Commentary for Lamentations 3:1

I am the man who has seen torment. Yirmiyahu lamented, saying, “I am the man who has seen torment,” [i.e.,] who has seen torment more than all the prophets who prophesied concerning the destruction of the Beis Hamikdosh, for the Beis Hamikdosh was not destroyed in their days, but it was [destroyed] in my days .

By the rod of His fury. Of the One who chastises and smites, i.e., the Holy One, Blessed is He.¹Alternatively, the enemy’s rod, i.e., this phrase reverts to ‘my enemy has annihilated,’ and how, ‘by the rod of his fury.’ (Ibn Ezra)