The siege was severe and effective.
First it is stated, They dogged our steps.
This means that the Babylonians had siegeworks higher than the city walls, from which they could observe every movement in the city. This resulted in the restriction of movement in the streets by the people.
Further, this was perceived by the people as the nearness of their end. This end must be seen as the fulfilment of previous prophetic announcements regarding the judgment of Jerusalem (see Amos 8:2; Ezekiel 7:2–27; Ezekiel 21:25, Ezekiel 21:29).1 The people perceived the inevitability of their doom and realized that their end was not far away. With their days numbered, they saw no future for themselves as the quota of days allotted to their lives was full.2
In Lamentations 4:19 they perceive their enemies to be swifter than the eagles.
This alluded to the idea that the enemy waited for fugitives fleeing the city, where they could attack them.3 It could also be a reference to the failed attempt of King Zedekiah to break quietly with his army out of the city and flee to the East (see 2 Kings 25:3–7; Jeremiah 39:4–7; Jeremiah 52:7–11). Whatever the case may be, the pursuers were faster than the eagles in the sky. The Judeans could not shake off their pursuers and were ambushed.4 The word chased
in the expression they chased us
means to search out
or pursue.
They were followed and hunted like animals as they walked in open places, trying to escape. In the city, or fleeing on foot, there was no place that they did not perceive the watching eyes of their enemies on them. Everyone had perceived: the Babylonians were waiting and watching for an opportunity to invade and conquer the city, while the people kept watching for a delivering army.5
18 They dogged our steps so that we could not walk in our streets; our end drew near; our days were numbered, for our end had come.