Lamentations 1

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Lamentations 1

1 How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people! how is she become as a widow! she that was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary!

2 She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks: among all her lovers she hath none to comfort her: all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they are become her enemies.

3 Judah is gone into captivity because of affliction, and because of great servitude: she dwelleth among the heathen, she findeth no rest: all her persecutors overtook her between the straits.

4 The ways of Zion do mourn, because none come to the solemn feasts: all her gates are desolate: her priests sigh, her virgins are afflicted, and she is in bitterness.

5 Her adversaries are the chief, her enemies prosper; for the Lord hath afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions: her children are gone into captivity before the enemy.

6 And from the daughter of Zion all her beauty is departed: her princes are become like harts that find no pasture, and they are gone without strength before the pursuer.

7 Jerusalem remembered in the days of her affliction and of her miseries all her pleasant things that she had in the days of old, when her people fell into the hand of the enemy, and none did help her: the adversaries saw her, and did mock at her sabbaths.

8 Jerusalem hath grievously sinned; therefore she is removed: all that honoured her despise her, because they have seen her nakedness: yea, she sigheth, and turneth backward.

9 Her filthiness is in her skirts; she remembereth not her last end; therefore she came down wonderfully: she had no comforter. O Lord, behold my affliction: for the enemy hath magnified himself.

10 The adversary hath spread out his hand upon all her pleasant things: for she hath seen that the heathen entered into her sanctuary, whom thou didst command that they should not enter into thy congregation.

11 All her people sigh, they seek bread; they have given their pleasant things for meat to relieve the soul: see, O Lord, and consider; for I am become vile.

12 Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger.

13 From above hath he sent fire into my bones, and it prevaileth against them: he hath spread a net for my feet, he hath turned me back: he hath made me desolate and faint all the day.

14 The yoke of my transgressions is bound by his hand: they are wreathed, and come up upon my neck: he hath made my strength to fall, the Lord hath delivered me into their hands, from whom I am not able to rise up.

15 The Lord hath trodden under foot all my mighty men in the midst of me: he hath called an assembly against me to crush my young men: the Lord hath trodden the virgin, the daughter of Judah, as in a winepress.

16 For these things I weep; mine eye, mine eye runneth down with water, because the comforter that should relieve my soul is far from me: my children are desolate, because the enemy prevailed.

17 Zion spreadeth forth her hands, and there is none to comfort her: the Lord hath commanded concerning Jacob, that his adversaries should be round about him: Jerusalem is as a menstruous woman among them.

18 The Lord is righteous; for I have rebelled against his commandment: hear, I pray you, all people, and behold my sorrow: my virgins and my young men are gone into captivity.

19 I called for my lovers, but they deceived me: my priests and mine elders gave up the ghost in the city, while they sought their meat to relieve their souls.

20 Behold, O Lord; for I am in distress: my bowels are troubled; mine heart is turned within me; for I have grievously rebelled: abroad the sword bereaveth, at home there is as death.

21 They have heard that I sigh: there is none to comfort me: all mine enemies have heard of my trouble; they are glad that thou hast done it: thou wilt bring the day that thou hast called, and they shall be like unto me.

22 Let all their wickedness come before thee; and do unto them, as thou hast done unto me for all my transgressions: for my sighs are many, and my heart is faint.

Notes

Cross Reference

Concordance

Commentary

Rashi

Verse 1

<html>How can it be that she sits in isolation. Yirmiyahu wrote the book of Lamentations. ¹Because Chapter 3 of Eichah begins with Yirmiyahu writing, “I am the man,” one might mistakenly think that is the beginning of Yirmiyahu’s writing, therefore Rashi states that he wrote the entire Book of Lamentations [=Eichah]. (Sifsei Chachomim) This is the scroll that Yehoyakim burned on the hearth.²See Yirmiyahu 36:23. It contained three³The three acrostics respond to the three tragedies that occurred: the physical exile of the Bnei Yisroel, the departure of the Shchinah and the loss of Eretz Yisroel. (Yalkut Me’am Lo’ez) alphabetical acrostics:⁴The alphabetical acrostic symbolizes the Bnei Yisroel’s transgression of the Torah which was written with the letters of the Aleph Beis. (Sifsei Chachomim) “Oh how can it be that she sits [in isolation],”⁵Eichah 1:1. “How can it be [that God] has cast a gloom,”⁶Ibid., 2:1. [and] “How dim can it be [that the golden glow] has paled.”⁷Ibid., 4:1. He added to it, “I am the man…”,⁸Ibid., 3:1. which contains three sets of alphabetical acrostics, as it is stated, “and many more words were added similar to those [of the original scroll],”⁹Yirmiyahu 36:32. three corresponding to three.¹⁰He also added Chapter 5. See Eichah Rabbah, Pesichta 28. In isolation. Devoid of her inhabitants. Teeming with people. The yud of רַבָּתִי is superfluous;¹¹Palgei Mayim explains that the yud is not superfluous because the prophet is speaking in [first person singular] God’s Name, saying, “How can it be that the city that ‘I’ made great and that ‘I’ made important, etc.” [it means the same] as, רַבָּתִי עָם, that her people were many.¹²Alternatively, ‘the city whose people were so wise’ yet they were unable to prevent its destruction. (Eichah Rabbah); or, ‘the city with great people.’ (Ibn Ezra) There are many Aggadic midrashim, but I have come to explain the Scripture according to its literal meaning. Has become like a widow. But not really a widow; rather, like a woman whose husband went abroad and he intends to return to her.¹³See Maseches Sanhedrin 104a. </html>

Verse 2

<html>She weeps bitterly. Weeping twice over the two destructions [of the Beis Hamikdosh].¹⁴Rashi is explaining the reason for the double verb בכו תבכה. Alternatively, Yerusholayim weeps, and God, as it were, also weeps. (Yalkut Me’am Lo’ez) In the night. For the Beis Hamikdosh was burned at night, as the master said, “at the time of evening they set it on fire.”¹⁵Maseches Ta’anis 29a. Another explanation of “in the night,” [is that] the night of the weeping of the spies on the ninth of Av caused it to happen to them.¹⁶Ibid. Another explanation of “in the night,” is that whoever weeps at night, the one who hears his voice weeps along with him.¹⁷Maseches Sanhedrin 104b. Her tear on her cheek. Because she cries constantly.¹⁸Alternatively, her pain and suffering were so intense that she did not bother to wipe away her tears. (Yalkut Me’am Lo’ez) All of her friends. Her lovers.¹⁹I.e., the prophets who predicted only her doom. (Palgei Mayim) Alternatively, her former allies who abandoned her in her time of crisis. </html>

Verse 3

<html>Yehudah was exiled. From her land. Because of torment. Because of her affliction. And excessive toil. With which the people of Kasdim burdened her.²⁰Alternatively, Yehudah was exiled because of her idol worship [עבודה זרה]. (Rishon Letzion) [Even] when she dwelt among the nations. And in the place where she was exiled and settled, she found no respite.²¹Because in the land where they were exiled, they were unable to partake of their food or their wine. (Lechem Dimah) Alternatively, although exile and torment serve as atonement for sin, the atonement was not complete and therefore there was no respite. Between the barriers. It is elevated on either side and there is no place to flee. The barriers. The boundaries of fields and vineyards.²²From where there is no way to escape. (Palgei Mayim) The Midrash Aggadah [explains that it refers to the boundaries of time], i.e., between the seventeenth of Tammuz and the ninth of Av. </html>

Verse 4

<html>Festival visitors. People who went up [to Yerusholayim] for the festivals.²³Alternatively, מועד refers to the Beis Hamikdosh, i.e., ‘for lack of Beis Hamikdosh visitors.’ Grieve. An expression of grief,²⁴Because the maidens were no longer able to go out and rejoice on the two most joyous days of the year, on the fifteenth of Menachem Av and on Yom Kippur. See Maseches Ta’anis, Mishnah 4:8. and there is no radical [=שֹׁרֶשׁ but the ‘gimel’ alone. </html>

Verse 5

<html>Are at ease. Sit peacefully.²⁵Alternatively, ‘her enemies hunted her down.’ (Yein Horekach); or ‘her enemies made peace with each other.’ Although they were fighting among themselves, they made peace and united against the Bnei Yisroel. See Rashi in Bamidbar 22:3 regarding Midyan and Mo’av. (Lechem Dimah) Has brought her grief. Caused her to moan; it is an expression of sighing יָגוֹן.</html>

Verse 6

<html>Like harts who could find no pasture. Like harts who did not find pasture and have no strength to flee,²⁶Alternatively, her nobles acted like harts who abandon their young when there is no pasture. Similarly, Bnei Yisroel’s leaders did not chastise their brethren, but rather abandoned them. (Palgei Mayim) for their strength has been weakened by hunger. Before the pursuer. Every רֹדֵף in Scripture is defective,²⁷I.e., it is spelled without a ‘vav’. but this one רוֹדֵף is full,²⁸I.e., it is spelled with a vav. for they were totally pursued. Therefore the liturgic author composed, “I have been totally pursued, but the year of my redemption has not come.”²⁹Selichos for the second day of Aseres Yemei Teshuvah. [Also,] “and the year of my redemption has come,”³⁰Yeshayahu 63:4. is spelled defectively גְּאֻלַי.³¹Without a vav. In our editions it is spelled full [גאולי]. However, the prophecy in Yeshayahuu 59:20 states, “A redeemer [גואל—spelled full] will come to Tzion,” to indicate a “total redemption.” (Eichah Rabbah 1:33) </html>

Verse 7

<html>Yerusholayim remembered. In her exile. The days of her poverty. The days of her destruction, which brought her to poverty. And lamenting. This וּמְרוּדֶיהָ is an expression of pain³²Alternatively, ‘and her rebellion [מרד] against God.’ as in, “and I will wail וְיָרַדְתִּי upon the mountains,”³³Shoftim 11:37. [and as in,] “I lament אָרִיד as I speak and I moan.”³⁴Tehilim 55:3. All her treasures. And [Yerusholayim] remembered all the good of her precious things³⁵מחמדיה in this verse has a different meaning than in Verse 10 below, where it means ‘Torah scrolls.’ (Sifsei Chachomim) that were from days of old.³⁶The beginning of the verse speaks of ‘her poverty’, therefore Rashi explains that ‘her treasures’ relates back to the ‘days of old.’ (Sifsei Chachomim) Laughing derisively when she was curbed. They rejoiced over the cessation of her celebrating at her festivals, New Moons, and Sabbaths. But the Midrash Aggadah interprets it as a different expression, that they rested in exile on the Sabbath and festivals, and observed the seventh [i.e., Sabbatical] year. The gentiles ridiculed them and said, “Fools! In your land you did not observe [Sabbath and festivals,] and now in exile you keep it? In your land you did not observe [the Sabbatical year,] and now in exile you keep it?” </html>

Verse 8

<html>A wanderer. One who is in exile; an expression of moving and wandering,³⁷See Bereishis 4:12. Also, see Rashi in verse 17 below. esmovement in O.F. Her degradation. [Literally; her nakedness] Her shame. Sorrowful. [Here נֶאֶנְחָה is] an expression in the passive past tense, sospira in O.F. [However, in] “They have heard how I groan,”³⁸Below, verse 21. it is a noun, sospirose in O.F. </html>

Verse 9

<html>Her defilement is at her hem. This is an expression of disgrace. Her menstrual blood is visible in the hems of her garments, i.e., her sins are conspicuous; she committed them flagrantly.³⁹Alternatively, she committed her sins inconspicuously, hidden behind her hem. (Alshich) She was not mindful of her end. When they would sin, they were not mindful of what their end would be. Therefore, she fell astonishingly. Her descent was astonishing, bringing about much bewilderment, for all were amazed that this happened to her, something that did not happen to any other city. </html>

Verse 10

<html>The oppressor extended his hand. Ammon and Mo’av.⁴⁰Alternatively, Nevuchadnetzar. (Targum) Over all her treasures. The Torah scrolls, which are spoken of as, “they are more desirable than gold.”⁴¹Tehilim 19:11. All [the other nations] turned to plunder silver and gold, but they [i.e. Ammon and Mo’av] turned upon the Torah scrolls in order to burn them, because it is written in them, “an Ammonite [or a Mo’avite] shall not enter, etc.”⁴²Devarim 23:4. Concerning whom You commanded, “Let them not enter your community.” These are referring to Ammon and Mo’av.</html>

Verse 12

<html>May this not happen to you. Such a calamity should not happen to all those who transgress the law.⁴³עוברי דרך is translated thus, ‘those who transgress [עוברי] the way [דרך] of the Torah.’ The Sages said, that from here it is derived that to [publicly] complain about one’s troubles has a basis in Scripture, [for Scripture states here,] “see what He did to me” [and] “Notice, see, etc.”⁴⁴Maseches Sanhedrin 104b. That has been visited upon me. That was done to me. When Adonoy brought grief. Upon me on the day He vented His wrath. This הוֹגָה too is an expression of grief.⁴⁵Alternatively, הגה is an expression of speech; the phrase meaning, ‘that God had spoken [through His prophets].’ </html>

Verse 13

<html>Crushing it. It [the fire] crushed it and broke it through punishment and suffering. Therefore, the ‘nun’ is punctuated with a ‘dagesh’, so that it is interpreted in the feminine singular, as in יַעֲשֶׂנָּה [=he will do it], יְכַרְסְמֶנָּה [=he will gnaw at it], יִרְעֶנָּה [=will graze upon it]; for עֶצֶם [=bone] is in the feminine gender, as [Scripture] states, “the dry bones [=הָעֲצָמוֹת הַיְבֵשׁוֹת.”⁴⁶Yechezkeil 37:4. It broke each one. Another explanation, וַיִּרְדֶּנָּה as in, “and he separated it into his hands.”⁴⁷Shoftim 14:9. He emptied the marrow, [i.e.,] he scraped and separated the marrow from within it.⁴⁸Alternatively, ‘and sent it [i.e., fire] down.’ </html>

Verse 14

<html>The yoke of my iniquities is recorded in His hand. This word נִשְׂקַד has no likeness in Scripture, and in the Aramaic language of the Pesikta, they call a goad מַסְקָדָא, an ox goad. And I say that נִשְׂקַד is pointured in O.F., [meaning,] my transgressions were dotted, spotted, and marked in the hand of the Holy One, Blessed Is He, for a remembrance; their number and recompense have not been forgotten. They have become interwoven. They became many braids, and came up to my neck,⁴⁹צואר [neck] is symbolic of the Beis Hamikdosh; see Rashi in Bereishis 45:14. [as in] the language of the Mishnah, “We may (not) interlace the ropes of the bedsteads.”⁵⁰Maseches Mo’ed Katan, Mishnah 1:8. </html>

Verse 15

<html>Trampled. He trampled and trod, an expression of, “pave, pave סֹלּוּ the road.”⁵¹Yeshayahuu 62:10. He has proclaimed a gathering against me. A gathering of troops to come against me.⁵²Alternatively, ‘He has proclaimed to break [מועד] me.’ (Yein Horekach) And our Rabbis expounded what they expounded. Tammuz of that year was a full month [=30 days], of the second year from their Exodus from Egypt. Therefore, the return of the spies occurred on the night of the ninth of Av, upon which their weeping was established for generations.⁵³Maseches Ta’anis 29a. According to this explanation, מועד means ‘a set time.’ [As with] a wine press, [God] has trodden. An expression of killing, as in, “I alone have trodden a winepress,”⁵⁴Yeshayahuu 63:3. as one treads upon grapes to extract their wine, so did He trample the women to extract their blood. </html>

Verse 16

<html>My eyes. I.e., my eye constantly sheds tears; the double expression indicates without interruption.⁵⁵Alternatively, the double expression indicates the shedding of tears from both eyes. (Targum) </html>

Verse 17

<html>Tzion spread her arms. As in, “and he will stretch out his hand in its midst,”⁵⁶Yeshayahuu 25:11. like a person who moves his hands back and forth [showing] his pain with them.⁵⁷Alternatively, ‘Tzion spread her arms in prayer, but to no avail.’ (Lechem Dimah) Another explanation: פֵּרְשָׂה צִיּוֹן is an expression of breaking, as in, “no one breaks פּוֹרֵשׂ bread for them,”⁵⁸Eichah 4:4. [and as in,] “they will not break [bread] for them in their bereavement to comfort them for the dead.”⁵⁹Yirmiyahu 16:7. So did Menachem classify it. And in the language of the Mishnah, “the broken piece of bread פְּרוּסָה is intact.”⁶⁰Maseches Berachos 37a. It means [that Tzion was] like a person in pain who clasps his hands and breaks them [from agony]. I found an addendum. Adonoy has commanded concerning Yaakov, that his oppressors surround him. He commanded concerning Yaakov that his adversaries would surround him. Even when they were exiled to Bavel and Assyria, Sancheirev exiled their enemies, Ammon and Mo’av, and settled them beside them, and they taunted them,⁶¹I.e., even in exile they are surrounded by their enemies. as is stated in Maseches Kiddushin,⁶²72a. that Homanya was in Bavel, entirely [occupied] by Ammonites. Despicable. As an outcast, a disgrace.⁶³Although Rashi above in verse 8 translated לנידה as a wanderer, here it is spelled without a yud [לנדה], meaning derision. (Sifsei Chachomim) </html>

Verse 19

<html>I cried out to those who appeared to love me. To those who pretend to be [my] lovers.⁶⁴I.e., the neighboring countries with the hope of forming an alliance. But they deceived me. E.g., the children of Yishmael, who came out toward the exiles when the[ir] captors were leading them on the road nearby, and pretended that they were compassionate toward them. They brought for them various kinds of salty foods and inflated skin flasks. They thought that they [contained] wine, so they ate and became thirsty and wished to drink; but when they untied the flasks with their teeth, the air entered their intestines and they died. This is what Scripture says, “in the forest in Arabia shall you lodge, etc. Bring water for the thirsty, the inhabitants of the land of Tema greeted the wanderer with their bread.”⁶⁵Yeshayahuu 21:13-14. To sustain their souls. In order that they should revive their souls.</html>

Verse 20

<html>Shriveled. They became shriveled, and there is [an expression] like this in the language of the Mishnah, “It fell into the fire and its intestines were scorched וְנֶחְמְרוּ.”⁶⁶Maseches Chulin 3:3. Within, it is like death. Within the house was fear of demons, destructive beings, and angels of death; and from without, the enemy’s sword was bereaving them. </html>

Verse 21

<html>For it is Your doing. You caused them to hate me when You separated me from [partaking of] their food and drink and from intermarrying with them. If I had intermarried with them, they would have had compassion upon me and upon their daughters’ children. Bring the day that You proclaimed. If only you had brought upon them the appointed day that You proclaimed upon me. And let them resemble me. In distress.</html>

Verse 22

<html>Let all their evil come before You. May all their iniquities be remembered and counted before You.⁶⁷And judge them accordingly. And do to them. And do to them, as in, “[even a child] can be recognized by his deeds בְּמַעֲלָלָיו”;⁶⁸Mishlei 20:11. and [as in,] “according to the fruits of his deeds מַעֲלָלָיו.”⁶⁹Yirmiyahu 32:19.</html>

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Table of Contents

Lamentations 1

Lamentations 1

Notes

Cross Reference

Concordance

Commentary

Rashi

Verse 1

Verse 2

Verse 3

Verse 4

Verse 5

Verse 6

Verse 7

Verse 8

Verse 9

Verse 10

Verse 12

Verse 13

Verse 14

Verse 15

Verse 16

Verse 17

Verse 19

Verse 20

Verse 21

Verse 22