How the Lord in his anger: How, which introduces an exclamation, translates the same word used at the beginning of chapter 1. Lord is ʾadonai, as in 1.14. Anger translates the same word used in 1.12. See there for translation suggestions.
Has set … under a cloud translates a single word used only here in the Old Testament, and which is translated in various ways. The literal translation of Revised Standard Version means either that the Lord is placing them where something threatening is about to happen, or that he is providing them with relief from the heat of the sun. It is apparent that the second meaning does not fit the context. Good News Translation has attempted to give the sense of threatening punishment, with “covered … with darkness.” Bible en français courant says “The Lord holds very somber clouds over Jerusalem,” and New English Bible “What darkness the LORD in his anger has brought upon….” Another group of translations follows a suggestion based on a similar word in Arabic which means “treat with contempt,” and so AB; Moffatt and New Jerusalem Bible also follow this suggestion and translate “The Lord has shamed….” If the translator retains the picture of covering Jerusalem with a cloud, the expression should carry the sense of threat of punishment. If the cloud picture lacks this sense, it is better to speak of placing Jerusalem under darkness. But if this picture only means that night has come, translators are advised to say something like “put Jerusalem under the threat of punishment” or “The Lord … threatens to punish Jerusalem.”
For daughter of Zion see discussion of 1.6.
He has cast down from heaven to earth expresses the same poetic imagery used in Isaiah 14.12 and Ezekiel 28.14-17, where the rulers are said to be thrown from great heights to the earth. He refers to the Lord. From heaven to earth gives a picture of extremes of distance, that is, from the very highest place to the very lowest. Although the imagery is of distance in space, the meaning is still the past of Jerusalem’s greatness compared to her present ruin. Good News Translation does not attempt to retain the heaven-earth contrast and so sacrifices the picture of extreme positions, with “turned into ruins.” The expression cast down … to earth must not be translated in such a way that the reader pictures something falling from the sky like a meteor.
Splendor of Israel probably refers to the glory, beauty, prestige of Jerusalem and its Temple. It calls attention to its visible greatness. In some languages it will be necessary to shift splendor to a more specific idea; for example, “the things which the people of Israel loved,” “the things which the people of Israel said were wonderful,” or “Israel’s treasures.” The full idea may then be translated in nonfigurative language; for example, “The Lord has caused to be nothing the things which the people of Israel said were wonderful” or “God has made the treasures of Israel to be worthless.”
He has not remembered his footstool: the expression not remembered, if translated literally, will often mean that God in his anger forgot where he had left his stool. However, the sense of has not remembered may be expressed positively as “has abandoned, rejected, turned away from.” In Isaiah 66.1 the LORD says “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool.” In our context a particular place is meant, as in Psalm 99.5, “… worship at his footstool,” where the reference is to the Temple. New English Bible takes the word to be a reference to Jerusalem itself: “The Lord … did not remember … that Zion was his footstool.” The parallelism in 1 Chronicles 28.2 indicates that the ark of the covenant was also referred to as God’s footstool, and that is another possible meaning. In some languages it is possible to retain the image of Jerusalem or the Temple as God’s footstool; for example, “In his anger he has rejected Jerusalem as his footstool.” If the idea of a footstool must be avoided, it may be possible to say, for example, “In his anger God has abandoned his Temple in Jerusalem.”
In the day of his anger: for day see comments on 1.21. As usual in Lamentations, day of his anger refers here to the time when God punishes Israel. This time clause must often come before the main clause; for example, Bible en français courant says “When his anger broke out against Zion, he forgot that it was his footstool.”
Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. A Handbook on Lamentations. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1992. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .