Where had all the people gone? (1:1–4)
The people of Judah were suffering in exile, and the city of Jerusalem was in ruins because of the final Babylonian invasion (c. 586 BC). Most of the citizens of Judah had been taken from their homeland. The bitter lamentations contained in this book reflect the great losses suffered by the people.
Why did Judah’s friends and lovers become her enemies? (1:2)
When things got tough, Judah’s former political allies cut their ties with her. Egypt, Tyre and Sidon failed to come to her rescue when the Babylonians invaded. See Judgment on Israel’s Neighbors (Am 1:3–2:5). Some of these former allies even betrayed Judah by joining forces with the Babylonians.
Does the Lord cause grief? (1:5)
Not exactly. The pain and suffering in the world are due to sin and its consequences. However, in working out his purposes, God often uses suffering to discipline us. So when the people of Judah sinned defiantly, God brought catastrophe on them. God was not being capricious or whimsical. Their sin had to be punished; God’s holiness demanded it. When they refused to repent, he used suffering to bring them to repentance. See the article Why does God send calamity? (3:38).
How was Jerusalem naked? (1:8)
The reference to Jerusalem being naked has a double meaning here. It refers not only to the nation’s spiritual adultery that had led to her exile in the first place but also to the resulting shame that had been brought on Jerusalem. Few things in the ancient world were more shameful than having one’s nakedness exposed.
Once a captor, Judah was now a captive. Judah had ruled Moab, Edom and other neighboring areas. Jerusalem had been a regional metropolis, but she was now only a shadow of her former self. Her riches-to-rags fall was swift.
Why was it noteworthy that pagan nations had entered the sanctuary? (1:10)
Deuteronomy 23:3–4 forbids Moabites and Ammonites from coming into the temple. The Babylonians are understood to be descendants of the Moabites and Ammonites. Therefore, their entrance into the temple was doubly reprehensible because it broke a divine command. It was a sacrilege of the highest order.
How was this Jeremiah’s suffering? (1:12)
Jerusalem’s sufferings were Jeremiah’s sufferings. Caught up in the people’s grief, he spoke as an eyewitness and fellow sufferer. His words gave voice to Jerusalem’s suffering and anguish.
How were Jerusalem’s sins bound into a yoke? (1:14)
The imagery here is of the sins of Jerusalem leading to bondage. A yoke is a wooden instrument used to subjugate two draft animals, such as oxen, for working together. Israel’s sin had now become her yoke of oppression by the foreign invaders.
What was the Virgin Daughter Judah? (1:15)
The phrase Virgin Daughter Judah, a personification of Judah, refers to the totality of the nation’s destruction. It was not just Zion, or Jerusalem, who suffered, but the whole province of Judah. All of the young men and young women suffered under the judgment of God at the hands of the Babylonians.
Were people actually starving to death? (1:19)
Yes. The emphasis here refers to the lack of comfort provided by those who should have been bringing comfort—the priests and elders of the city. How could leaders comfort the afflicted when their own basic needs for survival were not being met? Again, the picture painted here is one of total devastation.
God had promised that one day he would punish the nations that were inflicting this pain on Judah (Jer 25:15–38). Justice would come to all who did wrong; judgment would come not just to Judah but also to those nations God used as instruments of judgment on his people.
What is God’s footstool? (2:1)
Here God’s footstool refers to the ark of the covenant (1Ch 28:2), which represented God’s presence among his people. But the temple where the ark resided was in ruins—a tragic reversal of everything God’s people had held dear. They were bewildered that God would abandon his dwelling place.
What did it mean that God cut off every horn of Israel? (2:3)
The term horn here refers to might, power and honor. In Psalm 89, the horn (vv. 17, 24) is the Davidic ruler, or the king. In Lamentations, God’s judgment against his people included even the cutting down of the nation’s monarchy—their honor and strength.
How had God withdrawn his right hand? (2:3)
God’s right hand symbolized his power, protection and security for his people (Ex 15:6). The right hand was typically considered the hand of strength, authority and honor. With it withdrawn, the people lost all that kept them safe.
How can a loving God be like an enemy? (2:4–5)
God was not actually Judah’s enemy. But God couldn’t permit her wickedness to go unchecked. Jeremiah was expressing in emotional terms what God’s punishment felt like.
Why would God destroy his own temple? (2:6)
The temple could no longer be God’s dwelling place because it had become a place of unfaithfulness and idolatry. The priests and people believed that as long as the temple stood, all was well. God destroyed his own temple to compel the people to repent of their unfaithfulness and recognize his sovereignty.
Had God made his people forget him? (2:6)
In a sense, yes. They were cut off from all reminders of God’s presence. This was a way of saying that God was judging the people by allowing them to be exiled to a place where they could no longer observe their festivals and Sabbaths. Since they were captives in Babylon, where there was no temple, they did not have the freedom or the opportunity to worship the Lord. In reality, the people were being punished because they had forgotten the Lord by refusing to serve him.
Why use a measuring line? (2:8)
This is a metaphor picturing God’s thorough and calculated punishment of Judah.
Why did Jeremiah say the law was no more? (2:9)
Proper observance of God’s law depended on the temple, where sacrifices could be made and vows could be fulfilled. The law also required that Jews not mingle with idolatrous foreigners, yet the Babylonian captivity compelled Jews to mix with Gentiles. Although the law remained, formal observance of the law was impossible.
Who were these prophets? (2:9)
Probably the false and lying prophets whom Jeremiah had criticized (Jer 23:9–12). There was a distinct difference between prophets of God and prophets hired by the royal court to provide counsel and direction to the king. The hired prophets often told the king only what he wanted to hear. They offered deception, not the word of the Lord.
Why did they sit on the ground with dust on their heads? (2:10)
The picture here is of Judah’s entire population, from the elders to the young women, being involved in acts of mourning and expressing depression. In the ancient world, grieving and mourning were not just psychological states; they were accompanied with outward acts that indicated the extent of the suffering. Sitting on the ground and putting dust on one’s head was a typical gesture of mourning.
Why does God allow innocent children to suffer? (2:11–12)
Jeremiah’s words were laced with emotion. Stewing just beneath his grief was an anguished question: how could God have permitted these children to suffer? All people—including children—are born with a sinful nature (Ro 5:12). The sin of Adam and Eve infected each succeeding generation, leading to the suffering and consequences that sin produces. While the children mentioned in this passage had not participated in the specific sins that incited God’s wrath, they were not themselves sinless.
Unfortunately, many children suffer for their parents’ actions. In the same way, as members of a community, children share in the benefits or consequences of their community’s actions—even though they had nothing to do with the decisions that were made. In many countries, children are the victims of the older generation’s acts of war and terrorism.
Some insist that no one but God is ultimately responsible for such suffering, and perhaps this is what was behind Jeremiah’s honest but bitter complaints (vv. 19–20). God, however, never wants anyone to suffer, but death is the natural result of sin (Ro 6:23). Judah could only blame herself for her situation.
See the article Does God punish children for their parents’ sins? (Nu 14:18).
Why compare sinful Judah to a virgin? (2:13)
The writers of the Old Testament often used females metaphorically to describe God’s people (1:1, 9; Isa 32:9–11). Lamentations frequently refers to Judah as daughter. Sometimes this figure of speech is combined with virgin (as it is here), perhaps to highlight Judah’s fall from purity and grace. The original word for virgin did not always imply sexual purity; sometimes it simply meant “young woman.”
Why did they clap their hands? (2:15)
We clap our hands to show delight or to honor someone’s performance. Perhaps they clapped out of their delight at seeing Jerusalem’s pain and loss. Or it could be that in ancient times people used clapping to express scorn, as they did by scoffing and shaking their heads (see Job 27:23; Jer 18:16; 19:8).
Why did the enemies open their mouths wide and gnash their teeth? (2:16)
This is a picture of Jerusalem being devoured by the Babylonians. Like wild animals, Judah’s enemies opened their mouths wide and swallowed up the nation. See 3:46.
Since God planned this punishment long ago, how could Judah have avoided it? (2:17)
Through the prophets, God repeatedly warned Israel and Judah that if they persisted in sin, the day of the LORD (Isa 13:6, 9) would come, destroying the nation and its worship (Mic 3:12). Judah could have repented—indeed, King Josiah called for it—but the people would not remain faithful to their pledge to keep the covenant (2Ki 23:1–3).
Was Jeremiah challenging God on the severity of Judah’s punishment? (2:20)
Rather than challenge the Lord, Jeremiah interceded with the Lord to ask that God’s bitter judgment be lifted from the nation. Much like Abraham interceding for Sodom (Ge 18:16–33) or Moses interceding for idolatrous Israel in the wilderness (Ex 32:31–35), Jeremiah pleaded for God’s mercy in the midst of his fierce anger and righteous judgment.
Were women actually eating their own children? (2:20)
Yes, such things did occur in times of battle (2Ki 6:24–31), and Lamentations 4:10 refers to acts of cannibalism. This scene is intentionally gruesome as it reveals the depth of human deprivation and loss. See Were women actually eating their own children? (4:10).
LINK (2:20) Should women eat their offspring
Jeremiah had prophesied this cannibalism (Jer 19:9) and the demise of priest and prophet (Jer 23:11–12).
Jeremiah had prophesied the coming judgment on all of Jerusalem’s people, from the youngest to the oldest (Jer 6:11).
Why would God turn against his faithful prophet? (3:3)
God was not unfaithful to Jeremiah, even though Jeremiah often felt abandoned. Jeremiah probably was speaking not about himself but on behalf of the whole nation of Judah. Judah’s sufferings were Jeremiah’s sufferings. Caught up in the people’s grief, he spoke as an eyewitness and fellow sufferer. His words personified the city of Jerusalem, giving voice to her suffering and anguish. See How was this Jeremiah’s suffering? (1:12).
Why would God dismiss prayers? (3:8)
Feeling completely isolated, Jeremiah felt God’s judgment personally. It seemed to him as though God wasn’t listening. But God still cared for Jeremiah and Judah. He still heard their prayers. However, one consequence of willful disobedience is that prayer may become ineffective. See the article When does God refuse to hear our prayers? (Jer 11:11).
Gall is also known as wormwood, a plant that produces very bitter oil. The food imagery here points to the “feast of exile,” something extremely bitter in taste.
Where did Jeremiah find hope in such bleak times? (3:21–24)
These verses are a lit match in a dark room. Their hopefulness, contrasted sharply with the surrounding dismal verses, points to Jeremiah’s underlying faith in God, which—despite Jeremiah’s desperation—was rooted in God’s unchanging character.
What does it mean that the LORD is my portion? (3:24)
When the land was originally distributed among the tribes of Israel, the priests were given no land. Instead, the Lord was their portion, or share (Nu 18:20). Similarly, here the people of God had no land of their own anymore and had been deprived of all they claimed as their own. Jeremiah declared the sufficiency of God himself as their portion.
How can we hope in a God who abandons us? (3:25)
Jeremiah steadfastly recognized that the Lord had not abandoned his people, despite the pain of their situation. Rather, God’s people had abandoned him. Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, is also called the prophet of hope, because he foresaw a day when the Lord would reign in the midst of a restored, renewed and reconciled people—people who had finally returned to him.
Jesus knew this paradox between abandonment and hope. In the midst of his suffering and death on the cross, he cried, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Mt 27:46). Yet Jesus also knew that he would be resurrected on the third day, opening the gate of eternal life to all believers. The despair of the cross has now become the gift of life to perishing sinners.
Abandonment, sorrow, struggle and pain—all these are transitory. Wholeness, healing, joy and peace are permanent, for they are part of the very nature of God. That is what sustains the believer through difficult times. Although Jeremiah grieved over Jerusalem’s destruction, he knew God would prevail.
Is this the proper way to endure punishment? (3:28)
Silence and solitude is certainly one way to endure punishment, yet throughout this book Jeremiah loudly voiced his complaint. Some people weep, others become angry, still others lash out at their persecutors. But Israel’s sin was so grievous and its punishment so well deserved that suffering alone in silence may have been appropriate.
How can the Lord bring grief, yet be unwilling to do so? (3:32–33)
God’s decision to punish a nation or individual is always just and perfect. Even so, when God renders judgment, his heart is grieved. His judgments preserve the integrity of his righteous law, but he never wishes to afflict suffering on his children. His righteousness and justice comprise his character as much as his perfect love and compassion do.
Does God overlook injustice? (3:34–36)
The Babylonians had “crushed” the people of Judah by destroying their nation in 586 BC (v. 34). Earlier, the leaders of Judah had denied their fellow citizens their rights (v. 35) and deprived them of justice (v. 36). But the Lord doesn’t overlook such things (v. 36).
Why does God send calamity? (3:38)
All of this world’s suffering can be traced back to one tragic event: the disobedience of Adam and Eve in the garden (Ge 3:6–7). Consequently, sin and its results—suffering and evil—entered the world. But God’s hands are not tied.
In working out his purposes, God often uses suffering to discipline us. When the people of Judah sinned defiantly, God wreaked havoc by raining catastrophe upon them. God was not capricious or whimsical. Their sin had to be punished; God’s holiness demanded it. When they refused to repent, he used suffering as a way to bring them to repentance.
Not all suffering, though, can be traced to specific sin. Some disasters are the indirect result of a broken world. Certain weather patterns form a tornado that strikes a city—destroying the property and lives of believers and nonbelievers alike. Highs and lows are a part of the atmosphere; when they collide, destruction is inevitable.
While appearing to be senseless, disasters can serve a purpose. Suffering can pry our attention away from the trivial and toward the eternal, away from making money and acquiring possessions and toward our relationship with God. Pain can be an effective tool, for it can draw our attention to God and prompt us to live more Christlike lives.
Is suffering always a result of sin? (3:38–39)
No, not always. However, sometimes it is. Some suffering results from the “corporate” sin of Adam and Eve, which affects everyone. Each person makes specific choices that have consequences, and that person is therefore accountable for the outcome of those choices. Yet, we also stand under the judgment of human sinfulness in general.
Why pray if our prayers are not getting through to God? (3:43–48)
We should not view prayer only as a means to escape our troubles. It should be seen as a privilege granted to us by God; it is the means by which we can talk directly with him and have a relationship with him.
In this passage, it seems the Lord did not hear or answer the heartfelt cries of his people. They felt as though their prayers weren’t getting through because their situation was not improving. Jerusalem and the temple lay in ruins, with no immediate hope of reconstruction, demonstrating the pain of the exile.
But Jeremiah kept pressing the people to confront their sin. He wanted to keep the channels of communication open with God so the people could deal with their sin by confessing, repenting and asking for forgiveness. But they were too dismayed at the terror God had brought upon them to see things clearly. Until they could confront the sin that had caused their nation to disintegrate, all their prayers would be futile.
Sin blocks the effectiveness of prayer. An effective prayer comes from having a pure heart and mind and trusting in God’s compassion (Ps 51:1). Only then can clear communication with God occur, both in speaking to and listening to him. God would listen to Judah’s needs and speak to her only after she repented. When we cast off the weight of sin (Heb 10:19–22; 12:1–2), God will hear us and respond to our prayers.
Why continue to pray when it seems our prayers are not getting through? So our relationship with God can be repaired.
Why did the enemies open their mouths wide? (3:46)
This is a picture of Jerusalem being devoured by the Babylonians. Like wild animals, Judah’s enemies opened their mouths wide and swallowed up the nation. See also 2:16.
What happened to the women of the city? (3:51)
In captivity, they likely suffered various forms of humiliation—everything ranging from sexual assault by their captors to exhausting slave labor in the fields. In Hebrew culture, men were supposed to protect and care for women. Their inability to do so during the exile made women highly vulnerable to exploitation.
LINK (3:52–57) They tried to end my life in a pit
Jeremiah was recalling his imprisonment in the bottom of a cistern (Jer 38:6–13).
What was Jeremiah’s case? (3:58)
God acted as Jeremiah’s lawyer. For much of his life, Jeremiah suffered because of God’s purpose for his life. Jeremiah announced Judah’s impending doom and experienced exile with God’s people. No one wanted to hear Jeremiah’s prophetic message, and he suffered because of it. Still, God defended Jeremiah and his prophetic ministry. In other words, God’s defense of Jeremiah was an act of redemption for the prophet.
Should we ask God to seek revenge for us? (3:64)
In his exasperation, Jeremiah implored God to retaliate. Yet even here in the Old Testament, vengeance was solely God’s prerogative, executed in his timing (Dt 32:35). Believers today should expect, work toward and pray for justice on Earth. We have been commanded to love our enemies (Mt 5:43–44) and have been shown by example how we are to forgive others (Lk 23:34; Ac 7:60). God will ultimately right every wrong. See the article Is it right to pray for revenge? (Ps 58:6–8).
If the Lord heard Jeremiah’s cry for mercy, why did the suffering continue? (4:1–11)
God assured Jeremiah that his love and mercy would prevail, but the ordained course of events continued to perfect and complete God’s judgment. Though we may have the assurance of God’s blessing, we must also suffer the consequences of our decisions. Even so, the Lord’s promise can become the hope that sustains us through our periods of struggle.
Why compare God’s people to jackals and ostriches? (4:3)
It seemed to Jeremiah that God’s people had less character even than jackals. Jackals nursed their cubs, but the women of Jerusalem, themselves starving, could not provide for their children. Worse, like the proverbial ostrich with eggs abandoned in the sand, the people had become self-centered. Their personal hardships caused them to become more and more unconcerned about the suffering of others. Each one looked out for only himself or herself.
What did it mean to be brought up in royal purple? (4:5)
Purple dye was costly because it was derived from various shellfish common to Canaan, or Phoenicia. The color purple symbolized wealth and royalty (Da 5:7). Those who could afford such extravagance enjoyed their luxury. But the people of Judah had been stripped of all their wealth.
How was Judah’s punishment greater than that of Sodom? (4:6)
Sodom’s sudden destruction seemed more tolerable to Jeremiah than Judah’s slow, agonizing ordeal. Death and destruction were the results in each case, but Jerusalem’s siege and starvation seemed more torturous than God’s overnight annihilation of Sodom. Crazed with hunger, Jerusalem’s women sold off—and even cannibalized—their own children (4:10).
Were women actually eating their own children? (4:10)
As awful as the scene is, women were in fact preparing and eating children in acts of cannibalism. The description of the women as compassionate makes the scene even worse because we know that these were not barbaric women. The situation was so desperate that even compassionate women were involved in the most inhuman behavior.
Why was Jerusalem considered invincible? (4:12)
Some think Jeremiah was describing the false confidence of Jerusalem’s people: they thought God would never allow the city where his presence dwelt to be destroyed. Others say Jerusalem did have a reputation for being impregnable. Around 700 BC the Assyrian king Sennacherib laid siege to Jerusalem but failed to capture it. Regardless of the exact reason, Judah had been overconfident both spiritually and militarily.
Why were the leaders accountable for the sins of the people? (4:13)
While each person was accountable for his or her own sins (Eze 18:19–20), the leaders of Judah stood before God on behalf of the people. If the people failed, the leadership had also failed.
In Hebrew culture, the king, royal officials, priests and prophets often set the tone for the political, spiritual and moral life of the people. Nearly all people were illiterate and depended on leaders to guide them in their thinking and behavior. Leaders interpreted God’s commands, communicated them to the people and monitored their compliance.
Therefore, God held Judah’s leaders responsible (Jer 23:1–2; 25:34–38). They were to set an example, give vision and hope for the future, direct people regarding the nation’s priorities and inspire them to obedience and sacrifice. Judah’s leaders had not done that. And despite Jeremiah’s warning, they had also failed to recognize that calamity was coming.
God still holds leaders responsible today. Even though we do not have a Christian theocracy, our sovereign God still appoints leaders in the church and in society. He holds them accountable for fulfilling or squandering their responsibilities (Heb 13:17).
Who was the LORD’s anointed? (4:20)
This is an Old Testament expression synonymous with king—in this case, King Zedekiah. The sacred rite of anointing imparted God’s authority on a chosen leader.
The Edomites were descendants of Esau. They had a long-standing rivalry with the Israelites, descendants of Esau’s brother Jacob. The contrast between the futures of Edom and Judah shows that the tide would turn. The violence against Judah would end, but not the violence against treacherous Edom (see also Eze 25:12–14; Ob 10–16).
Foreigners were guests or temporary residents in the land, usually from the surrounding tribes and nations (see Lev 25:44–55). Those who had lost their land to the Israelites were called foreigners. Others joined with Judah and Israel over the years as refugees from war or because of abuse or famine. Others relocated for reasons of business, trade or marriage.
When did Judah submit to Egypt and Assyria? (5:6)
Some think Egypt and Assyria refer to two geographic locations (west and east) to which Jerusalem’s refugees fled to find food. Others, though, believe this refers to a historical, political alliance made during the eighth century BC (Hos 7:11; 12:1). Still others think this points to Judah’s spiritual idolatry when she pursued the gods of Egypt and Assyria (Jer 2:13, 18).
What atrocities had occurred? (5:10–13)
The Babylonians were notorious for their fiendish tortures. See the article Does God use evil to do good? (Hab 1:6). They raped the women, hanged the nobles and left their bodies to twist in the sun, forced children into hard labor and murdered citizens at random. The siege itself caused unthinkable horrors: mothers, insane from hunger, slaughtered their children for food (4:10).
What does it mean that jackals prowled over Mount Zion? (5:18)
The temple and the city were so utterly destroyed that buildings were ruined and abandoned. The land reverted to wilderness, where rodents and small animals took up lodging. These small animals attracted jackals, a hated nuisance in Israel. Their growing presence indicated that most people had left the land.
Why couldn’t Judah return unless God restored her first? (5:21)
This was an appeal for restoration on the far side of exile. It was not an appeal simply for restoration to the promised land. It was an appeal for covenant restoration to the Lord himself. Here was the heart of true repentance: When the covenant relationship with God was broken, the relational deficiency became the most important matter to address. The blessings of the covenant, land and temple flowed from the central matter, namely, the covenant relationship with God himself.
Is there a point of no return? (5:22)
In an emotional finish, Jeremiah wavered in his confidence: what if God didn’t give Judah another chance? This was the cry of a devastated man and nation. But God specializes in second chances. No sin is too great for God to forgive. Only if we reject God and his provision for our sin, Jesus Christ, do we go beyond the point of no return (Ro 8:35–39).