Lamentations 5:5-8

5:5 We are pursued – they are breathing down our necks; ¹ 

we are weary and have no rest. ² 

5:6 We have submitted ³  to Egypt and Assyria

in order to buy food to eat. ⁴ 

5:7 Our forefathers ⁵  sinned and are dead, ⁶ 

but we ⁷  suffer ⁸  their punishment. ⁹ 

5:8 Slaves ¹⁰  rule over us;

there is no one to rescue us from their power. ¹¹ 

[5:5]  ¹ tn Heb “We are hard-driven on our necks”

[5:5]  ² sn For the theological allusion that goes beyond physical rest, see, e.g., Deut 12:10; 25:19; Josh 1:13; 11:23; 2 Sam 7:1, 11; 1 Chron 22:18; 2 Chron 14:6-7

[5:6]  ³ tn Heb “we have given the hand”; cf. NRSV “We have made a pact.” This is a Semitic idiom meaning “to make a treaty with” someone, placing oneself in a subservient position as vassal. The prophets criticized these treaties.

[5:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “bread.” The term “bread” is a synecdoche of specific (= bread) for the general (= food).

[5:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “fathers,” but here the term also refers to “forefathers,” i.e., more distant ancestors.

[5:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “and are no more.”

[5:7]  ⁷ tc The Kethib is written אֲנַחְנוּ (’anakhnu, “we”) but the Qere reads וַאֲנַחְנוּ (va’anakhnu, “but we”). The Qere is supported by many medieval Hebrew mss, as well as most of the ancient versions (Aramaic Targum, Syriac Peshitta, Latin Vulgate). The ו (vav) prefixed to וַאֲנַחְנוּ (va’anakhnu) functions either in a disjunctive sense (“but”) or resultant sense (“so”).

[5:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “so we bear.”

[5:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “their iniquities.” The noun עָוֹן (’avon) has a broad range of meanings, including: (1) iniquity, (2) guilt of iniquity, and (3) consequence or punishment for iniquity (cause-effect metonymical relation). The context suggests that “punishment for sin” is most appropriate here (e.g., Gen 4:13; 19:15; Exod 28:38, 43; Lev 5:1, 17; 7:18; 10:17; 16:22; 17:16; 19:8; 20:17, 19; 22:16; 26:39, 41, 43; Num 5:31; 14:34; 18:1, 23; 30:15; 1 Sam 25:24; 28:10; 2 Sam 14:9; 2 Kgs 7:9; Job 10:14; Pss 31:11; 69:28; 106:43; Prov 5:22; Isa 5:18; 30:13; 40:2; 53:6, 11; 64:5, 6; Jer 51:6; Lam 4:22; 5:7; Ezek 4:4-6, 17; 7:16; 14:10; 18:19-20; 21:30, 34; 24:23; 32:27; 35:5; 39:23; 44:10, 12).

[5:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “slaves.” While indicating that social structures are awry, the expression “slaves rule over us” might be an idiom for “tyrants rule over us.” This might find its counterpart in the gnomic truth that the most ruthless rulers are made of former slaves: “Under three things the earth quakes, under four it cannot bear up: under a slave when he becomes king” (Prov 30:21-22a).

[5:8]  ¹¹ tn Heb “hand.”