is an idiom that conveys the idea that there is nowhere where God isn’t. All things exist in Him. To the time trapped it’s as if He were hiding unseen ready to pounce at any moment and destroy the remnant of suffering and unsuspecting Judah.
 
“I will meet them as a bear bereaved and will rend the membrane of their heart, and there will I devour them like a lion: the wild beast shall tear them.”
 
-Hosea 13:8
 
“As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.”
 
-Amos 5:19
 
דְּרָכַ֥י סוֹרֵ֛ר וַֽיְפַשְּׁחֵ֖נִי שָׂמַ֥נִי שֹׁמֵֽם׃
 
3:11 My ways He has turned aside and pulled to pieces, He has appointed for me desolation.
 
“Pulled to pieces” can also be read “torn to pieces” and continues the figurative role of the Lion and Bear.
 
“Appointed” can be read “established”, and this for Judah’s (Israel’s) good.
 
Rashi understands this verse to be a description of the results of a thorn strewn path. The JPS translation speaks of being “mangled” and “left numb”.
 
The appointed desolation is the destruction of Jerusalem and the Babylonian exile.
 
דָּרַ֤ךְ קַשְׁתּוֹ֙ וַיַּצִּיבֵ֔נִי כַּמַּטָּרָ֖א לַחֵֽץ׃
 
3:12 He has stood on His bow and set me as the target of His arrows:
 
The bow is, like the rod (v.1) and hand (v.3) of God, an instrument of wrath, and is one of the weapons the Babylonians employed against Judah. The bow in question is a massive long bow that requires the archer to stand on its base in order to gain the leverage needed to fire it at great distances. Thus, the discipline established for Judah was established by God long before she reached the height of her abominations. This is yet another expression of God’s grace and mercy, His limitless patience.
 
God has surgically selected Judah/Israel as His target, picking her out from all the other nations. Why? Because He would see her repentant and made whole. Blessed is the nation (Israel) surgically targeted by God for discipline unto repentance. Cursed is the nation (Babylon) allowed to continue in sin unto self-destruction.
 
הֵבִיא֙ בְּכִלְיוֹתָ֔י בְּנֵ֖י אַשְׁפָּתֽוֹ׃
 
3:13 The arrows of His quiver enter my kidneys.
 
This speaks of deeply felt emotional torment. The kidneys are the Hebrew set of emotion. God has cut Judah/Israel/Jeremiah to the core. So great is her grief in affliction that it feels as if an arrow has struck deep into her abdomen where the stomach, kidneys, intestines and other vital organs subsequently explode to produce insurmountable pain. Of course this figurative meaning is established in the fact that many were wounded in this way when Babylon invaded the land of Israel and destroyed Jerusalem.
 
הָיִ֤יתִי שְּׂחֹק֙ לְכָל־עַמִּ֔י נְגִינָתָ֖ם כָּל־הַיּֽוֹם׃
 
3:14 I have become a laughingstock to all my tribe (amiy), their taunting song lasts all day long.
 
Jeremiah, the prophet Israel ignored at her peril had become a laughing stock even to his own. Likewise Judah had become a laughing stock to the already exiled tribes of the north.
 
“YHVH, You have persuaded me, and I was persuaded: You are stronger than I, and have prevailed: I am in derision daily, everyone mocks me.”
 
-Y’rmiyahu (Jeremiah) 20:7
 
This speaks of mocking and derision among the tribes of Israel. Specifically Jeremiah was mocked by Benjamin, his native tribe (Jer. 1:1).
 
“They that sit in the gate speak against me; and I was the song of the drunkards.
 
-Tehillim (Psalms) 69:12
 
The Targum specifies which of his own tribe mocked the prophet.
 
“I have become a laughing stock to all the degenerate of my people; they mock me in song all day.”
 
-Targum on Lamentations 3:14
 
הִשְׂבִּיעַ֥נִי בַמְּרוֹרִ֖ים הִרְוַ֥נִי לַעֲנָֽה׃
 
3:15 He has filled me with bitterness, saturated me with wormwood (curse).
 
The Hebrew בַמְּרוֹרִים bam’roriym is from the root מרור maror, eaten at Pesach (Passover) in remembrance of the tears of Israel’s bondage.
 
Wormwood is likewise bitter, thus there is an established bitterness. Wormwood is figuratively associated with curse. Those who resist God bring curse upon themselves. Curse being the fruit of sin unto death.
 
וַיַּגְרֵ֤ס בֶּֽחָצָץ֙ שִׁנָּ֔י הִכְפִּישַׁ֖נִי בָּאֵֽפֶר׃
 
3:16 And He has crushed my teeth in gravel, ground me into the dust.
 
This graphic imagery of an open mouthed person being rammed into the gravel, breaking teeth into crushed particles, is horrific.
 
The shattering of foul speech is implied and the dust infers the returning of a human being to the earth from which he was created. “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust”.
 
Dust is also associated with the ritual of mourning throughout Biblical literature.
 
 וַתִּזְנַ֧ח מִשָּׁל֛וֹם נַפְשִׁ֖י נָשִׁ֥יתִי טוֹבָֽה׃

3:17 He has cast my soul far from peace, I forgot goodness.
 
A soul that feels cast far from peace is of the opinion that God (Who defines peace as Sar Shalom, the Prince of Peace) is far from him. This is impossible, however, the soul in affliction as a result of wilful sin has already self-deluded for such a long period of time that delusion becomes a way of life. Thank God that He is present in the affliction even of the deluded and seeks to restore the unrepentant to Himself through atonement and repentance.
 
“I forgot goodness” is of course an allusion to the inability to perceive anything good. When a person is at their lowest only darkness can be seen.
 
וָאֹמַר֙ אָבַ֣ד נִצְחִ֔י וְתוֹחַלְתִּ֖י מֵיְהוָֽה׃
 
3:18 I said, “My strength and hope have perished from before the LORD (YHVH).”
 
Put concisely, “I feel abandoned by God”.
 
Strength and hope reflect the present life and the hope of the world to come. This verse infers that the writer has lost both.
 
What follows is evidence of the fact that the writer has, in the face of insurmountable loss, nonetheless chosen to remember HaShem’s mercy.
 
 זְכָר־עָנְיִ֥י וּמְרוּדִ֖י לַעֲנָ֥ה וָרֹֽאשׁ׃
 
3:19 Remembering my affliction and my misery was wormwood (curse) and poison;
 
This is a reflection unto repentance. Soberly acknowledging that affliction, misery, curse and poison have resulted from sin choices and hatred toward the God of Love.
 
Ibn Ezra rightly observes that this is the beginning of a unique prayer to God. In fact, it is a prayer of repentance and acknowledgement of the merciful character of God in relationship to His people Israel.
 
זָכ֣וֹר תִּזְכּ֔וֹר ׳וְתָשִׁיחַ׳ ״וְתָשׁ֥וֹחַ״ עָלַ֖י נַפְשִֽׁי׃
 
3:20 Constantly remembering them, I was bowed low in my soul.
 
In other words, “The recollection of my sins and the resulting affliction has caused me to bow low in humility and repentance.”
 
זֹ֛את אָשִׁ֥יב אֶל־לִבִּ֖י עַל־כֵּ֥ן אוֹחִֽיל׃
 
3:21 But this returned to my heart (inner person), upon this recollection I wait expectantly:
 
The writer points to what follows as that which returned to his heart. The character of God, Who in mercy turns away His wrath from the humble. Thus, remembering Who God is, the writer waits on God’s mercy expectantly. Judah waits, Israel waits, the prophet waits, the Messiah waits and establishes atonement unto redemption and eternal life.
 
חַֽסְדֵ֤י יְהוָה֙ כִּ֣י לֹא־תָ֔מְנוּ כִּ֥י לֹא־כָל֖וּ רַחֲמָֽיו׃
 
3:22 The faithful kindness of the LORD (YHVH) indeed never ends, the out workings of His compassionate womb (mercies) can never cease.
 
“The faithful kindness of Mercy Himself most certainly cannot end, the actions of His compassionate mercy filled womb are perpetually manifest.”
 
The writer describes the Person of God. He is all existing without beginning or end, He is faithful, kind, compassionate, gracious, merciful, like a devoted mother, and so, because He is all these things and more, and because He is eternal, it is impossible for His acts of mercy to end.
 
Therefore…
 
חֲדָשִׁים֙ לַבְּקָרִ֔ים רַבָּ֖ה אֱמוּנָתֶֽךָ׃
 
3:23 They are new to all the mornings — great is Your faithfulness, fidelity, trusted firmness!
 
Rashi puts it beautifully, “Your faithfulness is immense!”
 
The sufferings of affliction that resulted from sin, had seemed to be without end (3:3, 14), they lasted “all day long”, however, “all day” is singular and temporary whereas “to all the mornings” is everlasting. The merciful actions of God consume the day of affliction and in Mercy through atonement, multiply it (singular) into never ending days of fidelity, faithfulness and the transcendent joy of restored relationship.
 
 
Copyright 2025 Yaakov (Brown) Ben Yehoshua