Then there are the five scrolls that includes the poetic love story the Song of Solomon, or the Song of Songs from the 6th century BCE. The Book of Ruth was about the story of Ruth, a Moabite foreigner who came to Israel, from the 9th to the 6th century BCE. Lamentations has usually been ascribed to Jeremiah the prophet from the 6th century BCE. Ecclesiastes is like a book of wisdom proverbs from the 4th century BCE. The story of Esther is about a Jewish lady who becomes a Persian queen also from the 4th century BCE.
lamentations
The cosmic Day of Yahweh (Am 8:9-8:10)
“On that day,
Says Yahweh God.
‘I will make the sun
Go down at noon.
I will darken the earth
In broad daylight.
I will turn
Your feasts
Into mourning.
I will turn
All your songs
Into lamentations.
I will bring sackcloth
On all loins.
I will bring baldness
On every head.
I will make it
Like the mourning
For an only son.
I will make
The end of it
Like a bitter day.’”
Yahweh said that on the day of Yahweh, the sun would set at noon, so that the earth would be dark during the normal daylight hours. Yahweh was going to turn joyful feasts into times of mourning, since their songs would be lamentations. Everyone would wear sackcloth and be bald. The mourning and weeping would be like for an only son. Yahweh was going to bring an end to a bitter day.
Cannibalism (Ezek 5:10-5:10)
“Surely,
Parents shall eat
Their children
In your midst.
The children shall eat
Their parents.
I will execute judgments
On you.
Any of you
Who survive,
I will scatter
To every wind.”
This ideal of cannibalism in Jerusalem was attested by Jeremiah, chapter 19, and Lamentations, chapters 2 and 4, and now here in Ezekiel. Parents would eat their children, while children would eat their parents in this situation of starvation in Jerusalem. Yahweh was going to execute his judgments on those who survived. These survivors would be scattered to the four winds in every direction.
The shameful sinful behavior (Bar 2:3-2:5)
“Some of us
Ate the flesh
Of their sons.
Others
Ate the flesh
Of their daughters.
He made us subject
To all the kingdoms
Around us.
We were
An object of scorn.
We were a desolation among
All the surrounding people,
Where the Lord
Has scattered us.
We were brought down.
We were not raised up.
Because our nation
Sinned
Against the Lord,
Our God,
In not heeding
His voice.”
Once again, there is allusion to the cannibalism of people, eating their sons and daughters as food because of the famine in Jerusalem, as was mentioned in Lamentations, chapters 2 and 4, as well as Jeremiah, chapter 19. They were no longer a nation, because now they obeyed all the other countries around them. They had become an object of scorn and a desolation among all the people and the countries where they were scattered into. They were brought down, not raised up. They had sinned as a nation. Thus they were punished as a nation. They had not listened to the voice of God, their Lord.
The restoration (Lam 5:21-5:22)
“Restore us
To yourself!
O Yahweh!
Thus we may be
Restored!
Renew our days
As of old!
Unless you have
Utterly rejected us?
Are you angry
With us
Beyond measure?”
While this author pleads for restoration, there is an element of doubt at the end. They wanted to be restored to Yahweh like in the good old days. But then the element of doubt crept in. They were asking for mercy, but has Yahweh utterly rejected them? Is God so angry that it cannot be measured? Have the Judeans gone too far against Yahweh? Thus this lamentation does not have a happy ending, but a more existential angst that maybe there will be no restoration at all.
Yahweh and the Judeans (Lam 5:19-5:20)
“But you!
O Yahweh!
You reign forever!
Your throne
Endures
To all generations.
Why have you
Forgotten us
Completely?
Why have you
Forsaken us
These many days?”
Yahweh reigns forever. His throne will endure through all generations. The question is why has he forgotten the Judeans? Why has he forsaken them for so many days? There is a sense of urgency in these questions.
The sickness (Lam 5:17-5:18)
“Our hearts
Are sick
Because of this.
Our eyes
Have grown dim
Because of these things.
Mount Zion
Lies desolate.
Jackals prowl
Over it.”
The hearts of the people of Jerusalem are sick. Their eyes have grown dim. Mount Zion has become desolate. The famous jackals prowl all around the city.
The joy is gone (Lam 5:15-5:16)
“The joy
Of our hearts
Has ceased.
Our dancing
Has been turned
To mourning.
The crown
Has fallen
From our head.
Cursed be us!
We have sinned!”
Happiness has left the people of Jerusalem. The joy of their hearts is now gone. They have stopped dancing. They now turn to mourning. The crown of Jerusalem has fallen. They are now cursed because they were sinners.
The change in habits (Lam 5:13-5:14)
“Young men
Are compelled
To grind
At the mill.
Boys stagger
Under loads of wood.
The old men
Have left
The city gate.
The young men
Have left
Their music.”
The lives of the people left in Jerusalem have changed. The young men are now grinding at the mill, while the young boys stagger under the heavy loads of wood. The old men have left their discussions at the city gate, while the young men no longer are involved with music.
The disrespect for people (Lam 5:11-5:12)
“Women are raped
In Zion.
Virgins are raped
In the towns
Of Judah.
Princes are
Hung up
By their hands.
No respect
Is shown
To the elders.”
People are disrespected. In the city of Jerusalem, Zion, they rape women. They also rape virgins in the Judean towns. They hang up princes of Jerusalem by their hands. Finally, no one respects the elderly. There does not seem to be a moral equivalency among these actions, since rape seems worse than disrespect for the elderly.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 