Lamentations 3:2

3:2 He drove me into captivity ¹  and made me walk ² 

in darkness and not light.

Lamentations 3:4

ב (Bet)

3:4 He has made my mortal skin ³  waste away;

he has broken my bones.

Lamentations 3:18

3:18 So I said, “My endurance has expired;

I have lost all hope of deliverance ⁴  from the Lord.”

Lamentations 3:40

נ (Nun)

3:40 Let us carefully examine our ways, ⁵ 

and let us return to the Lord.

Lamentations 3:54

3:54 The waters closed over my head;

I thought ⁶  I was about to die. ⁷ 

[3:2]  ¹ tn The verb נָהַג (nahag) describes the process of directing (usually a group of) something along a route, hence commonly “to drive,” when describing flocks, caravans, or prisoners and spoils of war (1 Sam 23:5; 30:2). But with people it may also have a positive connotation “to shepherd” or “to guide” (Ps 48:14; 80:1). The line plays on this through the reversal of expectations. Rather than being safely shepherded by the Lord their king, he has driven them away into captivity.

[3:2]  ² tn The Hiphil of הָלַךְ (halakh, “to walk”) may be nuanced either “brought” (BDB 236 s.v. 1) or “caused to walk” (BDB 237 s.v. 5.a).

[3:4]  ³ tn Heb “my flesh and my skin.” The two nouns joined with ו (vav), בְשָׂרִי וְעוֹרִי (basari vÿ’ori, “my flesh and my skin”), form a nominal hendiadys: the first functions adjectivally and the second retains its full nominal sense: “my mortal skin.”

[3:18]  ⁵ tn Heb “and my hope from the Lord.” The hope is for deliverance. The words, “I have lost all…” have been supplied in the translation in order to clarify the Hebrew idiom for the English reader.

[3:40]  ⁷ tn Heb “Let us test our ways and examine.” The two verbs וְנַחְקֹרָה…נַחְפְּשָׂה (nakhpÿsah…vÿnakhqorah, “Let us test and let us examine”) form a verbal hendiadys in which the first functions adverbially and the second retains its full verbal force: “Let us carefully examine our ways.”

[3:54]  ⁹ tn Heb “I said,” meaning “I said to myself” = “I thought.”

[3:54]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “I was about to be cut off.” The verb נִגְזָרְתִּי (nigzarti), Niphal perfect 1st person common singular from גָּזַר (gazar, “to be cut off”), functions in an ingressive sense: “about to be cut off.” It is used in reference to the threat of death (e.g., Ezek 37:11). To be “cut off” from the hand of the living means to experience death (Ps 88:6).