Lamentations 5:9

5:9 At the risk ¹  of our lives ²  we get our food ³ 

because robbers lurk ⁴  in the countryside. ⁵ 

Lamentations 4:19

ק (Qof)

4:19 Those who pursued us were swifter

than eagles ⁶  in the sky. ⁷ 

They chased us over the mountains;

they ambushed us in the wilderness.

Lamentations 4:3

ג (Gimel)

4:3 Even the jackals ⁸  nurse their young

at their breast, ⁹ 

but my people ¹⁰  are cruel,

like ostriches ¹¹  in the desert.

[5:9]  ¹ tn Heb “at the cost of our lives.” The preposition ב (bet) here denotes purchase price paid (e.g., Gen 30:16; Exod 34:20; 2 Sam 3:14; 24:24) (BDB 90 s.v. בְּ 3.a). The expression בְּנַפְשֵׁנוּ (bÿnafshenu) means “at the risk of our lives.” Similar expressions include בְנַפְשׁוֹ (bÿnafsho, “at the cost of his life,” 1 Kgs 2:23; Prov 7:23) and בְּנַפְשׁוֹתָם (bÿnafshotam, “at peril of their lives,” 2 Sam 23:17).

[5:9]  ² tn Heb “our soul.” The noun נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “soul”) is used as a metonymy (= soul) of association (= life) (e.g., Gen 44:30; Exod 21:23; 2 Sam 14:7; Jon 1:14).

[5:9]  ³ tn Heb “bread.” The term “bread” is a synecdoche of specific (= bread) for the general (= food).

[5:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “because of the sword.” The term “sword” is a metonymy of instrument (= sword) for the persons who use the instrument (= murderers or marauders).

[5:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “the wilderness.”

[4:19]  ⁶ tn The bird referred to here could be one of several species of eagles, but more likely is the griffin-vulture (cf. NEB “vultures”). However, because eagles are more commonly associated with swiftness than vultures in contemporary English, “eagles” was used in the translation.

[4:19]  ⁷ tn Or “in the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.

[4:3]  ¹¹ tn The noun תַּנִּין (tannin) means “jackals.” The plural ending ־ִין (-in) is diminutive (GKC 242 §87.e) (e.g., Lam 1:4).

[4:3]  ¹² tn Heb “draw out the breast and suckle their young.”

[4:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “the daughter of my people.”

[4:3]  ¹⁴ tc 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.