The structural center of the book, the uniqueness of chapter 3 is immediately discernable. Its unusual triple acrostic sets it apart from the other chapters in the book. The chapter therefore has 66 verses, as opposed to the 22 verses of the other four chapters. While this technical difference draws our attention, other distinctive elements of the chapter are substantive.
As we look at the final section of Chapter 3, we consider the position of the gever as he overcomes his hopelessness and finds the courage to address God and seek His help.
Chapter 4 of Eikha echoes some structural aspects of the book's first chapters, but the narrator's position shifts. What does this mean? What are the gold and jewels referred to in its first verses meant to evoke?
As we continue to look at Chapter 4, we consider the final appearance of the term eikha and the idea of the golden children of Jerusalem becoming works of clay. Moreover, why are the mothers of Judea compared to ostriches and jackals?
Chapter 4 continues to examine Jerusalem's literal fall into the dumps -- going as far as to describe the city's situation as worse than that of Sodom.
The powerful image of bloodstained wandering Jerusalemites speaks not just to ancient tragedy, but to the recurring travails of the Jewish people across the globe.
