Lamentations 5:16-17

5:16 The crown has fallen from our head;

woe to us, for we have sinned!

5:17 Because of this, our hearts are sick; ¹ 

because of these things, we can hardly see ²  through our tears. ³ 

Habakkuk 1:13

1:13 You are too just ⁴  to tolerate ⁵  evil;

you are unable to condone ⁶  wrongdoing.

So why do you put up with such treacherous people? ⁷ 

Why do you say nothing when the wicked devour ⁸  those more righteous than they are? ⁹ 

[5:17]  ¹ tn Heb “are faint” or “are sick.” The adjective דַּוָּי (davvay, “faint”) is used in reference to emotional sorrow (e.g., Isa 1:5; Lam 1:22; Jer 8:18). The related adjective דָּוֶה (daveh) means “(physically) sick” and “(emotionally) sad,” while the related verb דָּוָה (davah) means “to be sad.” The cognate Aramaic term means “sorrow,” and the cognate Syriac term refers to “misery.”

[5:17]  ² tn Heb “our eyes are dim.” The physical description of losing sight is metaphorical, perhaps for being blinded by tears or more abstractly for being unable to see (= envision) any hope. The collocation “darkened eyes” is too rare to clarify the nuance.

[5:17]  ³ tn The phrase “through our tears” is added in the translation for the sake of clarification.

[1:13]  ⁴ tn Heb “[you] are too pure of eyes.” God’s “eyes” here signify what he looks at with approval. His “eyes” are “pure” in that he refuses to tolerate any wrongdoing in his presence.

[1:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “to see.” Here “see” is figurative for “tolerate,” “put up with.”

[1:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “to look at.” Cf. NEB “who canst not countenance wrongdoing”; NASB “You can not look on wickedness with favor.”

[1:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “Why do you look at treacherous ones?” The verb בָּגַד (bagad, “be treacherous”) is often used of those who are disloyal or who violate agreements. See S. Erlandsson, TDOT 1:470-73.

[1:13]  ⁸ tn Or “swallow up.”

[1:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “more innocent than themselves.”