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 .

He led me off my way: he refers to God, who is compared to dangerous animals in verse 10. Led me off translates a verb whose meaning is not certain. However, the presence of way or “path” in the context, plus the context of the previous verse, makes it probable that Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation express the idea correctly. New International Version “he dragged me from the path” is a good translation model. The verb translated tore me to pieces is even less certain, as it occurs nowhere else. New English Bible derives the verb from the Hebrew word meaning “lame” and so translates “He has lamed me.” This translation is based on one of the early Greek versions. The same Hebrew verb is found with a slight difference of spelling in 2 Samuel 4.4. However, most modern translations give something similar to tore me to pieces, which suits the context well.

Made me desolate: desolate (see 1.4, 16) means “abandoned, lonely, helpless” in reference to a person’s situation.

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 .

Wrapped thyself with anger is a picturable metaphor. In similar terms the mountain is “wrapped in darkness” in Deuteronomy 4.11, while Ezekiel 7.27 has “wrapped in despair,” and Psalm 109.29 says “wrapped in … shame.” Wrapped in the sense of “cover” is taken by Moffatt to refer to a veil: “thou hast veiled thy face in anger.” This is ambiguous, meaning either “because of anger” or “with a covering of anger.” A better sense is expressed in Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, “You surround us with your anger.” In languages which cannot follow the figure of being wrapped in an abstract expression such as anger, it may be possible to follow Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, or to say, for example, “All around us we see that you are angry” or “Everywhere we turn we find that you are angry.” In some languages it may be necessary to translate verse 43, for example, as “You have been angry, and so you chased us and killed us, and you have had no pity on us.”

Slaying without pity: slaying translates a different Hebrew verb than that used in the similar expression in 2.21; however, the two verbs mean the same. Without pity is the same in Hebrew as “without mercy” in 2.2 and 2.21. See there for comments.

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 .

In this verse the contrast is not between past and present but between two forms of death experienced by the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

Happier translates the Hebrew for “better,” meaning that those who were killed by the enemy were more fortunate than those who starved to death. Victims of the sword translates a phrase meaning “pierced by the sword,” as also used in Numbers 19.16, “slain by the sword.” “Pierced” occurs as “slain” by itself in Deuteronomy 21.1. In a more general way of speaking we may say “killed by the enemy,” “died fighting the enemy,” “killed while fighting.”

Victims of hunger: victims is the same word repeated, and so the poet creates a parallel poetic image in which hunger is the slayer, “killed by hunger.” If this is possible in the translator’s language, it may be poetically useful to attempt to retain the parallelism of expression.

In Revised Standard Version and others the expression who pined away refers back to those who died of hunger in the previous unit of the verse. But the Hebrew is not clear. AB makes who refer to those who died of wounds, and so makes the second half of the verse parallel to the first half: “Those killed by the sword had it better than those killed by famine, Those who perished of wounds, than those who lacked the fruits of the field.”

Pined away translates a word meaning to flow or melt, and in this context “wasted away” (New English Bible) is the equivalent of Revised Standard Version. Stricken translates a word which appears to mean “pierced.” See also the same word translated “wounded” in Jeremiah 37.10; 51.4. Here want of the fruits of the field serves the same purpose as the sword and hunger. Fruits of the field means food, produce, something to eat. It is the contrast between a quick death in battle and a slow death by starvation that is the main theme of the verse, whatever may be the details about the way in which this is expressed.

The contrast expressed in Happier were the victims … than … must be expressed in a different way in many languages, so that the comparison is seen to be in the degree of suffering; for example, “Those who were killed in battle suffered, but those who slowly starved to death suffered more,” or “The suffering of those who died in battle was much, but the suffering of those who died from starvation was still more.”

For the second half of the verse, translators may follow the model of AB above; or, if following Revised Standard Version who pined away, stricken by …, they may need to express this, for example, as “They are the ones who slowly starved because there was no food to eat” or “They slowly died from lack of something to eat.”

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 .

The poet now reaches the closing phase of the book. Verse 19 is a statement of trust in God, in which the two half-lines are parallel in meaning. For a similar recognition of God’s eternal rule in laments, see Psalm 44.1-8; 74.12-17; 80.1-2; 89.1-18. Although the Hebrew does not have a contrast word like But, such a connection is implied by the placement of “you” at the opening of the verse. The ancient versions understood the contrast in the same way.

Reign translates the same term as used in 2.10, where it means “sit.” When used, as here, in parallel with throne, the sense is clearly that of “reign, rule, govern.” Good News Translation and Bible en français courant say “you … are king.” The word translated for ever can either refer back to the beginning of time or forward to the end of time, as in Psalm 90.2: “from everlasting to everlasting thou art God.” In this context the poet is looking to the future, and so translators should indicate this.

Thy throne is a symbol of God’s rule, or of God’s being the ruler. Endures to all generations is literally “to generation and generation,” which means “from one generation to another” (New English Bible), or continually, without ceasing. God’s eternal kingly rule was an article of faith for the psalmists, as is clear from such passages as Psalm 9.7; 29.10; 93.2; 102.12. For ever and to all generations may sometimes be rendered as “going on and on,” or negatively as “having no end”; for example, “LORD, you will go on and on ruling and you will rule us for ever.”

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 .

In this verse the imagery of weeping and tears continues the theme of sorrow. The first two half-lines of the verse are parallel in meaning. The verb weeps is sometimes followed in the second line by the verb “shed tears”; see Jeremiah 13.17, “run down with tears.” Here the second half-line contains only the noun tears. However, the sense is the same as if “shed tears” was used. This movement from a general verb in the first half-line to a more precise expression in the second half-line gives a sense of increasing the force or intensity of the first unit. Translators who seek to translate in poetic terms should follow the rules of poetic style in their own language to provide for intensification within the second half-line, if such intensification is not expressed adequately by the particular selection of words.

She weeps bitterly in the night: bitterly refers to the resentful nature and intensity of her weeping. In the night refers to the extent of her weeping. That is, “she weeps throughout the entire night” or, as Good News Translation says, “all night long she cries.”

Tears on her cheeks represents the picturable or dramatic rephrasing of the first half-line. In simple prose terms the whole unit says “She weeps bitterly all night long so that tears are on her cheeks.” If the translator is unable to retain the repetition of parallelism, it may be possible to replace it here by relating the two similar statements by a logical connective; for example, “Because she cries all night long, her cheeks are wet with her tears.”

The remaining units in verse 2 provide the reason for Jerusalem’s weeping. In some languages it may be necessary to introduce them with “this is because” or “this is the reason.”

Among all her lovers: lovers translates a word which carries the sense of an irregular relation a man has with a woman to whom he is not married. It is used in Ezekiel 16.33 with reference to Jerusalem’s political allies, and in Hosea 2.5 with reference to Israel’s worship of Baal. In the present context it draws attention to Jerusalem’s faithlessness to the LORD, her true husband. Lovers, which is used figuratively, emphasizes Jerusalem’s female image. In some languages it will be necessary to make it clear that lovers refers to a temporary relationship. This may sometimes be expressed as, for example, “her male friends” or “those who made love to her.”

It is also possible to translate lovers as “allies, friends, friendly nations.” If the translator follows Good News Translation “allies,” this may be expressed sometimes as “friendly countries” or “other tribes who were friendly to her.”

None to comfort her: comfort refers to the act of encouraging or cheering someone who has become discouraged or saddened. The thought is sometimes expressed as “strengthen, cheer up, cause to recover.” In many languages to comfort someone who is distressed is expressed idiomatically; for example, “to give them back their heart,” “to make their heart strong again,” “to quiet the shaking of their insides.” This unit may sometimes be rendered “None of her former lovers is able to cheer her up” or “None of those who made love to her will give her new courage.”

All her friends is parallel in meaning with all her lovers and refers to her political allies. Those, of course, are friends she used to have but who are no longer friends, and this may need to be made clear in translation. Dealt treacherously translates a Hebrew verb meaning “to deal faithlessly with” and is used in relation to Israel’s unfaithfulness to the LORD in Hosea 8.9-10; Ezekiel 16.28-29. Good News Translation translates “Her allies have betrayed her.” “Betray” refers to being handed over to someone else’s authority or control, against a person’s own wishes and through a breach of trust. “Betray” is sometimes expressed as “to sell a friend to his enemy” or “to turn one’s face away from a friend.” The poet’s allusion to enemies is probably to 2 Kings 24, in which the LORD sent Babylonians, Syrians, Moabites and Ammonites against King Jehoiakim to destroy Judah.

Her enemies: enemies refers to those who are opposed to Jerusalem. These include those who made war against her as well as those who opposed her more passively. Languages do not lack for terms for enemies, but sometimes they express the idea idiomatically; for example, “those who fight against her” or “those who turn away from her.”

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 .

This verse picks up the theme of the last unit of verse 11, so it may have to be made clear to the reader that those who cry to their mothers are the infants and babies already mentioned. Bread and wine is literally “grain and wine.” These two items are not to be taken in their literal sense, but as an idiom for “food and drink.” They are used this way in Hosea. A more natural expression is “something to eat.” In the Hebrew text the words spoken by the children are expressed in a form which is the equivalent of direct speech. The unit may be translated, for example, “Those children cry to their mothers and say, ‘Give us something to eat.’ ”

Faint like wounded men: the verb translated faint is used of children three times in this chapter: here, in verse 11, and in verse 19. The word translated wounded most often refers to those who are wounded in battle. In the streets of the city is the same expression used in verse 11.

As their life is poured out: life translates the Hebrew nefesh. Here the nefesh, which can mean “soul, life, existence,” is said to be poured out. This is an idiom which means “they slowly die” (Good News Translation), “they expire” (Bible en français courant), “exhaling their last breath” (Biblia Dios Habla Hoy).

On their mothers’ bosom: bosom refers to the area of the mothers’ breasts. The picture is that of the mothers cradling or holding their dying children against their breasts.

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 .