Expositor's Bible Commentary - Lamentations 5:11-18
SIN AND SHAMELamentations 5:11-18 THE keynote of the fifth elegy is struck in its opening verse when the poet calls upon God to remember the reproach that has been cast upon His people. The preceding poems dwelt on the sufferings of the Jews; here the predominant thought is that of the humiliations to which they have been subjected. The shame of Israel and the sin which had brought it on are now set forth with point and force. If, as some think, the literary grace of the earlier compositions is... read more
John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Lamentations 5:1-22
Zion’s earnest Petition for DeliveranceThis final poem is not so much an elegy as a prayer or meditation. The tone is more calm and spiritual than the others, with no trace of vindictiveness. The poet, speaking for the people, ’will have God know everything.’ Though divided into 22 vv., it is not an acrostic. Rhyme takes the place of the alphabetical structure, the poem having not less than 45 words ending in the sound u: cp. Psalms 124. Like Lamentations 4, each v. is composed of two members... read more