How Lonely Lies the City!// 2 Kings 24:10–17
א ALEPH
1How lonely lies the city,
once so full of people!
She who was great among the nations
has become a widow.
The princess of the provinces
has become a slave.
- LAM 1:1[FULFILLS]Jerusalem's men would fall by the sword and Zion would sit in ruin ← IS 3:25-26MEDIUM
- LAM 1:1[NOTE]HOW! The Hebrew name of the book is Eikhah, How!, its first word. It is the cry of someone who cannot believe what happened. 2:1 and 4:1 start the same way.
- LAM 1:1[NOTE]AN ALPHABET POEM. Chapters 1 to 4 are written in the Hebrew alphabet, one letter after another, like an ABC poem. The small letters above the verses show it. Grief from A to Z.
ב BETH
2She weeps aloud in the night,
with tears upon her cheeks.
Among all her lovers
there is no one to comfort her.
All her friends have betrayed her;
they have become her enemies.
- LAM 1:2[NOTE]NO ONE TO COMFORT HER. These words come five times in chapter 1, 1:2, 9, 16, 17 and 21. Her lovers are the nations Judah trusted instead of God, like Egypt.
ג GIMEL
3Judah has gone into exile
under affliction and harsh slavery;
she dwells among the nations
but finds no place to rest.
All her pursuers have overtaken her
in the midst of her distress.
- LAM 1:3[NOTE]INTO EXILE. Babylon took the people away in waves, in 605, 597 and 586 BC, Daniel 1 and 2 Kings 24 and 25. The poet writes after the last one, when Jerusalem burned.
ד DALETH
4The roads to Zion mourn,
because no one comes to her appointed feasts.
All her gates are deserted;
her priests groan,
her maidens grieve,
and she herself is bitter with anguish.
ה HE
5Her foes have become her masters;
her enemies are at ease.
For Yahweh has brought her grief
because of her many transgressions.
Her children have gone away
as captives before the enemy.
- LAM 1:5[NOTE]WHY IT HAPPENED. The book is honest: Yahweh brought this grief because of her many sins. The prophets had warned for years, Jeremiah 25:8 to 11.
ו WAW
6All the splendor has departed
from the Daughter of Zion.
Her princes are like deer
that find no pasture;
they lack the strength to flee
in the face of the hunter.
ז ZAYIN
7In the days of her affliction and wandering
Jerusalem remembers all the treasures
that were hers in days of old.
When her people fell into enemy hands
she received no help.
Her enemies looked upon her,
laughing at her downfall.
ח HETH
8Jerusalem has sinned greatly;
therefore she has become an object of scorn.
All who honored her now despise her,
for they have seen her nakedness;
she herself groans and turns away.
- LAM 1:8[NOTE]SHAMED. Jerusalem is pictured as a woman disgraced in front of everyone. It is a picture of shame, not a story about one person.
ט TETH
9Her uncleanness stains her skirts;
she did not consider her end.
Her downfall was astounding;
there was no one to comfort her.
Look, O Yahweh, on my affliction,
for the enemy has triumphed!
- LAM 1:9[NOTE]LOOK, O YAHWEH. From 1:9 on, the city herself breaks in and speaks, like a woman telling God and the world about her pain.
י YODH
10The adversary has seized
all her treasures.
For she has seen the nations
enter her sanctuary—
those You had forbidden
to enter Your assembly.
- LAM 1:10[NOTE]HER SANCTUARY. The temple. The Babylonians walked into the place where only priests could go and carried off its bronze, silver and gold, 2 Kings 25:13 to 17.
כ KAPH
11All her people groan
as they search for bread.
They have traded their treasures for food
to keep themselves alive.
Look, O Yahweh, and consider,
for I have become despised.
ל LAMEDH
12Is this nothing to you, all you who pass by?
Look around and see!
Is there any sorrow like mine,
which was inflicted on me,
which Yahweh made me suffer
on the day of His fierce anger?
- LAM 1:12[FORESHADOW]Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? Is any sorrow like my sorrow → MT 27:39; MK 15:29MEDIUM
מ MEM
13He sent fire from on high,
and it overpowered my bones.
He spread a net for my feet
and turned me back.
He made me desolate,
faint all the day long.
נ NUN
14My transgressions are bound into a yoke,
knit together by His hand;
they are draped over my neck,
and the Lord has broken my strength.
He has delivered me into the hands
of those I cannot withstand.
ס SAMEKH
15The Lord has rejected
all the mighty men in my midst;
He has summoned an army against me
to crush my young warriors.
Like grapes in a winepress,
the Lord has trampled the Virgin Daughter of Judah.
- LAM 1:15[NOTE]THE WINEPRESS. Grapes were crushed under bare feet to make wine. It is a picture of judgment, used again in Isaiah 63:3 and Revelation 14:19 to 20.
ע AYIN
16For these things I weep;
my eyes flow with tears.
For there is no one nearby to comfort me,
no one to revive my soul.
My children are destitute
because the enemy has prevailed.
פ PE
17Zion stretches out her hands,
but there is no one to comfort her.
Yahweh has decreed against Jacob
that his neighbors become his foes.
Jerusalem has become
an unclean thing among them.
צ TZADE
18Yahweh is righteous,
yet I rebelled against His command.
Listen, all you people;
look upon my suffering.
My young men and maidens
have gone into captivity.
- LAM 1:18[NOTE]YAHWEH IS RIGHTEOUS. Even in her worst pain, Jerusalem says God did nothing wrong. I rebelled. That honesty is the first step back.
ק KOPH
19I called out to my lovers,
but they have betrayed me.
My priests and elders
perished in the city
while they searched for food
to keep themselves alive.
ר RESH
20See, O Yahweh, how distressed I am!
I am churning within;
my heart is pounding within me,
for I have been most rebellious.
Outside, the sword bereaves;
inside, there is death.
- LAM 1:20[NOTE]MY HEART IS POUNDING. The Hebrew says my heart is turned over inside me. I am churning within means, word for word, my insides are boiling. The insides were the place of the deepest feelings.
ש SIN
21People have heard my groaning,
but there is no one to comfort me.
All my enemies have heard of my trouble;
they are glad that You have caused it.
May You bring the day You have announced,
so that they may become like me.
ת TAW
22Let all their wickedness come before You,
and deal with them
as You have dealt with me
because of all my transgressions.
For my groans are many,
and my heart is faint.