The three units of this verse do not show parallelism of meaning but progression of events. In the first unit God decides to destroy the walls. The second unit shows how he went about it, and the third pictures the tragic results.
Once again the poet emphasizes that the destruction of Jerusalem was part of the LORD’s plan. He marked off the walls with a measuring line, not to ensure they were properly built, as in Job 38.5, but to ensure their complete and total destruction. In verse 3 the Lord restrained his hand from taking action to help his people. Here the same expression is used negatively to indicate that God used his power to bring about the destruction.
The LORD determined to lay in ruins: determined translates a verb meaning “to make a firm decision.” To lay in ruins means to destroy, and is the same word used in verses 5 and 6.
The wall in Hebrew is singular but refers to the walls that enclose the city. The daughter of Zion refers to the city of Jerusalem and should be translated in a manner consistent with the other usages of this expression in 1.6; 2.1, 4.
Marked it off by the line will have little or no meaning in areas where local buildings are put up without using measurements. Even where such lines are used, the expression is used here in regard to destroying the wall, which is not a normal practice. Accordingly it may be necessary to translate using a comparison; for example, “As builders draw a straight line to build a wall, so God used a line to break down the walls of Jerusalem.” In areas where the use of a measuring line is unknown, it may be possible to express the deliberate and calculated nature of the destruction by saying, for example, “God took great care to destroy the walls of Jerusalem” or “God measured the walls of Jerusalem by stepping them off, and then broke them down.”
He restrained not his hand from destroying is literally “he did not turn his hand from swallowing.” This half-line parallels the sense of the previous one, in that “did not turn his hand” is an idiom meaning “he did not hesitate” or “he went right ahead.” Destroying again translates the Hebrew for “swallow.” See 2.2.
He caused rampart and wall to lament depicts the walls of the city as if they were people crying over their own destruction. Rampart refers to a defensive wall beyond the main wall, that is, an outer wall, as mentioned in 2 Samuel 20.15. This outer wall had to be broken through before the invaders could attack the main wall. Good News Translation translates “towers,” which suggests a high place used as a lookout.
In many areas of the world, walls built around cities for their defense are unknown. Therefore it is often necessary to employ a descriptive phrase in translation; for example, “the walls that protect the city from its enemies” or “the walls that keep the enemy outside the city.” In some languages wall will be translated by a word meaning fence or hedge, since walls are only associated with houses. In many areas a fence of brush, branches, earth, or stones is placed around a house or garden to protect it, and the term used for such a protection may be appropriate in this context.
The major translation problem is not in the word for “walls” but in the fact that they are said to lament. It is sometimes possible to keep something of the poet’s imagery by shifting to a simile; for example, “The LORD destroyed the walls that protected Jerusalem, and the walls were like people weeping.” Languish together again suggests that these ruined walls are like people who have lost their strength and are dying, and so we may have to say, for example, “and they no longer have any strength” or “together they lie in ruins.”
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 .