The Breath of Our Nostrils
12 The kings of the earth didn’t believe, neither did all the inhabitants of the world, that the adversary and the enemy would enter into the gates of Jerusalem. 13 It is because of the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests, that have shed the blood of the just in the middle of her. 14 They wander as blind men in the streets. They are polluted with blood, So that men can’t touch their garments. 15 “Go away!” they cried to them. “Unclean! Go away! Go away! Don’t touch! When they fled away and wandered, men said among the nations, “They can’t live here any more.” 16 Yahweh’s anger has scattered them. He will not pay attention to them any more. They didn’t respect the persons of the priests. They didn’t favor the elders. 17 Our eyes still fail, looking in vain for our help. In our watching we have watched for a nation that could not save. 18 They hunt our steps, so that we can’t go in our streets. Our end is near. Our days are fulfilled, for our end has come. 19 Our pursuers were swifter than the eagles of the sky. They chased us on the mountains. They set an ambush for us in the wilderness. 20 The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of Yahweh, was taken in their pits; of whom we said, under his shadow we will live among the nations. 21 Rejoice and be glad, daughter of Edom, who dwells in the land of Uz. The cup will pass through to you also. You will be drunken, and will make yourself naked. 22 The punishment of your iniquity is accomplished, daughter of Zion. He will no more carry you away into captivity. He will visit your iniquity, daughter of Edom. He will uncover your sins.
The blame is laid on prophets and priests, the failed alliance is named, and the captured king is described in a phrase that means something like the air they breathed.
Verse 12 records the disbelief of outsiders. The kings of the earth did not believe an enemy could enter Jerusalem's gates — the city's reputation for invulnerability was international, and its fall was a surprise to people who had no stake in it.
Verse 13 assigns the cause, and it is internal: because of the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests. The men charged are the ones whose office was to prevent exactly this, and the second chapter had already said the prophets failed to uncover the people's guilt Lamentations 2:14.
Verses 14 and 15 describe them afterward, wandering blind in the streets, polluted with blood, and driven off with the cry used for a leper — unclean, go away, do not touch. The vocabulary of ritual defilement is turned on the men who administered it.
Verse 17 names the political failure in one clause: we watched for a nation that could not save. The last chapter will identify the partners as Egypt and Assyria Lamentations 5:6.
Then verse 20, and it is the most tender line about the monarchy in Scripture: the breath of our nostrils, the anointed of Yahweh, was taken in their pits. The king is described as the air the nation breathed, and the hope attached to him — under his shadow we will live among the nations — is quoted as something they used to say.
The poem ends with EDOM told to rejoice while she can, since the cup will pass to her Lamentations 4:21, and with one clause of relief: for Zion, the punishment is accomplished.
settled What this mark means