15 The joy of our heart hath ceased, our dancing has turned into mourning. 16 The crown of our head is fallen; woe unto us, that we have sinned! 17 Because of this our heart became sick; because of these [things] our eyes became dark. 18 Upon Mount Zion, which is laid waste, jackals roam through it. 19 Thou, O Jahveh, dost sit [enthroned] for ever; They throne is for generation and generation. 20 Why dost thou forget us for ever, - forsake us for a length of days? 21 Lead us back, O Jahveh, to thyself, that we may return; renew our days, as of old. 22 Or, hast Thou indeed utterly rejected us? art thou very wroth against us?
This poem begins (Lam 5:1) with the request addressed to the Lord, that He would be pleased to think of the disgrace that has befallen Judah, and concludes (Lam 5:19-22) with the request that the Lord may not forsake His people for ever, but once more receive them into favour. The main portion of this petition is formed by the description of the disgrace and misery under which the suppliants groan, together with the acknowledgment (Lam 5:7 and Lam 5:16) that they are compelled to bear the sins of their fathers and their own sins. By this confession, the description given of their misery is divided into two strophes (Lam 5:2-7 and Lam 5:8-16), which are followed by the request for deliverance (Lam 5:19-22), introduced by Lam 5:17 and Lam 5:18. The author of this prayer speaks throughout in the name of the people, or, to speak more correctly, in the name of the congregation, laying their distress and their supplication before the Lord. The view of Thenius, - that this poem originated among a small company of Jews who had been dispersed, and who, in the mist of constant persecution, sought a place of refuge from the oppression of the Chaldeans, - has been forced upon the text through the arbitrary interpretation of detached figurative expressions.
Chap. 5
Verses 1-7
Supplication and statement regarding the distress. The quest made in Lam 5:1 refers to the oppression depicted in what follows. The words, "Remember, O Lord, what hath happened (i.e., befallen) us," are more fully explained in the second member, "Look and behold our disgrace." It is quite arbitrary in Thenius to refer the first member to the past, the second to the present, described in what follows, Lam 5:12-16.
