In translation it is important to identify the persons who are speaking: “The inhabitants of Jerusalem say…” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch).

The report of it is translated “the news” by Good News Translation and “what threatens us” by Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch.

The expression our hands fall helpless contrasts with the firm grip on their weapons that the enemy has in the previous verse. “Our hands become weak” or “Our hands hang helpless at our sides” may give the picture.

Anguish and pain are two different ways of describing the same experience. It may not be possible in some languages to say anguish has taken hold of us, and so we may need to translate the last two lines as follows: “we are in great pain, like a woman in labor” or “we hurt as much as a woman who is about to give birth to a child.” See 4.31, where the same image of a woman in childbirth is used along with the word anguish.

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Jeremiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2003. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .