Since verse 18 provides the reason for the conditions described in verse 17, some translators place a colon after the final word in 17. On the other hand, some express both halves of 17 as “if” clauses; for example, Bible en français courant says “If our hearts … if our eyes…,” and then begins verse 18 with “it is because….” Good News Translation places a comma after “tears” in verse 17 and begins verse 18 “because Mount Zion….” If the reason must be placed before the consequence, the order of verses 17 and 18 will be reversed, and in that case their numbers must also be adjusted.

Mount Zion is the hill on which the Temple stood. Here it refers only to the Temple location and not to Jerusalem as a whole. Lies desolate may be translated “abandoned, deserted.” The desolation of the former site of the Temple is emphasized by the mention of the defiling presence of unclean animals there, as in Isaiah 13.19-22; 34.11-17; Zephaniah 2.13-15.

With the exception of AB, which has “fox,” modern translations prefer to translate the Hebrew term here as jackals. This is not the same Hebrew word used in 4.3; there are three terms used in the Old Testament in reference to the fox and the jackal, and apparently these words were used interchangeably. For translation suggestions see 4.3.

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 .

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 .

All verses in chapter 1 have three units of parallelism (except 1.7, which has four). The first half-line of each unit is identified in both Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation by its initial capital letter: How, How, She, and “How,” “Once,” “The.”

In all three units of verse 1, the poet contrasts the condition of Jerusalem as it is now, with what the city formerly was. In the first two units the present condition is described in the first half-line, and the former condition in the second half-line. However, in the third unit that order is reversed, with the former status (was a princess) described in the first half-line, and the present condition (become a vassal) in the second half-line. Not only is the poet contrasting “now” with “then,” but by reversing the order in the last unit, a structural contrast is created within the verse. Moreover there is a good bit of matching of meaning between like a widow has she become and has become a vassal, also between great among the nations and princess among the cities. This parallelism of meaning, it should be noticed, occurs between the half-lines of different units rather than between half-lines within the same unit. Good News Translation follows the same order, except in the second unit, where the past condition is placed first; Good News Translation does this apparently for stylistic reasons.

In some languages it may be clearer to reverse the “now … then” order in the first two units so that they conform to the pattern of the third unit. In this way all three units depict the past as occurring before the present. For example:

Jerusalem that was once full of people is now lonely;
she who was once great among the nations is now like a widow;
she who was like a princess is now like a slave.

How … that was: How is the first Hebrew word in the first sentence and serves as the title for the whole book in its Hebrew form. The same word occurs also at the beginning of chapters 2 and 4 and is found in Jeremiah 48.17c and in Isaiah 1.21, where Jerusalem is also described as a woman. The expression serves here to stress the contrast between the past and the present. In many languages this exclamation must be rendered by a clause. For example, “Look, how awful it is” or “It is a very terrible thing.” The same expression may sometimes be rendered idiomatically; for example, “I say this with tears” or “I say this with my heart failing.” In some languages it may be clearer to mark the contrasts between the present sufferings and the past glories by saying, for example, “In earlier times,” “In the past,” or “Before Jerusalem was defeated.”

Sits the city makes the city appear as a person. In some languages it is possible to employ a verb such as sit only with an animate subject. Therefore it may be necessary to say “The city is very empty” or “There are no people in the city.”

The term lonely refers here to the lack of people, or to being deserted by those who once lived there. It may sometimes be translated figuratively; for example, “having only one word left,” “with no one to talk to,” “with only one dog for a friend.”

City refers to the city of Jerusalem, which in modern terms would be more like a village or town. Although today most people are acquainted with noisy modern cities, it may be better to speak of the “town,” if such a category exists in the translator’s language. Good News Translation says “How lonely lies Jerusalem.” This is to make clear that city refers only to the city of Jerusalem and not to some other city.

The expression full of people makes it clear that a population center is in focus. Full of people is an expression of relative degree. A term used in translation should not give the idea that it was so full that there was no space not taken up by people. The sense is “with very many people” or “having a large number of people.”

The expression like a widow compares Jerusalem to a wife who has lost her husband. This may imply that Yahweh has deserted her—a thought that is expanded in verse 2. The picture of a widow is used to emphasize the misery of Jerusalem compared with her previous greatness. The same is true in the last unit of verse 1, where Jerusalem is compared to a slave. If the term widow must be replaced by a descriptive phrase, it may be possible to say “like a miserable woman whose husband has died.” If a nonfigurative expression must be used in place of widow, it may be possible to say, for example, “Jerusalem was a great city, but now is as miserable as a woman whose husband has died.” A further translation decision is whether to keep the third person reference or to change to a more personal second person. If the second person is preferred, the translator should use it consistently.

She that was great among the nations: nations translates the Hebrew term goyim, a word that is sometimes applied to the gentiles or pagan people. For example, in Exodus 34.24, “I will cast out nations (goyim) before you, and enlarge your borders.” The term is also used to refer to the descendants of Abraham in Genesis 12.2, “I will make of you a great nation….” In verse 1 there is no attempt to contrast Israel with the non-Israelites, and so nations refers to all the political groupings, among which Israel was one. Good News Translation “honored by the world” expresses this well.

Princess among the cities refers to the high status of Jerusalem in contrast with the servant status of vassal in the following half-line. The term does not mean the daughter of a king but rather a noble lady, or the wife of a noble or leader among the people. Good News Translation “noblest of cities” may need to be reworded to say, for example, “Before you were like a princess” or, as Bible en français courant says, “Yesterday a princess ruling the provinces, but now reduced to….”

Vassal translates a word which suggests forced labor imposed upon a conquered people, and so Good News Translation “fallen into slavery.” New English Bible has “now put to forced labour.” In some languages it is possible to maintain the figurative language of this unit by saying, for example, “You were like the rich daughter of the chief, but now you have become like the poorest slave” or “You who were like a great princess have now become like a poor servant.”

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 .

Up to this point the poet has been describing the fate of Jerusalem as though he were an observer. Now he speaks in the first person of himself and his sorrow for what has happened. Because of the change of pronouns to first person in verses 11-12, Bible en français courant separates these verses with an asterisk from those before and after it. See comment on 1.17.

My eyes are spent with weeping: that is, “My eyes are worn out with weeping” (Good News Translation). This half-line is matched by my soul is in tumult, which is literally “my intestines are fermenting.” New English Bible tries to keep the Hebrew image with “My bowels writhe in anguish.” See comments on 1.20.

My heart is poured out in grief is literally “my liver is poured out on the ground.” The Revised Standard Version footnote shows that it has changed the Hebrew for “on the ground” to in grief. Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation are simply expressing this idiom in English terms, and translators will want to do the same in the forms of their own languages.

Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people: daughter of my people refers again to the people of Jerusalem. In many languages this half-line will have to be adjusted to say, for example, “because the enemy has killed my people” or “… the people of Jerusalem.”

Because infants and babes faint: Revised Standard Version translates the final unit as a second cause for the grief referred to in the second unit. However, it is better to treat this as a separate statement, as in Good News Translation, or to make it coordinate with the previous clause; for example, “and infants and babies are….” The cause of the children’s fainting is their lack of food and drink, which is expressed at the beginning of verse 12. It may help the reader to shift the cause in verse 12 earlier to verse 11 and say, for example, “Because they have nothing to eat or drink, children and babies are fainting in the streets.” If hunger and thirst are introduced in verse 11, they need not be repeated in verse 12.

Infants here refers to children of both sexes, probably below the age of puberty. Babes refers to children who are being breast-fed, also of both sexes. Languages differ greatly in the way they classify children. However, the distinctions given above should be sufficient to assist translators in the selection of appropriate terms in their own languages.

Faint in the streets of the city: faint translates a different word than that used in 1.13 and 1.22, but the meaning is the same: “to be weak,” and particularly in this context, “dying of starvation.” In 1.20 the expression “in the street” translates the Hebrew for “outside, outdoors.” Here in the streets translates a word meaning “wide place” and probably refers to market areas or the city gate area where people gathered, or as New Jerusalem Bible says, “in the squares of the city.” Most translators prefer something like “in the streets of the city.” In those areas where there are no “city streets,” it may be better to say, for example, “outside” or “outside where people gather.”

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 .

But this I call to mind is treated by some translations as pointing back to what has already been said. But it is more convincing for this to point forward to the thoughts of verses 22-25. Good News Translation and others make clear that this points forward, by saying “When I remember this one thing:….” Most translations use a colon to show that the thought of verse 21 is carried forward into verse 22; however, punctuation is not always sufficient for hearers, and so a clear forward linking should be made. A good example is found in Moffatt, who begins verse 22 with “that”: “But I will call to mind, to give me hope, (22) that the Eternal’s love is lasting….” We may also translate, for example, “I have hope when I remember (22) that the steadfast love of the LORD never ceases….”

In many languages hope is more related to wishing than to confidence. Here the poet is stating his confidence in God’s love and mercy, not merely wishing that it might be so. “Hope returns” in Good News Translation must be expressed differently in many languages so that a subject expresses the feeling of hope; for example, “I have confidence when I remember this:…” or “I put my trust in it when I remember this:….”

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 .

From the picture of the hunted bird in verse 52, the poet now turns to the image of an animal that falls into a pit. He is probably not so much emphasizing the idea that he was alive when he fell into the pit, as that the intention of his enemies was to bring his life to an end. Biblia Dios Habla Hoy expresses this well with “They buried me alive in a well.”

They … cast stones on me depicts the enemies throwing down stones on the trapped victim. However, since the word stones is singular in Hebrew, many understand the expression to refer to covering the opening of the pit or well with a large stone to prevent his escape. For example, New English Bible says “They closed it over me with a stone.” Since either translation is acceptable, translators may wish to give the alternate rendering in a footnote, as Bible en français courant does.

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 poet is evidently speaking of the situation following immediately upon the capture of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. He and others tried to escape, and he tells of their dangerous journey through the hills and the desert. He is probably referring to the wild, hilly country between Jerusalem and Jericho over which the king and his companions traveled in an attempt to cross the Jordan. A prose account of these events is to be found in 2 Kings 25.3-4.

Our pursuers, meaning the enemies who chased us, are said to be swifter than the vultures in the heavens. Vultures and “eagles” (Good News Translation) are both included in the Hebrew term. The poet has in mind not only the swiftness of the bird but, particularly here, its eagerness to swoop down on its prey. Those trying to escape from the Babylonian army could easily liken themselves to small creatures threatened by a bird of prey such as the eagle.

Translators are free to name a bird that is best known locally as a bird of prey. In areas where both the vulture and the eagle are known, the translator’s experience with the habits of these birds may confirm that “eagle” is more suitable in this context; eagles aggressively seek living prey, while vultures seek dead bodies. In the heavens does not designate the abode of God but only calls attention to soaring birds that locate their prey from high in the sky. We may translate, for example, “Our enemies swooped down on us like eagles out of the sky.”

The second pair of half-lines, which are closely parallel in sense, describe the extent to which these people were pursued by their enemies. Chased translates a word which means “go in hot pursuit of.” It is used in Genesis 31.36, where Jacob asks Laban “What is my sin that you have hotly pursued me?” See also 1 Samuel 17.53. New English Bible says “they are hot on our trail over the hills.”

Lay in wait translates the same verb used in 3.10 and means “ambush, make a surprise attack on” someone. For wilderness see 4.3. In some areas people live where the land is largely flat, and “hills” and mountains are unknown. In such cases descriptive terms such as “land that goes up and down” or “land that is up high” may give entirely wrong impressions. In many cases an illustration serves to supplement the local expressions.

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 .

Verses 12-14 contain several textual problems, and each will be dealt with briefly in its own context.

Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? translates what appears to be literally “No (or, Not) to you all passing by the way.” The Revised Standard Version footnote says “Hebrew uncertain,” while Good News Translation provides one interpretation in its text and two more in the footnote. The traditional rendering found in Revised Standard Version, New English Bible, and others follows the last interpretation in the Good News Translation note. New Jerusalem Bible translates “May it never befall you,” which is the first of the Good News Translation variant interpretations. Bible en français courant changes the text to read “Come, all you who pass…” and gives in its footnote “Come: probable text; Hebrew ‘May this (the misfortune described in verse 11?) not happen to you (plural)!’ ”

The most convincing treatment of this expression comes from Hebrew Old Testament Text Project, which gives a “B” rating to the awkward Hebrew “no (not) to you” and recommends to translators “(It is) not your concern.” So in the Handbook we recommend taking as a statement essentially what is a question in Revised Standard Version: “It is nothing to you who pass by” or “You who pass by don’t care.”

You who pass by is an idiomatic expression for “anyone, an ordinary person.” A very similar expression in English is “the man in the street.” The same Hebrew expression is used in Psalm 80.12; 89.41; and Lamentations 2.15.

These people are invited to Look and see. What they are to observe is whether or not there is any sorrow like my sorrow. Some scholars prefer to translate this as a question; for example, New English Bible has “Is there any agony like mine…?” The answer to this question is clearly “No,” and so Good News Translation translates as a negative statement: “No one has ever had pain like mine.” In translation it may be necessary to modify any sorrow and my sorrow to say, for example, “Is there anyone who suffers as much as I suffer? Of course not.”

Which was brought upon me is expressed in Good News Translation‘s translation of the third unit. The sentence is in the passive in Hebrew, and it is followed by a statement in the active in which the LORD is the agent. It seems to emphasize that Jerusalem’s suffering is no chance happening but the LORD’s doing.

Which the LORD inflicted: this half-line is parallel to the previous one and serves to sharpen the focus on the LORD.

Revised Standard Version translates the final half-line as on the day of his fierce anger, and Good News Translation as “in the time of his anger.” In other words, there is here the first of several references in Lamentations to the “Day of the LORD,” the others being in verse 21 and in 2.1, 16, 21, 22. The “Day of the LORD” is usually an event which the Old Testament prophets expected to take place in the future, as in Amos 5.18-20. In Lamentations the day has already come. It is not a day when the LORD wins a victory over Israel’s enemies, as popular opinion expected it to be. It is, however, a day on which the LORD’s activity was directed against Israel and Israel’s sins. The poet saw in the enemies’ conquest of Jerusalem a proof of the LORD’s anger against his own people.

The translation of day of his fierce anger must sometimes be rendered in figurative language; for example, “the day when God shows the heat of his stomach,” “the time when God’s heart burns like fire,” or “the day when God’s eyes are very red.”

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 .

Revised Standard Version, which attempts to retain the Hebrew form of this verse, is difficult to understand. Part of the problem is that the ones invited to the feast in the first half-line are not depicted as people, but as my terrors on every side in the next half-line. This same expression is found also in Jeremiah 6.25; 20.3, 10; 46.5; 49.29, in which the prophet applies the expression to his opponents. It is not clear how or why the same expression should be used in verse 22. In any event, as AB suggests, the use of terrors as a figure of speech here results in a mixture of metaphors which is not typical of Hebrew poetry. AB recommends “attackers” and translates “You invited, as though to a festival, men to attack me from all sides.” The speaker appears to be Jerusalem, that is, the people of Jerusalem. My terrors are those who cause terror, and so Good News Translation has “my enemies.”

As to the day of an appointed feast is best understood as a simile. For appointed feast see 1.4; 2.6-7. Bible en français courant translates this simile “As for a festival day….” For the entire first poetic unit in Hebrew (the first three printed lines in Revised Standard Version), New English Bible translates “Thou didst summon my enemies against me from every side, like men assembling for a festival.” This may also be translated, for example, “You invited my enemies, as people invited to a feast, to attack me on every side.” Another choice may be “You invited my enemies to attack me from every side. They came eagerly, as people hurrying to a feast.” See also Good News Translation.

(None) escaped or survived translates two nouns in Hebrew “(there was no) … refugee and survivor.” Many languages, like Revised Standard Version, will prefer to translate these nouns as verbs, or better, as whole clauses. For example, “No one got away and no one lived to tell it.”

Those whom I dandled and reared: those refers to the children. Dandled is a little-used word and translates a Hebrew word meaning “to fondle, cradle in the arms.” Translators may wish to express the first word as representing the way a mother holds and caresses an infant. Reared expresses the idea of “raising, bringing up, educating” an older child.

In spite of the tender love given to these little ones, my enemy destroyed them. Revised Standard Version uses destroyed to translate one of the numerous Hebrew verbs having that general sense. However, in this context it is better to give the particular sense of “murder, kill, slay.” See Good News Translation.

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 .