Jeremiah 38:9

38:9 “Your royal Majesty, those men have been very wicked in all that they have done to the prophet Jeremiah. They have thrown him into a cistern and he is sure to die of starvation there because there is no food left in the city. ¹ 

Jeremiah 52:6

52:6 By the ninth day of the fourth month ²  the famine in the city was so severe the residents ³  had no food.

Deuteronomy 28:52-57

28:52 They will besiege all of your villages ⁴  until all of your high and fortified walls collapse – those in which you put your confidence throughout the land. They will besiege all your villages throughout the land the Lord your God has given you. 28:53 You will then eat your own offspring, ⁵  the flesh of the sons and daughters the Lord your God has given you, because of the severity of the siege ⁶  by which your enemies will constrict you. 28:54 The man among you who is by nature tender and sensitive will turn against his brother, his beloved wife, and his remaining children. 28:55 He will withhold from all of them his children’s flesh that he is eating (since there is nothing else left), because of the severity of the siege by which your enemy will constrict ⁷  you in your villages. 28:56 Likewise, the most ⁸  tender and delicate of your women, who would never think of putting even the sole of her foot on the ground because of her daintiness, ⁹  will turn against her beloved husband, her sons and daughters, 28:57 and will secretly eat her afterbirth ¹⁰  and her newborn children ¹¹  (since she has nothing else), ¹²  because of the severity of the siege by which your enemy will constrict you in your villages.

Deuteronomy 28:2

28:2 All these blessings will come to you in abundance ¹³  if you obey the Lord your God:

Deuteronomy 25:3

25:3 The judge ¹⁴  may sentence him to forty blows, ¹⁵  but no more. If he is struck with more than these, you might view your fellow Israelite ¹⁶  with contempt.

Lamentations 2:11-12

כ (Kaf)

2:11 My eyes are worn out ¹⁷  from weeping; ¹⁸ 

my stomach is in knots. ¹⁹ 

My heart ²⁰  is poured out on the ground

due to the destruction ²¹  of my helpless people; ²² 

children and infants faint

in the town squares.

ל (Lamed)

2:12 Children ²³  say to their mothers, ²⁴ 

“Where are food and drink?” ²⁵ 

They faint ²⁶  like a wounded warrior

in the city squares.

They die slowly ²⁷ 

in their mothers’ arms. ²⁸ 

Lamentations 2:19-20

ק (Qof)

2:19 Get up! Cry out in the night ²⁹ 

when the night watches start! ³⁰ 

Pour out your heart ³¹  like water

before the face of the Lord! ³² 

Lift up your hands ³³  to him

for your children’s lives; ³⁴ 

they are fainting ³⁵ 

at every street corner. ³⁶ 

Jerusalem Speaks:

ר (Resh)

2:20 Look, O Lord! Consider! ³⁷ 

Whom have you ever afflicted ³⁸  like this?

Should women eat their offspring, ³⁹ 

their healthy infants? ⁴⁰ 

Should priest and prophet

be killed in the Lord’s ⁴¹  sanctuary?

Lamentations 4:4-5

ד (Dalet)

4:4 The infant’s tongue sticks

to the roof of its mouth due to thirst;

little children beg for bread, ⁴² 

but no one gives them even a morsel. ⁴³ 

ה (He)

4:5 Those who once feasted on delicacies ⁴⁴ 

are now starving to death ⁴⁵  in the streets.

Those who grew up ⁴⁶  wearing expensive clothes ⁴⁷ 

are now dying ⁴⁸  amid garbage. ⁴⁹ 

Lamentations 4:9-10

ט (Tet)

4:9 Those who died by the sword ⁵⁰  are better off

than those who die of hunger, ⁵¹ 

those who ⁵²  waste away, ⁵³ 

struck down ⁵⁴  from lack of ⁵⁵  food. ⁵⁶ 

י (Yod)

4:10 The hands of tenderhearted women ⁵⁷ 

cooked their own children,

who became their food, ⁵⁸ 

when my people ⁵⁹  were destroyed. ⁶⁰ 

Lamentations 5:10

5:10 Our skin is hot as an oven

due to a fever from hunger. ⁶¹ 

[38:9]  ¹ tn Heb “Those men have made evil all they have done to the prophet Jeremiah in that they have thrown him into the cistern and he will die of starvation in the place where he is because there is no more food in the city.” The particle אֵת (’et) before “they have thrown” (אֵת אֲשֶׁר הִשְׁלִיכוּ, ’et ’asher hishlikhu) is explanatory or further definition of “all they have done to” (i.e., the particle is repeated for apposition). The verb form “and he is sure to die” is an unusual use of the vav (ו) consecutive + imperfect that the grammars see as giving a logical consequence without a past nuance (cf. GKC 328 §111.l and IBHS 557-58 §33.3.1f).

[52:6]  ² sn According to modern reckoning that would have been July 18, 586 b.c. The siege thus lasted almost a full eighteen months.

[52:6]  ³ tn Heb “the people of the land.”

[28:52]  ⁴ tn Heb “gates,” also in vv. 55, 57.

[28:53]  ⁵ tn Heb “the fruit of your womb” (so NAB, NRSV); NASB “the offspring of your own body.”

[28:53]  ⁶ tn Heb “siege and stress.”

[28:55]  ⁷ tn Heb “besiege,” redundant with the noun “siege.”

[28:56]  ⁸ tc The LXX adds σφόδρα (sfodra, “very”) to bring the description into line with v. 54.

[28:56]  ⁹ tn Heb “delicateness and tenderness.”

[28:57]  ¹⁰ tn Heb includes “that which comes out from between her feet.”

[28:57]  ¹¹ tn Heb “her sons that she will bear.”

[28:57]  ¹² tn Heb includes “in her need for everything.”

[28:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “come upon you and overtake you” (so NASB, NRSV); NIV “come upon you and accompany you.”

[25:3]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the judge) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[25:3]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Forty blows he may strike him”; however, since the judge is to witness the punishment (v. 2) it is unlikely the judge himself administered it.

[25:3]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “your brothers” but not limited only to an actual sibling; cf. NAB) “your kinsman”; NRSV, NLT “your neighbor.”

[2:11]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “my eyes are spent” or “my eyes fail.” The verb כָּלָה (kalah) is used of eyes exhausted by weeping (Job 11:20; 17:5; Ps 69:4; Jer 14:6; 4:17), and means either “to be spent” (BDB 477 s.v. 2.b) or “to fail” (HALOT 477 s.v. 6). It means to have used up all one’s tears or to have worn out the eyes because of so much crying. It is rendered variously: “my eyes fail” (KJV, NIV), “my eyes are spent” (RSV, NRSV, NASB, NJPS), “my eyes are worn out” (TEV), and “my eyes are red” (CEV).

[2:11]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “because of tears.” The plural noun דִּמְעוֹת (dim’ot, “tears”) is an example of the plural of intensity or repeated behavior: “many tears.” The more common singular form דִּמְעָה (dim’ah) normally functions in a collective sense (“tears”); therefore, the plural form here does not indicate simple plural of number.

[2:11]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “my bowels burn” or “my bowels are in a ferment.” The verb חֳמַרְמְרוּ (khomarmÿru) is an unusual form and derived from a debated root: Poalal perfect 3rd person common plural from III חָמַר (khamar, “to be red,” HALOT 330 s.v. III חמר) or Pe`al`al perfect 3rd person common plural from I חָמַר (khamar, “to ferment, boil up,” BDB 330 s.v. I חָמַר). The Poalal stem of this verb occurs only three times in OT: with פָּנִים (panim, “face,” Job 16:16) and מֵעִים (me’im, “bowels,” Lam 1:20; 2:11). The phrase חֳמַרְמְרוּ מֵעַיּ (khomarmÿru me’ay) means “my bowels burned” (HALOT 330 s.v.) or “my bowels are in a ferment,” as a euphemism for lower-intestinal bowel problems (BDB 330 s.v.). This phrase also occurs in later rabbinic literature (m. Sanhedrin 7:2). The present translation, “my stomach is in knots,” is not a literal equivalent to this Hebrew idiom; however, it is an attempt to approximate the equivalent English idiom.

[2:11]  ²⁰ tn Heb “my liver,” viewed as the seat of the emotions.

[2:11]  ²¹ tn Heb “on account of the breaking.”

[2:11]  ²² tn Heb “the daughter of my people.” Rather than a genitive of relationship (“daughter of X”), the phrase בַּת־עַמִּי (bat-’ammi) is probably a genitive of apposition. The idiom “Daughter X” occurs often in Lamentations: “Daughter Jerusalem” (2x), “Daughter Zion” (7x), “Virgin Daughter Zion” (1x), “Daughter of My People” (5x), “Daughter Judah” (2x), and “Virgin Daughter Judah” (1x). In each case, it is a poetic description of Jerusalem or Judah as a whole. The idiom בַּת־עַמִּי (bat-’ammi, lit., “daughter of my people” is rendered variously by the English versions: “the daughter of my people” (KJV, RSV, NASB), “my people” (NIV, TEV, CEV), and “my poor people” (NJPS). The metaphor here pictures the people as vulnerable and weak.

[2:12]  ²³ tn Heb “they”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:12]  ²⁴ tn Heb “to their mother,” understood as a collective singular.

[2:12]  ²⁵ tn Heb “Where is bread and wine?” The terms “bread” and “wine” are synecdoches of specific (= bread, wine) for general (= food, drink).

[2:12]  ²⁶ tn Heb “as they faint” or “when they faint.”

[2:12]  ²⁷ tn Heb “as their life is poured out.” The term בְּהִשְׁתַּפֵּךְ (bÿhishtappekh), Hitpael infinitive construct + the preposition בּ (bet), from שָׁפַךְ (shafakh, “to pour out”) may be rendered “as they expire” (BDB 1050 s.v. שָׁפַךְ), referring to the process of dying. Note the repetition of the word “pour out” with various direct objects in this poem at 2:4, 11, 12, and 19.

[2:12]  ²⁸ tn Heb “chest, lap.”

[2:19]  ²⁹ tc The Kethib is written בַּלַּיִל (ballayil) a defective spelling for בַּלַּיְלָה (ballaylah, “night”). The Qere reads בַּלַּיְלָה (ballaylah, “night”), which is preserved in numerous medieval Hebrew mss.

[2:19]  ³⁰ tn Heb “at the head of the watches.”

[2:19]  ³¹ tn The noun לֵבָב (levav, “heart”) functions here as a metonymy of association for the thoughts and emotions in the heart. The Hebrew לֵבָב (levav) includes the mind so that in some cases the translation “heart” implies an inappropriate division between the cognitive and affective. This context is certainly emotionally loaded, but as part of a series of admonitions to address God in prayer, these emotions are inextricably bound with the thoughts of the mind. The singular “heart” is retained in the translation to be consistent with the personification of Jerusalem (cf. v. 18).

[2:19]  ³² tc The MT reads אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “the Lord”) here rather than יהוה (YHWH, “the Lord”). See the tc note at 1:14.

[2:19]  ³³ sn Lifting up the palms or hands is a metaphor for prayer.

[2:19]  ³⁴ tn Heb “on account of the life of your children.” The noun נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) refers to the “life” of their dying children (e.g., Lam 2:12). The singular noun נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “life”) is used as a collective, as the plural genitive noun that follows makes clear: “your children.”

[2:19]  ³⁵ tc The BHS editors and many commentators suggest that the fourth bicola in 2:19 is a late addition and should be deleted. Apart from the four sets of bicola in 1:7 and 2:19, every stanza in chapters 1-4 consists of three sets of bicola.

[2:19]  ³⁶ tn Heb “at the head of every street.”

[2:20]  ³⁷ tn Heb “Look, O Lord! See!” When used in collocation with verbs of cognition, רָאָה (ra’ah) means “to see for oneself” or “to take notice” (1 Sam 26:12). The parallelism between seeing and understanding is often emphasized (e.g., Exod 16:6; Isa 5:19; 29:15; Job 11:11; Eccl 6:5). See also 1:11 and cf. 1:9, 12, 20; 3:50, 59, 60; 5:1.

[2:20]  ³⁸ tn For the nuance “afflict” see the note at 1:12.

[2:20]  ³⁹ tn Heb “their fruit.” The term פְּרִי (pÿri, “fruit”) is used figuratively to refer to children as the fruit of a mother’s womb (e.g., Gen 30:2; Deut 7:13; 28:4, 11, 18, 53; 30:9; Pss 21:11; 127:3; 132:11; Isa 13:18; Mic 6:7).

[2:20]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “infants of healthy childbirth.” The genitive-construct phrase עֹלֲלֵי טִפֻּחִים (’olale tippukhim) functions as an attributive genitive construction: “healthy newborn infants.” The noun טִפֻּחִים (tippukhim) appears only here. It is related to the verb טָפַח (tafakh), meaning “to give birth to a healthy child” or “to raise children” depending on whether the Arabic or Akkadian cognate is emphasized. For the related verb, see below at 2:22.

[2:20]  ⁴¹ tc The MT reads אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “the Lord”) here rather than יהוה (YHWH, “the Lord”) as at the beginning of the verse. See the tc note at 1:14.

[4:4]  ⁴² tn Heb “bread.” The term “bread” might function as a synecdoche of specific (= bread) for general (= food); however, the following parallel line does indeed focus on the act of breaking bread in two.

[4:4]  ⁴³ tn Heb “there is not a divider to them.” The term פָּרַשׂ (paras), Qal active participle ms from פָּרַס (paras, “to divide”) refers to the action of breaking bread in two before giving it to a person to eat (Isa 58:7; Jer 16:7; Lam 4:4). The form פָּרַשׂ (paras) is the alternate spelling of the more common פָּרַס (paras).

[4:5]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “eaters of delicacies.” An alternate English gloss would be “connoisseurs of fine foods.”

[4:5]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “are desolate.”

[4:5]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “were reared.”

[4:5]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “in purple.” The term תוֹלָע (tola’, “purple”) is a figurative description of expensive clothing: it is a metonymy of association: the color of the dyed clothes (= purple) stands for the clothes themselves.

[4:5]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “embrace garbage.” One may also translate “rummage through” (cf. NCV “pick through trash piles”; TEV “pawing through refuse”; NLT “search the garbage pits.”

[4:5]  ⁴⁹ tn The Hebrew word אַשְׁפַּתּוֹת (’ashpatot) can also mean “ash heaps.” Though not used as a combination elsewhere, to “embrace ash heaps” might also envision a state of mourning or even dead bodies lying on the ash heaps.

[4:9]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “those pierced of the sword.” The genitive-construct denotes instrumentality: “those pierced by the sword” (חַלְלֵי־חֶרֶב, khalle-kherev). The noun חָלָל (khalal) refers to a “fatal wound” and is used substantivally to refer to “the slain” (Num 19:18; 31:8, 19; 1 Sam 17:52; 2 Sam 23:8, 18; 1 Chr 11:11, 20; Isa 22:2; 66:16; Jer 14:18; 25:33; 51:49; Lam 4:9; Ezek 6:7; 30:11; 31:17, 18; 32:20; Zeph 2:12).

[4:9]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “those slain of hunger.” The genitive-construct denotes instrumentality: “those slain by hunger,” that is, those who are dying of hunger.

[4:9]  ⁵² tn Heb “who…” The antecedent of the relative pronoun שֶׁהֵם (shehem, “who”) are those dying of hunger in the previous line: מֵחַלְלֵי רָעָב (mekhalle ra’av, “those slain of hunger”).

[4:9]  ⁵³ tn Heb “they flow away.” The verb זוּב (zuv, “to flow, gush”) is used figuratively here, meaning “to pine away” or “to waste away” from hunger. See also the next note.

[4:9]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “pierced through and through.” The term מְדֻקָּרִים (mÿduqqarim), Pual participle masculine plural from דָּקַר (daqar, “to pierce”), is used figuratively. The verb דָּקַר (daqar, “to pierce”) usually refers to a fatal wound inflicted by a sword or spear (Num 25:8; Judg 9:54; 1 Sam 31:4; 1 Chr 10:4; Isa 13:15; Jer 37:10; 51:4; Zech 12:10; 13:3). Here, it describes people dying from hunger. This is an example of hypocatastasis: an implied comparison between warriors being fatally pierced by sword and spear and the piercing pangs of hunger and starvation. Alternatively “those who hemorrhage (זוּב [zuv, “flow, gush”]) [are better off] than those pierced by lack of food” in parallel to the structure of the first line.

[4:9]  ⁵⁵ tn The preposition מִן (min, “from”) denotes deprivation: “from lack of” something (BDB 580 s.v. 2.f; HALOT 598 s.v. 6).

[4:9]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “produce of the field.”

[4:10]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “the hands of compassionate women.”

[4:10]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “eating.” The infinitive construct (from I בָּרָה, barah) is translated as a noun. Three passages employ the verb (2 Sam 3:35; 12:17; 13:5,6,10) for eating when ill or in mourning.

[4:10]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “the daughter of my people.”

[4:10]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “in the destruction of the daughter of my people.”

[5:10]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “because of the burning heat of famine.”