Lamentations 3:1-18

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

A SUFFERING PROPHET

Lamentations 3:1-66

Again in chapter three the poet has adopted the acrostic style but in a slightly different form from that of the previous Chapter s. In Chapter s 1 and 2 only the first line of each stanza of three lines began with consecutive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. In chapter 3 all three lines of each stanza begin with the same Hebrew letter. Chapter 3 is actually the same length as Chapter s 1 and 2 though the verse numeration makes it appear longer. In the first two Chapter s three lines of Hebrew verse comprise one verse of English text; in chapter 3 each line of Hebrew text has been counted as one verse of English text. Thus the verses of chapter 3 are only one third as long as those of Chapter s 1 and 2 and there are three times as many of them.

The major exegetical problem arising in chapter 3 is whether this is an individual lament or whether the individual here is a personification of the nation. In favor of the individual interpretation of the chapter is the fact that the speaker is called a man (Lamentations 3:1; Lamentations 3:27; Lamentations 3:35; Lamentations 3:39). Furthermore, some of the verses of this chapter have an intensely personal tone (e.g., Lamentations 3:14; Lamentations 3:53). On the other hand the shift from I to we in Lamentations 3:22; Lamentations 3:40-47 would suggest that the first person singular is but a stylistic device which the poet has used to speak of the suffering of the entire nation. According to this view Jeremiah is here speaking as an individual member of the nation who has become identified with his people in the midst of their affliction. Their trouble, suffering and grief are his as well. In truth the chapter seems to contain both the individual I and the collective I and it is not always easy to ascertain which use of the first person is intended. In the comments which follow the shifts in the usage of the first person will be noted where possible.

In relationship to the suffering prophet one can see in this chapter (1) his cry of desperation (Lamentations 3:1-18); (2) his confession of faith (Lamentations 3:19-39); (3) his appeal for repentance (Lamentations 3:40-47; (4) his personal suffering (Lamentations 3:48-54); and (5) his prayer for deliverance (Lamentations 3:61-66).

I. HIS CRY OF DESPERATION Lamentations 3:1-18

TRANSLATION

(1) I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of His wrath. (2) He has led and brought me into darkness and not light. (3) Surely against me He keeps on turning His hand all day long. (4) He has made my flesh and skin to waste away; He has broken my bones. (5) He has hemmed me in, surrounding me with bitterness and anguish. (6) He has made me dwell in dark places like those who are forever dead. (7) He has built a wall about me and I cannot get out. He has put heavy chains upon me. (8) Even when I keep on crying and calling for help He shuts out my prayer. (9) He has walled up my ways with hewn stone and my paths He has made crooked. (10) He is to me like a bear lying in wait, a lion in hiding. (11) He turned aside my ways, tore me in pieces and made me desolate. (12) He bent His bow and set me up as a target for His arrow. (13) He sent into my inward parts the shafts of His quiver. (14) I am an object of derision to all my people, their song all the day. (15) He has filled me to the brim with bitterness, caused me to drink wormwood. (16) He has ground my teeth with gravel and covered me over with ashes. (17) You have deprived my soul of peace; I have forgotten what prosperity is. (18) And I said, My strength has perished and my expectation from the LORD.

COMMENTS

The opening verse sets the theme for chapter 3. The poet identifies himself as an individual who has experienced in his own life what the nation has experienced. I am the man who has seen affliction is a general statement of his misery. By the rod of His wrath can refer only to God although God is not specifically mentioned until Lamentations 3:18. Having identified himself and set forth the basic thesis of the chapter the prophet begins to develop his theme in a series of brilliant similes and metaphors.

1. He compares his experience to a terrifying walk in Stygian darkness (Lamentations 3:2). Darkness is probably symbolic here of the inability to comprehend the judgment which God has brought upon the nation.

2. He compares his affliction to being smitten by the hand of God (Lamentations 3:3). The Old Testament refers frequently to the hand of God (e.g., Isaiah 5:25; Isaiah 53:4). No matter what the poet tried to do it seemed that God's hand was against him. Surely the prophet here is speaking as a representative of his people.

3. He compares his trouble to old age with its wrinkled skin and fragile bones (Lamentations 3:4). Broken bones are one of the curses of old age for they do not heal easily.

4. He compares his trials to the siege of a city (Lamentations 3:5). He has been surrounded and bombarded by bitterness and anguish. There is no escape. It is a struggle to merely survive.

5. He compares his situation to that of a lost dead man (Lamentations 3:6). Such a one is described as dwelling in dark places (cf. the outer darkness of Matthew 25:30). Those that have been long dead (ASV) and the dead of old (KJV) is better rendered those who are forever or eternally dead. Following physical death the wicked experience the second death and hence can be spoken of as eternally dead. This verse is a duplicate of Psalms 143:3.

6. The figure changes in Lamentations 3:7-8 to that of a prison. The poet feels hedged in by an insurmountable wall and weighted down by heavy and unbreakable chains of brass. Although he cries out in his anguish, there is no answer to his cry for God shuts out his prayers.

7. In a similar figure, the poet contends that a block has been thrown up across the path of his life (Lamentations 3:9). God has placed a wall of carefully prepared and closely fitting hewn stone to blockade his way. Since the straight and easy road to his life's goals was blocked he had to look for alternative routes. Walking the uncharted by-paths, the poet found himself in a maze of crooked paths most of which turned out to be blind alleys. He felt he was walking aimlessly without knowing his ultimate destiny.

8. In still another figure the poet depicts God as a lion or bear lying in wait for prey. Suddenly, unexpectedly the Lord has seized him and torn him to pieces. Amos (Lamentations 5:19) and Hosea (Hosea 13:8) use this same figure.

9. The poet feels that he has become the target for the divine archer (Lamentations 3:12-13). The arrow of tribulation and persecution has found its mark in the vital parts (lit., the kidneys) and thus the poet is doomed to suffer a slow and painful death. The arrow metaphor is not un common in the Old Testament (Psalms 38:1-2; Job 6:4; Job 16:12-14).

In Lamentations 3:14 the prophet briefly drops the metaphors to complain as the representative of the believing individual that he is mocked and ridiculed by his people. All day long they made him the object of their taunt songs. Pleasure-mad throngs cannot stand those who rebuke and warn of judgment.

10. He compares his sorrow and anguish to food and drink in Lamentations 3:15-16. His food was bitterness which he was forced to eat until he was filled to the brim (lit., sated, nauseated); his drink was wormwood, a bitter substance usually associated with gall. As a sign of his disgrace and mourning the poet has heaped ashes upon himself and in so doing has gotten grit into his mouth.

The prophet was overwhelmed by the catastrophic destruction of Jerusalem, In his great suffering he has lost all inner peace. He cannot even remember what it means to enjoy the blessings of life (Lamentations 3:17). He is in the depths of despair. His strength, physical and spiritual, has perished. The confidence which he had previously placed in the Lord has been shaken and, in fact, has disappeared (Lamentations 3:18). Yet all is not lost. The moment he announces that he has lost his confidence in the Lord he has done something very significant. He has pronounced the precious name of God. The mention of the name of the Lord in this moment of deepest misery and despair helps the poet to find solid footing for his faith. To this Lord he turns in confident prayer (Lamentations 3:19-39).