#35 Lament 5: Submission

The Lamentations (of Jeremiah?)

  • Traditionally ascribed to Jeremiah: hence their location in biblical literature immediately following Jeremiah
  • Four acrostic laments (1-4) plus another lament (5)
    -  1 (22 X 3 couplets, only the first of which begins with the successive letter): Jerusalem is like a lonely widow suffering from many oppressions
    - 2 (22 X 3 couplets, only the first of which begins with the successive letter): Yahweh’s covenant anger and the resulting judgment
    - 3 (22 X 3 lines, each of which begins with the successive letter): Personalized pain because of Yahweh’s judgment, coupled with an expectation of restoration
    - 4 (22 X 2 couplets, only the first of which begins with the successive letter): the pain of Jerusalem’s ruin personalized
    - 5 (22 couplets, not acrostic): a prayer of repentance, seeking Yahweh’s deliverance

Lamentations 5

1 Remember, Lord, what has happened to us;
    look, and see our disgrace.
2 Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers,
    our homes to foreigners.
3 We have become fatherless,
    our mothers are widows.
4 We must buy the water we drink;
    our wood can be had only at a price.
5 Those who pursue us are at our heels;
    we are weary and find no rest.
6 We submitted to Egypt and Assyria
    to get enough bread.
7 Our ancestors sinned and are no more,
    and we bear their punishment.
8 Slaves rule over us,
    and there is no one to free us from their hands.
9 We get our bread at the risk of our lives
    because of the sword in the desert.
10 Our skin is hot as an oven,
    feverish from hunger.
11 Women have been violated in Zion,
    and virgins in the towns of Judah.
12 Princes have been hung up by their hands;
    elders are shown no respect.
13 Young men toil at the millstones;
    boys stagger under loads of wood.
14 The elders are gone from the city gate;
    the young men have stopped their music.
15 Joy is gone from our hearts;
    our dancing has turned to mourning.
16 The crown has fallen from our head.
    Woe to us, for we have sinned!
17 Because of this our hearts are faint,
    because of these things our eyes grow dim
18 for Mount Zion, which lies desolate,
    with jackals prowling over it.

19 You, Lord, reign forever;
    your throne endures from generation to generation.
20 Why do you always forget us?
    Why do you forsake us so long?
21 Restore us to yourself, Lord, that we may return;
    renew our days as of old
22 unless you have utterly rejected us
    and are angry with us beyond measure.

 

Reflections on Lament 5

  • This is the shortest Lament among the five, and not an acrostic.
  • More prayer than mere lament, the voice of the prophet comes through, strongly wrestling with God for the future of God’s people.
  • Even though Yahweh has actively accosted Jerusalem to tear it down (through the actions of the Babylonian armies), the people have begun to learn their lesson, and are calling on God to remember them.
Last modified: Thursday, August 9, 2018, 9:34 AM