Eikha: Chapter 1 (Continued 1)

Picking up the theme of loneliness from the previous verse, this verse emphasizes the haunting absence of comforters. Tears remain undried on Jerusalem’s face; emptied of her inhabitants, the city lacks community or consolers. Loved ones have abandoned her; friends betray her.

Throughout these two verses we pick up on the themes of friends, betrayals, exile, and hints at the slavery in Egypt. In requesting that God see her afflictions, Jerusalem endeavors to enlist the compassionate God who redeemed His nation from Egypt and returned them to the land of their forefathers. The echoes of Egypt may sound ominous, but they also allude to God’s eternal promise, His assurance of divine commitment. Evoking the Egyptian exile at this early stage of the Babylonian exile hints to the possibility of redemption and offers a quiet message of hope.