THE BOOK OF LAMENTATIONS
LESSON 2
CHAPTER 1: THE FIRST LAMENT
JERUSALEM'S DESTRUCTION (1:1-22)
Holy and Merciful Lord,
Send Your Spirit to guide us in our study of the Book of Lamentations. There are
times when we have lamented our struggles in this earthly life on our journey
to eternal salvation. No one is exempt from the effects of sin in the world,
whether it wounds us personally or those we love. In those times, we reach out
to You, Lord, to strengthen our faith and help us to persevere. Help us to
connect with the struggles of Your covenant people of Judah and Jerusalem:
those whose sins brought about Your judgment on the city and the innocent
righteous who suffered along with the rebellious wicked. Help us to remember,
Lord, that Your judgments are always meant to be redemptive and to bring us
back into fellowship with You. We pray in the name of God the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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CHAPTER 1
Lamentation is a sign of
understanding and love. I believe that the prophet of God wrote down his
lamentations as a spiritual aid to the men of his own time and all those who
were to come after him, so that all would learn from the Scriptures that sin is
the source of all evil.
Theodoret of Cyrus, Interpretatio in Threnos, 1
The five poems in the series do not narrate the story of Jerusalem's destruction in the order of historical events. Instead, through several speakers, vivid descriptions are given of the horrors of the siege, the destruction and carnage of the city and her people, and a final appeal for mercy.
The first lament is a dirge in two parts, giving a poetic description of the ruined state of the holy city of Jerusalem, the one place on earth where believers are called as a covenant family to worship the one true God (Dt 12:4-12). The inspired writer describes the ruined city in the first part (verses 1-11). In the second part (verses 12-22), Jerusalem speaks, first expressing her grief and admitting her sins (verses 12-19) and then calling upon God to punish her enemies, confident that he will hear her (verses 20-22).
The First Lament: Verses 1-22 ~ The Desolation of Jerusalem
Part 1: Verses 1-11
Aleph 1 How deserted she sits, the city once thronged with people! Once the greatest of nations, she is now like a widow. Once the princess of states, she is now put to forced labor.
Bet 2 All night long, she is weeping, tears running down her cheeks. Not one of all her lovers remains to comfort her. Her friends have all betrayed her and become her enemies.
Gimel 3 Judah has gone into exile after much pain and toil. Living among the nations, she finds no respite; her persecutors overtake her, and there is no way out.
Dalet 4 The roads to Zion are in mourning; no one comes to her festivals now. Her gateways are all deserted; her priests groan; her young girls are grief-stricken; she suffers bitterly.
He 5 Her foes now have the upper hand, her enemies prosper, for Yahweh has made her suffer for her many, many crimes; her children have gone away into captivity driven in front of the oppressor.
Waw 6 And from the daughter of Zion all her splendor has departed. Her princes were like stags which could find no pasture, exhausted, as they flee before the hunter.
Zain 7 Jerusalem remembers her days of misery and distress; when her people fell into the enemy's clutches, there was no one to help her. Her enemies looked on and laughed at her downfall.
Het 8 Jerusalem has sinned so gravely that she has become a thing unclean. All who used to honor her despise her, having seen her nakedness; she herself groans aloud and turns her face away.
Tet 9 Her filth befouls her skirts "she never thought to end like this and hence her astonishing fall with no one to comfort her. "Yahweh, look at my misery, for the enemy is triumphant!"
Yod 10 The enemy stretched out his hand for everything she treasured; she saw the heathen enter her sanctuary, whom you had forbidden to enter your Assembly.
Kaph 11 All her people are groaning, looking for something to eat; they have bartered their treasures for food, to keep themselves alive. "Look, Yahweh, and consider how despised I am."
In verse 1, Jerusalem and the nation of Judah are compared to a desolate widow who cannot be comforted (verses 1-2, 8). She was once the most favored of nations when she obediently followed Yahweh's commands according to the laws of the Sinai Covenant. Now, conquered by the Babylonians, her people will become the forced laborers of their conquerors. Notice that Judah is personified in the feminine in these verses, and as personified Zion, speaks in verses 9 and 11. "Whoring" is worshiping false gods instead of offering loyal worship to Yahweh alone as His chaste covenant bride. Her "lovers" in verse 2 are her former allies and their false gods.
See Jeremiah 4:30; 30:14; Ezekiel 16:36-40; and 23:22-29:
Question #1: What did God
command concerning making treaties with Gentile nations, worshipping their
pagan gods, and intermarriage? See Deuteronomy 6:13-15; 7:1-6 and Judges 3:5-6.
The answer to question1 is at the end of the lesson.
Question #2: What was God's
reason for making these commands concerning treaties, worship, and
intermarriage? Why would He punish them for violating these commands?
The answer to question2 is at the end of the lesson.
Verse 10 refers to the Temple treasures, the riches of the palace of Judah's kings, and the accumulated wealth of private citizens (cf. Joshua 6:24; 1 Kings 14:26 and 2 Kings 24:13).
Part II: Verses 12-22
Lamed 12 "All you who pass this way, look and see: is any sorrow like the sorrow
inflicted on me, with which Yahweh struck me on the day of his burning anger?
Mem13 "He sent fire from on high deep into my bones; he stretched a net for my feet, he fulled me back; he left me shattered, sick all day long."
Nun 14 "He has watched out for my offences, with his hand he enmeshes me, his yoke is on my neck, he has deprived me of strength. The Lord has put me into clutches which I am helpless to resist."
Samek15 "The Lord has rejected all my warriors within my walls, he has summoned a host against me to crush my young men; in the winepress the Lord trampled the young daughter of Judah."
Ain16 "And that is why I weep; my eyes stream with water, since a comforter who could revive me is far away. My children are shattered, for the enemy has proved too strong."
Pe17 Zion stretches out her hands, with no one to comfort her. Yahweh has commanded Jacob's enemies to surround him; they treat Jerusalem as though she were unclean.
Zade18 "Yahweh is in the right, for I rebelled against his command. Listen, all you peoples, and see my sorrow. My young girls and my young men have gone into captivity."
Qoph19 "I called to my lovers; they failed me. My priests and my elders expired in the city, as they searched for food to keep themselves alive."
Resh20 "Look, Yahweh. I am in distress! My inmost being is in ferment; my heart turns over inside me "how rebellious I have been! Outside, the sword bereaves; inside it is like death."
Shin21 "Listen, for I am groaning, with no one to comfort me. All my enemies have heard of my disaster, they are glad about what you have done. Bring the Day you once foretold, so that they may be like me!"
Taw22 "Let all their wickedness come before you and treat them as you have treated me for all my crimes; numberless are my groans, and I am sick at heart."
In the second part of the first lamentation (verses 12-22), Jerusalem, as Zion personified, speaks again. In the role of a distressed and unconsolable widow, she mourns the loss of her children (her population). She appeals for the Lord's compassion with her tears as her only remaining possession (verses 15-16).
In verses 12-19 she offers a prayer in which she utters a complaint, expresses her grief, and admits her sins. Her confession is also an aspiration and an imprecation (spoken curse) in verse 18ff. The Lord God has made her suffer for her many sins (verse 5). Her misfortunes did not result from the military strength of the army of Babylon. The destruction of Jerusalem did not take place because God was unaware of the danger, nor was He surprised when Judah was overtaken by her enemies and the Temple profaned and destroyed (verse 10). The Lord knew these events would occur and did nothing to prevent them. His covenant people had sinned grievously (verse 8), and they needed to be forced to acknowledge their transgressions and return to covenant union with their God. In verses 9 and 11, Judah and Jerusalem understand why God allowed her destruction; therefore, within these laments, we find two prayers in which she presents her suffering and grief to God.
However, from the deep despair of her sorrow, she acknowledges that God always acts with justice, so the lament ends with a prayer in which she recognizes her many faults and asks God for His justice against her enemies (verses 20-22). In the Church's Holy Week liturgy, we use the same words found in this prayer. The prayer's intense sorrow gives us some understanding of what Jesus suffered in His Passion, which He bore to redeem the world from its sins. Passages in this second part, especially verse 12, are found on crucifixes and quoted in the texts used for the Way of the Cross.
Question 3:God wills the
good that comes into our lives, but does He also tempt us to do evil that
causes the suffering we encounter? See James 1:13 and Sirach 15:11-20.
The answer to question3 is at the end of the lesson.
Answers to questions:
The answer to question #1: The
Israelites were forbidden to make treaties with Gentile nations or intermarry
with them. Yahweh commanded them not to worship false gods but to only worship Him
or fall under God's divine judgment.
The answer to question #2: Violating those commands would seduce the covenant people into breaking their covenant with Yahweh by embracing pagan practices. His divine punishment was intended to cause repentance and to bring them back into fellowship with their one True God.
The answer to question #3: As St. John wrote, "God is love" (1 John 4:8), and He manifests His love in all aspects of our lives. The intent of His divine justice, in which we sometimes suffer, is to call us to repentance and to return us to a loving relationship with Him. St. James wrote: Never, when you are being put to the test, say, "God is tempting me'; God cannot be tempted by evil, and he does not put anybody to the test. Everyone is put to the test by being attracted and seduced by that person's own wrong desire. Then the desire conceives and give birth to sin, and when sin reaches full growth, it gives birth to death (James 1:13-15). The inspired writer of Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) also wrote: Do not say, "The Lord was responsible for my sinning," for he does not do what he hates. Do not say, "It was he who led me astray," for he has no use for a sinner. The Lord hates all that is foul, and no one who fears him will love it either. He himself made human beings in the beginning, and then left them free to make their own decisions. If you choose, you will keep the commandments and so be faithful to his will (Sirach 15:11-15).
If God does not tempt us to do evil, then why do we pray in some English translations of the 6th petition of the Lord's Prayer: And do not lead us into temptation (from Matthew 6:13). Other translations read: And do not subject us to the final test or And lead us not into temptation or not yield to temptation? See Wisdom 3:1-9 and Psalm 37:23-24. God would never tempt us to do evil, but He will allow Satan to tempt us, and when we rise above that temptation, we are strengthened and purified by the experience: But the souls of the upright are in the hands of God, and no torment can touch them. [...]. God was putting them to the test and has proved them worthy to be with him; he has tested them like gold in a furnace... (Wisdom 3:1a, 5).
Take courage when you are tested, and remember Psalm 37:23-24, The steps of the godly are directed by the Lord. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will not fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand. Temptation is part of this world, and we must face it every day, but what promise does God make us as we face temptation and trial? It is God's solemn promise that He will not let you be tried beyond your strength; but with the trial he will also provide a way out, so that you may be able to bear it (1 Corinthians 10:13). We must turn to God to get the strength we need to resist the temptation to sin, and through the work of the Holy Spirit to fight the battle against sin to live the victory of a holy life. Such a battle and such a victory are only possible if we remain vigilant, if we remain obedient, and if we are strengthened through prayer and the sacraments Jesus gave to His Church.
Catechism references:
For the sixth petition of the Lord's Prayer, see CCC 2846-49.
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