Pathways through the Bible: Classic Selections from the Tanakh (Third Edition)

Lamentations

Lamentations Cc Powerful Babylonian armies swept down on the Land of Israel in 586 B.C.E. and their commander, the emperor Nebuchadnezzar, captured and sacked Jerusalem, sent the Temple up in flames, killed the prime young men, and carried off the rulers, priests, princes, and leading citizens into what has come to be known as the Babylonian Captivity. Those left behind in the desolate land suffered terror, shame, starvation, and death. The Book of Lamentations consists of poems of grief and sorrow on the destruction of Jerusalem. These sad poems are called elegies, or dirges, or laments. The Book of Lamentations contains five such poems describing the misfortunes, calamities, and sorrows that the Jewish people suffered when their Holy City was destroyed. Four of these poems are arranged acrostically, that is, each verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Because Jeremiah was the last prophet in Judah, and spoke at the time of the destruction of the Jewish Commonwealth, Jewish tradition has held him to be the author of Lamentations. Others maintain that its author is unknown. In either case, the poet was a profound lover of the people, as every word of this sad book testifies. Hot tears are upon its every page. The author gave voice, too, to the eternal cry of faith in God, the confession of guilt, the call to repentance, and the prayer of hope that Israel might some day return to their ancestral inheritance. The Book of Lamentations is traditionally read in synagogues on the Ninth of Av (Tisha be-Av), the day on which, according to tradition, the First and Second Temples were destroyed. ■ 455 ■ 1. DESOLATION AND MISERY Jerusalem is compared to a widow in mourning. Her treasures and her glory have departed. Her leaders have been slain, and her children are in exile. Yet she acknowledges the righteousness of God. Later, Jerusalem herself speaks and bewails her condition. Alas! Lonely sits the city Once great with people! She that was great among nations Is become like a widow; The princess among states Is become a thrall. Bitterly she weeps in the night, Her cheek wet with tears. There is none to comfort her Of all her friends. All her allies have betrayed her; They have become her foes. Judah has gone into exile Because of misery and harsh oppression; When she settled among the nations, She found no rest; All her pursuers overtook her In the narrow places. Zion’s roads are in mourning, Empty of festival pilgrims; All her gates are deserted. Her priests sigh, Her maidens are unhappy— She is utterly disconsolate! 456 ■ Pathways Through the Bible Her enemies are now the masters, Her foes are at ease, Because God has afflicted her For her many transgressions; Her infants have gone into captivity Before the enemy. Gone from Fair Zion are all That were her glory; Her leaders were like stags That found no pasture; They could only walk feebly Before the pursuer. Jerusalem has greatly sinned, Therefore she is become a mockery. All who admired her despise her, For they have seen her disgraced; And she can only sigh And shrink back. The foe has laid hands On everything dear to her. She has seen her Sanctuary Invaded by nations Which You have denied admission Into Your community. Jerusalem Speaks May it never befall you, All who pass along the road— Look about and see: Is there any agony like mine, Which was dealt out to me When God afflicted me On that day of wrath? The Writings: Lamentations/Desolation and Misery ■ 457 From above was sent a fire Down into my bones. God spread a net for my feet, and hurled me backward; God has left me forlorn, In constant misery. God is in the right, For I have disobeyed. Hear, all you peoples, And behold my agony: My maidens and my youths Have gone into captivity! See, Adonai, the distress I am in! My heart is in anguish, I know how wrong I was To disobey. Outside the sword deals death; Indoors, the plague. (Lamentations 1.1–6, 8, 10, 12, 13, 18, 20) 458 ■ Pathways Through the Bible 2. GOD’S CONSOLATIONS In the midst of her dark sorrows, Israel finds ground for hope in God’s mercy and kindness. To recall my distress and my misery...