Lamentations 2:5

ה (He)

2:5 The Lord, ¹  like an enemy,

destroyed ²  Israel.

He destroyed ³  all her palaces;

he ruined her ⁴  fortified cities.

He made everyone in Daughter Judah

mourn and lament. ⁵ 

Lamentations 2:8

ח (Khet)

2:8 The Lord was determined to tear down

Daughter Zion’s wall.

He prepared to knock it down; ⁶ 

he did not withdraw his hand from destroying. ⁷ 

He made the ramparts and fortified walls lament;

together they mourned their ruin. ⁸ 

Lamentations 2:16

פ (Pe)

2:16 All your enemies

gloated over you. ⁹ 

They sneered and gnashed their teeth;

they said, “We have destroyed ¹⁰  her!

Ha! We have waited a long time for this day.

We have lived to see it!” ¹¹ 

Lamentations 2:2

ב (Bet)

2:2 The Lord ¹²  destroyed ¹³  mercilessly ¹⁴ 

all the homes of Jacob’s descendants. ¹⁵ 

In his anger he tore down

the fortified cities ¹⁶  of Daughter Judah.

He knocked to the ground and humiliated

the kingdom and its rulers. ¹⁷ 

[2:5]  ¹ tc The MT reads אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “the Lord”) here rather than יהוה (YHWH, “the Lord”). See the tc note at 1:14.

[2:5]  ² tn Heb “swallowed up.”

[2:5]  ³ tn Heb “swallowed up.”

[2:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “his.” For consistency this has been translated as “her.”

[2:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “He increased in Daughter Judah mourning and lamentation.”

[2:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “he stretched out a measuring line.” In Hebrew, this idiom is used (1) literally: to describe a workman’s preparation of measuring and marking stones before cutting them for building (Job 38:5; Jer 31:39; Zech 1:16) and (2) figuratively: to describe the Lord’s planning and preparation to destroy a walled city, that is, to mark off for destruction (2 Kgs 21:13; Isa 34:11; Lam 2:8). It is not completely clear how a phrase from the vocabulary of building becomes a metaphor for destruction; however, it might picture a predetermined and carefully planned measure from which God will not deviate.

[2:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “He did not return His hand from swallowing.” That is, he persisted until it was destroyed.

[2:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “they languished together.” The verbs אָבַּלּ (’aval, “to lament”) and אָמַל (’amal, “languish, mourn”) are often used in contexts of funeral laments in secular settings. The Hebrew prophets often use these terms to describe the aftermath of the Lord’s judgment on a nation. Based on parallel terms, אָמַל (’amal) may describe either mourning or deterioration and so makes for a convenient play on meaning when destroyed objects are personified. Incorporating this play into the translation, however, may obscure the parallel between this line and the deterioration of the gates beginning in v. 9.

[2:16]  ¹¹ tn Heb “they have opened wide their mouth against you.”

[2:16]  ¹² tn Heb “We have swallowed!”

[2:16]  ¹³ tn Heb “We have attained, we have seen!” The verbs מָצָאנוּ רָאִינוּ (matsa’nu ra’inu) form a verbal hendiadys in which the first retains its full verbal sense and the second functions as an object complement. It forms a Hebrew idiom that means something like, “We have lived to see it!” The three asyndetic 1st person common plural statements in 2:16 (“We waited, we destroyed, we saw!”) are spoken in an impassioned, staccato style reflecting the delight of the conquerors.

[2:2]  ¹⁶ tc The MT reads אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “the Lord”) here rather than יהוה (YHWH, “the Lord”). See the tc note at 1:14.

[2:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “has swallowed up.”

[2:2]  ¹⁸ tc The Kethib is written לֹא חָמַל (lo’ khamal, “without mercy”), while the Qere reads וְלֹא חָמַל (vÿlo’ khamal, “and he has shown no mercy”). The Kethib is followed by the LXX, while the Qere is reflected in many Hebrew mss and the ancient versions (Syriac Peshitta, Aramaic Targum, Latin Vulgate). The English versions are split between the Kethib: “The Lord swallowed all the dwellings of Jacob without mercy” (cf. RSV, NRSV, NIV, TEV, NJPS) and the Qere: “The Lord swallowed all the dwellings of Jacob, and has shown no mercy” (cf. KJV, NASB, CEV). As these words occur between a verb and its object (חָמַל [khamal] is not otherwise followed by אֵת [’et, direct object marker]), an adverbial reading is the most natural, although interrupting the sentence with an insertion is possible. Compare 2:17, 21; 3:43. In contexts of harming, to show mercy often means to spare from harm.

[2:2]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “all the dwellings of Jacob.”

[2:2]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the strongholds.”

[2:2]  ²¹ tn Heb “He brought down to the ground in disgrace the kingdom and its princes.” The verbs חִלֵּל…הִגִּיע (higgi’…khillel, “he has brought down…he has profaned”) function as a verbal hendiadys, as the absence of the conjunction ו (vav) suggests. The first verb retains its full verbal force, while the second functions adverbially: “he has brought down [direct object] in disgrace.”