Lamentations 5:3

3 Orphans we are, not a father in sight, and our mothers no better than widows.

Lamentations 5:3 Meaning and Commentary

Lamentations 5:3

We are orphans and fatherless
In every sense; in a natural sense, their fathers having been cut off by the sword, famine, or pestilence; in a civil sense, their king being taken from them; and in a religious sense, God having forsaken them for their sins: our mothers [are] as widows;
either really so, their husbands being dead; or were as if they had no husbands, they not being able to provide for them, protect and deferred them. The Targum adds,

``whose husbands are gone to the cities of the sea, and it is doubtful whether they are alive.''

Some understand this politically, of their cities being desolate and defenceless.

Lamentations 5:3 In-Context

1 "Remember, God, all we've been through. Study our plight, the black mark we've made in history.

2 Our precious land has been given to outsiders, our homes to strangers.

3 Orphans we are, not a father in sight, and our mothers no better than widows.

4 We have to pay to drink our own water. Even our firewood comes at a price.

5 We're nothing but slaves, bullied and bowed, worn out and without any rest.