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א אֵיכָה יָשְׁבָה בָדָד הָעִיר רַבָּתִי עָם הָיְתָה כְּאַלְמָנָה רַבָּתִי בַגּוֹיִם שָׂרָתִי בַּמְּדִינוֹת הָיְתָה לָמַס
How does the once greatly crowded city of Jerusalem now sit alone? She has become without support, like a widow.
DISCUSSION
She has become like a widow
In its simple sense, the verse is declaring Jerusalem akin to a widow simply because she is devoid of protection and her status has become low. But there is also a sense that the city’s “husband,” God, has abandoned her. A similar expression is found in the last lamentation (5:3): “We have become orphans, fatherless; our mothers are like widows.” This verse can be read literally, but it can also be seen as an allegory of the sense of orphanhood felt by the people of the city toward their Father in Heaven; the subjective feeling of Jerusalem, or the people of Israel, that they have been abandoned forever (Rashi; Targum Yonatan; Eikha Rabba 1:3; Targum Yonatan and Pesikta Zutreta on 5:3; see also Isaiah 54:4–5).
ב בָּכוֹ תִבְכֶּה בַּלַּיְלָה וְדִמְעָתָהּ עַל לֶחֱיָהּ אֵין־לָהּ מְנַחֵם מִכָּל־אֹהֲבֶיהָ כָּל־רֵעֶיהָ בָּגְדוּ בָהּ הָיוּ לָהּ לְאֹיְבִים
She, the helpless widow, Jerusalem, weeps at night, as she is ashamed to weep in the daytime when people can see her, and her tears are on her cheeks. She attempts to hide her tears from the eyes of strangers. Of all her lovers, or political allies, she has no one to comfort her. All her allies have betrayed her; they have become her enemies; all the countries that had friendly relationships with her abandoned her after her downfall.
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