גָּֽלְתָ֨ה יְהוּדָ֤ה מֵעֹ֙נִי֙ וּמֵרֹ֣ב עֲבֹדָ֔ה הִ֚יא יָשְׁבָ֣ה בַגּוֹיִ֔ם לֹ֥א מָצְאָ֖ה מָנ֑וֹחַ כָּל־רֹדְפֶ֥יהָ הִשִּׂיג֖וּהָ בֵּ֥ין הַמְּצָרִֽים׃ (ס)
Yehuda telah pergi ke pembuangan karena penderitaan dan karena perbudakan yang berat. Ia tinggal di antara bangsa-bangsa, tetapi tidak menemukan ketenangan. Semua pengejarnya menyusulnya di tempat-tempat yang sempit.
Tze'enah Ure'enah
“Judah has gone into exile” [1:3]. Israel was driven into exile because of pain and hard labor that strangers made them perform, and they had no rest among the strangers. They pursued them and found them in the limited places. That is to say, in the valley between two mountains, so that they could not easily escape. Another explanation is: “in the narrow places” is from the seventeenth of Tammuz and the ninth of Ab.3Lamentations Rabbah, 1.29.
Ibn Ezra
Yehuda (יהודה) - is both a masculine and feminine noun, similar to Israel (ישראל) and Egypt (מצרים). In the phrase "Vatechazeik Mitzrayim" (ותחזק מצרים), Mitzrayim is used in the masculine form.
Rashi
And excessive toil. With which the people of Kasdim burdened her.20Alternatively, Yehudah was exiled because of her idol worship [עבודה זרה]. (Rishon Letzion)
Rashi
[Even] when she dwelt among the nations. And in the place where she was exiled and settled, she found no respite.21Because in the land where they were exiled, they were unable to partake of their food or their wine. (Lechem Dimah) Alternatively, although exile and torment serve as atonement for sin, the atonement was not complete and therefore there was no respite.
Rashi
Between the barriers. It is elevated on either side and there is no place to flee.
Rashi
The barriers. The boundaries of fields and vineyards.22From where there is no way to escape. (Palgei Mayim) The Midrash Aggadah [explains that it refers to the boundaries of time], i.e., between the seventeenth of Tammuz and the ninth of Av.