Lamentations 2:10

י (Yod)

2:10 The elders of Daughter Zion

sit ¹  on the ground in silence. ² 

They have thrown dirt on their heads;

They have dressed in sackcloth. ³ 

Jerusalem’s young women ⁴  stare down at the ground. ⁵ 

Isaiah 3:26

3:26 Her gates will mourn and lament;

deprived of her people, she will sit on the ground. ⁶ 

Isaiah 47:1-15

Babylon Will Fall

47:1 “Fall down! Sit in the dirt,

O virgin ⁷  daughter Babylon!

Sit on the ground, not on a throne,

O daughter of the Babylonians!

Indeed, ⁸  you will no longer be called delicate and pampered.

47:2 Pick up millstones and grind flour!

Remove your veil,

strip off your skirt,

expose your legs,

cross the streams!

47:3 Let your private parts be exposed!

Your genitals will be on display! ⁹ 

I will get revenge;

I will not have pity on anyone,” ¹⁰ 

47:4 says our protector –

the Lord who commands armies is his name,

the Holy One of Israel. ¹¹ 

47:5 “Sit silently! Go to a hiding place, ¹² 

O daughter of the Babylonians!

Indeed, ¹³  you will no longer be called ‘Queen of kingdoms.’

47:6 I was angry at my people;

I defiled my special possession

and handed them over to you.

You showed them no mercy; ¹⁴ 

you even placed a very heavy burden on old people. ¹⁵ 

47:7 You said,

‘I will rule forever as permanent queen!’ ¹⁶ 

You did not think about these things; ¹⁷ 

you did not consider how it would turn out. ¹⁸ 

47:8 So now, listen to this,

O one who lives so lavishly, ¹⁹ 

who lives securely,

who says to herself, ²⁰ 

‘I am unique! No one can compare to me! ²¹ 

I will never have to live as a widow;

I will never lose my children.’ ²² 

47:9 Both of these will come upon you

suddenly, in one day!

You will lose your children and be widowed. ²³ 

You will be overwhelmed by these tragedies, ²⁴ 

despite ²⁵  your many incantations

and your numerous amulets. ²⁶ 

47:10 You were complacent in your evil deeds; ²⁷ 

you thought, ²⁸  ‘No one sees me.’

Your self-professed ²⁹  wisdom and knowledge lead you astray,

when you say, ‘I am unique! No one can compare to me!’ ³⁰ 

47:11 Disaster will overtake you;

you will not know how to charm it away. ³¹ 

Destruction will fall on you;

you will not be able to appease it.

Calamity will strike you suddenly,

before you recognize it. ³² 

47:12 Persist ³³  in trusting ³⁴  your amulets

and your many incantations,

which you have faithfully recited ³⁵  since your youth!

Maybe you will be successful ³⁶  –

maybe you will scare away disaster. ³⁷ 

47:13 You are tired out from listening to so much advice. ³⁸ 

Let them take their stand –

the ones who see omens in the sky,

who gaze at the stars,

who make monthly predictions –

let them rescue you from the disaster that is about to overtake you! ³⁹ 

47:14 Look, they are like straw,

which the fire burns up;

they cannot rescue themselves

from the heat ⁴⁰  of the flames.

There are no coals to warm them,

no firelight to enjoy. ⁴¹ 

47:15 They will disappoint you, ⁴² 

those you have so faithfully dealt with since your youth. ⁴³ 

Each strays off in his own direction, ⁴⁴ 

leaving no one to rescue you.”

Isaiah 50:5

50:5 The sovereign Lord has spoken to me clearly; ⁴⁵ 

I have not rebelled,

I have not turned back.

Isaiah 52:2

52:2 Shake off the dirt! ⁴⁶ 

Get up, captive ⁴⁷  Jerusalem!

Take off the iron chains around your neck,

O captive daughter Zion!

Isaiah 52:7

52:7 How delightful it is to see approaching over the mountains ⁴⁸ 

the feet of a messenger who announces peace,

a messenger who brings good news, who announces deliverance,

who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!” ⁴⁹ 

Jeremiah 9:11

9:11 The Lord said, ⁵⁰ 

“I will make Jerusalem ⁵¹  a heap of ruins.

Jackals will make their home there. ⁵² 

I will destroy the towns of Judah

so that no one will be able to live in them.”

Ezekiel 26:16

26:16 All the princes of the sea will vacate ⁵³  their thrones. They will remove their robes and strip off their embroidered clothes; they will clothe themselves with trembling. They will sit on the ground; they will tremble continually and be shocked at what has happened to you. ⁵⁴ 

[2:10]  ¹ tc Consonantal ישׁבו (yshvy) is vocalized by the MT as יֵשְׁבוּ (yeshvu), Qal imperfect 3rd person masculine plural from יָשַׁב (yashav, “to sit”): “they sit on the ground.” However, the ancient versions (Aramaic Targum, Greek Septuagint, Syriac Peshitta, Latin Vulgate) reflect an alternate vocalization tradition of יָשְׁבוּ (yashvu), Qal imperfect 3rd person masculine plural from שׁוּב (shuv, “to return”): “they return to the ground (= the grave).” The parallelism with the following line favors the MT.

[2:10]  ² tn Heb “they sit on the ground, they are silent.” Based on meter, the two verbs יִדְּמוּ…יֵשְׁבוּ (yeshvu…yidÿmu, “they sit…they are silent”) are in the same half of the line. Joined without a ו (vav) conjunction they form a verbal hendiadys. The first functions in its full verbal sense while the second functions adverbially: “they sit in silence.” The verb יִדְּמוּ (yidÿmu) may mean to be silent or to wail.

[2:10]  ³ tn Heb “they have girded themselves with sackcloth.”

[2:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “the virgins of Jerusalem.” The term “virgins” is a metonymy of association, standing for single young women who are not yet married. These single women are in grief because their potential suitors have been killed. The elders, old men, and young women function together as a merism for all of the survivors (F. W. Dobbs-Allsopp, Lamentations [IBC], 92).

[2:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “have bowed down their heads to the ground.”

[3:26]  ⁶ tn Heb “she will be empty, on the ground she will sit.” Jerusalem is personified as a destitute woman who sits mourning the empty city.

[47:1]  ⁷ tn בְּתוּלַה (bÿtulah) often refers to a virgin, but the phrase “virgin daughter” is apparently stylized (see also 23:12; 37:22). In the extended metaphor of this chapter, where Babylon is personified as a queen (vv. 5, 7), she is depicted as being both a wife and mother (vv. 8-9).

[47:1]  ⁸ tn Or “For” (NASB, NRSV).

[47:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “Your shame will be seen.” In this context “shame” is a euphemism referring to the genitals.

[47:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “I will not meet a man.” The verb פָּגַע (pagah) apparently carries the nuance “meet with kindness” here (cf. 64:5, and see BDB 803 s.v. Qal.2).

[47:4]  ¹¹ tc The Hebrew text reads, “Our redeemer – the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts] is his name, the Holy One of Israel.” The ancient Greek version adds “says” before “our redeemer.” אָמַר (’amar) may have accidentally dropped from the text by virtual haplography. Note that the preceding word אָדָם (’adam) is graphically similar.

[47:5]  ¹² tn Heb “darkness,” which may indicate a place of hiding where a fugitive would seek shelter and protection.

[47:5]  ¹³ tn Or “For” (NASB, NRSV).

[47:6]  ¹⁴ tn Or “compassion.”

[47:6]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “on the old you made very heavy your yoke.”

[47:7]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Forever I [will be] permanent queen”; NIV “the eternal queen”; CEV “queen forever.”

[47:7]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “you did not set these things upon your heart [or “mind”].”

[47:7]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “you did not remember its outcome”; NAB “you disregarded their outcome.”

[47:8]  ¹⁹ tn Or perhaps, “voluptuous one” (NAB); NAB “you sensual one”; NLT “You are a pleasure-crazy kingdom.”

[47:8]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the one who says in her heart.”

[47:8]  ²¹ tn Heb “I [am], and besides me there is no other.” See Zeph 2:15.

[47:8]  ²² tn Heb “I will not live [as] a widow, and I will not know loss of children.”

[47:9]  ²³ tn Heb “loss of children and widowhood.” In the Hebrew text the phrase is in apposition to “both of these” in line 1.

[47:9]  ²⁴ tn Heb “according to their fullness, they will come upon you.”

[47:9]  ²⁵ tn For other examples of the preposition bet (בְּ) having the sense of “although, despite,” see BDB 90 s.v. III.7.

[47:9]  ²⁶ sn Reference is made to incantations and amulets, both of which were important in Mesopotamian religion. They were used to ward off danger and demons.

[47:10]  ²⁷ tn Heb “you trusted in your evil”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “wickedness.”

[47:10]  ²⁸ tn Or “said”; NAB “said to yourself”’ NASB “said in your heart.”

[47:10]  ²⁹ tn The words “self-professed” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[47:10]  ³⁰ tn See the note at v. 8.

[47:11]  ³¹ tc The Hebrew text has שַׁחְרָהּ (shakhrah), which is either a suffixed noun (“its dawning,” i.e., origin) or infinitive (“to look early for it”). Some have suggested an emendation to שַׁחֲדָהּ (shakhadah), a suffixed infinitive from שָׁחַד (shakhad, “[how] to buy it off”; see BDB 1005 s.v. שָׁחַד). This forms a nice parallel with the following couplet. The above translation is based on a different etymology of the verb in question. HALOT 1466 s.v. III שׁחר references a verbal root with these letters (שׁחד) that refers to magical activity.

[47:11]  ³² tn Heb “you will not know”; NIV “you cannot foresee.”

[47:12]  ³³ tn Heb “stand” (so KJV, ASV); NASB, NRSV “Stand fast.”

[47:12]  ³⁴ tn The word “trusting” is supplied in the translation for clarification. See v. 9.

[47:12]  ³⁵ tn Heb “in that which you have toiled.”

[47:12]  ³⁶ tn Heb “maybe you will be able to profit.”

[47:12]  ³⁷ tn Heb “maybe you will cause to tremble.” The object “disaster” is supplied in the translation for clarification. See the note at v. 9.

[47:13]  ³⁸ tn Heb “you are tired because of the abundance of your advice.”

[47:13]  ³⁹ tn Heb “let them stand and rescue you – the ones who see omens in the sky, who gaze at the stars, who make known by months – from those things which are coming upon you.”

[47:14]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “hand,” here a metaphor for the strength or power of the flames.

[47:14]  ⁴¹ tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “there is no coal [for?] their food, light to sit before it.” Some emend לַחְמָם (lakhmam, “their food”) to לְחֻמָּם (lÿkhummam, “to warm them”; see HALOT 328 s.v. חמם). This statement may allude to Isa 44:16, where idolaters are depicted warming themselves over a fire made from wood, part of which was used to form idols. The fire of divine judgment will be no such campfire; its flames will devour and destroy.

[47:15]  ⁴² tn Heb “So they will be to you”; NIV “That is all they can do for you.”

[47:15]  ⁴³ tn Heb “that for which you toiled, your traders from your youth.” The omen readers and star gazers are likened to merchants with whom Babylon has had an ongoing economic relationship.

[47:15]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “each to his own side, they err.”

[50:5]  ⁴⁵ tn Or perhaps, “makes me obedient.” The text reads literally, “has opened for me an ear.”

[52:2]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “Shake yourself free from the dirt.”

[52:2]  ⁴⁷ tc The Hebrew text has שְּׂבִי (shÿvi), which some understand as a feminine singular imperative from יָשַׁב (yashav, “sit”). The LXX, Vulgate, Syriac, and the Targum support the MT reading (the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a does indirectly). Some interpret this to mean “take your throne”: The Lord exhorts Jerusalem to get up from the dirt and sit, probably with the idea of sitting in a place of honor (J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah [NICOT], 2:361). However, the form is likely a corruption of שְׁבִיָּה (shÿviyyah, “captive”), which appears in the parallel line.

[52:7]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “How delightful on the mountains.”

[52:7]  ⁴⁹ tn Or “has become king.” When a new king was enthroned, his followers would give this shout. For other examples of this enthronement formula (Qal perfect 3rd person masculine singular מָלַךְ [malakh], followed by the name of the king), see 2 Sam 15:10; 1 Kgs 1:11, 13, 18; 2 Kgs 9:13. The Lord is an eternal king, but here he is pictured as a victorious warrior who establishes his rule from Zion.

[9:11]  ⁵⁰ tn The words “the Lord said” are not in the text, but it is obvious from the content that he is the speaker. These words are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[9:11]  ⁵¹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[9:11]  ⁵² tn Heb “a heap of ruins, a haunt for jackals.”

[26:16]  ⁵³ tn Heb “descend from.”

[26:16]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “and they will be astonished over you.”