Lamentations 5:4-5

5:4 We must pay money for our own water;

we must buy our own wood at a steep price.

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

we are weary and have no rest.


tn Heb “silver.” The term “silver” is a synecdoche of species (= silver) for general (= money).

tn Heb “We drink our water for silver.”

tn Heb “our wood comes for a price.”

tn Heb “We are hard-driven on our necks”

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