Lamentations 3:29-30

3:29 Let him bury his face in the dust; ¹ 

perhaps there is hope.

3:30 Let him offer his cheek to the one who hits him; ² 

let him have his fill of insults.

Lamentations 3:65

3:65 Give them a distraught heart; ³ 

may your curse be on them!

Lamentations 5:6

5:6 We have submitted ⁴  to Egypt and Assyria

in order to buy food to eat. ⁵ 

[3:29]  ¹ tn Heb “Let him put his mouth in the dust.”

[3:30]  ² tn Heb “to the smiter.”

[3:65]  ³ tn The noun מְגִנַּה (mÿginnah) is a hapax legomenon. Its meaning is debated; earlier lexicographers suggested that it meant “covering” (BDB 171 s.v.), but more recent lexicons suggest “shamelessness” or “insanity” (HALOT 546 s.v.). The translation is based on the term being parallel to “curse” and needing to relate to “heart.” Cf. NRSV “anguish of heart.”

[5:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “we have given the hand”; cf. NRSV “We have made a pact.” This is a Semitic idiom meaning “to make a treaty with” someone, placing oneself in a subservient position as vassal. The prophets criticized these treaties.

[5:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “bread.” The term “bread” is a synecdoche of specific (= bread) for the general (= food).