What is the purpose of introducing the national name Judah together with the capital city, Jerusalem?
Judah
refers here to the kingdom of Judah and its inhabitants. Jerusalem, personified as mother to the kingdom, bewails the kingdom's population. Judah is therefore personified as daughter of the land.1
As the name of the nation is introduced, the scene and scope of suffering is expanded. The personification of Jerusalem and Judah is used hyperbolically: the whole nation of Judah did not go into exile, but it is the exile of the skilled people, leaders and other citizens that is highlighted. These deportations intensified Jerusalem’s grief, loneliness, and loss.
3 Judah has gone into exile because of affliction and hard servitude; she dwells now among the nations, but finds no resting place; her pursuers have all overtaken her in the midst of her distress.