10 י (Yod) The elders of Daughter Zion sit on the ground in silence. They have thrown dirt on their heads; they have dressed in sackcloth. Jerusalem’s young women stare down at the ground. 11 כ (Kaf) My eyes are worn out from weeping; my stomach is in knots. My heart is poured out on the ground due to the destruction of my helpless people; children and infants faint in the town squares. 12 ל (Lamed) Children say to their mothers, “Where are food and drink?” They faint like a wounded warrior in the city squares. They die slowly in their mothers’ arms.
1 Maccabees 2:9
7 and said, "Alas! Why was I born to see this, the ruin of my people, the ruin of the holy city, and to live there when it was given over to the enemy, the sanctuary given over to aliens? 8 Her temple has become like a person without honor; 9 her glorious vessels have been carried into exile. Her infants have been killed in her streets, her youths by the sword of the foe. 10 What nation has not inherited her palaces and has not seized her spoils? 11 All her adornment has been taken away; no longer free, she has become a slave.
Notes and References
"... The only other mention of “streets” occurs in the description of idyllic peace in the eulogy of Simon (πλατύς 1 Maccabees 14:9; cf. 1:55; 2:9). The parallels reflect a contrast between life before, and life after, the Maccabees' rise to power. (Whereas 1 Maccabees 2:9 echoes Lamentations 2:11–12, 1 Maccabees 14:9 echoes Zechariah 8:4. The vocabulary in Mattathias’s outcry reflects the language of Lamentations more fully than any of the other four interludes ... In particular, note the resonances with Lamentations 2:7, 19–22. The personification of Jerusalem as a mother who grieves the loss of her children and the devastation of her temple resonates with Lamentations) ..."
Duggan, Michael 1 Maccabees: Emotions of Life and Death in Narrative and Lament (pp. 95-116) De Gruyter, 2015
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