Lamentations 2:11

כ (Kaf)

2:11 My eyes are worn out ¹  from weeping; ² 

my stomach is in knots. ³ 

My heart ⁴  is poured out on the ground

due to the destruction ⁵  of my helpless people; ⁶ 

children and infants faint

in the town squares.

Deuteronomy 28:65

28:65 Among those nations you will have no rest nor will there be a place of peaceful rest for the soles of your feet, for there the Lord will give you an anxious heart, failing eyesight, and a spirit of despair.

Job 17:7

17:7 My eyes have grown dim ⁷  with grief;

my whole frame ⁸  is but a shadow.

Psalms 6:7

6:7 My eyes ⁹  grow dim ¹⁰  from suffering;

they grow weak ¹¹  because of all my enemies. ¹² 

Psalms 31:9

31:9 Have mercy on me, for I am in distress!

My eyes grow dim ¹³  from suffering. ¹⁴ 

I have lost my strength. ¹⁵ 

Psalms 69:3

69:3 I am exhausted from shouting for help;

my throat is sore; ¹⁶ 

my eyes grow tired of looking for my God. ¹⁷ 

Isaiah 38:14

38:14 Like a swallow or a thrush I chirp,

I coo ¹⁸  like a dove;

my eyes grow tired from looking up to the sky. ¹⁹ 

O sovereign master, ²⁰  I am oppressed;

help me! ²¹ 

[2:11]  ¹ 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]  ² 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]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Heb “my liver,” viewed as the seat of the emotions.

[2:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “on account of the breaking.”

[2:11]  ⁶ 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.

[17:7]  ⁷ tn See the usage of this verb in Gen 27:1 and Deut 34:7. Usually it is age that causes the failing eyesight, but here it is the grief.

[17:7]  ⁸ tn The word יְצֻרִים (yÿtsurim), here with a suffix, occurs only here in the Bible. The word is related to יָצַר (yatsar, “to form, fashion”). And so Targum Job has “my forms,” and the Vulgate “my members.” The Syriac uses “thoughts” to reflect יֵצֶר (yetser). Some have followed this to interpret, “all my thoughts have dissolved into shadows.” But the parallel with “eye” would suggest “form.” The plural “my forms, all of them” would refer to the whole body.

[6:7]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew text has the singular “eye” here.

[6:7]  ¹⁰ tn Or perhaps, “are swollen.”

[6:7]  ¹¹ tn Or perhaps, “grow old.”

[6:7]  ¹² sn In his weakened condition the psalmist is vulnerable to the taunts and threats of his enemies.

[31:9]  ¹³ tn Or perhaps, “are swollen.”

[31:9]  ¹⁴ tn Cf. Ps 6:7, which has a similar line.

[31:9]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “my breath and my stomach [grow weak].” Apparently the verb in the previous line (“grow dim, be weakened”) is to be understood here. The Hebrew term נפשׁ can mean “life,” or, more specifically, “throat, breath.” The psalmist seems to be lamenting that his breathing is impaired because of the physical and emotional suffering he is forced to endure.

[69:3]  ¹⁶ tn Or perhaps “raw”; Heb “burned; enflamed.”

[69:3]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “my eyes fail from waiting for my God.” The psalmist has intently kept his eyes open, looking for God to intervene, but now his eyes are watery and bloodshot, impairing his vision.

[38:14]  ¹⁸ tn Or “moan” (ASV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); KJV, CEV “mourn.”

[38:14]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “my eyes become weak, toward the height.”

[38:14]  ²⁰ tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here and in v. 16 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[38:14]  ²¹ tn Heb “stand surety for me.” Hezekiah seems to be picturing himself as a debtor who is being exploited; he asks that the Lord might relieve his debt and deliver him from the oppressive creditor.