Lamentations 2:21-22

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Lamentations 2:21 tn Heb “virgins.” The term “virgin” probably functions as a metonymy of association for single young women.
2. Lamentations 2:21 tn Heb “in the day of your anger.” The construction בָּיוֹם (bayom, “in the day of…”) is a common Hebrew idiom, meaning “when…” (e.g., Gen 2:4; Lev 7:35; Num 3:1; Deut 4:15; 2 Sam 22:1; Pss 18:1; 138:3; Zech 8:9). This temporal idiom refers to a general time period but uses the term “day” as a forceful rhetorical device to emphasize the vividness and drama of the event, depicting it as occurring within a single day. In the ancient Near East, military-minded kings often referred to a successful campaign as “the day of X” in order to portray themselves as powerful conquerors who, as it were, could inaugurate and complete a victorious military campaign within the span of one day.
3. Lamentations 2:21 tc The MT reads לֹא חָמָלְתָּ (loʾ khamalta, “You showed no mercy”). However, many medieval Hebrew mss and most of the ancient versions (Aramaic Targum, Syriac Peshitta and Latin Vulgate) read וְלֹא חָמָלְתָּ (v^eloʾ khamalta, “and You showed no mercy”).
4. Lamentations 2:22 tn The syntax of the line is awkward. English versions vary considerably in how they render it: “Thou hast called as in a solemn day my terrors round about” (KJV); “Thou hast called, as in the day of a solemn assembly, my terrors on every side” (ASV); “You did call as in the day of an appointed feast my terrors on every side” (NASB); “Thou didst invite as to the day of an appointed feast my terrors on every side” (RSV); “As you summon to a feast day, so you summoned against me terrors on every side” (NIV); “You summoned, as on a festival, my neighbors from roundabout” (NJPS); “You invited my enemies to hold a carnival of terror all around me” (TEV); and “You invited my enemies like guests for a party” (CEV).
5. Lamentations 2:22 tn The term “enemies” is supplied in the translation as a clarification.
6. Lamentations 2:22 tn Heb “my terrors” or “my enemies.” The expression מְגוּרַי (m^eguray, “my terrors”) is difficult and may refer to either enemies, the terror associated with facing enemies, or both.
7. Lamentations 2:22 tn Heb “surrounding me.”
8. Lamentations 2:22 tn The meaning of the verb טָפַח (tafakh) is debated. The BDB lexicon suggests that it is derived from טָפַה (tafah, “to extend, spread” the hands) and here means “to carry in the palm of one’s hands” (BDB 381 s.v. טָפַה 2), but HALOT 378 s.v. II טָפַח suggests that it is derived from the root II טָפַח (tafakh) and means “to give birth to healthy children.” The recent lexicons hold that it is related to Arabic tafaha (“to bring forth fully formed children”) and Akkadian tuppu (“to raise children”). The use of this particular term highlights the tragic irony of what the army of Babylon has done: it has destroyed the lives of perfectly healthy children whom the women of Israel had raised.
9. Lamentations 2:22 tn This entire line is an accusative noun clause, functioning as the direct object of the following line: “my enemy has destroyed the perfectly healthy children….” Normal word order in Hebrew is: verb + subject + direct object. Here, the accusative direct-object clause is moved forward for rhetorical emphasis: those whom the Babylonians killed had been children born perfectly healthy and then well raised…what a tragic loss of perfectly good human life!