Prophecy foresaw; Lament feels; city personified
In the prophecy, then, he grieves in soul as one about to suffer most terrible things; but in the present Lament, as these things having already befallen, he is weighed down and through sins confesses that the kindness of God has set herself most bitter—so as even for the many-childed to be made childless, and the most terrible thing, by a hostile hand. And there being a personification, one must not seek a city’s womb that has given birth and a heart that has been loosed.
Greek
Klagel. Jerem. 1, 20. Ἐν μὲν οὖν τῇ προφητείᾳ ἀλγεῖ τὴν ψυχὴν ὡς πεισόμενος δει- νότατα· ἐν δὲ τῷ παρόντι Θρήνῳ, ὡς ἤδη τούτων συμβεβηκότων, ἄχθεταί τε καὶ δι' ἁμαρτίας ὁμολογεῖ τὴν χρηστότητα τοῦ θεοῦ πικροτάτην ἑαυτὴν καταστῆσαι, ὡς καὶ ἀτεκνωθῆναι τὴν πολύ- τεκνον, καὶ τὸ δεινότατον, πολεμίᾳ χειρί. προσωποποιίας δὲ οὔσης, οὐ δεῖ ζητεῖν πόλεως κοιλίαν τεκοῦσαν καὶ καρδίαν λελυμένην.
About this text
Origen, Fragments on Lamentations. Original English Translation from the Greek (Klostermann).
English is newly prepared for study from the stated edition. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.