The first unit of verse 9 continues the thought of verse 8. The first half-line speaks of the gates generally, and the second half-line of one part of the gate that held it closed. The second unit represents a break with verses 1-9a. Until this point the LORD has been the angry force inflicting destruction. Now we see the effects of the defeat in terms of the leaders who experienced it and the loss of authority in the law and prophets. The same thought continues through verse 10.

Her gates have sunk into the ground: gates refers to the huge doors in the walls of Jerusalem through which people and animals went in and out. The picture is not of the gates dropping downward into the ground so they cannot swing; rather the gates have collapsed, fallen off, and are covered with earth, or as Good News Translation says, “lie buried in the rubble.”

The idea of a gate which opens and closes to let people in and out of a city is foreign to many areas of the world. Unless the picture is made clear, the reader may not understand how the gate is said to have fallen down. Therefore it may sometimes be necessary to say, for example, “The big doors where people entered the city have fallen and lie in the dirt.”

Ruined and broken her bars: the two verbs intensify the idea of destruction. Good News Translation says it well: “bars smashed to pieces.” Bars refers to the heavy beams used to fasten the gate closed from the inside, and in translation it is often necessary to say, for example, “the big stick that held the doors closed.”

Her king and princes are among the nations: the king is not identified by name anywhere in Lamentations. Since this king is said to be among the nations or “in exile,” the reference is probably to Jehoiachin, who was taken away to Babylon along with “all the royal princes,” meaning members of the royal family (2 Kings 24.14-15). Jehoiachin lived on for many years in Babylon and was eventually released from prison, probably long after the book of Lamentations was written. Princes, on the other hand, may be a general designation, in which case the word may be used, as it often is in the Old Testament, in reference to leaders, chiefs, noblemen, and officials. It seems that either sense may be suitable. The Hebrew term for princes is never used in the Old Testament to refer to sons of the king, unless these sons happen to have a position as a leader or chief. Therefore we may suggest translating “Her king and his noblemen,” “Jerusalem’s king and other leaders,” or “the king and his officers.” Among the nations may sometimes be rendered “are prisoners of war in a foreign land” or “the enemy has taken the chief and … away to other tribes.”

The law is no more may be linked with the half-line before it, but it seems more clearly associated with prophets and vision in the final unit. The Hebrew word torah is here translated law. Torah has the broader meaning of instruction or teaching, as in Jeremiah 18.18 and Ezekiel 7.26. In those passages it is associated with the priest as the one who received such revelation and passed it on to the people. Because the central meaning is “instruction,” it is often best to avoid the word “law,” which may have only the meaning of regulations sent out from local officials. It is better in such cases to say, for example, “instruction from God” or “the teaching which God gave the people.” The form given in Good News Translation is passive and must be shifted to an active construction in many languages; for example, “The priests no longer teach the people the words of God” or “The priests no longer teach the people what God wanted them to learn.”

Her prophets obtain no vision from the LORD: associated with the instruction given by the priest in similar passages are the visions of the prophets. These were “revelations” and not necessarily something seen (Psa 89.19). The poet here sums up the religious situation in Jerusalem at this time in purely negative terms: as Good News Translation says, “The Law is no longer taught … no visions from the LORD.” But the poet knows the LORD continues to reveal himself in judgment. This is much more than a warning. Prophets may often be rendered as “the ones who speak for God” or “the ones who tell the people God’s message.” Her prophets obtain no vision from the LORD must often be modified to a more active construction; for example, “The LORD has not shown the prophets what message to tell the people.”

Vision translates the same word used in Isaiah 29.7 “… like a dream, a vision of the night,” and Ezekiel 12.27 “… The vision that he sees is for many days hence….” However, the same term is also used with the sense of a message received from God, and is appropriately used with that meaning 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 .