3:47 Panic and pitfall 1 have come upon us,
devastation and destruction. 2
3:48 Streams 3 of tears flow from my eyes 4
because my people 5 are destroyed. 6
1 tn The similar sounding nouns פַּחַד וָפַחַת (pakhad vafakhat, “panic and pitfall”) are an example of paronomasia.
2 tn Similar to the paronomasia in the preceding line, the words הַשֵּׁאת וְהַשָּׁבֶר (hashe’t vÿhashaver, “devastation and destruction”) form an example of alliteration: the beginning of the words sound alike.
3 tn Heb “canals.” The phrase “canals of water” (eye water = tears) is an example of hyperbole. The English idiom “streams of tears” is also hyperbolic.
4 tn Heb “my eyes flow down with canals of water.”
5 tn Heb “the daughter of my people,” or “the Daughter, my people.”
6 tn Heb “because of the destruction of [the daughter of my people].”