ServiceMusic
Music in the service of the church in the service of the world
The opening "Alas!" recalls the first two poems; it is swiftly reinforced in the second half of v2.
As with all three preceding poems, this, too, can work as two voices, although here as first-person singular (most) and first-person plural (17–20 or 17–22).[1] Unlike them, however, the personalised perspective is neither female (as in Lam.1 and 2) nor male (Lam.3), but rather various groups within the population. And whereas the addressee in 1 and 3 had been the Lord, and in 2 had been mostly the city, here there is no specific addressee until the personified cities in the closing verses.
Visually, a unique aspect of this chapter is the striking use of colour in the opening eight verses and its erasure as the degradation of the siege takes hold.[2]
It starts with the impossible. Pure gold does not, and cannot, tarnish under normal circumstances.[3] Yet here it does. Things are so bad that even nature, God's own created order, is out of kilter. And it continues into the human realm, including the horror of mothers cannibalising their own God-given children. "Blessings of the covenant become human carnage."[4]
From an inner-biblical perspective, just as the opening verses of Lam.3 seem to pull in tension against Psalm 23, so here v4 contrasts with Psalm 131 and v16 with Numbers 6:24–26.
Belovèd sons[8] of Zion
of gold-weight worth,
alas, ranked mere clay crocks—
work of any potter.
Cubs even of jackals
are breast-fed nursed,
but my Daughter People is cruel
as the desert ostrich.[9]
Dry-thirsted, the suckling's tongue
glues to its palate;
infants beg for bread
but none is proffered.
Embraced now on dung heaps are those
once robed in purple;[10]
Those once feasting on delicacies
lie destitute in alleys.
Far greater my Daughter People's iniquity
than the offence of Sodom,
which had been overthrown in an instant
with no hand on her laid.
Glistening as snow, once, her princes,
whiter than milk;
their limbs more ruddy than coral,
their beauty as sapphire.
How soot-black now their faces,
unrecognised in streets;
their skin shrunk, taut on their bones
as dessicated wood.
Impaling on sword? Far better
than piercing by famine.
Better to bleed from our wounds
than be starved of all food.
Loving women's own hands
cook their own children:
they became their food for them
at my Daughter People's ravaging.[11]
Meted out in full is the Lord's anger,
his wrath disgorged;
He has kindled a firestorm in Zion
that consumed her foundations.
Not the kings of the earth
nor its people believed
that enemy or foe could penetrate
the gates of Jerusalem.
Offences of her prophets, the cause,
and the iniquities of her priests,
who had disgorged in the midst of the city
the blood of the just.
Polluted with blood, through the streets
they[12] strayed blindly;
so defiled that none would dare
touch their garments.
"Repulsive! Away!"
[people shout at them.]
"Replusive! Repulsive! Hands off!"
So they straggled; they strayed.
[Resolute were the nations:]
"They'll not reside here."[13]
Tired out eyes scan, exhausted,
for help, but in vain;
From our watchtowers we watched for a nation,[16]
but that cannot deliver.
Unceasing, they ensnared our steps,
our streets no more ours.
Our end drew near, our days gone;
our end had come.
Vicious and swifter than sky-hawks
came our pursuers:
Hot on our heels through the hills;
ambushers of the desert.
Wedged in their traps was our life-breath,
the Lord's own anointed—
He in whose shade we had thought
to dwell among nations.
Zion-Daughter, your iniquity expiated,
your exile will he lift.
But your iniquity, Daughter Edom, will he prosecute,
lay bare your offences.
[1] For 17–20 see Goldingay (2022), p.163 and Provan (2016), p.109; for 17–22 see Middlemas (2021), p.25.
[2] Berlin (2004), p.103.
[3] The tarnishing we perceive is not of the gold itself, but of small amounts of other embedded metal impurities.
[4] Hens-Piazza (2017), p.60.
[5] See footnotes on 1:1.
[6] Often translated "jewels", "holy stones" is not only more literal but also allows the metaphor for the stones of the destroyed Temple. Taken in conjunction with following verse, this metaphor links an increasingly human sequence: "gold", "holy stones", "belovèd sons & Daughter People".
[7] A "disgorge" thread runs through the chapter at vv.1, 11 and 13. See also the "pour" thread in chapter 2.
[8] The Hebrew words at "stones" (v1) and "sons" (v2) are similar. This has guided the choice of words in this version.
[9] A folk tradition, then familiar but now forgotten, about ostriches abandoning their hatchlings. Contrast the first half of this verse. (See also Job 39.)
[10] The purple of luxury. If this Hebrew poem is then overlayed with the Christian gospels there is a resonance with the trial, mocking and crucifixion of Jesus.
[11] The "Daughter People" half-line is the same at 2:11, 3:48 and 4:10.
[12] The referent "they" is ambiguous. It makes sense for it to be the priests and prophets of the previous verse; this leads well into vv.15–16; Goldingay (2022), p.176. And there is a certain irony in the prophets—the visionaries—being blind; Berlin (2004), p.111.
[13] This verse, like 1:7 and 2:19, has an extra line in the Hebrew, considered by some commentators to be a marginal gloss.
[14] Astonishingly, very few English translations capture this verse's double use of "face" in the Hebrew. See the translation notes.
[15] "The Lord's face" is usually a positive image, and with priestly blessing of favour: Num. 6:24–26. But here his face operates in a hostile fashion; see Goldingay (2022), p.179. It can be his angry face: Lev. 26:17; see Berlin (2004), p.102, note 'm'.
[16] The identity of the nation which could not or would not help is unknown. One possibility is Edom. This would connect with its condemnation a few verses ahead. Berlin (2004), pp.112–113; Provan (2016), p.121.
[17] The Edomites were descended from Esau, the twin brother of Jacob (later called Israel). The brothers, and their descendents, were locked in sibling rivalry from the outset: Gen.25:22–30.
[18] While "Daughter Zion" is clearly a term of endearment, by contrast "Daughter Edom", for Zion's enemy, can, and probably should, be read with a sarcastic twist. Berlin (2004) p.113; Dobbs-Allsopp (2012), p.137.
[19] Same verb as for Daughter Zion at the 1:1 opening of the book, now coming full circle to describe the unsuspecting fate of the enemy.
[20] See also Jer. 25:15–29 for this imagery, where Edom and Uz are included.