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Hebrew Bible Study

Commentary for Lamentations 5:13

בַּחוּרִים֙ טְח֣וֹן נָשָׂ֔אוּ וּנְעָרִ֖ים בָּעֵ֥ץ כָּשָֽׁלוּ׃

The young men have borne the mill, And the children have stumbled under the wood.

Rashi on Lamentations

Encumbered with millstones. When the enemies led them away in neck irons, they would place on their shoulders millstones and burdens in order to tire them.10Alternatively, ‘youths were forced to grind wheat,’ a task which drains their strength. (Ibn Ezra) And similarly, “[and boys] staggered with beams,” [meaning that] their strength failed. The expression of staggering כִּשְׁלוֹן applies to the weakening of strength, as is stated in Ezra, “And Yehudah said, ‘the strength of the bearer has failed,’”11Nechemyah 4:4. and similarly, “He has caused my strength to fail.”12Eichah 1:14.
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