Discovery BoxLamentations 3:43
Contextס (Samek)
3:43 You shrouded yourself 1 with anger and then pursued us;
you killed without mercy.
Lamentations 2:21
Contextש (Sin/Shin)
2:21 The young boys and old men
lie dead on the ground in the streets.
My young women 2 and my young men
have fallen by the sword.
You killed them when you were angry; 3
you slaughtered them without mercy. 4
[3:43] 1 tn Heb “covered.” The object must be supplied either from the next line (“covered yourself”) or from the end of this line (“covered us”).
[2:21] 2 tn Heb “virgins.” The term “virgin” probably functions as a metonymy of association for single young women.
[2:21] 3 tn Heb “in the day of your anger.” The construction בָּיוֹם (bayom, “in the day of…”) is a common Hebrew idiom, meaning “when…” (e.g., Gen 2:4; Lev 7:35; Num 3:1; Deut 4:15; 2 Sam 22:1; Pss 18:1; 138:3; Zech 8:9). This temporal idiom refers to a general time period, but uses the term “day” as a forceful rhetorical device to emphasize the vividness and drama of the event, depicting it as occurring within a single day. In the ancient Near East, military minded kings often referred to a successful campaign as “the day of X” in order to portray themselves as powerful conquerors who, as it were, could inaugurate and complete a victory military campaign within the span of one day.
[2:21] 4 tc The MT reads לֹא חָמָלְתָּ (lo’ khamalta, “You showed no mercy”). However, many medieval Hebrew
