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From the Jewish Encyclopedia:

Armenia is also mentioned in the Midrashim: "God said, if I let them pass through the deserts, they will die of starvation. Therefore I lead them by the road of Armenia, where they will find cities and fortresses and plenty of provisions" (Lam. R. i. 14). See also Cant. R., Amsterdam ed., p. 198.

https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/1787-armenia#anchor4

I'm looking for the original Hebrew text of this quote.

I have no idea what "Lam. R. i. 14" refers to.

I'm not Jewish. Please forgive my ignorance.

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    A better translation would be "[God said] if I exile (מגלה) them through the deserts...Therefore I lead them through [the land of] Armenia...". It appears that the writer is familiar with the name but has little idea of its location because I'm unaware of any widescale Jewish exile that passed Armenia into Georgia or Russia.
    – Al Berko
    Jan 23, 2022 at 10:03

1 Answer 1

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That'd be a reference to Lamentations Rabba to chapter 1 verse 14.

Here's the Hebrew of your quote from Sefaria's edition:

אָמַר אִם אֲנִי מַגְלֶה אוֹתָם דֶּרֶךְ מִדְבָּר, הֵם מֵתִים בָּרָעָב, אֶלָּא הֲרֵינִי מַגְלֶה אוֹתָם דֶּרֶךְ אַרְמֶנְיָא, שֶׁהֵם כְּרַכִּין וּמְחוֹזוֹת וּמַאֲכָל וּמִשְׁתֶּה מָצוּי לָהֶם.‏

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