Lamentations 1:1

How. Heb. ’ekah. An exclamation frequently used to open a Hebrew elegy (Lam. 2:1; 4:1, 2; Isa. 1:21). ’Ekah was taken as the title of the book in the Hebrew Bible (see p. 543).

This chapter, like chs. 2; 3; and 4, is an acrostic poem (see Vol. Ill, p. 625). Each verse begins with a different Hebrew letter, arranged in alphabetical order.

Sit solitary. Jerusalem, deserted and ruined, presents a woeful contrast to the once-thriving capital, famous for its architectural beauty and strategic strength. The same figure, a woman sitting forlorn and dejected, is employed in a victory medal issued by the Roman conqueror Titus, who captured Jerusalem in A.D. 70 and destroyed the Temple. This medal depicts a woman weeping beneath a palm tree, below which is the inscription, Judaea capta, “Judea captured.”

Become as a widow. Jerusalem is bereaved of her people (see on Jer. 4:25). She is also a widow in that the Lord is no longer her husband. Jewish commentators stress the word “as”: she is only temporarily a widow, inasmuch as the Lord has forsaken her but “for a small moment” (Isa. 54:6, 7).

Tributary. Heb. mas, “forced service,” or “a person levied to forced service.” The word seems to involve servitude as well as taxation. It is used in connection with the Egyptian taskmasters (Ex. 1:11).