Lamentations 3:17-29

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Lamentations 3:17 tn Heb “my soul.” The term נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my soul”) is used as a synecdoche of part (= my soul) for the whole person (= I).
2. Lamentations 3:17 tc The MT reads וַתִּזְנַח (vattiznakh, “she/it rejected”), resulting in the awkward phrase “my soul rejected from peace.” The LXX καὶ ἀπώσατο (kai apōsato) reflects a text of וַיִּזְנַח (vayyiznakh, “he deprived [my soul of peace].” The Latin Vulgate repulsa est reflects a text of וַתִּזָּנַח (vattizzanakh), “she/it was excluded [from peace]”). Each is a form of זָנַח (zanakh, “to reject”). The MT and LXX read a Qal preterite but differ on whether the verb is feminine or masculine. The Vulgate read the same consonants as in the MT but as a Niphal, and so passive. The MT best explains the origin of the LXX and Vulgate readings. The מ (mem) beginning the next word may have been an enclitic on the verb rather than a preposition on the noun. This would be the only Qal occurrence of זָנַח (zanakh) used with the preposition מִן (min). Placing the מ (mem) on the noun would have created the confusion leading to the changes made by the LXX and Vulgate. HALOT 276 s.v. II זנח attempts to deal with the problem lexically by positing a meaning “to exclude from” for זָנַח (zanakh) plus מִן (min), but also allows that the Niphal may be the correct reading.
3. Lamentations 3:17 tn Heb “from peace.” H. Hummel suggests that שָׁלוֹם (shalom) is the object and the מ (mem) is not the preposition מִן (min), but an enclitic on the verb (“Enclitic Mem in Early Northwest Semitic, Especially in Hebrew” JBL 76 [1957]: 105). שָׁלוֹם (shalom) has a wide range of meaning. The connotation is that there is no peace within; the speaker is too troubled for any calm to take hold.
4. Lamentations 3:17 tn Heb “goodness.”
5. Lamentations 3:18 tn Heb “and my hope from the Lord.” The hope is for deliverance. The words “I have lost all” have been supplied in the translation in order to clarify the Hebrew idiom for the English reader.
6. Lamentations 3:19 tc The LXX records ἐμνήσθην (emnēsthēn, “I remembered”), which may reflect a first person singular form זָכַרְתִּי (zakharti), whereas the MT preserves the form זְכָר (z^ekhor), which may be Qal imperative second person masculine singular (“Remember!”) or infinitive construct (“To remember…”). A second person masculine singular imperative would most likely address God. In the next verse נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my soul”) is the subject of זְכָר (z^ekhor). If נַפְשִׁי (nafshi) is also the subject here, one would expect a second person feminine singular imperative זִכְרִי (zikhri), a form that stands in the middle of the MT’s זְכָר (z^ekhor) and the presumed זָכַרְתִּי (zakharti) read by the LXX. English versions are split between the options: “To recall” (NJPS), “Remember!” (RSV, NRSV, NASB), “Remembering” (KJV, NKJV), and “I remember” (NIV). tn The basic meaning of זָכַר (zakhar) is “to remember, call to mind” (HALOT 270 s.v. I זכר). Although it is often used in reference to recollection of past events, it can also describe consideration of present situations: “to consider, think about” something present (BDB 270 s.v. 5).
7. Lamentations 3:19 tn The two nouns עָנְיִי וּמְרוּדִי (ʿonyi um^erudi, lit., “my poverty and my homelessness”) form a nominal hendiadys in which one noun functions adjectivally and the other retains its full nominal sense: “my impoverished homelessness” or “homeless poor” (GKC 397-98 §124.e). The use of a nearly identical phrase in Lam 1:7 and Isa 58:7 (see GKC 226 §83.c) suggests this was a Hebrew idiom. Jerusalem’s inhabitants were impoverished and homeless.
8. Lamentations 3:19 tn The two nouns joined by ו (vav), לַעֲנָה וָרֹאשׁ (laʿana varoʾsh, “wormwood and poison”) form a nominal hendiadys. The first retains its full verbal sense and the second functions adjectivally: “bitter poison.”
9. Lamentations 3:20 tc The MT reads נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my soul”); however, the Masoretic scribes preserve an alternate textual tradition, marked by the Tiqqune Sopherim (“corrections by the scribes”), of נַפְשֶׁךָ (nafshekha, “your soul”).tn Heb “my soul.” The term נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my soul”) is used as a synecdoche of part (= my soul) for the whole person (= I). The verb תִּזְכּוֹר (tizkor) is Qal imperfect third person feminine singular, and the subject is נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my soul”), though the term does not appear until the end of the verse, functioning as the subject of both verbs. Due to the synecdoche, the line is translated as though the verb were first person common singular.
10. Lamentations 3:20 tn The infinitive absolute followed by an imperfect of the same root is an emphatic rhetorical statement: זָכוֹר תִּזְכּוֹר (zakhor tizkor, “continually think”). Although the basic meaning of זָכַר (zakhar) is “to remember, call to mind” (HALOT 270 I זכר), here it refers to consideration of a present situation: “to consider, think about” something present (BDB 270 s.v. זָכַר 5). The referent of the third person feminine singular form of תִּזְכּוֹר (tizkor) is the feminine singular noun נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my soul”).
11. Lamentations 3:20 tc The MT reads נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my soul”); however, the Masoretic scribes preserve an alternate textual tradition, included in some lists of the Tiqqune Sopherim (“corrections by the scribes”), of נַפְשֶׁךָ (nafshekha, “your soul”).tn Heb “my soul…” or “your soul…” The term נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my soul”) is used as a synecdoche of part (= my soul) for the whole person (= I). Likewise, נַפְשֶׁךָ (nafshekha, “your soul”) is also a synecdoche of part (= your soul) for the whole person (= you).
12. Lamentations 3:20 tc The MT preserves the Kethib וְתָשִׁיחַ (v^etashiakh), while the Qere reads וְתָשׁוֹחַ (v^etashoakh). In theory the Kethib could be a Qal or Hiphil of a root שִׁיח (shikh, “melt away, despair”) or the Hiphil of a root שׁוּח (shukh, “to sink down, collapse”), while the Qere is a Qal of a root שׁוּח (shukh) or of שָׁחַח (shakhakh, “stoop down, be bent over”). None of these are common roots, and one or more may be byforms of each other. The conjectured meaning for שׁוּחַ (shuakh) in BDB 1005 s.v שׁוּחַ is that of שָׁחַח (shakhakh). HALOT 1438-39 s.v. שׁוח reads the root as שָׁחַח (shakhakh). The various options yield similar meanings.tn Heb “and my soul sinks down within me.” The verb II שׁוּחַ (shuakh, “to sink down”) is used here in a figurative sense, meaning “to be depressed.”
13. Lamentations 3:21 tn Heb “I cause to return.”
14. Lamentations 3:21 tn Heb “to my heart.” The noun לֵבָב (levav, “heart”) has a broad range of meanings, including its use as a metonymy of association, standing for thoughts and thinking (= “mind”) (e.g., Deut 32:46; 1 Chr 29:18; Job 17:11; Ps 73:7; Isa 10:7; Hag 1:5, 7; 2:15, 18; Zech 7:10; 8:17).
15. Lamentations 3:22 tn It is difficult to capture the nuances of the Hebrew word חֶסֶד (khesed). When used of the Lord it is often connected to his covenant loyalty. This is the only occasion when the plural form of חֶסֶד (khesed) precedes the plural form of רַחֲמִים (rakhamim, “mercy, compassion”). The plural forms, as with this one, tend to be in late texts. The plural may indicate several concrete expressions of God’s kindnesses or may indicate the abstract concept of his kindness.
16. Lamentations 3:22 tc The MT reads תָמְנוּ (tam^enu) as, “we are [not] cut off,” Qal perfect first person common plural from תָּמַם (tamam, “be finished”): “[Because of] the kindnesses of the Lord, indeed we are not cut off.” However, the ancient versions (LXX, Syriac Peshitta, Aramaic Targum) and many medieval Hebrew mss preserve the alternate reading תָּמּוּ (tammu), a third person common plural form of the same root and stem: “The kindnesses of the Lord indeed never cease.” The external evidence favors the alternate reading. The internal evidence supports this as well, as the parallel B-line suggests, “his compassions never come to an end.” Several English versions follow the MT: “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed” (KJV, NKJV), “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed” (NIV). Other English versions follow the alternate textual tradition: “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases” (RSV, NRSV), “The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease” (NASB), “The kindness of the Lord has not ended” (NJPS) and “The Lord’s unfailing love still continues” (TEV).
17. Lamentations 3:22 tn The plural form of רַחֲמִים (rakhamim) may denote the abstract concept of mercy, several concrete expressions of mercy, or the plural of intensity: “great compassion.” See IBHS 122 §7.4.3a.
18. Lamentations 3:23 tn Heb “they are new.”
19. Lamentations 3:23 tn The adjective רַב (rav) has a broad range of meanings: (1) quantitative: “much, numerous, many (with plurals), abundant, enough, exceedingly” and (2) less often in a qualitative sense: “great” (a) of space and location, (b) “strong” as opposed to “weak” and (c) “major.” The traditional translation, “great is thy faithfulness,” should be understood in a quantitative sense: “your faithfulness is abundant” [or, “plentiful”]. NJPS correctly translates, “Ample is your grace!”
20. Lamentations 3:24 tn Heb “My soul said…” The term נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my soul”) is a synecdoche of a part (= my soul) for the whole person (= I).
21. Lamentations 3:25 tn Heb “wait for him”
22. Lamentations 3:25 tn Heb “to the soul…” The term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “soul”) is a synecdoche of a part (= “the soul who seeks him”) for the whole person (= “the person who seeks him”).
23. Lamentations 3:26 tn Heb “waiting and silently.” The two main words (plus two conjunctions) וְיָחִיל וְדוּמָם (v^eyakhil v^edumam, “waiting and silently”) form a hendiadys where the first functions verbally and the second adverbially: “to wait silently.” The adverb דוּמָם (dumam, “silently”) also functions as a metonymy of association, standing for patience or rest (HALOT 217 s.v.). This metonymical nuance is captured well in less literal English versions: “wait in patience” (TEV) and “wait patiently” (CEV, NJPS). The more literal English versions do not express the metonymy as well: “quietly wait” (KJV, NKJV, ASV), “waits silently” (NASB), and “wait quietly” (RSV, NRSV, NIV).
24. Lamentations 3:26 tn Heb “deliverance of the Lord.” In the genitive-construct, the genitive יהוה (YHWH, “the Lord”) denotes source; that is, he is the source of the deliverance: “deliverance from the Lord.”
25. Lamentations 3:27 tn See note at 3:1 on the Hebrew term for “man” here.
26. Lamentations 3:27 tn Heb “that he bear.”
27. Lamentations 3:27 sn Jeremiah is referring to the painful humiliation of subjugation to the Babylonians, particularly to the exile of the populace of Jerusalem. The Babylonians and Assyrians frequently used the phrase “bear the yoke” as a metaphor: their subjects were made as subservient to them as yoked oxen were to their masters. Because the Babylonian exile would last for seventy years, only those who were in their youth when Jerusalem fell would have any hope of living until the return of the remnant. For the middle-aged and elderly, the yoke of exile would be insufferable, but those who bore this “yoke” in their youth would have hope.
28. Lamentations 3:27 tn Heb “in his youth.” The preposition ב (bet) functions in a temporal sense: “when.”
29. Lamentations 3:28 tn Heb “him.” The speaking voice in this chapter continues to be that of the גֶּבֶר (gever, “man”). The image of female Jerusalem in chs. 1-2 was fluid, being able to refer to the city or its inhabitants, both female and male. So too the “defeated soldier” or “everyman” (see note at 3:1 on “man”) is fluid and can represent any member of the Jewish community, male and female. This line especially has a proverbial character that can be extended to any person, hence the translation. But masculine pronouns are otherwise maintained, reflecting the Hebrew grammatical system and the speaking voice of the poem.
30. Lamentations 3:28 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
31. Lamentations 3:28 tn Heb “has laid it on him.” The verb נָטַל (natal) is used four times in Biblical Hebrew; the related noun refers to heaviness or a burden. The entry of BDB 642 s.v. is outdated, while HALOT 694 s.v. נטל is acceptable for the Qal. See D. R. Hillers, Lamentations (AB), 57. Hillers’ suggestion of a stative meaning for the Qal is followed here, although “impose” is also possible based on 2 Sam 24:12.
32. Lamentations 3:29 tn Heb “Let him put his mouth in the dust.”