אֵיָכָה Lamentations Chapter 4

We note that both חטא chata, missing the mark and עון avon, premeditated perversion, are part of Judah’s sin practice.

The order of these sins reflects the order of both individual and societal demise. The prophets (not Jeremiah but the false prophets) who were responsible to warn the people and call out disobedience, had nonetheless missed the mark (chata), and as a result there was no one holding the priests accountable for their conduct. The priests therefore, syncretised heathen religious practices and introduced private perversions (avon) thus, causing those who looked to them for guidance to fall into even greater sin. It is certain that many leaders in the faith community of today are guilty of the same. May God have mercy on us!

Observing the Poetic Repetition for the Emphasis of Established Elements in the Text:
 
4:1 How has the gold lost its shine[a], become dim, darkened? Altered (changed) is the good fine gold[a]. The stones of the Sanctuary[a] (that which is holy) are shed (like skin) in the head (at the beginning) of every street[b] (of Jerusalem).
4:2 The rare, precious children of Zion[c] are compared to and weighed like fine gold[a]. How they are esteemed, thought of as jars, the work of a potter.
4:3 Even serpents[d] (alt. jackals) bare their breasts and suckle their young. A daughter of my people (tribe) [c] has become cruel like an ostrich[d] in the wilderness.
4:4 The tongue of the suckling child sticks to the roof of his mouth[e] in thirst. Children ask for bread but not even a single broken off piece is given to them.
4:5 Those who once feasted on delicacies[f] are now desolate in the streets[g]. Those raised in scarlet[f] embrace hills of refuse[g].
4:6 And greater is the perversity[h] of the daughter of my people (tribe) [c] than the sinful missing the mark[i] of Sodom which was overturned in a moment without hands touching it.
4:7 Her consecrated[j] Nazarites were purer than snow[k], whiter than milk[k], red in essence[j]  (bone), like polished rubies and sapphire.
4:8 Their appearance is blacker than coal, they’re not recognised in the streets[b], their skin cleaves to their bones[e], they’ve become dry like a stick.
4:9 Better off are those slain[l] by the sword than those slain[l] in hunger, who waste away stabbed through[l] for lack of the fruits of the field.
4:10 The hands of compassionate women have boiled their own children for food amidst the shattering of the daughter of my people (tribe) [c].
4:11 YHVH[m] (Mercy) the LORD has accomplished this particular fury[o] of his, He has poured out His fierce nostril flaring anger[o] and kindled fire in Zion and devoured[o] the foundations.
4:12 The kings of land and all the inhabitants of the world would not have believed that the adversary[p] (binder) and enemy[p] (hostile) could have entered the gates of Jerusalem.
4:13 This has happened as a result of the sins (missing the mark) [i] of her prophets[q] and the perversity[h] of her priests[r], who have shed the blood[s] of the just in the midst of her.
4:14 Staggering they wander blind in the streets[b]  they themselves have polluted with (innocent) blood[s], so that no one could touch their garments[t].
4:15 “Turn aside, you’re unclean[t]” they cried; “Depart, depart, don’t touch[t],” when they fled also shaking the heathen nations[u] said “Not again will you inhabit!”
4:16 The faces of YHVH[m] (Mercy) the LORD have divided them and not increased consideration for the faces of the priests[r] and esteemed elders[q] whom they favoured.
4:17 While our eyes have failed to help us for in our vain breathing we watched and watched for a heathen nation[u] that could not save.
4:18 They hunt our steps[v] from within our streets[b], our end is near to fulfilment, the end of our days has come.
4:19 Our pursuers[v] are swifter than the eagles of the heavens; on the mountains they chase us[v] and in the desert they lay in wait for us.
4:20 The breath of our nostrils the anointed of YHVH[m] (Mercy) the LORD was taken into their pits, of whom we said “We will live under his shade in the midst of the heathen nations. [u]
4:21 Rejoice and be glad daughter of Edom[u] who dwells in the midst of Utz (Arabian desert: modern Jordan). Also upon you will pass the cup of drunkenness[w] and you will make yourself naked.
4:22 The punishment[w] of your perversity[h] is accomplished daughter of Zion[c]; He will no longer increase your captivity: He will visit punishment[w] on your perversity[h] daughter Edom[u] (modern Jordan); He will uncover your sin (missing the mark) [i].
 
What begins as yet another observation of the torment and utter dissolution of Judah and Jerusalem (collectively Zion), nonetheless concludes with an indictment and promise of retribution against the ancient enemy of the Jewish people, Edom, the progeny of Esau.[Ref. Gen. 36:1-9; Num. 20:14-23; Mal. 1:2-3; Heb. 12:15-16; Rom. 9:13]
 
אֵיכָה֙ יוּעַ֣ם זָהָ֔ב יִשְׁנֶ֖א הַכֶּ֣תֶם הַטּ֑וֹב תִּשְׁתַּפֵּ֙כְנָה֙ אַבְנֵי־קֹ֔דֶשׁ בְּרֹ֖אשׁ כָּל־חוּצֽוֹת׃
 
4:1 How has the gold lost its shine, become dim, darkened? Altered (changed) is the good fine gold. The stones of the Sanctuary (that which is holy) are shed (like skin) in the head (at the beginning) of every street (of Jerusalem).
 
This gold is not personal wealth or a description of the treasuries of the king and upper classes. It is the gold of Beit HaMikdash (the Temple).
 
“How the gold of the Temple has dimmed, the choice gold leaf has changed! The sacred jewels are scattered at the head of every street.”
 
-Aramaic Targum on Lamentations 4:1
 
“So Solomon overlaid the house within with pure gold: and he made a partition by the chains of gold before the oracle; and he overlaid it with gold.”
 
-1 Kings 6:21 KJV
 
The stones of the Sanctuary are some of the foundation stones of Solomon’s Temple.
 
“And the king commanded, and they brought great stones, costly stones, and hewed stones, to lay the foundation of the house.”
 
-1 Kings 5:17 KJV
 
Therefore, both the foundations and the outer glory reflected by the gold that decorated the Temple are tarnished and destroyed. God warned Solomon that this would happen if Israel did not keep her covenant agreement with God.
 
“6 But if you or your sons indeed turn away from following Me, and do not keep My commandments and My statutes which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, 7 then I will cut off Israel from the land which I have given them, and the house which I have consecrated for My name, I will cast out of My sight. So Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples. 8 And this house will become a heap of ruins; everyone who passes by will be astonished and hiss and say, ‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land and to this house?’ 9 And they will say, ‘Because they forsook the Lord their God, who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and adopted other gods and worshiped them and served them, therefore the Lord has brought all this adversity on them.’”
 
-1 Kings 9:6-9 NASB 1995
 
 בְּנֵ֤י צִיּוֹן֙ הַיְקָרִ֔ים הַמְסֻלָּאִ֖ים בַּפָּ֑ז אֵיכָ֤ה נֶחְשְׁבוּ֙ לְנִבְלֵי־חֶ֔רֶשׂ מַעֲשֵׂ֖ה יְדֵ֥י יוֹצֵֽר׃
 
4:2 The rare, precious children of Zion are compared to and weighed like fine gold. How they are esteemed, thought of as jars, the work of a potter.
 
We note that even in discipline the children of Zion (Judah, Israel) are considered by God and His prophet to be “rare, precious.”
 
The comparing of the children of Zion to fine gold connects them to the Temple worship rites and sees there physical distress as being intrinsically connected to their spiritual rebellion. This strong golden imagery is juxtaposed against the vulnerability of a clay jar.
 
The use of the potter and clay imagery is yet another proof of the prophet Jeremiah’s authorship. The literary idioms and turns of phrase establishing a strong case.
 
The reshaping of the rebellious children of Israel is a central theme in the prophet’s work:

“1The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord saying, 2 “Arise and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will announce My words to you.” 3 Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something on the wheel. 4 But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make.5 Then the word of the Lord came to me saying, 6 “Can I not, O house of Israel, deal with you as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel. 7 At one moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to uproot, to pull down, or to destroy it; 8 if that nation against which I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent concerning the calamity I planned to bring on it. 9 Or at another moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to build up or to plant it; 10 if it does evil in My sight by not obeying My voice, then I will think better of the good with which I had promised to bless it. 11 So now then, speak to the men of Judah and against the inhabitants of Jerusalem saying, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Behold, I am fashioning calamity against you and devising a plan against you. Oh turn back, each of you from his evil way, and reform your ways and your deeds.”’ 12 But they will say, ‘It’s hopeless! For we are going to follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.’”

-Yermiyahu (Jeremiah) 18:1-12 NASB 1995

In the context of 2 Corinthians 4 rabbi Shaul (Paul the Apostle) draws on the experience of Judah (Israel) as described in Lamentations and uses it as a comparative teaching to the believers of first century Corinth. 2 Corinthians 4 begins with an allusion to repentance concerning underhanded practices and a turning away from tampering with God’s Word. Referring to himself and the other apostles and ministers of the Gospel Paul teaches the vulnerability of a person as being like a clay jar, the work of a potter. He shows a connection between our suffering and the death of Messiah which brings eternal life. He predicates these illuminations on the fact that Messiah in the heart of the believer is the ultimate treasure (gold) that expresses God’s surpassing power in the midst of our weakness.
 
Jeremiah, the writer of Lamentations is grieving in the Holy Spirit over the suffering of the children of Zion, and yet he knows that in our weakness God is revealed as all powerful, all sufficient, and so begins our reconciliation.

“7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. 8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. 11 For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 12 So death is at work in us, but life in you. 13 Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak, 14 knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. 15 For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. 16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”

-2 Corinthians 4:7-18 ESV

 ׳גַּם־תַּנִּין׳ ״גַּם־תַּנִּים֙״ חָ֣לְצוּ שַׁ֔ד הֵינִ֖יקוּ גּוּרֵיהֶ֑ן בַּת־עַמִּ֣י לְאַכְזָ֔ר ׳כִּי׳ ׳עֵנִים׳ ״כַּיְעֵנִ֖ים״ בַּמִּדְבָּֽר׃
 
4:3 Even serpents (alt. jackals) bare their breasts and suckle their young. A daughter of my people (tribe) has become cruel like an ostrich in the wilderness.
 
“Serpent” or “dragon” is the best representation of the Hebrew text. It refers to both a sea and land serpent like monster/dinosaur/large animal. The alternate translation “jackals” seems to be an attempt to address the fact that the creature is nursing its young and labours under the false perception that this therefore excludes serpents. It does not exclude the type of serpent that the Hebrew text is referring to and even if it did the comparison is used as a poetic figure rather than a literal representation of the ability of a metaphorically wicked creature to nurse its young.
 
The daughter of the writer’s tribe is specifically a daughter of Judah and also applies to Israel. This figurative daughter may well be literal in numerous forms and denotes the transformation of the relatively innocent virgins of child bearing age, from kind, naturally loving mothers into mothers who abandon their metaphorical eggs to the predators of the desert (like ostriches). So desperate have the young women of Judah become that they are operating in survival mode with utter disregard for even their own progeny. The thought of this kind of suffering is so far outside the experience of many modern western people that it is difficult to fathom. There are however those in the world today who understand this type of degradation and utter desolation. Their disdain for the trite acknowledgements of unaffected westerners is justified.
 
Not only are the daughters of Judah reduced to callous disregard for their infants, they are also unable to breast feed due to the famine which has dried up their milk.
 
 דָּבַ֨ק לְשׁ֥וֹן יוֹנֵ֛ק אֶל־חִכּ֖וֹ בַּצָּמָ֑א עֽוֹלָלִים֙ שָׁ֣אֲלוּ לֶ֔חֶם פֹּרֵ֖שׂ אֵ֥ין לָהֶֽם׃
 
4:4 The tongue of the suckling child sticks to the roof of his mouth in thirst. Children ask for bread but not even a single broken off piece is given to them.
 
This is the natural outworking of the exhaustion and callousness of the previous verse. As a result of the dried up breasts and distain of the daughters of Zion, the breast feeding infants are devoid of sustenance and as a result of the same famine the toddlers and teens are without bread (staple diet).
 
 הָאֹֽכְלִים֙ לְמַ֣עֲדַנִּ֔ים נָשַׁ֖מּוּ בַּחוּצ֑וֹת הָאֱמֻנִים֙ עֲלֵ֣י תוֹלָ֔ע חִבְּק֖וּ אַשְׁפַּתּֽוֹת׃
 
4:5 Those who once feasted on delicacies are now desolate in the streets. Those raised in scarlet embrace hills of refuse.
 
This is an allusion to the upper class. Those among the tribe of Judah who were wealthy and those born to royalty are now devoid of fine foods and grovel on piles of refuse searching out scraps like street people digging through garbage cans.
 
Scarlet was worn by those who lived comfortably and or were royalty. The dye for scarlet garments being more costly to come by in ancient times.
 
“She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet.”
 
-Mishlei (proverbs) 31:21 KJV
 
 וַיִּגְדַּל֙ עֲן בַּת־עַמִּ֔י מֵֽחַטַּ֖את סְדֹ֑ם הַֽהֲפוּכָ֣ה כְמוֹ־רָ֔גַע וְלֹא־חָ֥לוּ בָ֖הּ יָדָֽיִם׃
 
4:6 And greater is the perversity of the daughter of my people (tribe) than the sinful missing the mark of Sodom which was overturned in a moment without hands touching it.
 
Judah’s sin is named עון avon, perversity. This is not just חטא chata, missing the mark set by God’s holiness, but a further premeditated perversion of creation. For example, adultery is חטא chata, missing the mark, and an unbridled orgy is עון avon, perversity, premeditated perversion. The weight of this indictment comes to bear in the fact that Judah has become comparatively more wicked than Sodom, who God destroyed in an instant without the use of human armies.
 
The phrase “without hands touching it” though terrifying, is nonetheless also comforting. The Hebrew ידים yadayim (hands) denotes discipline rather than utter annihilation. Hashem disciplines the ones He loves.
 
The Targum emphasises the fact that God in His mercy has given Judah the prophet Jeremiah as a remnant prophetic voice. Sodom, overturned in an instant, had no such opportunity for repentance.
 
“The sin of the Congregation of my people is greater than the sin of Sodom that was overthrown in a moment. And no prophets were left in her to prophesy, to turn her back in repentance.”
 
-Aramaic Targum on Lamentations 4:6
 
 זַכּ֤וּ נְזִירֶ֙יהָ֙ מִשֶּׁ֔לֶג צַח֖וּ מֵחָלָ֑ב אָ֤דְמוּ עֶ֙צֶם֙ מִפְּנִינִ֔ים סַפִּ֖יר גִּזְרָתָֽם׃
 
4:7 Her consecrated Nazarites were purer than snow, whiter than milk, red in essence (bone), like polished rubies and sapphire.
 
The Hebrew נזיריה neziyreyah means consecrated, devoted ones, and can refer to those who had taken Nazarite vows of worship, abstaining from wine, allowing their hair to grow and so on. [Num. 6]
 
Some Jewish sages understand נזיריה neziyreyah to refer to Judah’s princes, the root נזר  nazir being like נֵזֶר neizer, prince, and כֶּתֶר keter, a crown.
 
There is of course no reason that both views can’t be true at the same time. There is no caveat based on class, regarding who is and isn’t eligible to take Nazirite vows.
 
Rashi understands the descriptors “rubies and sapphire” to refer to the appearance of the Nazirites/princes. That is, they were handsome.
 
Steinsaltz agrees, writing:
 
“In past times, its, Jerusalem’s, nazirites used to be purer than snow, whiter than milk; their appearance was ruddier than gems, their form a sapphire.”
 
The Targum supports both views:
 
“their face or countenance is as sapphire.”
 
-Aramaic Targum on Lamentations 4:6
 
The point is that these consecrated ones, who were once evidence of devotion to God, are now defiled, no longer healthy in appearance. What follows describes their state at the time of Jerusalem’s destruction during its siege at the hands of the Babylonian armies.
 
 חָשַׁ֤ךְ מִשְּׁחוֹר֙ תָּֽאֳרָ֔ם לֹ֥א נִכְּר֖וּ בַּחוּצ֑וֹת צָפַ֤ד עוֹרָם֙ עַל־עַצְמָ֔ם יָבֵ֖שׁ הָיָ֥ה כָעֵֽץ׃
 
4:8 Their appearance is blacker than coal, they’re not recognised in the streets, their skin cleaves to their bones, they’ve become dry like a stick.
 
“Blacker than coal” is a description of charcoal which is made by heating wood or other organic materials above 400° C (750° F) in an oxygen-starved environment. The crucible of Judah’s disciplining has brought about this heart breaking reality.
 
The Nazirites/Princes are reduced to wallowing in the dirty streets, their bodies emaciated as a result of the famine born of the siege of Jerusalem.
 
Another way to translate this would be “Their appearance is darker than blackness.” We look to the previous verse and see the juxtaposition here. They had been “whiter than milk,” an allusion to purity. Thus, the pure have been reduced to impurity. When righteousness is neglected, darkness ensues.
 
We note that they are “not recognized in the street.” In other words, they once stood apart as consecrated to God and were a sign of the devotion of the people. Now, they are indistinguishable from others and remain an indictment against Judah’s utter lack of devotion to God.
 
 טוֹבִ֤ים הָיוּ֙ חַלְלֵי־חֶ֔רֶב מֵֽחַלְלֵ֖י רָעָ֑ב שֶׁ֣הֵ֤ם יָז֙וּבוּ֙ מְדֻקָּרִ֔ים מִתְּנוּבֹ֖ת שָׂדָֽי׃
 
4:9 Better off are those slain by the sword than those slain in hunger, who waste away stabbed through for lack of the fruits of the field.
 
This describes a tormenting kind of starvation that produces such overwhelming stomach cramps that the sufferer would rather be dead than to live in perpetual agony. No morphine, no narcotics, no relief. And even if there had been, the condition was so severe that such drugs would not be capable to mitigate the pain except by inducing death through palliative care.
 
The Targum makes the interesting comparison that those killed by the sword died with full belly’s, whereas those suffering from famine died with empty distended bellies.
 
Rashi writes:
 
“For they dripped with burst bellies, etc. The corpses [of those who died] because of hunger were swollen from the aroma of the fruits of the field. The enemies would roast meat on the grass outside the wall, and the aroma would go into those swollen from hunger, and their stomachs would split, and their faeces would ooze. This is an uglier death than those slain by the sword. With burst bellies. Being split; either by the swelling of hunger or by the stabbing of the sword is called piercing [דְּקִירָה] From [eating] the produce of the fields. Because of the roots and grass that they gathered and ate, their faeces increased and they were loathsome.”
 
-Rashi on Lamentations 4:9
 
יְדֵ֗י נָשִׁים֙ רַחֲמָ֣נִיּ֔וֹת בִּשְּׁל֖וּ יַלְדֵיהֶ֑ן הָי֤וּ לְבָרוֹת֙ לָ֔מוֹ בְּשֶׁ֖בֶר בַּת־עַמִּֽי׃
 
4:10 The hands of compassionate women have boiled their own children for food amidst the shattering of the daughter of my people (tribe).
 
There is no need to explain further this literal description. “My tribe” is the LORD’s tribe, the prophet’s tribe, Benjamin, and Judah, Israel.
 
In the context of the siege of Jerusalem Judah and Benjamin are one (echad) as being unique from the northern tribes, those who have already gone into captivity via Assyrian and Babylonian conquests.
 
“The tender and delicate woman among you, which would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter,”
 
-D’varim (Deut.) 28:56 KJV
 
 כִּלָּ֤ה יְהוָה֙ אֶת־חֲמָת֔וֹ שָׁפַ֖ךְ חֲר֣וֹן אַפּ֑וֹ וַיַּצֶּת־אֵ֣שׁ בְּצִיּ֔וֹן וַתֹּ֖אכַל יְסוֹדֹתֶֽיהָ׃
 
4:11 YHVH (Mercy) the LORD has accomplished this particular fury of his, He has poured out His fierce nostril flaring anger and kindled fire in Zion and devoured the foundations.
 
“Mercy has accomplished this”
 
The One Who defines Mercy is also filled with wrath against evil. We should never delude ourselves as to the nature of God. The false god of hyper-grace is not the God of the Scriptures, nor is the false god of graceless wrath.
 
There is no love without justice, no justice without punishment, no freedom from punishment without atonement, no atonement without mercy, no mercy without love, and no love without holiness. God is One!
 
“Against You, You alone, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, So that You are justified when You speak And blameless when You judge.”
 
-Tehillim (Psalms) 51:4
 
 לֹ֤א הֶאֱמִ֙ינוּ֙ מַלְכֵי־אֶ֔רֶץ ׳וְכֹל׳ ״כֹּ֖ל״ יֹשְׁבֵ֣י תֵבֵ֑ל כִּ֤י יָבֹא֙ צַ֣ר וְאוֹיֵ֔ב בְּשַׁעֲרֵ֖י יְרוּשָׁלִָֽם׃
 
4:12 The kings of land and all the inhabitants of the world would not have believed that the adversary (binder) and enemy (hostile) could have entered the gates of Jerusalem.
 
The kings of land may refer to the kings of Israel and Judah respectively. It is worth noting that there is a distinction between מַלְכֵי־אֶ֔רֶץ malcheiy-eretz (kings of land) and יֹשְׁבֵ֣י תֵבֵ֑ל yosheveiy teiveil (inhabitants of the world).
 
The Targum does not see the distinction I’ve made but understands the text to refer to the kings of the world as they look upon the invasion of Jerusalem by the Babylonians:
 
“The kingdoms of the earth did not believe, nor did those who dwell in the world, that the wicked Nebuchadnezzar and Nebuzaradan the enemy would enter to slaughter the people of the House of Israel in the gates of Jerusalem.”
 
-Aramaic Targum on Lamentations 4:12
 
 מֵֽחַטֹּ֣את נְבִיאֶ֔יהָ עֲוֺנ֖וֹת כֹּהֲנֶ֑יהָ הַשֹּׁפְכִ֥ים בְּקִרְבָּ֖הּ דַּ֥ם צַדִּיקִֽים׃
 
4:13 This has happened as a result of the sins (missing the mark) of her prophets and the perversity of her priests, who have shed the blood of the just in the midst of her.
 
We note that both חטא chata, missing the mark and עון avon, premeditated perversion, are part of Judah’s sin practice.
 
The order of these sins reflects the order of both individual and societal demise. The prophets (not Jeremiah but the false prophets) who were responsible to warn the people and call out disobedience, had nonetheless missed the mark (chata), and as a result there was no one holding the priests accountable for their conduct. The priests therefore, syncretised heathen religious practices and introduced private perversions (avon) thus, causing those who looked to them for guidance to fall into even greater sin. It is certain that many leaders in the faith community of today are guilty of the same. May God have mercy on us!
 
Iben Ezra interprets this as describing the prophets of the Ba’aliym, and the priests of the pagan high places.
 
“Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the LORD which he had hallowed in Jerusalem.”
 
-2 Chronicles 36:14 KJV
 
The shedding of innocent blood refers to false testimony against and the capital punishment of innocent people. Therefore, being acts of murder, the blood of these innocents who were murdered by the word of priest and prophet, noble and king alike, cries out from the ground for vengeance like the righteous blood of Abel. The Torah is clear:
 
“So you shall not pollute the land where you are; for blood defiles the land, and no atonement can be made for the land, for the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of him who shed it.”
 
-Badmidbar (Num.) 35:33-34 KJV
 
“The Attribute of Justice spoke up and said, ‘All this would not have happened but for the sins of her prophets who prophesied to her false prophesies and the iniquity of her priests who offered up burning incense to idols. They themselves caused the blood of the innocent to be shed in her midst.’”
 
-Aramaic Targum on Lamentations 4:13
 
Rashi writes:
 
“For the sins of her false prophets. [Because of the] false [prophets], this evil has befallen her. *Alternately, ‘because of the sins committed against the prophets,’ namely the murder of Zecharyah, this evil has befallen her. (Eichah Rabbah 4:16) Or ‘because of the sins committed by her prophets and kohanim who burnt incense for idol worship, this evil has befallen her.’ (Targum)”
 
-Rashi on Lamentations 4:13
 
 נָע֤וּ עִוְרִים֙ בַּֽחוּצ֔וֹת נְגֹֽאֲל֖וּ בַּדָּ֑ם בְּלֹ֣א יֽוּכְל֔וּ יִגְּע֖וּ בִּלְבֻשֵׁיהֶֽם׃
 
4:14 Staggering they wander blind in the streets they themselves have polluted with (innocent) blood, so that no one could touch their garments.
 
The false prophets and apostate priests stagger blindly. Both literally and figuratively. Their spiritual blindness has manifest physical blindness. The walk over the innocent blood they’ve shed.
 
The phrasing “so that no one could touch their garments” is a picture of defilement that acts as a counterpoint to the God appointed cleanness of the priestly garments. Garments that should carry a consecrated countenance bringing symbolic purity instead carry abhorrent blood guilt that defiles both spiritually and physically.
 
 ס֣וּרוּ טָמֵ֞א קָ֣רְאוּ לָ֗מוֹ ס֤וּרוּ ס֙וּרוּ֙ אַל־תִּגָּ֔עוּ כִּ֥י נָצ֖וּ גַּם־נָ֑עוּ אָֽמְרוּ֙ בַּגּוֹיִ֔ם לֹ֥א יוֹסִ֖יפוּ לָגֽוּר׃
 
4:15 “Turn aside, you’re unclean” they cried; “Depart, depart, don’t touch,” when they fled also shaking the heathen nations said “Not again will you inhabit!”
 
Those who see the false prophets and priests walk by in the streets shout out to them to “stay away” and not defile them by their touch. These false prophets and priests therefore are seen as epitomizing what it means to be unclean, like leppers who must go outside the camp.
 
The response of the enemies of Israel is a taunt (and a lie). They say (but not by the Spirit of God) that Judah will never return again to Jerusalem. To the contrary, God has not determined permanent exile for Judah but temporary discipline unto an everlasting return to the city of Jerusalem which He has established as the place where His Name resides. The covenant tying Israel to the land is incumbent on God alone without caveat. [Gen. 15]
 
 פְּנֵ֤י יְהוָה֙ חִלְּקָ֔ם לֹ֥א יוֹסִ֖יף לְהַבִּיטָ֑ם פְּנֵ֤י כֹהֲנִים֙ לֹ֣א נָשָׂ֔אוּ ׳זְקֵנִים׳ ״וּזְקֵנִ֖ים״ לֹ֥א חָנָֽנוּ׃
 
4:16 The faces of YHVH (Mercy) the LORD have divided them and not increased consideration for the faces of the priests and esteemed elders whom they favoured.
 
There are many ways to interpret the opening phrasing. In a similar way to that of the rabbinical assertion that the Torah has many faces, the many faces of God, Who is One, are a reflection of His attributes and an illumination of His character. His holy attributes expose and divide the wicked attributes and character flaws of the apostate priests and esteemed elders of Judah and Israel.
 
Judah’s favouring of these wicked leaders is an indictment on the tribe as a whole. YHVH present in Mercy to judge and discipline Judah, is revealing His holiness through the illumination of His many attributes. The sin and perversion of Judah’s leaders along with that of the tribe and all Israel is therefore divided and left desolate by the specific indictments that result from each of the revealed attributes of God made manifest in her midst.
 
“In Adonoy’s glaring anger He dispersed them. The angry face of the Holy One, Blessed Is He, divided and separated them among the nations, because they did not respect the presence of the kohanim when they were in their tranquillity.”
 
-Rashi on Lamentations 4:16
 
 ׳עוֹדֵינָה׳ ״עוֹדֵ֙ינוּ֙״ תִּכְלֶ֣ינָה עֵינֵ֔ינוּ אֶל־עֶזְרָתֵ֖נוּ הָ֑בֶל בְּצִפִּיָּתֵ֣נוּ צִפִּ֔ינוּ אֶל־גּ֖וֹי לֹ֥א יוֹשִֽׁעַ׃
 
4:17 While our eyes have failed to help us for in our vain breathing we watched and watched for a heathen nation that could not save.
 
Judah had looked to Egypt for help rather than relying on the God of Israel. Egypt was powerless to help Judah.
 
“We persisted in longingly eyeing illusive reinforcements. When the evil befell us, our eyes were still looking forward to Pharaoh’s army, concerning whom it is stated, “And the Egyptians, they help in vain and to no purpose,” for they would promise us aid but they would not come, as it is stated concerning them, “Behold, Pharaoh’s army, which has come out to help [you], is returning to its land, to Egypt.” We find in Midrash Kinos that they were coming in ships. The Holy One, Blessed Is He, hinted to the sea and caused inflated flasks like human intestines to move about in the water. They said to each other, “These flasks are our forefathers, the men of Egypt who drowned in the sea on account of these Jews, and we are going out to assist them?” They stopped and turned back.”
 
-Rashi on Lamentations 4:17
 
 צָד֣וּ צְעָדֵ֔ינוּ מִלֶּ֖כֶת בִּרְחֹבֹתֵ֑ינוּ קָרַ֥ב קִצֵּ֛ינוּ מָלְא֥וּ יָמֵ֖ינוּ כִּי־בָ֥א קִצֵּֽינוּ׃
 
4:18 They hunt our steps from within our streets, our end is near to fulfilment, the end of our days has come.
 
This simply describes the clearing of the city by the Babylonian soldiers as they hunt down the remnant of the Judeans who are still in the city of Jerusalem.
 
 קַלִּ֤ים הָיוּ֙ רֹדְפֵ֔ינוּ מִנִּשְׁרֵ֖י שָׁמָ֑יִם עַל־הֶהָרִ֣ים דְּלָקֻ֔נוּ בַּמִּדְבָּ֖ר אָ֥רְבוּ לָֽנוּ׃
 
4:19 Our pursuers are swifter than the eagles of the heavens; on the mountains they chase us and in the desert they lay in wait for us.
 
Even those who flee the city are chased down by the Babylonian army. With great speed they are captured and either killed or made slaves to the Babylonian empire. Like those seeking to hide from God’s wrath in the Revelation of Yeshua to Yochanan, [Rev. 6:15-16] they seek the clefts of the rocks in the mountains and the caves in the desert but to no avail.
 
“15 Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; 16 and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb;”
 
-Revelation 6:15-16 NASB 1995
 
 ר֤וּחַ אַפֵּ֙ינוּ֙ מְשִׁ֣יחַ יְהוָ֔ה נִלְכַּ֖ד בִּשְׁחִיתוֹתָ֑ם אֲשֶׁ֣ר אָמַ֔רְנוּ בְּצִלּ֖וֹ נִֽחְיֶ֥ה בַגּוֹיִֽם׃
 
4:20 The breath of our nostrils the anointed of YHVH (Mercy) the LORD was taken into their pits, of whom we said “We will live under his shade in the midst of the heathen nations.”
 
The plain meaning regards Zedekiah the king of Judah who was taken into captivity in Babylon. The remez (hint) speaks of the King Messiah, Who, though He went temporarily into the pit of Sheol, nonetheless resurrected unto eternal reign over Judah, Israel and all the earth.
 
Both Rashi and the Targum are wrong, the text can’t refer to Josiah, who had died at the hands of Pharoah and was not taken into captivity in the pits of Babylon. Nor was he king at the time of the Babylonian invasion that destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple of Solomon.
 
 שִׂ֤ישִׂי וְשִׂמְחִי֙ בַּת־אֱד֔וֹם ׳יוֹשַׁבְתִּי׳ ״יוֹשֶׁ֖בֶת״ בְּאֶ֣רֶץ ע֑וּץ גַּם־עָלַ֙יִךְ֙ תַּעֲבָר־כּ֔וֹס תִּשְׁכְּרִ֖י וְתִתְעָרִֽי׃
 
4:21 Rejoice and be glad daughter of Edom who dwells in the midst of Utz (Arabian desert: modern Jordan). Also upon you will pass the cup of drunkenness and you will make yourself naked.
 
This sardonic statement essentially says to Edom (descendants of Esau, ancient and continued enemies of Israel and of God), “Laugh it up, you’re doom is near!”
 
“The cup of drunkenness” is a Hebrew euphemism denoting staggering destruction in the midst of confused vulnerability.
 
The first chapter of Obadiah addresses Edom in a similar way.
 
Rashi makes a prophetic connection between Edom and Rome based on the fact that Rome was responsible for the destruction of the second Beit HaMikdash (Sanctuary/Temple). Thus, Edom is considered by some of our sages to be complicit in Babylon’s destruction of the first Temple.
 
The fourth century Targum makes a connection between Edom and Constantinople, the then capital of “New Rome” according to the Emperor Constantine the Great.
 
“Rejoice and be of good cheer Constantinople, city of wicked Edom, which is built in the land of Armenia with crowds from the people of Edom. Retribution is about to come upon even you, and the Parkevi (Riphat ref. Gen. 10:3) will destroy you and the accursed cup shall pass to you and you shall become drunk and exposed.”
 
-Aramaic Targum on Lamentations 4:21
 
 תַּם־עֲנֵךְ֙ בַּת־צִיּ֔וֹן לֹ֥א יוֹסִ֖יף לְהַגְלוֹתֵ֑ךְ פָּקַ֤ד עֲנֵךְ֙ בַּת־אֱד֔וֹם גִּלָּ֖ה עַל־חַטֹּאתָֽיִךְ׃
 
4:22 The punishment of your perversity is accomplished daughter of Zion; He will no longer increase your captivity: He will visit punishment on your perversity daughter Edom (modern Jordan); He will uncover your sin (missing the mark).
 
Speaking by the Holy Spirit the prophet promises that Zion (Judah) has received her punishment in full and that the seventy years established for her exile will not be increased but will reach its goal unto her return to the land.
 
Now YHVH turns toward the ancient enemy of Israel Edom in order to punish her for her perversity. He is just. Therefore, all will be held to account for their actions.
 
Within time and space, Mercy and judgement always come first to the Jews (Israel, ethnic descendants of Jacob) and also to the nations.
 
A good father first disciplines his own children so that they might be an example to others, then he holds others accountable for their errors.
 
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew (Descendant of Jacob) first and also to the Greek (Hellenised, known world, nations, goyim).”
 
-Romans 1:16
 
“tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew (Descendant of Jacob) first and also of the Greek (Hellenised, known world, nations, goyim);”
 
-Romans 2:9
 
Copyright 2025 Yaakov (Brown) Ben Yehoshua