Eikha Chapter 2 (continued)

The narrator has achieved his aim, and Jerusalem at last resumes her speech. Tears are absent and the tone of her response is more outrage than supplication, but Jerusalem finally summons up her energy to address God: “Look God and see! To whom have You done this?” Hostile words, unyielding in their steely fury, these words are not designed to elicit divine sympathy but to express Jerusalem’s anger at the atrocities in her midst. Jerusalem’s pent-up pain surges and overflows, bursting forth with a harsh indictment generated by unadulterated horror. She demands that God witness the ghastly sights, remonstrates with Him over the death of helpless children and religious leaders. Yet, Jerusalem’s aim is not merely for God to recognize the grim reality. Instead, she hurls these sights at God as an accusation (“To whom have You done this?”), implicitly challenging God regarding the way that He runs His world.