Lamentations 3:55-58

Context

ק (Qof)

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

from the deepest pit.¹

3:56 You heard² my plea:³

“Do not close your ears to my cry for relief!”⁴

3:57 You came near⁵ on the day I called to you;

you said,⁶ “Do not fear!”

ר (Resh)

3:58 O Lord,⁷ you championed⁸ my cause,⁹

you redeemed my life.

[3:55] ¹tn Heb “from a pit of lowest places.”

[3:56] ²tn The verb could be understood as a precative, “hear my plea,” parallel to the following volitive verb, “do not close.”

[3:56] ³tn Heb “my voice.”

[3:56] ⁴tn 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] ³tn 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] ⁴tn The verb could be understood as a precative (“Say”).

[3:58] ⁴tc 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] ⁵tn This verb, like others in this stanza, could be understood as a precative (“Plead”).

[3:58] ⁶tn Heb “the causes of my soul.” The term נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my soul”) is a synecdoche of part (= my soul) for the whole person (= me).