אֵיכָה Lamentations Chapter 3:45-66

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!

​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
 
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