Lamentations 3:54-58

Context

3:54 The waters closed over my head;

I thought¹ I was about to die.²

ק (Qof)

3:55 I have called on your name, O Lord,

from the deepest pit.³

3:56 You heard⁴ my plea:⁵

“Do not close your ears to my cry for relief!”⁶

3:57 You came near⁷ on the day I called to you;

you said,⁸ “Do not fear!”

ר (Resh)

3:58 O Lord,⁹ you championed¹⁰ my cause,¹¹

you redeemed my life.

[3:54] ¹tn Heb “I said,” meaning “I said to myself” = “I thought.”

[3:54] ²tn 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).

[3:55] ³tn Heb “from a pit of lowest places.”

[3:56] ⁵tn The verb could be understood as a precative, “hear my plea,” parallel to the following volitive verb, “do not close.”

[3:56] ⁶tn Heb “my voice.”

[3:56] ⁷tn The preposition ל (lamed) continues syntactically from “my plea” in the previous line (e.g. Ex 5:2; Josh 22:2; 1 Sam 8:7; 12:1; Jer 43:4).

[3:57] ⁷tn The verb could be understood as a precative (“Draw near”). The perspective of the poem seems to be that of prayer during distress rather than a testimony that God has delivered.

[3:57] ⁸tn The verb could be understood as a precative (“Say”).

[3:58] ⁹tc The MT reads אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “the Lord”) here rather than יהוה (YHWH, “the Lord”) as in the following verse. See the tc note at 1:14.

[3:58] ¹⁰tn This verb, like others in this stanza, could be understood as a precative (“Plead”).

[3:58] ¹¹tn Heb “the causes of my soul.” The term נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my soul”) is a synecdoche of part (= my soul) for the whole person (= me).