Эйха 1:3 Комментарий: Tze'enah Ure'enah, Rashi & Ibn Ezra

“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.

Yehudah was exiled. From her land.

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.

Because of torment. Because of her affliction.

And excessive toil. With which the people of Kasdim burdened her.²⁰Alternatively, Yehudah was exiled because of her idol worship [עבודה זרה]. (Rishon Letzion)

[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.

Between the barriers. It is elevated on either side and there is no place to flee.

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.