Lamentations 5:9-10

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

because robbers lurk ⁴  in the countryside. ⁵ 

5:10 Our skin is hot as an oven

due to a fever from hunger. ⁶ 

[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.”

[5:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “because of the burning heat of famine.”