THE BOOK OF LAMENTATIONS
LESSON 4
CHAPTER 3: THE THIRD LAMENT
A PRAYER FOR MERCY (3:1-22)
It is impossible to exaggerate what the soul suffers during this time; it is not
unlike the sufferings of purgatory. I do not know how to express how great the
bitterness is, nor how deep it runs .... As much as God strives to cleanse and
cure the soul of all its ills, the soul suffers great sorrow in the cleansing
and the cure.
St. John of the Cross (Flame of Living Love, 1, 21)
In the third and most extended lament, at the center of the book, a man, perhaps the inspired writer, speaks from personal experience, sharing anguish over the fate of Israel/Judah and his feelings with God and the reader. His focus is less on the destruction of Jerusalem than in the first two chapters. The identity of the speaker is never revealed. He presents a monologue expressing his grief that expands into a collective lament in verses 40-47.
The writer's appeals to Yahweh in verses 22-39 represent themes in the Bible's wisdom literature. His complaints are interwoven with testimonies of his hope and faith in God. His lament reminds us of Jeremiah's laments in Jeremiah 8:18-23/9:1, 12:7-13, and in 14:19-21, which ends in a cry to "Remember us," "do not break your covenant," and "Are you not the one, Yahweh our God? In you is our hope, since you make all these things" in Jeremiah 14:22.
NJB = New Jerusalem Bible translation and NABRE = New American Bible Revised Edition. The answers to the questions are at the end of the lesson.
In verses 1-18, the writer cries despair.
Alph 1 I am the man familiar with misery under the rod of this fury. 2 He has led and guided me into darkness, not light. Against none but me does he turn his hand, again and again, all day.
Bet 4 He has wasted my flesh and skin away, has broken my bones. 5 He has besieged me and made hardship a circlet round my head. 6 He has forced me to dwell where all is dark, like those long-dead in their everlasting home.
Gimel 7 He has walled me in so that I cannot escape; 8 he has weighed me down with chains; even when I shout for help, he shuts out my prayer. 9 He has closed my way with blocks of stone, he has obstructed my paths.
Dalet 10 For me he is a lurking ear, a lion in hiding. 11 Heading me off, he has torn me apart, leaving me shattered. 12 He has bent his bow and used me as a target for his arrows.
He 13 He has shot deep into me with shafts from his quiver. 14 I have become a joke to all my own people, their refrain all day long. 15 He has given me my fill of bitterness, he has made me drunk with wormwood.
Waw 17 He has broken my teeth with gravel, he has fed me on ashes. I have been deprived of peace, 18 I have forgotten what happiness is and thought, "My lasting hope in Yahweh is lost."
Jeremiah could have uttered verses 1-18 in his darkest hours. He had continually told the people of Jerusalem that God was using the Babylonians as His instrument of judgment because of their many unrepented sins. His unpopular message to submit to the Babylonians resulted in continual rejection and harassment by his people and their priests, prophets, and rulers, even to the point of threatening his life. So it probably seemed to Jeremiah that Against none but me does he (referring to God) turn his hand, again and again, all day (see Jeremiah 381-6).
The phrase made hardship a circlet round my head in verse 4 may refer to the writer's physical suffering during the siege of Jerusalem, and 6 He has forced me to dwell where all is dark, like those long-dead in their everlasting home, may refer to the darkness of the cistern where his enemies imprisoned Jeremiah as do verses 7-9. In verses 10-15, the writer cries out in despair against what he believes is the absence of God.
The word for wormwood, la'anah in Hebrew and apsinthos in Greek, is mentioned in verses 15 and 19 and occurs nine times in the Old Testament, seven times with the implication of bitterness, and twice as a proper noun in the Greek translation. It is also mentioned twice in the Book of Revelation as a physical meteor in 8:10-11, The third angel blew his trumpet, and a huge star fell from the sky, burning like a ball of fire, and it fell on a third of all rivers and on the springs of water; this was the star called Wormwood, and a third of water turned to wormwood, so that many people died; the water had become so bitter (NJB).
In verse 17, the speaker cries: "He has broken my teeth with gravel, he has fed me on ashes." Experiencing the resulting famine caused by the Babylonian siege of the city, the speaker is forced to eat gravel and ashes to curb his hunger.
In verses 19-39, amid his suffering, the grieving writer offers a confession of faith.
19 Bring to mind my misery and anguish; it is wormwood and gal! 20 My heart dwells on this continually, and sinks within me. 21 This is what I shall keep in mind and so regain some hope:
Het 22 Surely Yahweh's mercies are not over, his deeds of faithful love [hesed] not exhausted; 23 every morning they are renewed; great is his faithfulness. 24 "Yahweh is all I have," I say to myself, "and so I shall put my hope in him."
Tet 25 Yahweh is good to those who trust him, to all who search for him. 26 It is good to wait in silence for Yahweh to save. 27 It is good for someone to bear the yoke from a young age,
Yod 28 to sit in solitude and silence when it weighs heavy, 29 to lay one's head in the dust "maybe there is hope "30 to offer one's cheek to the striker, to have one's fill of disgrace!
Kaph 31 For the Lord will not reject anyone for ever. 32 If he brings grief, he will have pity out of the fullness of his faithful love, 33 for it is not for his own pleasure that he torments and grieves the human race.
Lamed 34 When all the prisoners in a country are crushed underfoot, 35 when human rights are overridden in defiance of the Most High, 36 When someone is cheated of justice, does not the Lord see it?
Mem 37 Who has only to speak and it is so done? Who commands, if not the Lord? 38 From where, if not from the mouth of the Most High, do evil and good come? 39 Why then should anyone complain? Better to be bold against one's sins.
In verses 19-20, the writer is consumed with thoughts of his suffering, but in verse 21, he turns to thoughts of "hope." In verses 22-37, the speaker declares his continuing faith in God: Surely Yahweh's mercies are not over, his deeds of faithful love [hesed] not exhausted; 23 every morning they are renewed; great is his faithfulness. 24 "Yahweh is all I have," I say to myself, "and so I shall put my hope in him. In Hebrew, the words "faithful love" are a translation of the Hebrew word hesed, which refers to God's love in the context of covenant union. In this case, it is the "love" formed in the covenant union God made with Israel at Mt. Sinai when Yahweh chose Israel as His covenant people, and they vowed their continuing obedience to His commands (Exodus Chapter 24).
Question # 1: The conclusion of the covenant formation event at Mt. Sinai was a sacred meal eaten in the presence of God (Exodus 24:9-11). It was remembered and renewed in the communion sacrifice and a sacred meal by the covenant people, called the Toda ("Thanksgiving"), consumed in the Sanctuary (Leviticus 7:1/11-5/15; 22:21-25; Numbers 15:7-10). Covenant members who were forgiven their unintentional sins through a sin sacrifice (Lev 6:17-22; Num 15:27-31) celebrated the communion meal that consisted of the meat of a sacrifice, bread, and wine. Is there a similar covenant renewal ceremony Catholic Christians celebrate? What is different about our New Covenant communion meal?
Verses 22-29 contain themes common to the Psalms (cf. Psalm 16:5, 73:26, 40:1). In verse 24, the speaker confesses, "Yahweh is all I have," I say to myself, "and so I shall put my hope in him." This confession of faith recalls what Peter said to Jesus at the end of the Bread of Life Discourse in John chapter 6. Many of those who heard Jesus speak were scandalized when He told them that they must eat His flesh and drink His blood to have eternal life (Jn 6:53-58), and many of His disciples walked away (Jn 6:66). Jesus did not stop them because He meant what He said. Then He turned to the Twelve Apostles and asked them if they wanted to go away too (Jn 6:67). Peter answered, "Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life" (Jn 6:68, NABRE). The speaker makes the same confession of faith: there is only one God, and we must put our hope in Him.
27 It is good for someone to bear the yoke from a young age.
In this verse, "to bear the yoke" refers to living in obedience to God's commands and obligations, but it could also refer to the hardships the people bore under kings and foreign rulers (cf. Genesis 27:40; Leviticus 26:13; Deuteronomy 28:48; 1 Kings 12:4, 9, 10, 11, 14). Jesus spoke of bearing His "yoke" in Matthew 11:29-30.
Question2: What was Jesus referring to concerning "His yoke" in Matthew 11:28-30?
In verse 29, to lay one's head in the dust is a sign of humiliation and submission (cf. verse 16 and Psalm 72:9).
In verse 30, to offer one's cheek to the striker suggests the disgrace of the inability to respond to violence.
Question #3: What did Jesus say about being subject to such an offense in Matthew 5:39?
In verse 33, the speaker defends God's actions, saying for it is not for his own pleasure that he torments and grieves the human race.
The better translation of verse 38, according to the Interlinear Bible Hebrew-English, Volume III, page 1893, is The evil and the good do not come out of the mouth of the Most High, supporting James 1:13 and Sirach 15:11, which testifys that God, who is all good, does not create evil.
Question #4: What does the inspired writer of Sirach and St. James write about who we should and should not blame for the evil that happens to us or the temptations that entrap us? See Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 15:11-30, The Letter of James 1:13-15 and CCC 2846-47.
Question #5: In verses 36-39, the speaker asks what five rhetorical questions and what are the
answers to those questions?
In verses 40-66, the plural voice suggests the beginning of a communal call to repentance and to return to a relationship with the Lord. The singular voice resumes in verses 55-56.
Nun 40 Let us examine our path, let us ponder it and return to Yahweh. 41 Let us raise our hearts and hands to God in heaven, 42 We are the ones who have sinned, who have rebelled, and you have not forgiven.
Samek 43 You have enveloped us in anger, pursuing us, slaughtering without pity. 44 You have wrapped yourself in a cloud too thick for prayer to pierce. 45 You have reduced us to rubbish and refuse among the nations.
Pe 46 Our enemies open their mouths in chorus against us. 47 Terror and pitfall have been our lot, ravage and ruin. 48 My eyes dissolve in torrents of tears at the ruin of my beloved people.
Ain 49 My eyes will weep ceaselessly, without relief, 50 until Yahweh looks down and sees from heaven. 51 My eyes have grown sore over all the daughters of my city.
Zade 52 Unprovoked, my enemies hunted me down like a bird. 53 They shut me finally in a pit, they closed me in with a stone. 54 The waters rose over my head; I thought, "I am lost!"
In verses 40-47, as in several of the Psalms, the complaints of a single individual expand into a collective lament. Verse 41, "Let us raise our hearts and hands," recalls the sursum corda of the Mass, "We lift up our hearts up to the Lord."
Question #6: Why has God not yet forgiven His covenant people? See verse 42.
In verses 40-42, there is a call to "examine our path" in an examination of conscience that will lead to a confession of sins and a return to a relationship with Yahweh. To "raise our hearts and hands to God in heaven" suggests taking this action in the liturgy of Temple worship. We do the same in the Mass. The Sursum corda (Latin for "Lift up your hearts" is the opening dialogue to the Preface of the Eucharistic Prayer in Catholic liturgies, which dates back to the third century or earlier. The dialogue of the Sursum corda is recorded in the earliest liturgies of the Catholic Church in the west and east and appears in all ancient rites.
Question # 7: In verses 43-45, what four accusations does the speaker make against the Lord?
In verses 46-54, the speaker returns to listing his sufferings.
51 My eyes have grown sore over all the daughters of my city. Here and elsewhere, "daughters" may refer to villages near Jerusalem that depend on the larger city and its resources.
52 Unprovoked, my enemies hunted me down like a bird. 53 They shut me finally in a pit, they closed me in with a stone. 54 The waters rose over my head; I thought, "I am lost!"
In these verses, the speaker expresses his condition that he is certain will lead to his death. However, this last cry for salvation will lead to a renewed confidence in God in the next verses.
Verses 55-60 express the inspired writer's confidence in God to save him and bring justice to his enemies.
Qoph 55 Yahweh, I called on your name from the deep pit. 56 You heard my voice, do not close your ear to my prayer, to my cry. 57 You are near when I call to you. You said, "Do not be afraid!"
Resh 58 Lord, you defended my cause, you have redeemed my life. 59 Yahweh, you have seen the wrong done to me, grant me redress. 60 You have seen their vindictiveness, all their plots against me.
Shin 61 You have heard their insults, Yahweh, all their plots against me, 62 the whispering and murmuring of my enemies against me all day long. 63 Look, whether they sit or stand, I am their refrain.
Taw 64 Yahweh, repay them as their deeds deserve. 65 Lay hardness of heart as your curse on them. 66 Angrily pursue them, root them out from under your heavens!
Question 8: Verses 53-64 could have been spoken by Jeremiah. What conditions of Jeremiah's last days in Jerusalem fit the speaker's account? Who were Jeremiah's enemies? How was he saved from death? See Jeremiah 38:1-13.
Answers to the questions:
Answer to Question 1: Yes,
in our communion ritual called the Eucharist (Thanksgiving), those faithful who
are free of sin receive not just the sacrifice and a meal of bread and wine in
God's presence but the offering of our bread and wine becomes the Real Presence
of the sacrificed Christ, the Lamb of God, to nourish our souls.
Answer to Question 2: In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus said,"Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
Jesus's invitation recalls one of the reoccurring images of the Old Testament prophets for the people in covenant union with God: domesticated animals obediently following the commands of their master.
| Image |
Part I Covenant Relationship |
Part II Rebellion |
Part III Redemptive Judgment |
Part IV Restoration Fulfilled |
| Animals | Domesticated animals obedient to the Master's yoke | Resist the yoke; run away and become wild | Ravaged by wild beasts/birds of prey | Rescued by their Master |
|
examples in Scripture |
Mic 4:13; Is 40:10-11; 65:25; Ezek 34:15-16 |
Ex 32:9; 33:3, 5; 34:9;
Dt 9:6, 13;
Is 50:6; 53:6; Jer 5:5d-6; 8:6b-7; 23:1-2; Ezek 19:1-9 |
Is 50:7; Jer 8:15-17; 50:6-7; Ho 8:1-14; 13:6-8 | Mt 11:28-30; Jn 1:29, 36; 10:1-18; Heb 3:20; Rev 5:6, 13; 7:9-17; 14:1-10; 19:2-9; 21:9-23; 22:1-3 |
See the complete chart "Symbolic Images of the Old Testament Prophets."
In the Old Testament, the rebellious Israelites were often accused of being "stiff-necked" by God and by His prophets. Keeping in mind the imagery of domesticated animals in the covenant imagery, what comparison is being made and what does "stiff-necked" refer to? Domesticated cattle wear a yoke when being directed by their master. Obedient oxen do not strain against the yoke but follow the direction of their master. Disobedient animals are "stiff-necked" when they refuse to yield and be guided by the master's yoke, like the Israelites who refused to be obedient to God their divine Master (see Ex 32:9; 33:3, 5; 34:9; Dt 9:6, 13; 10:16; 2 Chr 30:8; Acts 7:51).
Jesus makes the faithful a promise in His invitation to "Come to me" and to take up His yoke of obedience. He promises that His yoke will not cause distress and we will find "rest" in Him. Jesus's promise of "rest" recalls the event on the seventh day of Creation (see Gen 2:1-3). What was the command concerning the Sabbath obligation for the members of the Sinai Covenant in Exodus 20:8-11; 34:21; 35:1-3; Dt 5:12-15? What is the significance of the Sabbath? What is the link to Jesus's invitation and promise in Matthew 11:28-30? On the seventh day of Creation, God "rested." The Sabbath was a day of "rest." The purpose of the Sabbath was for members of God's covenant family to enter into His "rest" and to have fellowship with Him. Jesus's invitation to "come" to Him is followed by His promise that those who come to Him and obediently "wear His yoke" (follow the teachings of Jesus "the Master") will have "rest"/fellowship with God the Son. Jesus's promise is an allusion to the New Covenant Sabbath, when believers find their spiritual rest in Him when they receive Jesus, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity in the communion meal of the Eucharist (Thanksgiving).
Answer to Question 3: In Matthew 5:38-42, Jesus taught about retaliation in His Semon on the Mount. Jesus said,"You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' 39 But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone strikes you on [your] right cheek, turn the other one to him as well. 40 If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic, hand him your cloak as well. 41 Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go with him for two miles. 42 Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow (NABRE).
The expression an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth is in the Law codes of Exodus 21:24, Leviticus 24:20, and Deuteronomy 19:21. It is called the lex talionis, the law of reciprocity or equivalent compensation. Most people regard the Old Testament command an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth as unreasonably harsh and barbaric. On the contrary, this commandment was intended to moderate vengeance, to protect the innocent family members of an accused or convicted perpetrator of a crime, and to ensure that the punishment visited on the offender did not exceed the crime. It was common in ancient cultures for a man's entire family to suffer the death penalty or be sold into slavery for his offense. The law of reciprocity or equivalent compensation, found in the Law Codes of the Sinai Covenant and also in the Code of Hammurabi, a Babylonian law code dating to the 18th century BC, demands that the punishment equals but does not exceed the crime. This law became the mark of a civilized society.
Jesus is asking for something beyond seeking equivalent compensation for the commission of a crime. What He demands of the Christian seems an almost impossible standard of conduct, to "offer no resistance to evil." The response Jesus asks goes beyond seeking equivalent compensation for the commission of a crime, for an injustice, or for an inconvenience. Jesus gives four examples of acting in love rather than in retaliation:
Jesus asks the Christian to "offer no resistance to evil" and to "go the extra mile" in extending love and compassion. He is not demanding that Christians become the "footstools of the wicked," and He is not rejecting the law of reciprocity, but what He is rejecting is vengeance or meanness on a personal level. In Romans 12:19, St. Paul teaches, Beloved, do not look for revenge but leave room for the wrath [of God], for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord." Jesus asks us not to let the wickedness of an enemy transform us to become subject to hatred. Instead, we must demonstrate the righteousness of Jesus to our enemy. This is what the speaker in Lamentations realizes he must do "he must submit to God's will in his life and let God fight a battle he cannot.
Answer to Question 4: In James 1:13, St. James assures us that God does not tempt us to sin: "Never, when you are being put to the test, say, God is temping me'; God cannot be tempted by evil, and he does not put anybody to the test" (NABRE). However, if God does not tempt us, then why do we pray in "The Lord's Prayer, "And do not subject us to the final test" or as this petition is sometimes translated, "And lead us not into temptation"? God would never tempt us to do evil, but He will allow Satan to tempt us, and when we rise above 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, NABRE). 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 (NABRE). When my children were little, and we were walking on an icy surface, I would admonish them: "Don't run; you'll fall!" Invariably, they wouldn't heed my words; they'd run and fall, and after I had picked them up and dried their tears, they would take my hand and say, "Don't let me fall, Mommy." This is our plea: "You warn me of the pit-falls of sin, Lord. I will try to avoid them, but when I fall, please forgive me and pick me up so that I might try again, Lord."
St John of Avila, also known as St. John of the Cross, wrote, "God is strong enough to free you from everything and can do you more good than all the devils can do you harm." But all the same, we expect trials. The New Covenant believer, through the Sacrament of Baptism, has been reborn into the family of God and has been forgiven original sin; however, the condition of that sin we inherited from our original parents "a condition the Church calls concupiscence, the tendency to sin, remains.
That is the condition St. James refers to in James 1:14-15: "Everyone is put to the test by being attracted and seduced by that person's own wrong desire. Then the desire conceives and gives birth to sin, and when sin reaches full growth, it gives birth to death" (NABRE). James teaches that the source of temptations springs from our own disordered passions and desires. Later in James 1:27, 4:4, and 7, James warns that the world and the devil continually tempt us with sin; however, those temptations only become sin when we act upon them. We have been cured of the deadly "disease" known as original sin, but the virus known as concupiscence still lingers and brings suffering to man and Creation.
The Catholic Church identifies concupiscence as humankind's tendency to sin: "Etymologically, concupiscence' can refer to any intense form of human desire. Christian theology has given it a particular meaning: the movement of the sensitive appetite contrary to the operation of human reason. The apostle St. Paul identifies it with the rebellion of the flesh' against the spirit.' Concupiscence stems from the disobedience of the first sin. It unsettles man's moral faculties and, without being in itself an offense, inclines man to commit sins." CCC# 2515. Also see Galatians 5:16, 17, 24; Ephesians 2:3; Genesis 3:11; Council of Trent: DS 1515; CCC# 376; 400; 405; 978; 1264; 1426; 1869; 1963; 2514; 2520; 2529-30; 2534; 2542.
Answer to Question 5:
The answer to the speaker's rhetorical questions is in the third question: God sees, and God commands. The Lord does not make evil but sometimes allows it as part of His divine plan. Therefore, we should not complain but call upon the mercy of God to protect us and to bring about ultimate good. One of the greatest evils the world has witnessed was the Jewish Holocaust. God did not cause it; evil men enacted that evil. However, the ultimate good God brought about was to keep His promise to gather back the scattered Jewish people from across the earth and return them to the Promised Land in the recreation of the nation of Israel that had not existed since 722 BC. In 1947, the United Nations created two states: the larger nation of Jordan for the Palestinian Arabs, covering 89,432 km (34,495 sq. miles), and the nation of Israel for the Jews, 22,072 km (8,522 sq. miles), the size of the US state of New Jersey.
Answer to Question 6: God has not yet forgiven them because they have not publically confessed their sins in the liturgy of worship.
Answer to Question 7: The speaker made three accusations against God:
The speaker alternates between seeking forgiveness for his people's communal sins, resulting in their present suffering, and accusing God of not coming to their aid.
Answer to Question 8: Jeremiah urged the people of Jerusalem to surrender to the Babylonians. Therefore, several chief men convinced the king to put Jeremiah to death because he disheartened the city's people and soldiers by urging them to submit to the Babylonians. The king turned Jeremiah over to his enemies, who had him imprisoned in an empty mud-filled cistern and left him to die. However, God heard Jeremiah's prayer and sent Ebed-Melech, a palace eunuch, to plead with the king for Jeremiah's life. The king gave Edeb-Melech permission to release Jeremiah from the well and place him in the Court of the Guard for his protection from his enemies.
In the same way that God heard Jeremiah's cries of distress and came to his rescue, the Lord hears our prayers and directs our lives according to His divine will. We cannot always determine the path of His plan, but we should always submit to Him in faith and confidence that His plan is ultimately the right plan.
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