Lamentations 3

Lamentations 3
Lamentations 1:1 - 1:11 on the first page of Book of Lamentations in Codex Sinaiticus (AD 330-350).
Book Book of Lamentations
Bible part Old Testament
Order in the Bible part 25
Category Ketuvim

Lamentations 3 is the third chapter of the Book of Lamentations in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible.[1][2] This book contains the elegies of prophet Jeremiah as he proposes his own experience under afflictions, as an example as to how the Jews should behave under theirs, so as to have hope of a restoration; hence the change from singular to plural (Lamentations 3:22, 40-47).[3] It is a part of the Ketuvim ("Writings").[4][5]

Text

  • The original text is written in Hebrew language.
  • This chapter is divided into 66 verses.
  • The chapter is acrostic, divided into twenty-two stanzas or verses. The stanzas consist of two lines, each of which begins with the same Hebrew letter of the Hebrew alphabet in regular order (twenty-two letters of alphabet in number, make up the total of 66 verses).[3]
  • In verses 46-51, two letters are transposed. This is found is three instances in the whole book (Lamentations 2:16, 17; 3:46-51; 4:16, 17). Grotius thinks the reason for the inversion of two of the Hebrew letters, is that the Chaldeans, like the Arabians, used a different order from the Hebrews; in the first Elegy (chapter), Jeremiah speaks as a Hebrew, in the following ones, as one subject to the Chaldeans. However, this is doubtful.[3]

Textual versions

Some most ancient manuscripts containing this chapter in Hebrew language:

Ancient translations in Koine Greek:

Structure

NKJV groups this chapter into:

Verse 1

I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.[8]
  • "That hath seen affliction": - i. e. hath experienced, suffered it.[9] Jeremiah's own affliction in the dungeon of Malchiah (Jeremiah 38:6); that of his countrymen also in the siege.[3]
  • "By the rod of his wrath": The idea is, not that Babylon has humbled Israel as Jehovah's instrument, but that God himself has brought these troubles upon his people. "He had led me, hath hedged me about," etc.[10] The king of Babylon, called "the rod of the Lord's anger", Isaiah 10:5.[11] The words are to be considered in connection Lamentations 2:22. The Targum states, "by the rod of him that chastiseth in his anger."[11]

Verse 22

Old Hebrew "Heth"

King James Version:

It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed,
because his compassions fail not.[12]

English Standard Version:

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;[13]
his mercies never come to an end;

Verse 22 in Hebrew

Masoretic text:

חסדי יהוה כי לא־תמנו
כי לא־כלו רחמיו׃

Transliteration:

ḥas-ḏê Yah-weh kî lō-ṯā-mə-nū
kî lō-ḵā-lū ra-ḥă-māw.
  • "It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed" literally, "The Lord's mercies that we are not consumed" (Hebrew: חסדי יהוה כי לא־תמנו ḥas-ḏê Yah-weh kî lō-ṯā-mə-nū). But the "we" is unclear, especially considering that in verse 23 (which is clearly parallel) the subject of the sentence is, not "we," but "the Lord's mercies." Hence it is probable that the reading of the Targum and the Peshitta (adopted by Thenius, Ewald, and Bickell) is correct, "The Lord's mercies, verily they cease not" (tammu for tamnu).

Verse 23

They are new every morning:
great is thy faithfulness.[14]

Cross reference: Malachi 3:6; Isaiah 33:2[3]

Verse 23 in Hebrew

חדשים לבקרים רבה אמונתך׃

Transliteration

ḥă-ḏā-šîm la-bə-qā-rîm, rab-bāh 'ĕ-mū-nā-ṯe-ḵā.

Verse 24

The Lord is my portion, saith my soul;
therefore will I hope in him.[15]
  • "The Lord is my Portion": "My portion is Yahweh," see Numbers 18:20;[9] a reminiscence of Psalm 16:5 (compare Psalm 73:26; Psalm 119:57; Psalm 142:5;[10] Jeremiah 10:16).[3] To have God for our portion is the one only foundation of hope.[3]

See also

Notes and references

  1. ↑ Collins 2014.
  2. ↑ Hayes 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Robert Jamieson, Andrew Robert Fausset; David Brown. Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary On the Whole Bible. 1871. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  4. ↑ Metzger, Bruce M., et al. The Oxford Companion to the Bible. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993.
  5. ↑ Keck, Leander E. 2001. The New Interpreter's Bible: Volume: VI. Nashville: Abingdon.
  6. 1 2 Dead sea scrolls - Lamentations
  7. ↑ Timothy A. J. Jull; Douglas J. Donahue; Magen Broshi; Emanuel Tov (1995). "Radiocarbon Dating of Scrolls and Linen Fragments from the Judean Desert". Radiocarbon. 38 (1): 14. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  8. ↑ Lamentations 3:1
  9. 1 2 Barnes, Albert. Notes on the Old Testament. London, Blackie & Son, 1884. Reprint, Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1998. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  10. 1 2 Joseph S. Exell; Henry Donald Maurice Spence-Jones (Editors). The Pulpit Commentary. 23 volumes. First publication: 1890. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  11. 1 2 John Gill. John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible. Exposition of the Old and New Testament. Published in 1746-1763. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  12. ↑ Lamentations 3:22
  13. ↑ ESV notes: Syriac, Targum; Hebrew: Because of the steadfast love of the Lord, we are not cut off
  14. ↑ Lamentations 3:23
  15. ↑ Lamentations 3:24

Bibliography

  • Collins, John J. (2014). Introduction to the Hebrew Scriptures. Fortress Press. ISBN 9781451469233.
  • Hayes, Christine (2015). Introduction to the Bible. Yale University Press. ISBN 0300188277.

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Christian

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