Amos 5:16

5:16 Because of Israel’s sins ¹  this is what the Lord, the God who commands armies, the sovereign One, ²  says:

“In all the squares there will be wailing,

in all the streets they will mourn the dead. ³ 

They will tell the field workers ⁴  to lament

and the professional mourners ⁵  to wail.

Jeremiah 7:29

7:29 So, mourn, ⁶  you people of this nation. ⁷  Cut off your hair and throw it away. Sing a song of mourning on the hilltops. For the Lord has decided to reject ⁸  and forsake this generation that has provoked his wrath!’” ⁹ 

Jeremiah 9:10

The Coming Destruction Calls For Mourning

9:10 I said, ¹⁰ 

“I will weep and mourn ¹¹  for the grasslands on the mountains, ¹² 

I will sing a mournful song for the pastures in the wilderness

because they are so scorched no one travels through them.

The sound of livestock is no longer heard there.

Even the birds in the sky and the wild animals in the fields

have fled and are gone.”

Jeremiah 9:17

9:17 The Lord who rules over all ¹³  told me to say to this people, ¹⁴ 

“Take note of what I say. ¹⁵ 

Call for the women who mourn for the dead!

Summon those who are the most skilled at it!” ¹⁶ 

Jeremiah 9:20

9:20 I said, ¹⁷ 

“So now, ¹⁸  you wailing women, hear what the Lord says. ¹⁹ 

Open your ears to the words from his mouth.

Teach your daughters this mournful song,

and each of you teach your neighbor ²⁰  this lament.

Ezekiel 19:1

Lament for the Princes of Israel

19:1 “And you, sing ²¹  a lament for the princes of Israel,

Ezekiel 19:14

19:14 A fire has gone out from its branch; it has consumed its shoot and its fruit. ²² 

No strong branch was left in it, nor a scepter to rule.’

This is a lament song, and has become a lament song.”

Ezekiel 26:17

26:17 They will sing this lament over you: ²³ 

“‘How you have perished – you have vanished ²⁴  from the seas,

O renowned city, once mighty in the sea,

she and her inhabitants, who spread their terror! ²⁵ 

Ezekiel 27:2

27:2 “You, son of man, sing a lament for Tyre. ²⁶ 

Ezekiel 27:27-32

27:27 Your wealth, products, and merchandise, your sailors and captains,

your ship’s carpenters, ²⁷  your merchants,

and all your fighting men within you,

along with all your crew who are in you,

will fall into the heart of the seas on the day of your downfall.

27:28 At the sound of your captains’ cry the waves will surge; ²⁸ 

27:29 They will descend from their ships – all who handle the oar,

the sailors and all the sea captains – they will stand on the land.

27:30 They will lament loudly ²⁹  over you and cry bitterly.

They will throw dust on their heads and roll in the ashes; ³⁰ 

27:31 they will tear out their hair because of you and put on sackcloth,

and they will weep bitterly over you with intense mourning. ³¹ 

27:32 As they wail they will lament over you, chanting:

“Who was like Tyre, like a tower ³²  in the midst of the sea?”

Ezekiel 28:12

28:12 “Son of man, sing ³³  a lament for the king of Tyre, and say to him, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says:

“‘You were the sealer ³⁴  of perfection,

full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.

Ezekiel 32:2

32:2 “Son of man, sing a lament for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say to him:

“‘You were like a lion ³⁵  among the nations,

but you are a monster in the seas;

you thrash about in your streams,

stir up the water with your feet,

and muddy your ³⁶  streams.

Ezekiel 32:16

32:16 This is a lament; they will chant it.

The daughters of the nations will chant it.

They will chant it over Egypt and over all her hordes,

declares the sovereign Lord.”

Micah 2:4

2:4 In that day people will sing this taunt song to you –

they will mock you with this lament: ³⁷ 

‘We are completely destroyed;

they sell off ³⁸  the property of my people.

How they remove it from me! ³⁹ 

They assign our fields to the conqueror.’ ⁴⁰ 

[5:16]  ¹ tn Heb “Therefore.” This logical connector relates back to the accusation of vv. 10-13, not to the parenthetical call to repentance in vv. 14-15. To indicate this clearly, the phrase “Because of Israel’s sins” is used in the translation.

[5:16]  ² tn Or “the Lord.” The Hebrew term translated “sovereign One” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[5:16]  ³ tn Heb “they will say, ‘Ah! Ah!’” The Hebrew term הוֹ (ho, “ah, woe”) is an alternate form of הוֹי (hoy), a word used to mourn the dead and express outwardly one’s sorrow. See 1 Kgs 13:30; Jer 22:18; 34:5. This wordplay follows quickly, as v. 18 begins with הוֹי (“woe”).

[5:16]  ⁴ tn Or “farmers” (NIV, NCV, NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

[5:16]  ⁵ tn Heb “those who know lamentation.”

[7:29]  ⁶ tn The word “mourn” is not in the text. It is supplied in the translation for clarity to explain the significance of the words “Cut your hair and throw it away.”

[7:29]  ⁷ tn The words, “you people of this nation” are not in the text. Many English versions supply, “Jerusalem.” The address shifts from second masculine singular addressing Jeremiah (vv. 27-28a) to second feminine singular. It causes less disruption in the flow of the context to see the nation as a whole addressed here as a feminine singular entity (as, e.g., in 2:19, 23; 3:2, 3; 6:26) than to introduce a new entity, Jerusalem.

[7:29]  ⁸ tn The verbs here are the Hebrew scheduling perfects. For this use of the perfect see GKC 312 §106.m.

[7:29]  ⁹ tn Heb “the generation of his wrath.”

[9:10]  ¹⁰ tn The words “I said” are not in the text, but there is general agreement that Jeremiah is the speaker. Cf. the lament in 8:18-9:1. These words are supplied in the translation for clarity. Some English versions follow the Greek text which reads a plural imperative here. Since this reading would make the transition between 9:10 and 9:11 easier it is probably not original but a translator’s way of smoothing over a difficulty.

[9:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “I will lift up weeping and mourning.”

[9:10]  ¹² tn Heb “for the mountains.” However, the context makes clear that it is the grasslands or pastures on the mountains that are meant. The words “for the grasslands” are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[9:17]  ¹³ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”

[9:17]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Thus says Yahweh of armies.” However, without some addition it is not clear to whom the command is addressed. The words are supplied in the translation for clarity and to help resolve a rather confusing issue of who is speaking throughout vv. 16-21. As has been evident throughout the translation, the speaker is not always indicated. Sometimes it is not even clear who the speaker is. In general the translation and the notes have reflected the general consensus in identifying who it is. Here, however, there is a good deal of confusion about who is speaking in vv. 18, 20-21. The Greek translation has the Lord speaking throughout with second plural pronouns in vv. 18, 21 and the absence of the first line in v. 22. It would be hard to explain how the MT arose if it were the original text. Critical commentators such as J. Bright, W. Holladay, and W. McKane resolve the issue by dropping out the introductory formula in v. 17 and the first line of v. 22 and assigning the whole lament to Jeremiah. It seems obvious from the first plural pronouns and the content of v. 18 (and probably v. 21 as well) and the fact that the Lord is referred to in other than the first person in v. 20 that he is not the speaker of those verses. I have attempted to resolve the issue by having Jeremiah report the Lord’s command in v. 17 and have the rest of the speech be essentially that of Jeremiah. It should be admitted, however, that the issue is far from resolved. Most English versions simply ignore the problem. The GNB (= TEV) is a rare exception.

[9:17]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Consider!”

[9:17]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Call for the mourning women that they may come and send for the wise/skilled women that they may come.” The verbs here are masculine plural, addressed to the people.

[9:20]  ¹⁷ tn The words “I said” are not in the text. The text merely has “Indeed, yes.” The words are supplied in the translation to indicate that the speaker is still Jeremiah though he now is not talking about the mourning woman but is talking to them. See the notes on 9:17-18 for further explanation.

[9:20]  ¹⁸ tn It is a little difficult to explain how the Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) is functioning here. W. L. Holladay (Jeremiah [Hermeneia], 1:311) may be correct in seeing it as introducing the contents of what those who call for the mourning women are to say. In this case, Jeremiah picks up the task as representative of the people.

[9:20]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Listen to the word of the Lord.”

[9:20]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Teach…mournful song, and each woman her neighbor lady…”

[19:1]  ²¹ tn Heb “lift up.”

[19:14]  ²² tn The verse describes the similar situation recorded in Judg 9:20.

[26:17]  ²³ tn Heb “and they will lift up over you a lament and they will say to you.”

[26:17]  ²⁴ tn Heb “O inhabitant.” The translation follows the LXX and understands a different Hebrew verb, meaning “cease,” behind the consonantal text. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel [WBC], 2:72, and D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:43.

[26:17]  ²⁵ tn Heb “she and her inhabitants who placed their terror to all her inhabitants.” The relationship of the final prepositional phrase to what precedes is unclear. The preposition probably has a specifying function here, drawing attention to Tyre’s inhabitants as the source of the terror mentioned prior to this. In this case, one might paraphrase verse 17b: “she and her inhabitants, who spread their terror; yes, her inhabitants (were the source of this terror).”

[27:2]  ²⁶ tn Heb “lift up over Tyre a lament.”

[27:27]  ²⁷ tn Heb “your repairers of damage.” See v. 9.

[27:28]  ²⁸ tn Compare this phrase to Isa 57:20 and Amos 8:8. See M. Greenberg, Ezekiel (AB), 2:561.

[27:30]  ²⁹ tn Heb “make heard over you with their voice.”

[27:30]  ³⁰ tn Note a similar expression to “roll in the ashes” in Mic 1:10.

[27:31]  ³¹ tn Heb “and they will weep concerning you with bitterness of soul, (with) bitter mourning.”

[27:32]  ³² tn As it stands, the meaning of the Hebrew text is unclear. The translation follows the suggestion of M. Dahood, “Accadian-Ugaritic dmt in Ezekiel 27:32,” Bib 45 (1964): 83-84. Several other explanations and emendations have been offered. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:83, and D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:85-86, for a list of options.

[28:12]  ³³ tn Heb “lift up.”

[28:12]  ³⁴ tn For a discussion of possible nuances of this phrase, see M. Greenberg, Ezekiel (AB), 2:580-81.

[32:2]  ³⁵ tn The lion was a figure of royalty (Ezek 19:1-9).

[32:2]  ³⁶ tc The Hebrew reads “their streams”; the LXX reads “your streams.”

[2:4]  ³⁷ tc The form נִהְיָה (nihyah) should be omitted as dittographic (note the preceding וְנָהָה נְהִי vÿnahah nÿhiy).

[2:4]  ³⁸ tn Or “exchange.” The LXX suggests a reading יִמַּד (yimmad) from מָדַד (madad, “to measure”). In this case one could translate, “the property of my people is measured out [i.e., for resale].”

[2:4]  ³⁹ tn Heb “how one removes for me.” Apparently the preposition has the nuance “from” here (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[2:4]  ⁴⁰ tc The Hebrew term שׁוֹבֵב (shovev, “the one turning back”) elsewhere has the nuance “apostate” (cf. NASB) or “traitor” (cf. NIV). The translation assumes an emendation to שָׁבָה (shavah, “captor”).