Lamentations 1:13

מ (Mem)

1:13 He sent down fire ¹ 

into my bones, and it overcame ²  them.

He spread out a trapper’s net ³  for my feet;

he made me turn back.

He has made me desolate;

I am faint all day long.

Lamentations 2:12

ל (Lamed)

2:12 Children ⁴  say to their mothers, ⁵ 

“Where are food and drink?” ⁶ 

They faint ⁷  like a wounded warrior

in the city squares.

They die slowly ⁸ 

in their mothers’ arms. ⁹ 

[1:13]  ¹ tn Heb “He sent fire from on high.” Normally God sends fire from heaven. The idiom מִמָּרוֹם (mimmarom, “from on high”) can still suggest the location but as an idiom may focus on the quality of the referent. For example, “to speak from on high” means “to presume to speak as if from heaven” = arrogantly (Ps 73:8); “they fight against me from on high” = proudly (Ps 56:3) (BDB 928-29 s.v. מָרוֹם). As a potential locative, מִמָּרוֹם (mimmarom, “from on high”) designates God as the agent; idiomatically the same term paints him as pitiless.

[1:13]  ² tc The MT reads וַיִּרְדֶּנָּה (vayyirdennah, “it prevailed against them”), representing a vav (ו) consecutive + Qal preterite 3rd person masculine singular + 3rd person feminine plural suffix from רָדָה (radah, “to prevail”). The LXX κατήγαγεν αὐτό (kathgagen auto, “it descended”) reflects an alternate vocalization tradition of וַיֹּרִדֶנָּה (vayyoridennah, “it descended against them”), representing a vav (ו) consecutive + Hiphil preterite 3rd person masculine singular + 3rd person feminine plural suffix from יָרָד (yarad, “to go down”), or הֹרִידָהּ (horidah, “it descended against her”), a Hiphil perfect ms + 3rd person feminine singular suffix from from יָרָד (yarad, “to go down”). Internal evidence favors the MT. The origin of the LXX vocalization can be explained by the influence of the preceding line, “He sent down fire from on high.”

[1:13]  ³ tn Heb “net.” The term “trapper’s” is supplied in the translation as a clarification.

[2:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “they”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “to their mother,” understood as a collective singular.

[2:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “Where is bread and wine?” The terms “bread” and “wine” are synecdoches of specific (= bread, wine) for general (= food, drink).

[2:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “as they faint” or “when they faint.”

[2:12]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Heb “chest, lap.”