Ezekiel 18:23

18:23 Do I actually delight in the death of the wicked, declares the sovereign Lord? Do I not prefer that he turn from his wicked conduct and live?

Lamentations 3:33

3:33 For he is not predisposed to afflict ¹ 

or to grieve people. ² 

Lamentations 3:2

3:2 He drove me into captivity ³  and made me walk ⁴ 

in darkness and not light.

Lamentations 3:9

3:9 He has blocked ⁵  every road I take ⁶  with a wall of hewn stones;

he has made every path impassable. ⁷ 

[3:33]  ¹ tn Heb “he does not afflict from his heart.” The term לֵבָב (levav, “heart”) preceded by the preposition מִן (min) most often describes one’s initiative or motivation, e.g. “of one’s own accord” (Num. 16:28; 24:13; Deut. 4:9; 1Kings 12:33; Neh. 6:8; Job 8:10; Is. 59:13; Ezek. 13:2, 17). It is not God’s internal motivation to bring calamity and trouble upon people.

[3:33]  ² tn Heb “sons of men.”

[3:2]  ³ tn The verb נָהַג (nahag) describes the process of directing (usually a group of) something along a route, hence commonly “to drive,” when describing flocks, caravans, or prisoners and spoils of war (1 Sam 23:5; 30:2). But with people it may also have a positive connotation “to shepherd” or “to guide” (Ps 48:14; 80:1). The line plays on this through the reversal of expectations. Rather than being safely shepherded by the Lord their king, he has driven them away into captivity.

[3:2]  ⁴ tn The Hiphil of הָלַךְ (halakh, “to walk”) may be nuanced either “brought” (BDB 236 s.v. 1) or “caused to walk” (BDB 237 s.v. 5.a).

[3:9]  ⁵ tn The verb גָּדַר (garad) has a two-fold range of meanings: (1) “to build up a wall” with stones, and (2) “to block a road” with a wall of stones. The collocated terms דְּרָכַי (dÿrakhay, “my roads”) in 3:9 clearly indicate that the second category of meaning is in view.

[3:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “my roads.”

[3:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “he had made my paths crooked.” The implication is that the paths by which one might escape cannot be traversed.