“To give the hand” means to submit oneself. Absolutely it was Babylon that had just destroyed their national existence, but Jeremiah means that all feelings of patriotism were crushed, and the sole care that remained was the desire for personal preservation. To secure this the people would readily have submitted to the yoke either of Egypt or Assyria, the great powers from which in their past history they had so often suffered.
Related Commentaries of Lamentations 5:6
Lamentations 5:6
6 We have given the hand to the Egyptians, and to the Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread.