Lamentations 3:8

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Lamentations 3:8 tn Heb “I call and I cry out.” The verbs אֶזְעַק וַאֲשַׁוֵּעַ (ʾezʿaq vaʾashavveaʿ, “I call and I cry out”) form a verbal hendiadys where the second retains its full verbal sense while the first functions adverbially: “I cry out desperately.”
2. Lamentations 3:8 tn The verb שׁוע (“to cry out”) usually denotes calling out to God for help or deliverance from a lamentable plight (e.g., Job 30:20; 36:13; 38:41; Pss 5:3; 18:7, 42; 22:25; 28:2; 30:3; 31:23; 88:14; 119:147; Isa 58:9; Lam 3:8; Jon 2:3; Hab 1:2).
3. Lamentations 3:8 tn The verb שָׂתַם (satam) is a hapax legomenon (term that appears in the Hebrew scriptures only once) meaning “stop up” or “shut out.” It functions as an idiom here, meaning “he has shut his ears to my prayer” (BDB 979 s.v.).