The following themes are repeated in summary form:
The statement
they heard my groaning
responds to Lamentations 1:18. Jerusalem had asked the nations to hear her suffering.The complaint that Jerusalem has no comforter was already noted in Lamentations 1:17 by the writer and in Lamentations 1:16 by the city. Now it is repeated:
Yet there is no one to comfort me.
Far from comforting her, her enemies rejoiced at her dire situation:
All my enemies have heard of my trouble; they are glad that you have done it
(cf. Lamentations 1:2, Lamentations 1:5, Lamentations 1:9, Lamentations 1:16).Jerusalem’s earlier confession of rebellion (Lamentations 1:20) corresponds with her acknowledgment that
you have done it.
The statement,
You have brought the day you announced,
corresponds with the expressionthe day of his fierce anger
(Lamentations 1:12).
The presence of enemies; the lack of comforters; the loss of life; Israel’s rebellion against God; God’s righteous punishment — these themes are drawn from earlier verses and restated here in summary form.1 This type of repetition and summary brings the central message of the first lamentation to the fore.
21 On a entendu mes soupirs, et personne ne m'a consolée; Tous mes ennemis ont appris mon malheur, Ils se sont réjouis de ce que tu l'as causé; Tu amèneras, tu publieras le jour où ils seront comme moi.