אֵיכָה יָשְׁבָה, שְׁלשָׁה נִתְנַבְּאוּ בְּלָשׁוֹן אֵיכָה, משֶׁה, יְשַׁעְיָה, וְיִרְמְיָה. משֶׁה אָמַר (דברים א, יב): אֵיכָה אֶשָֹּׂא לְבַדִּי וגו'. יְשַׁעְיָה אָמַר (ישעיה א, כא): אֵיכָה הָיְתָה לְזוֹנָה. יִרְמְיָה אָמַר: אֵיכָה יָשְׁבָה בָדָד, אָמַר רַבִּי לֵוִי מָשָׁל לְמַטְרוֹנָה שֶׁהָיוּ לָהּ שְׁלשָׁה שׁוֹשְׁבִינִין, אֶחָד רָאָה אוֹתָהּ בְּשַׁלְוָתָהּ, וְאֶחָד רָאָה אוֹתָהּ בְּפַחֲזוּתָהּ, וְאֶחָד רָאָה אוֹתָהּ בְּנִוּוּלָהּ. . . . וְרַבִּי נְחֶמְיָה אוֹמֵר אֵין לְשׁוֹן אֵיכָה אֶלָּא קִינָה, הֲדָא מָה דְאַתְּ אָמַר (בראשית ג, ט): וַיִּקְרָא ה' אֱלֹהִים אֶל הָאָדָם וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ אַיֶּכָּה, אוֹי לְכָה. וְאֵימָתַי נֶאֶמְרָה מְגִלַּת קִינוֹת, רַבִּי יְהוּדָה אוֹמֵר בִּימֵי יְהוֹיָקִים נֶאֶמְרָה, אָמַר לוֹ רַבִּי נְחֶמְיָה וְכִי בּוֹכִין עַל הַמֵּת עַד שֶׁלֹא יָמוּת, אֶלָּא אֵימָתַי נֶאֶמְרָה אַחַר חֻרְבַּן הַבַּיִת, הֲרֵי פִּתְרוֹנוֹ: אֵיכָה יָשְׁבָה בָדָד.
(1) "How (eichah) does she dwell..." (Lamentations 1:1): There are three who prophesied with the language of "eichah": Moses, Isaiah, and Jeremiah. Moses said, (Deuteronomy 1:12), "How (eichah) will I carry alone...". Isaiah said, (Isaiah 1:21) "How (eichah) she has become a prostitute..." Jeremiah said, (Lamentations 1:1) "How (eichah) does she dwell..." Said Rabbi Levi: It is compared to a noble woman who had three friends. One saw her in her tranquility, one saw her in her recklessness, and one saw her in her degenerateness. . . . Rabbi Nechemiah said the word “eichah” means only lamentation. That’s what it means by “And the Lord God called out to the man and said to him, ‘Where are you?’” (Gen. 3:9). God is saying "what have you done." How do we know this is a lamentation? We don't cry for the dead until they are dead, just as there was no lament until the Temple was destroyed. as we read "Eicha (how can it be) that the city sits alone.
(א) איכה.
וישלחהו י"י אלהים מגן עדן (שם כג). וקוננתי עליו איכה, ויקרא י"י אלהים אל האדם ויאמר לו איכה (שם ט), איכה כת'.
“Therefore YHWH banished Adam from the Garden of Eden” (Genesis 3:23). And uttered a lament over him, as indicated by the verse: “YHWH called unto Adam and said to him “Ayekah (where are you” (Genesis 3:9). The word here is spelled with the letter “hey” at the end, so that the word has the further significance of “Eicha, how can it be.” [it is like a howl, if one dare to speak thus of God, expressing the ache of God’s grief, as in Lamentations where God says] “Eicha, How can it be”
(9) The LORD God called out to the man and said to him, “Where are you (Ayekah)?”
(1) איכה WHERE ARE YOU — He knew where he was, but He asked this in order to open up a conversation with him that he should not become confused in his reply, if He were to pronounce punishment against him all of a sudden. Similarly in the case of Cain, He said to him, (4:9) “where is Abel thy brother?” Similarly with Balaam, (Numbers 22:9) “what men are these with thee?” — to open up a conversation with them; so, also, in the case of Hezekiah with reference to the messengers of Merodach-baladan (Isaiah 39:3).
God does not really want to be informed about something that is not known. Rather, God wishes to effect something in a person that can only be effected by such a question. The question is intended to penetrate the human heart, but can only do if the person allows the heart to be penetrated. . . . God's question penetrates this game of hide-and-seek. God's question means to stir us up, it means to destroy our hiding places, it means to show us where we went astray, it means to awaken in us a strong will to extricate ourselves.
––Martin Buber, The Way of Man
(12) How (Eicha) can I bear unaided the trouble of you, and the burden, and the bickering!
(21) How can it be (Eicha), she has become a harlot, The faithful city That was filled with justice, Where righteousness dwelt— But now murderers.
(1) How can it be (Eicha)! Lonely sits the city Once great with people! She that was great among nations Is become like a widow; The princess among states Is become a thrall.