Ekhah 4:15

15 They cried unto them, Go away; tamei (unclean)! Depart, depart, touch not; so they fled away and wandered. They said among the Goyim, They shall no more sojourn there.

Ekhah 4:15 Meaning and Commentary

Lamentations 4:15

They cried unto them, depart ye, [it is] unclean
Or, O ye "unclean" F5; that is, the people said so to the priests, being polluted with blood; they abhorred them, did not care they should come nigh them, but bid them keep at distance; they that cleansed others of leprosy were treated as leprous persons themselves, and proclaimed unclean, and shunned as such: and, to show their vehement abhorrence of them, repeated the words, depart, depart, touch not:
that is, touch us not; they who had used to say; to others, stand by yourselves, we are more holy than you, being the Lord's priests and prophets, are treated after the same manner themselves: when they fled away, and wandered;
fled from the city, and wandered among the nations; or when they were swiftly carried away captives, and became vagabonds in other countries: they said among the Heathens, they shall no more sojourn [there];
being among the Heathens, they took notice of them as very wicked men, and said concerning them, now they are carried out of their own land, they shall never return there any more, and dwell in Jerusalem, and officiate in the temple, as they had formerly done.


FOOTNOTES:

F5 (amj) "immunde", Montanus; "immundi", Strigelius. "gens polluta", Vatablus; "discedite polluti", Gataker.

Ekhah 4:15 In-Context

13 For the sins of her Nevi’im, and the iniquities of her Kohanim, that have shed the dahm of the Tzaddikim in the midst of her,
14 They have groped about like ivrim (blind men) in the streets; they have defiled themselves with dahm, so that men dare not touch their garments.
15 They cried unto them, Go away; tamei (unclean)! Depart, depart, touch not; so they fled away and wandered. They said among the Goyim, They shall no more sojourn there.
16 The anger of Hashem hath scattered them; He will no more regard them; they respected not the persons of the Kohanim; they showed no favor to the Zekenim.
17 As for us, our eyes failed looking in vain for ezratenu (our help); from our towers we have watched for a nation that could not save us.
The Orthodox Jewish Bible fourth edition, OJB. Copyright 2002,2003,2008,2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International. All rights reserved.