Jeremiah 8:18

8:18 Then I said, ¹ 

“There is no cure ²  for my grief!

I am sick at heart!

Jeremiah 8:21

8:21 My heart is crushed because my dear people ³  are being crushed. ⁴ 

I go about crying and grieving. I am overwhelmed with dismay. ⁵ 

Jeremiah 9:1

9:1 (8:23) ⁶  I wish that my head were a well full of water ⁷ 

and my eyes were a fountain full of tears!

If they were, I could cry day and night

for those of my dear people ⁸  who have been killed.

Jeremiah 13:17

13:17 But if you will not pay attention to this warning, ⁹ 

I will weep alone because of your arrogant pride.

I will weep bitterly and my eyes will overflow with tears ¹⁰ 

because you, the Lord’s flock, ¹¹  will be carried ¹²  into exile.”

Psalms 80:4-5

80:4 O Lord God, invincible warrior! ¹³ 

How long will you remain angry at your people while they pray to you? ¹⁴ 

80:5 You have given them tears as food; ¹⁵ 

you have made them drink tears by the measure. ¹⁶ 

Psalms 119:136

119:136 Tears stream down from my eyes, ¹⁷ 

because people ¹⁸  do not keep your law.

Lamentations 1:16

ע (Ayin)

1:16 I weep because of these things;

my eyes ¹⁹  flow with tears. ²⁰ 

For there is no one in sight who can comfort me ²¹ 

or encourage me. ²² 

My children ²³  are desolated ²⁴ 

because an enemy has prevailed.

Lamentations 2:18

צ (Tsade)

2:18 Cry out ²⁵  from your heart ²⁶  to the Lord, ²⁷ 

O wall of Daughter Zion! ²⁸ 

Make your tears flow like a river

all day and all night long! ²⁹ 

Do not rest;

do not let your tears ³⁰  stop!

Lamentations 3:48-49

3:48 Streams ³¹  of tears flow from my eyes ³² 

because my people ³³  are destroyed. ³⁴ 

ע (Ayin)

3:49 Tears flow from my eyes ³⁵  and will not stop;

there will be no break ³⁶ 

[8:18]  ¹ tn The words, “Then I said” are not in the text but there is a general consensus that the words of vv. 18-19a are the words of Jeremiah. These words are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[8:18]  ² tn The meaning of this word is uncertain. The translation is based on the redivision and repointing of a word that occurs only here in the MT and whose pattern of formation is unparalleled in the Hebrew Bible. The MT reads מַבְלִיגִיתִי (mavligiti) which BDB provisionally derives from a verb root meaning “to gleam” or “to shine.” However, BDB notes that the text is dubious (cf. BDB 114 s.v. מַבְלִיגִית). The text is commonly emended to מִבְּלִי גְּהֹת (mibbÿli gÿhot) which is a Qal infinitive from a verb meaning “to heal” preceded by a compound negative “for lack of, to be at a loss for” (cf., e.g., HALOT 514 s.v. מַבְלִיגִית and 174 s.v. גּהה). This reading is supported by the Greek text which has an adjective meaning “incurable,” which is, however, connected with the preceding verse, i.e., “they will bite you incurably.”

[8:21]  ³ tn Heb “daughter of my people.” For the translation given here see 4:11 and the note on the phrase “dear people” there.

[8:21]  ⁴ tn Heb “Because of the crushing of the daughter of my people I am crushed.”

[8:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “I go about in black [i.e., mourning clothes]. Dismay has seized me.”

[9:1]  ⁶ sn Beginning with 9:1, the verse numbers through 9:26 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 9:1 ET = 8:23 HT, 9:2 ET = 9:1 HT, 9:3 ET = 9:2 HT, etc., through 9:26 ET = 9:25 HT. Beginning with 10:1 the verse numbers in the ET and HT are again the same.

[9:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “I wish that my head were water.”

[9:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “daughter of my people.” For the translation given here see 4:11 and the note on the phrase “dear people” there.

[13:17]  ⁹ tn Heb “If you will not listen to it.” For the use of the feminine singular pronoun to refer to the idea(s) expressed in the preceding verse(s), see GKC 440-41 §135.p.

[13:17]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Tearing [my eye] will tear and my eye will run down [= flow] with tears.”

[13:17]  ¹¹ tn Heb “because the Lord’s flock will…” The pronoun “you” is supplied in the translation to avoid the shift in English from the second person address at the beginning to the third person affirmation at the end. It also helps explain the metaphor of the people of Israel as God’s flock for some readers who may be unfamiliar with that metaphor.

[13:17]  ¹² tn The verb is once again in the form of “as good as done” (the Hebrew prophetic perfect).

[80:4]  ¹³ tn Heb “Lord, God, hosts.” One expects the construct form אֱלֹהֵי (’elohey) before צְבָאוֹת (tsÿva’ot; “hosts”; see Ps 89:9), but יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים (yehvah ’elohim) precedes צְבָאוֹת (tsÿva’ot) in Pss 59:5 and 84:8 as well. In this context the term “hosts” (meaning “armies”) has been rendered “invincible warrior.”

[80:4]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “How long will you remain angry during the prayer of your people.” Some take the preposition -בְּ (bet) in an adversative sense here (“at/against the prayer of your people”), but the temporal sense is preferable. The psalmist expects persistent prayer to pacify God.

[80:5]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “you have fed them the food of tears.”

[80:5]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “[by] the third part [of a measure].” The Hebrew term שָׁלִישׁ (shalish, “third part [of a measure]”) occurs only here and in Isa 40:12.

[119:136]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “[with] flowing streams my eyes go down.”

[119:136]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “they”; even though somewhat generic, the referent (people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:16]  ¹⁹ tc The MT and several medieval Hebrew mss read עֵינִי עֵינִי (’eni, ’eni, “my eye, my eye”). However, the second עֵינִי (’eni) does not appear in several other medieval Hebrew mss, or in Old Greek, Syriac Peshitta or Latin Vulgate.

[1:16]  ²⁰ tn Heb “with water.” The noun מַּיִם (mayim, “water”) functions as an adverbial accusative of manner or impersonal instrument. The term מַּיִם (mayim, “water”) is a metonymy of material (= water) for the thing formed (= tears).

[1:16]  ²¹ tn Heb “For a comforter is far from me.”

[1:16]  ²² tn The phrase מֵשִׁיב נַפְשִׁי (meshiv nafshi, “one who could cause my soul to return”) is a Hebrew idiom that means “one who could encourage me.” The noun נַפְשִׁי (nafshi) refers to the whole person (e.g., Gen 27:4, 25; 49:6; Lev 26:11, 30; Num 23:10; Judg 5:21; 16:30; Isa 1:14; Lam 3:24). When used with the noun נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) the Hiphil הָשִׁיב (hashiv) of שׁוּב (shuv, “to turn, return”) means “to encourage, refresh, cheer” a person emotionally (Ruth 4:15; Pss 19:8; 23:3; Prov 25:13; Lam 1:11, 16, 19).

[1:16]  ²³ tn Heb “my sons.” The term “my sons” (בַנַי, banay) is a figurative description (hypocatastasis) of the former inhabitants of Jerusalem/Judah personified as the Lady Jerusalem’s children. Jerusalem mourns (and views) their devastation like a mother would her children.

[1:16]  ²⁴ tn The verb שָׁמֵם (shamem) means “to be desolated.” The verb is used used in reference to land destroyed in battle and left “deserted” (Isa 49:8; Ezek 33:28; 35:12, 15; 36:4). When used in reference to persons, it describes the aftermath of a physical attack, such as rape (2 Sam 13:20) or military overthrow of a city (Isa 54:1; Lam 1:13, 16; 3:11).

[2:18]  ²⁵ tc The MT reads צָעַק לִבָּם אֵל־אֲדֹנָי (tsa’aq libbam el-’adonay, “their heart cried out to the Lord”) which neither matches the second person address characterizing 2:13-19 nor is in close parallel to the rest of verse 18. Since the perfect צָעַק (tsa’aq, “cry out”) is apparently parallel to imperatives, it could be understood as a precative (“let their heart cry out”), although this understanding still has the problem of being in the third person. The BHS editors and many text critics suggest emending the MT צָעַק (tsa’aq), Qal perfect 3rd person masculine singular, to צָעֲקִי (tsa’aqi), Qal imperative 2nd person masculine singular: “Cry out!” This restores a tighter parallelism with the two 2nd person masculine singular imperatives introducing the following lines: הוֹרִידִי (horidi, “Let [your tears] flow down!”) and אַל־תִּתְּנִי (’al-tittni, “Do not allow!”). In such a case, לִבָּם (libbam) must be taken adverbially. For לִבָּם (libbam, “their heart”) see the following note. The adverbial translation loses a potential parallel to the mention of the heart in the next verse. Emending the noun to “your heart” while viewing the verb as a precative perfect would maintain this connection.

[2:18]  ²⁶ tn Heb “their heart” or “from the heart.” Many English versions take the ־ם (mem) on לִבָּם (libbam) as the 3rd person masculine plural pronominal suffix: “their heart” (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV, NJPS, CEV). However, others take it as an enclitic or adverbial ending: “from the heart” (cf. RSV, NRSV, TEV, NJPS margin). See T. F. McDaniel, “The Alleged Sumerian Influence upon Lamentations,” VT 18 (1968): 203-4.

[2:18]  ²⁷ tc The MT reads אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “the Lord”) here rather than יהוה (YHWH, “the Lord”). See the tc note at 1:14.

[2:18]  ²⁸ tn The wall is a synecdoche of a part standing for the whole city.

[2:18]  ²⁹ tn Heb “day and night.” The expression “day and night” forms a merism which encompasses everything in between two polar opposites: “from dawn to dusk” or “all day and all night long.”

[2:18]  ³⁰ tn Heb “the daughter of your eye.” The term “eye” functions as a metonymy for “tears” that are produced by the eyes. Jeremiah exhorts personified Jerusalem to cry out to the Lord day and night without ceasing in repentance and genuine sorrow for its sins.

[3:48]  ³¹ 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.

[3:48]  ³² tn Heb “my eyes flow down with canals of water.”

[3:48]  ³³ tn Heb “the daughter of my people,” or “the Daughter, my people.”

[3:48]  ³⁴ tn Heb “because of the destruction of [the daughter of my people].”

[3:49]  ³⁵ tn Heb “my eye flows.” The term “eye” is a metonymy of association, standing for the “tears” which flow from one’s eyes.

[3:49]  ³⁶ tn Heb “without stopping.” The noun הַפוּגָה (hafugah, “stop”) is a hapax legomenon (word that occurs only once in Hebrew scriptures). The form of the noun is unusual, probably being derived from the denominative Hiphil verbal stem of the root פּוּג (pug, “to grow weary, ineffective; numb, become cold”).