Lamentations 1:11 New English Translation
כ (Kaf)
11 All her people groaned
as they searched for a morsel of bread.[a]
They exchanged[b] their valuables[c]
for[d] just enough food
to stay alive.[e]
Jerusalem Speaks
“Look, O Lord! Consider[f]
that I have become worthless!”
Footnotes
- Lamentations 1:11 tn Heb “bread.” In light of its parallelism with אֹכֶל (ʾokhel, “food”) in the following line, it is possible that לֶחֶם (lekhem, “bread”) is used in its broader sense of food or nourishment.
- Lamentations 1:11 tn Heb “they sell.”
- Lamentations 1:11 tn Heb “their desirable things.” The noun מַחְמָד (makhmad, “desirable thing”) refers to valuable possessions, such as gold and silver, that people desire (e.g., Ezra 8:27).
- Lamentations 1:11 tn The preposition ב (bet) denotes the purchase price paid for an object (BDB 90 s.v. בְּ III.3; HALOT 105 s.v. בְּ 17) (e.g., Gen 23:9; 29:18, 20; 30:16; Lev 25:37; Deut 21:14; 2 Sam 24:24).
- Lamentations 1:11 tn The noun נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) may originally have referred to the windpipe opening for breathing but came to have associated meanings such as living being, breath, soul, and life (for the latter, see Gen 44:30; Exod 21:23; 2 Sam 14:7; Jon 1:14). When used with נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh), the Hiphil הָשִׁיב (hashiv) of שׁוּב (shuv, “to turn, return”) may mean “to restore a person’s vitality,” that is, to keep a person alive (Lam 1:14, 19).
- Lamentations 1:11 sn The dagesh lene in כּי (ki) following the vowel ending the verb וְהַבִּיטָה (vehabbitah, “consider”) indicates a dramatic pause between calling for the Lord’s attention and stating the allegation to be seen and considered.
New English Translation (NET)
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