Nehemiah 9:36-37

9:36 “So today we are slaves! In the very land you gave to our ancestors to eat its fruit and to enjoy ¹  its good things – we are slaves! 9:37 Its abundant produce goes to the kings you have placed over us due to our sins. They rule over our bodies and our livestock as they see fit, ²  and we are in great distress!

Psalms 44:11-14

44:11 You handed us ³  over like sheep to be eaten;

you scattered us among the nations.

44:12 You sold ⁴  your people for a pittance; ⁵ 

you did not ask a high price for them. ⁶ 

44:13 You made us ⁷  an object of disdain to our neighbors;

those who live on our borders taunt and insult us. ⁸ 

44:14 You made us ⁹  an object of ridicule ¹⁰  among the nations;

foreigners treat us with contempt. ¹¹ 

Psalms 137:1-3

Psalm 137 ¹² 

137:1 By the rivers of Babylon

we sit down and weep ¹³ 

when we remember Zion.

137:2 On the poplars in her midst

we hang our harps,

137:3 for there our captors ask us to compose songs; ¹⁴ 

those who mock us demand that we be happy, saying: ¹⁵ 

“Sing for us a song about Zion!” ¹⁶ 

Isaiah 32:9-14

The Lord Will Give True Security

32:9 You complacent ¹⁷  women,

get up and listen to me!

You carefree ¹⁸  daughters,

pay attention to what I say!

32:10 In a year’s time ¹⁹ 

you carefree ones will shake with fear,

for the grape ²⁰  harvest will fail,

and the fruit harvest will not arrive.

32:11 Tremble, you complacent ones!

Shake with fear, you carefree ones!

Strip off your clothes and expose yourselves –

put sackcloth on your waist! ²¹ 

32:12 Mourn over the field, ²² 

over the delightful fields

and the fruitful vine!

32:13 Mourn ²³  over the land of my people,

which is overgrown with thorns and briers,

and over all the once-happy houses ²⁴ 

in the city filled with revelry. ²⁵ 

32:14 For the fortress is neglected;

the once-crowded ²⁶  city is abandoned.

Hill ²⁷  and watchtower

are permanently uninhabited. ²⁸ 

Wild donkeys love to go there,

and flocks graze there. ²⁹ 

Lamentations 1:7

ז (Zayin)

1:7 Jerusalem ³⁰  remembers, ³¹ 

when ³²  she became a poor homeless person, ³³ 

all her treasures

that she owned in days of old. ³⁴ 

When her people fell into an enemy’s grip, ³⁵ 

none of her allies came to her rescue. ³⁶ 

Her enemies ³⁷  gloated over ³⁸  her;

they sneered ³⁹  at her downfall. ⁴⁰ 

Lamentations 3:61

ש (Sin/Shin)

3:61 You have heard ⁴¹  their taunts, O Lord,

all their plots against me.

Lamentations 5:1

The People of Jerusalem Pray:

5:1 ⁴² O Lord, reflect on ⁴³  what has happened to us;

consider ⁴⁴  and look at ⁴⁵  our disgrace.

[9:36]  ¹ tn The expression “to enjoy” is not included in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[9:37]  ² tn Heb “according to their desire.”

[44:11]  ³ tn The prefixed verbal form is a preterite (without vav [ו] consecutive).

[44:12]  ⁴ tn The prefixed verbal form is a preterite (without vav [ו] consecutive).

[44:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “for what is not wealth.”

[44:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “you did not multiply their purchase prices.”

[44:13]  ⁷ tn The prefixed verbal form is a preterite (without vav [ו] consecutive).

[44:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “an [object of] taunting and [of] mockery to those around us.”

[44:14]  ⁹ tn The prefixed verbal form is a preterite (without vav [ו] consecutive).

[44:14]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “a proverb,” or “[the subject of] a mocking song.”

[44:14]  ¹¹ tn Heb “a shaking of the head among the peoples.” Shaking the head was a derisive gesture (see Jer 18:16; Lam 2:15).

[137:1]  ¹² sn Psalm 137. The Babylonian exiles lament their condition, vow to remain loyal to Jerusalem, and appeal to God for revenge on their enemies.

[137:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “there we sit down, also we weep.”

[137:3]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “ask us [for] the words of a song.”

[137:3]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “our [?] joy.” The derivation and meaning of the Hebrew phrase תוֹלָלֵינוּ (tolalenu, “our [?]”) are uncertain. A derivation from תָּלַל (talal, “to mock”) fits contextually, but this root occurs only in the Hiphil stem. For a discussion of various proposals, see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 236.

[137:3]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “from a song of Zion.” Most modern translations read, “one of the songs of Zion,” taking the preposition מִן (min, “from”) as partitive and “song” as collective. The present translation assumes the mem (ם) is enclitic, being misunderstood later as the prefixed preposition.

[32:9]  ¹⁷ tn Or “self-assured”; NASB, NRSV “who are at ease.”

[32:9]  ¹⁸ tn Or “self-confident”; NAB “overconfident.”

[32:10]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “days upon a year.”

[32:10]  ²⁰ tn Or perhaps, “olive.” See 24:13.

[32:11]  ²¹ tn The imperatival forms in v. 11 are problematic. The first (חִרְדוּ, khirdu, “tremble”) is masculine plural in form, though spoken to a feminine plural addressee (שַׁאֲנַנּוֹת, sha’anannot, “complacent ones”). The four imperatival forms that follow (רְגָזָה, rÿgazah, “shake with fear”; פְּשֹׁטָה, pÿshotah, “strip off your clothes”; עֹרָה, ’orah, “expose yourselves”; and חֲגוֹרָה, khagorah, “put on”) all appear to be lengthened (so-called “emphatic”) masculine singular forms, even though they too appear to be spoken to a feminine plural addressee. GKC 131-32 §48.i suggests emending חִרְדוּ (khirdu) to חֲרָדָה (kharadah) and understanding all five imperatives as feminine plural “aramaized” forms.

[32:12]  ²² tc The Hebrew text has “over mourning breasts.” The reference to “breasts” would make sense in light of v. 11, which refers to the practice of women baring their breasts as a sign of sorrow (see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah [NICOT], 1:585). However, one expects the preposition עַל (’al) to introduce the source or reason for mourning (see vv. 12b-13a) and the participle סֹפְדִים (sofedim, “mourning”) seems odd modifying “breasts.” The translation above assumes a twofold emendation: (1) שָׁדַיִם (shadayim, “breasts”) is emended to [ם]שָׂדַי (saday[m], “field,” a term that also appears in Isa 56:9). The final mem (ם) would be enclitic in this case, not a plural indicator. (The Hebrew noun שָׂדֶה (sadeh, “field”) forms its plural with an וֹת- [-ot] ending). (2) The plural participle סֹפְדִים is emended to סְפֹדָה (sÿfodah), a lengthened imperatival form, meaning “mourn.” For an overview of various suggestions that have been made for this difficult line, see Oswalt, 586, n. 12).

[32:13]  ²³ tn “Mourn” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text vv. 12-13 are one long sentence.

[32:13]  ²⁴ tn Heb “indeed, over all the houses of joy.” It is not certain if this refers to individual homes or to places where parties and celebrations were held.

[32:13]  ²⁵ sn This same phrase is used in 22:2.

[32:14]  ²⁶ tn Or “noisy” (NAB, NIV, NCV).

[32:14]  ²⁷ tn Hebrew עֹפֶל (’ofel), probably refers here to a specific area within the city of Jerusalem. See HALOT 861 s.v. II עֹפֶל.

[32:14]  ²⁸ tn The Hebrew text has בְעַד מְעָרוֹת (vÿ’ad mÿ’arot). The force of בְעַד, which usually means “behind, through, round about,” or “for the benefit of,” is uncertain here. HALOT 616 s.v. *מְעָרָה takes מְעָרוֹת (mÿ’arot) as a homonym of “cave” and define it here as “cleared field.” Despite these lexical problems, the general point of the statement seems clear – the city will be uninhabited.

[32:14]  ²⁹ tn Heb “the joy of wild donkeys, a pasture for flocks.”

[1:7]  ³⁰ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[1:7]  ³¹ sn As elsewhere in chap. 1, Jerusalem is personified as remembering the catastrophic days of 587 b.c. when Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the city and exiled its inhabitants. Like one of its dispossessed inhabitants, Jerusalem is pictured as becoming impoverished and homeless.

[1:7]  ³² tn Heb “the days of her poverty and her homelessness,” or “the days of her affliction and wandering.” The plural construct יְמֵי (yÿme, “days of”) functions in the general sense “the time of” or “when,” envisioning the time period in which this occurred. The principal question is whether the phrase is a direct object or an adverb. If a direct object, she remembers either the season when the process happened or she remembers, i.e. reflects on, her current season of life. An adverbial sense, “during” or “throughout” normally occurs with כֹּל (kol, “all”) in the phrase “all the days of…” but may also occur without כֹּל (kol) in poetry as in Job 10:20. The adverbial sense would be translated “during her poor homeless days.” Treating “days” adverbially makes better sense with line 7b, whereas treating “days” as a direct object makes better sense with line 7c.

[1:7]  ³³ tn The 3rd person feminine singular suffixes on the terms עָנְיָהּ וּמְרוּדֶיהָ (’onyah umÿrudeha, “her poverty and her homelessness,” or “the days of her affliction and wandering”) function as subjective genitives: “she became impoverished and homeless.” The plural noun וּמְרוּדֶיהָ (umÿrudeha, lit. “her homelessnesses”) is an example of the plural of intensity. The two nouns עָנְיָהּ וּמְרוּדֶיהָ (’onyah umÿrudeha, lit., “her poverty and her homelessness”) form a nominal hendiadys in which one noun functions adjectivally and the other retains its full nominal sense: “her impoverished homelessness” or “homeless poor” (GKC 397-98 §124.e). The nearly identical phrase עֲנִיִּים מְרוּדִים (’aniyyim mÿrudim, “homeless poor”) is used in Isa 58:7 (see GKC 226 §83.c), suggesting this was a Hebrew idiom. Jerusalem is personified as one of its inhabitants who became impoverished and homeless when the city was destroyed.

[1:7]  ³⁴ tc The BHS editors suggest that the second bicola in 1:7 is a late addition and should be deleted. Apart from the four sets of bicola here in 1:7 and again in 2:19, every stanza in chapters 1-4 consists of three sets of bicola. Commentators usually suggest dropping line b or line c. Depending on the meaning of “days” in line a (see note on “when” earlier in the verse) either line makes sense. The four lines would make sense as two bicola if “days of” in line 7a is understood adverbially and 7b as the direct object completing the sentence. Lines 7c-d would begin with a temporal modifier and the rest of the couplet describe conditions that were true at that time.

[1:7]  ³⁵ tn Heb “into the hand of.” In such phrases “hand” represents power or authority.

[1:7]  ³⁶ tn Heb “and there was no helper for her.” This phrase is used idiomatically in OT to describe the plight of a city whose allies refuse to help ward off a powerful attacker. The nominal participle עוֹזֵר II (’oser) refers elsewhere to military warriors (1 Chr 12:1, 18, 22; 2 Chr 20:23; 26:7; 28:23; 26:15; Ps 28:7; 46:6; Ezek 12:14; 30:8; 32:21; Dan 11:34) and the related noun refers to military allies upon whom an attacked city calls for help (Lachish Letters 19:1).

[1:7]  ³⁷ tn Heb “the adversaries” (צָרִים, tsarim). The 3rd person feminine singular pronoun “her” is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity and good English style.

[1:7]  ³⁸ tn The verb רָאָה (ra’ah, “to look”) has a broad range of meanings, including “to feast the eyes upon” and “to look down on” or “to gloat over” fallen enemies with exultation and triumph (e.g., Judg 16:27; Pss 22:18; 112:8; 118:7; Ezek 28:17; Mic 7:10; Obad 12, 13). This nuance is clarified by the synonymous parallelism between רָאוּהָ (ra’uha, “they gloated over her”) in the A-line and שָׂחֲקוּ עַל־מִשְׁבַּתֶּהָ (sakhaqu ’al-mishbatteha, “they mocked at her downfall”) in the B-line.

[1:7]  ³⁹ tn Heb “laughed” or “sneered.” The verb שָׂחַק (sakhaq, “to laugh”) is often used in reference to contempt and derision (e.g., Job 30:1; Pss 37:13; 52:8; 59:9; Lam 1:7).

[1:7]  ⁴⁰ tc The MT reads מִשְׁבַּתֶּהָ (mishbatteha, “her annihilation”) from the noun מִשְׁבָּת (mishbat, “cessation, annihilation”), which is derived from the root שָׁבַת (shavat, “to cease”). The LXX mistakenly connected this with the root יָשַׁב (yashav, “to dwell”), reading μετοικεσίᾳ αὐτῆς (metoikesia auth") which reflects שִׁבְתָּהּ (shivtah, “her dwelling”). The MT is favored on the basis of internal evidence: (1) The MT is the more difficult reading, being a hapax legomenon, (2) the LXX is guilty of simply misunderstanding the root and wrongly vocalizing the consonantal text, and (3) the LXX does not make good sense contextually, while the MT does.

[3:61]  ⁴¹ tn The verb could be understood as a precative (“Hear”).

[5:1]  ⁴² sn The speaking voice is now that of a choir singing the community’s lament in the first person plural. The poem is not an alphabetic acrostic like the preceding chapters but has 22 verses, the same as the number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet.

[5:1]  ⁴³ tn The basic meaning of זָכַר (zakhar) is “to remember, call to mind” (HALOT 270 s.v. I זכר). Although often used of recollection of past events, זָכַר (zakhar, “to remember”) can also describe consideration of present situations: “to consider, think about” something present (BDB 270 s.v. 5), hence “reflect on,” the most appropriate nuance here. Verses 1-6 describe the present plight of Jerusalem. The parallel requests הַבֵּיט וּרְאֵה (habbet urÿ’eh, “Look and see!”) have a present-time orientation as well. See also 2:1; 3:19-20.

[5:1]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “Look!” Although often used in reference to visual perception, נָבַט (navat, “to look”) can also refer to cognitive consideration and mental attention shown to a situation: “to regard” (e.g., 1 Sam 16:7; 2 Kgs 3:14), “to pay attention to, consider” (e.g., Isa 22:8; Isa 51:1, 2).

[5:1]  ⁴⁵ tn Although normally used in reference to visual sight, רָאָה (ra’ah) is often used in reference to cognitive processes and mental observation. See the note on “Consider” at 2:20.