Lamentations 3:40-47
Contextנ (Nun)
3:40 Let us carefully examine our ways, 1
and let us return to the Lord.
3:41 Let us lift up our hearts 2 and our hands
to God in heaven:
3:42 “We 3 have blatantly rebelled; 4
you 5 have not forgiven.”
ס (Samek)
3:43 You shrouded yourself 6 with anger and then pursued us;
you killed without mercy.
3:44 You shrouded yourself with a cloud
so that no prayer can get through.
3:45 You make us like filthy scum 7
in the estimation 8 of the nations.
פ (Pe)
3:46 All our enemies have gloated over us; 9
3:47 Panic and pitfall 10 have come upon us,
devastation and destruction. 11
[3:40] 1 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.”
[3:41] 2 tc The MT reads the singular noun לְבָבֵנוּ (lÿvavenu, “our heart”) but the ancient versions (LXX, Aramaic Targum, Latin Vulgate) and many medieval Hebrew
[3:42] 3 tn The Heb emphasiszes the pronoun “We – we have sinned….” Given the contrast with the following, it means “For our part, we have sinned….” A poetic reading in English would place vocal emphasis on “we” followed by a short pause.
[3:42] 4 tn Heb “We have revolted and we have rebelled.” The two verbs פָשַׁעְנוּ וּמָרִינוּ (pasha’nu umarinu, “we have revolted and we have rebelled”) form a verbal hendiadys in which the synonyms emphasize the single idea.
[3:42] 5 tn The Heb emphasiszes the pronoun “You – you have not forgiven.” Given the contrast with the preceding, it means “For your part, you have not forgiven.” A poetic reading in English would place vocal emphasis on “you” followed by a short pause.
[3:43] 6 tn Heb “covered.” The object must be supplied either from the next line (“covered yourself”) or from the end of this line (“covered us”).
[3:45] 7 tn Heb “offscouring and refuse.” The two nouns סְחִי וּמָאוֹס (sÿkhi uma’os) probably form a nominal hendiadys, in which the first noun functions as an adjective and the second retains its full nominal sense: “filthy refuse,” i.e., “filthy scum.”
[3:45] 8 tn Heb “in the midst of.”
[3:46] 9 tn Heb “open wide their mouths.”
[3:47] 10 tn The similar sounding nouns פַּחַד וָפַחַת (pakhad vafakhat, “panic and pitfall”) are an example of paronomasia.
[3:47] 11 tn Similar to the paronomasia in the preceding line, the words הַשֵּׁאת וְהַשָּׁבֶר (hashe’t vÿhashaver, “devastation and destruction”) form an example of alliteration: the beginning of the words sound alike.