Our fathers have sinned, and are not; and we have borne their iniquities.
All Commentaries on Lamentations 5:7 Go To Lamentations 5
Thomas Aquinas
AD 1274
Here the people's slavery is exaggerated. So, first are viewed the conditions of those enslaved, as they are being punished for the sins of others. As said: "Our fathers sinned, and are no more, and we bear their iniquities." Since our fathers have died: "we bear their iniquities", while sustaining their punishments.
On the contrary, the prophet Ezekiel claims: "The word of the Lord came to me again: 'What do you mean by repeating this proverb concerning the land of Israel,"The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge"? (Ezek 18:1-2). Solutions can then be declared. As in Exodus 20:5: "for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation." And Deuteronomy 32:41 asserts: "I will take vengeance on my adversaries, and will requite those who hate me."
