Lam 3 | KD | STEP | The two preceding poems ended with sorrowful complaint. This third poem begins with the complaint of a man over grievous personal suffering. Regarding the contents of this poem, and its relation to the two which precede, Ewald makes the following excellent remarks: "In consequence of experiences most peculiarly his own, the individual may indeed at first make complaint, in such a way that, as here, still deeper despair for the third time begins (vv. 1-18); but, by the deepest meditation for himself on the eternal relation of God to men, he may also very readily come to the due acknowledgment of his own sins and the necessity for repentance, and thereby also to believing prayer. Who is this individual that complains, and thinks, and entreats in this fashion, whose I passes unobserved, but quite appropriately, into we ? O man, it is the very image of thyself! Every one must now speak and think as he does. Thus it is just by this address, which commences in the most doleful tones, that sorrow for the first time, and imperceptibly, has passed into true prayer." This remark contains both the deepest truth and the key to the proper understanding of the contents of this poem, and its position in the middle of the Lamentations. Both of these points have been mistaken by expositors, who (e.g., C. B. Michaelis, Pareau, Maurer, Kalkschmidt, and Bleek in his Introduction ) are of opinion that the writer here makes his personal sufferings the subject of complaint. This cannot be made out, either from or from the description given in .: the reverse rather is shown by the fact that, in and , we is used instead of I ; from which it is evident that the prophet, in the remainder of the poem, is not speaking of himself, or bewailing his own personal sufferings. The confession found in , "We have transgressed and rebelled, Thou hast not pardoned," etc., necessarily presupposes not only that the dealing of God towards the sinful and apostate nation, as described in ., stands in the closest connection with the sufferings of which the prophet complains in vv. 1-18, but also that the chastisement, by means of God's wrath, which was experienced by the man who utters his complaint in vv. 1-18, is identical with the anger which, according to , discharged itself on the people; hence the suffering of the individual, which is described in vv. 1-18, is to be regarded as the reflex of but a special instance of the suffering endured by the whole community. Perhaps this was the view of Aben Ezra, when he says that, in this lamentation, it is individual Israelites who speak; and most expositors acknowledge that the prophet pours forth his lamentations and his prayers in the name of the godly. The poem begins by setting forth the grievous soul-sufferings of the godly in their cheerless and hopeless misery (vv. 1-18); then it ascends, through meditation upon the compassion and almighty providence of God, to hope (vv. 19-39), and thus attains to the recognition of God's justice in sending the punishment, which, however, is so intensified through the malice of enemies, that the Lord cannot pass by the attempt to crush His people ( ). This reliance on the justice of God impels to prayer, in which there is manifested confidence that God will send help, and take vengeance on the enemy ( ). Lamentation over grievous sufferings. The author of these sufferings is not, indeed, expressly named in the whole section, but it is unmistakeably signified that God is meant; moreover, at the end of the name יהוה is mentioned. The view thus given of the sufferings shows, not merely that he who utters the complaint perceives in these sufferings a chastisement by God, but also that this chastisement has become for him a soul-struggle, in which he may not take the name of God into his mouth; and only after he has given vent in lamentations to the deep sorrow of his soul, does his spirit get peace to mention the name of the Lord, and make complaint to Him of his need. Nothing certain can be inferred from the lamentations themselves regarding the person who makes complaint. It does not follow from that he was burdened with sorrows more than every one else; nor from that he was a personage well known to all the people, so that one could recognise the prophet in him. As little are they sufferings which Jeremiah has endured alone, and for his own sake, but sufferings such as many godly people of his time have undergone and struggled through. Against the Jeremianic authorship of the poem, therefore, no argument can be drawn from the fact that the personality of him who utters the complaint is concealed. In the complaint, "I am the man that saw (i.e., lived to see) misery," the misery is not specified; and we cannot, with Rosenmüller, refer עני (without the article) to the misery announced by the prophet long before. "The rod of His wrath," as in , is the rod of God's anger; cf. ; ; , etc. The suffix in עברתו is not to be referred, with Aben Ezra, to the enemy.

Lamentations 3

The Suffering and the Consolation of the Gospel

1 I am the man that have seen affliction by the rod of His wrath.

2 Me hat He led, and brought [through] darkness, and not light.

3 Only against me He repeatedly turneth His hand all the day.

4 He has wasted away my flesh and my skin; He hath broken my bones.

5 He buildeth up round about me poison and toil.

6 He maketh me sit down in dark places, like those for ever dead.

7 He hath hedged me about, so that I cannot get out; He hath made heavy my chain.

8 Moreover, when I cry and shout, He obstructeth my prayer.

9 He hath walled round my ways with hewn stone, He hath subverted my paths.

10 He is to me [like] a bear lying in wait, a lion in secret places.

11 He removeth my ways, and teareth me in pieces; He maketh me desolate.

12 He bendeth His bow, and setteth me up as the mark for the arrow.

13 He causeth the sons of His quiver to go into my reins.

14 I am become a derision to all my people, their [subject of] satire all the day.

15 He filleth me with bitterness, maketh me drink wormwood.

16 And He grindeth my teeth on gravel, He covereth me with ashes.

17 And my soul hath become despised by prosperity; I have forgotten [what] good [is].

18 And I said, My vital power is gone, and my hope from Jahveh.

19 Remember my misery and my persecution, wormwood and poison.

20 My soul remembereth [them] indeed, and sinketh down in me.

21 This I bring back to my mind, therefore have I hope.

22 [It is a sign of] the mercies of Jahveh that we are not consumed, for His compassions fail not;

23 [They are] new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness.

24 Jahveh [is] my portion, saith my soul; therefore I hope in Him.

25 Jahveh is good unto those who wait for Him, to a soul [that] seeketh Him.

26 It is good that [one] should wait, and that is silence, for the salvation of Jahveh.

27 It is good for man that he should bear a yoke in his youth.

28 Let him sit solitary and be silent, for [God] hath laid [the burden] on him.

29 Let him put his mouth in the dust; perhaps there is [still] hope.

30 Let him give [his] cheek to him that smites him, let him be filled with reproach.

31 Because the Lord will not cast off for ever:

32 For, though He causeth grief, He also pities, according to the multitude of His mercies.

33 For He doth not afflict from His heart, and grieve the children of men.

34 To the crushing all the prisoners of the earth under one's feet,

35 To the setting aside of a man's rights before the face of the Most High.

36 To the overthrowing of a man in his cause: - doth not the Lord look [to such doings as these]?

37 Who hath spoken, and it was done, [which] the Lord commanded not?

38 Doth not evil and good come out of the mouth of Jahveh?

39 Why doth a man complain [because] he liveth? [Let every] man [rather lament] because of his sins.

40 Let us search and examine our ways, and let us return to Jahveh.

41 Let us lift up our heart to [our] hands towards God in the heavens.

42 We have transgressed and rebelled, Thou hast not pardoned.

43 Thou didst cover [Thyself] with anger, and didst persecute us; Thou hast slain, Thou hast not pitied.

(Note: In the latter part of this verse, Keil has written mitten unter den Völkern, which is also (correctly) given as the rendering of the second part of Lam 3:45. This obvious inadvertence has been rectified in the English translation. - Tr.)

44 Thou didst cover Thyself with a cloud, so that prayer could not pass through.

45 Thou didst make us [like] offscourings and refuse in the midst of the nations.

46 All our enemies have opened their mouths against us.

47 Terror and a snare are ours, destruction and ruin.

48 Mine eye runneth down [with] streams of water, because of the ruin of the daughter of my people.

49 Mine eye poureth itself forth, and ceaseth not, so that there are no stoppings,

50 Until Jahveh shall look down and behold from heaven.

51 Mine eye causeth pain to my soul, because of all the daughters of my city.

(Note: Keil has here misread the Hebrew text, and translated "my people" (עמּי) instead of "my city" (עירי). - Tr.)

52 Mine enemies closely pursued me, like a bird, without cause.

53 They were for destroying my life in the pit, and cast a stone on me.

54 Waters overflowed over my head; I said, I am cut off.

55 I called on Thy name, O Jahveh, out of the lowest dungeon.

56 Thou hast heard my voice; hide not Thine ear at my sighing, at my cry.

57 Thou art near in the day [when] I call on Thee; Thou sayest, Fear not.

58 Thou hast defended, O Lord, my soul; Thou hast redeemed my life.

59 Thou hast seen, O Jahveh, mine oppression; judge my cause.

60 Thou hast seen all their vengeance, all their projects against me.

61 Thou hast heard their reproach, O Jahveh, all their projects against me;

62 The lips of those who rise up against me, and their meditation against me all the day.

63 Behold their sitting down and their rising up: I am their satire.

64 Thou shalt return a recompense to them, O Jahveh, according to the work of their hands.

65 Thou shalf give to them blindness of heart, - Thy curse to them.

66 Thou shalt pursue [them] in anger, and destroy them from under the heavens of Jahveh.

The two preceding poems ended with sorrowful complaint. This third poem begins with the complaint of a man over grievous personal suffering. Regarding the contents of this poem, and its relation to the two which precede, Ewald makes the following excellent remarks: "In consequence of experiences most peculiarly his own, the individual may indeed at first make complaint, in such a way that, as here, still deeper despair for the third time begins (vv. 1-18); but, by the deepest meditation for himself on the eternal relation of God to men, he may also very readily come to the due acknowledgment of his own sins and the necessity for repentance, and thereby also to believing prayer. Who is this individual that complains, and thinks, and entreats in this fashion, whose I passes unobserved, but quite appropriately, into we? O man, it is the very image of thyself! Every one must now speak and think as he does. Thus it is just by this address, which commences in the most doleful tones, that sorrow for the first time, and imperceptibly, has passed into true prayer." This remark contains both the deepest truth and the key to the proper understanding of the contents of this poem, and its position in the middle of the Lamentations. Both of these points have been mistaken by expositors, who (e.g., C. B. Michaelis, Pareau, Maurer, Kalkschmidt, and Bleek in his Introduction) are of opinion that the writer here makes his personal sufferings the subject of complaint. This cannot be made out, either from Lam 3:14 or from the description given in Lam 3:53.: the reverse rather is shown by the fact that, in Lam 3:22 and Lam 3:40-47, we is used instead of I; from which it is evident that the prophet, in the remainder of the poem, is not speaking of himself, or bewailing his own personal sufferings. The confession found in Lam 3:42, "We have transgressed and rebelled, Thou hast not pardoned," etc., necessarily presupposes not only that the dealing of God towards the sinful and apostate nation, as described in Lam 3:42., stands in the closest connection with the sufferings of which the prophet complains in vv. 1-18, but also that the chastisement, by means of God's wrath, which was experienced by the man who utters his complaint in vv. 1-18, is identical with the anger which, according to Lam 3:43, discharged itself on the people; hence the suffering of the individual, which is described in vv. 1-18, is to be regarded as the reflex of but a special instance of the suffering endured by the whole community. Perhaps this was the view of Aben Ezra, when he says that, in this lamentation, it is individual Israelites who speak; and most expositors acknowledge that the prophet pours forth his lamentations and his prayers in the name of the godly.

The poem begins by setting forth the grievous soul-sufferings of the godly in their cheerless and hopeless misery (vv. 1-18); then it ascends, through meditation upon the compassion and almighty providence of God, to hope (vv. 19-39), and thus attains to the recognition of God's justice in sending the punishment, which, however, is so intensified through the malice of enemies, that the Lord cannot pass by the attempt to crush His people (Lam 3:40-54). This reliance on the justice of God impels to prayer, in which there is manifested confidence that God will send help, and take vengeance on the enemy (Lam 3:55-66).

Lamentation over grievous sufferings. The author of these sufferings is not, indeed, expressly named in the whole section, but it is unmistakeably signified that God is meant; moreover, at the end of Lam 3:18 the name יהוה is mentioned. The view thus given of the sufferings shows, not merely that he who utters the complaint perceives in these sufferings a chastisement by God, but also that this chastisement has become for him a soul-struggle, in which he may not take the name of God into his mouth; and only after he has given vent in lamentations to the deep sorrow of his soul, does his spirit get peace to mention the name of the Lord, and make complaint to Him of his need. Nothing certain can be inferred from the lamentations themselves regarding the person who makes complaint. It does not follow from Lam 3:1-3 that he was burdened with sorrows more than every one else; nor from Lam 3:14 that he was a personage well known to all the people, so that one could recognise the prophet in him. As little are they sufferings which Jeremiah has endured alone, and for his own sake, but sufferings such as many godly people of his time have undergone and struggled through. Against the Jeremianic authorship of the poem, therefore, no argument can be drawn from the fact that the personality of him who utters the complaint is concealed.

In the complaint, "I am the man that saw (i.e., lived to see) misery," the misery is not specified; and we cannot, with Rosenmüller, refer עני (without the article) to the misery announced by the prophet long before. "The rod of His wrath," as in Pro 22:8, is the rod of God's anger; cf. Job 21:9; Job 9:34; Isa 10:5, etc. The suffix in עברתו is not to be referred, with Aben Ezra, to the enemy.