My eyes is, as in verse 48, literally “my eye,” but most translate as a plural. New English Bible and others change the Hebrew slightly to get “my affliction,” which is placed in verse 50 as the thing God sees.

The Hebrew for my eyes cause me grief is literally “my eye torments my soul,” where “my soul” equals “me.” However, New English Bible and others alter the Hebrew to get “the LORD torments me.” Hebrew Old Testament Text Project supports the unaltered text, which Revised Standard Version follows. Good News Translation has switched to another organ of the body, “My heart is grieved,” which is more natural for English.

There is no verb in the Hebrew of verse 51 which means “see.” The form of the Hebrew text may not seem to be a very natural way of expressing the intended meaning, but it must be remembered that the poet was restricted not only by the number of words he could use in a verse, but also by the need to begin each verse with a particular letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

At the fate is supplied by Revised Standard Version, as the literal expression is “My eye torments my soul from all the daughters of my city,” and this does not make very clear sense. Good News Translation, however, is clearer with “When I see what has happened to….” Maidens of my city translates the Hebrew for “daughters of my city.” This expression is unusual. It could well have been used here based on the analogy of the expression “daughter of Jerusalem,” though that is more often in the singular, referring either to the city itself or to all its people. If the reference is to women only, the text does not make clear what may have happened to them. But it is just as possible that it refers to the general destruction of the city and its people, as mentioned in verse 48. We may translate, for example, “… when I see what the enemies have done to the people of Jerusalem” or “… when I see how the enemies of Jerusalem have destroyed the city.”

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 .