Lamentations 3:57-58

Context

3:57 You came near¹ on the day I called to you;

you said,² “Do not fear!”

ר (Resh)

3:58 O Lord,³ you championed⁴ my cause,⁵

you redeemed my life.

[3:57] ¹tn 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] ²tn The verb could be understood as a precative (“Say”).

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

[3:58] ⁵tn Heb “the causes of my soul.” The term נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my soul”) is a synecdoche of part (= my soul) for the whole person (= me).