Waiting in Vain: Poetic Repetition and Futile Hope in Lamentations 4:17
עוֹדִינָה תִּכְלֶ֣ינָה עֵינֵ֔ינוּ אֶל־עֶזְרָתֵ֖נוּ הָ֑בֶל בְּצִפִּיָּתֵ֣נוּ צִפִּ֔ינוּ אֶל־גֹּ֖וי לֹ֥א יֹושִֽׁיעַ׃ (Lamentations 4:17) Still our eyes are consumed in looking for our help—vainly; in our looking we looked to a nation that cannot save. Lamentations 4:17 is a piercing lament about misplaced hope and the agony of waiting. The verse portrays the eyes of the people…