Lamentations 4:3

Context

ג (Gimel)

4:3 Even the jackals¹ nurse their young

at their breast,²

but my people³ are cruel,

like ostriches⁴ in the desert.

Lamentations 4:6

Context

ו (Vav)

4:6 The punishment⁵ of my people⁶

exceeded that of⁷ of Sodom,

which was overthrown in a moment

with no one to help her.⁸

[4:3] ¹tn The noun תַּנִּין (tannin) means “jackals.” The plural ending ־ִין (-in) is diminutive (GKC 242 §87.e) (e.g., Lam 1:4).

[4:3] ²tn Heb “draw out the breast and suckle their young.”

[4:3] ³tn Heb “the daughter of my people.”

[4:3] ⁴tc The MT Kethib form כִּי עֵנִים (ki ’enim) is by all accounts a textual corruption for כַּיְעֵנִים (kay’enim, “like ostriches”) which is preserved in the Qere and the medieval Hebrew mss, and reflected in the LXX.

[4:6] ⁵tn The noun עֲוֹן (’avon) has a basic two-fold range of meanings: (1) basic meaning: “iniquity, sin” and (2) metonymical cause for effect meaning: “punishment for iniquity.”

[4:6] ⁶tn Heb “the daughter of my people.”

[4:6] ⁷tn Heb “the sin of.” The noun חַטָּאת (khatta’t) often means “sin, rebellion,” but here it probably functions in a metonymical (cause for effect) sense: “punishment for sin” (e.g., Zech 14:19). The context focuses on the severity of the punishment of Jerusalem rather than the depths of its degradation and depravity that led to the judgment.

[4:6] ⁸tn Heb “without a hand turned.” The preposition ב (bet) after the verb חוּל (khul) in Hos 11:6 is adversative “the sword will turn against [Assyria’s] cities.” Other contexts with חוּל (khul) plus ב (bet) are not comparable (ב [bet] often being locative). However, it is not certain that hands must be adversarial as the sword clearly is in Hos 11:6. The present translation pictures the suddenness of Sodom’s overthrow as an easier fate than the protracted military campaign and subsequent exile and poverty of Judah’s survivor’s.