According to Isaiah 37.35, God had promised to defend Jerusalem against attack; and the same confidence that it could not be conquered was expressed in Psalm 46.5: “God is in that city, and it will never be destroyed” (Good News Translation). In this verse the poet suggests that the rulers and people of other nations shared that popular belief of the people of Israel.

The two Hebrew half-lines (the first two lines of Revised Standard Version) express very much the same sense. The verb believe serves for both. Good News Translation has placed the second half-line first, “No one anywhere,” as a translation of any of the inhabitants of the world, followed by “not even rulers…,” representing The kings of the earth. The thought expresses an attempt to be fully inclusive; that is, “Everyone, from the kings to the ordinary people…,” or, as Bible en français courant says, “Neither the kings of the earth nor anyone in the world….”

Foe or enemy are two words for the same group, which Good News Translation reduces to one, “invader.” Could enter the gates of Jerusalem: enter in this context means to come in by force or break in for the purpose of conquering. For gates see comments on 1.4.

Verse 12 may also be translated, for example, “Neither the kings that ruled the nations nor the people believed it possible to invade Jerusalem and conquer it.”

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 .