Lamentations 5:20 Meaning Explained

Q: What does Lamentations 5:20 mean?

The poet doesn't ask "Why have you forgotten us?" but "Why do you forget us?", suggesting that the feeling of abandonment is ongoing and ongoing, not a past event. This subtle shift in tense highlights the present reality of their suffering and the desperate plea that God's active presence hasn't truly ceased.

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Lamentations 5:20

Why do you forget us forever, why do you forsake us for so many days?

English Standard Version (ESV)

The poet doesn't ask "Why have you forgotten us?" but "Why do you forget us?", suggesting that the feeling of abandonment is ongoing and ongoing, not a past event. This subtle shift in tense highlights the present reality of their suffering and the desperate plea that God's active presence hasn't truly ceased.

What Lamentations 5:20 means

After recounting the devastation and hardship they face, the lament shifts from describing their suffering to questioning God directly. This verse expresses the painful bewilderment of a people who feel abandoned by God, wondering if He has forgotten them entirely amidst their prolonged national crisis. The poem concludes with a plea for God to turn back to His people and restore them.

The Feeling of God's Absence

Ever feel like God is out of reach, like He's forgotten you? This verse dives into that painful experience.

In Lamentations 5:20, the writer isn't stating God has forgotten them as a fact. Instead, they're expressing the profound feeling of abandonment during a time of deep crisis.

A Question of Perception

The wording "Wherefore dost thou forget..." (or "Why do you forget...") uses the present tense to describe a current, overwhelming sensation. It's not an accusation of God's character, but a cry born from suffering.
The commentaries highlight that this is about how God seems or how His providence is perceived in the midst of hardship. It's the gut-wrenching feeling that God's presence has vanished, even if deep down, they can't truly believe He'd abandon His people forever.
This highlights the difference between God's unchanging faithfulness and our human experience of His presence. In our darkest moments, we might feel forsaken, even when God is still present and working.

Enduring Abandonment, Not Eternal

Is God's forsaking a permanent state, or is there hope even in the longest night?

The phrase "for ever" and "for so many days" in Lamentations 5:20 captures a sense of unending duration. But the deeper context reveals this is a cry against seeming eternal separation, not a statement of eternal fact.

The Weight of Time

The "long time" likely refers to the decades of exile and suffering the people of Judah were enduring.
To those experiencing it, extended periods of hardship can feel like forever. The emotional weight of suffering can distort our perception of time and God's faithfulness.
Yet, the very act of asking "Why?" implies a hope that the current state is not God's final word. It's a plea rooted in the belief that God remember and act, suggesting the current abandonment is temporary, however painful.

Understand the original words

Original language

forgetשָׁכַח

shakach · Hebrew Verb

To fail to keep in mind or to treat as if absent. In a theological sense, it is an appeal for God to remember His covenant promises and return His favor to His people.

forsakeעָזַב

azab · Hebrew Verb

To abandon, leave behind, or relinquish care. It signifies a profound experience of divine withdrawal or the perception that God has removed His protection and presence.

Historical context

Written: Likely written shortly after the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC.
Author: Traditionally understood as Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, though the book itself doesn't explicitly name an author.
Location: Written from the perspective of those in exile, likely in or near Babylon, lamenting the destruction of Jerusalem and the land of Judah.
Genre: Lament (a form of poetic dirge) featuring direct address and rhetorical questions to express deep sorrow and confusion.

Historical background

This lament arises from the profound shock and sorrow following the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple by the Babylonians. The people grapple with the agonizing feeling of being abandoned by God during their exile, questioning His faithfulness after such a devastating national catastrophe.

722 BC
Fall of Samaria and Israel
The Assyrian Empire conquers the northern Kingdom of Israel, deporting many citizens and scattering them throughout the empire.
605 BC
First Deportation to Babylon
King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon deports a group of Judean nobles and skilled workers, including Daniel, to Babylon.
597 BC
Second Deportation to Babylon
Jerusalem falls to Babylon, and King Jehoiachin along with thousands more Judeans are exiled to Babylon.
586 BC— this verse
Destruction of Jerusalem and Temple
The Babylonians, under Nebuchadnezzar, destroy Jerusalem and its Temple, exiling most of the remaining population to Babylon. This marks the end of Judah as an independent state.

Key themes

01God's seeming abandonment
02The pain of divine absence
03Questioning God's faithfulness
04Enduring the long wait

Cross-references

Psalm 74:1

This Psalm echoes the same cry of bewilderment and pain, asking 'Why, O God, have you utterly rejected us? Why does your anger smolder against the sheep of your pasture?' It highlights a recurring theme of God's people questioning His apparent absence during times of distress.

Isaiah 49:14-15

Here, God addresses the feeling of abandonment, stating, 'But Zion said, 'The Lord has forsaken me; the Lord has forgotten me.'' God's response is a powerful affirmation of His unwavering love and remembrance, showing that this feeling of being forgotten, though intensely real to us, is not God's reality.

Matthew 27:46

Jesus Himself, on the cross, cried out, 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?' This ultimate expression of abandonment reveals the depth of suffering and the feeling of divine desertion, yet it leads to the ultimate victory of redemption.

Romans 8:38-39

This passage powerfully reassures believers that 'neither death nor life, neither angels nor rulers, neither things present nor things to come, nor any powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.' It stands in stark contrast to the feelings of abandonment expressed in Lamentations, offering a divine guarantee of His perpetual presence.

Scholarly commentary

Lamentations 5:20: "Wherefore dost thou forget us for ever, and forsake us so long time?"

(20) Wherefore dost thou forget . . . —This was the problem of the mystery of suffering then, as it has been at all times. Jehovah had seemed forgetful of His people, indifferent to their miseries.
ellicott

Lamentations 5:20: "Wherefore dost thou forget us for ever, and forsake us so long time?"

Wherefore dost thou, in the dispensations of thy providence, carry thyself as if thou hadst forgotten us, and forsaken us, and that for a long time.
poole

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What Lamentations 5:20 means

Original language

forgetשָׁכַח

shakach · Hebrew Verb

To fail to keep in mind or to treat as if absent. In a theological sense, it is an appeal for God to remember His covenant promises and return His favor to His people.

forsakeעָזַב

azab · Hebrew Verb

To abandon, leave behind, or relinquish care. It signifies a profound experience of divine withdrawal or the perception that God has removed His protection and presence.

Historical context

Written: Likely written shortly after the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC.
Author: Traditionally understood as Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, though the book itself doesn't explicitly name an author.
Location: Written from the perspective of those in exile, likely in or near Babylon, lamenting the destruction of Jerusalem and the land of Judah.
Genre: Lament (a form of poetic dirge) featuring direct address and rhetorical questions to express deep sorrow and confusion.

Historical background

722 BC

Fall of Samaria and Israel

The Assyrian Empire conquers the northern Kingdom of Israel, deporting many citizens and scattering them throughout the empire.

605 BC

First Deportation to Babylon

King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon deports a group of Judean nobles and skilled workers, including Daniel, to Babylon.

597 BC

Second Deportation to Babylon

Jerusalem falls to Babylon, and King Jehoiachin along with thousands more Judeans are exiled to Babylon.

586 BC— this verse

Destruction of Jerusalem and Temple

The Babylonians, under Nebuchadnezzar, destroy Jerusalem and its Temple, exiling most of the remaining population to Babylon. This marks the end of Judah as an independent state.