A Communal Plea for Mercy and Restoration
Lamentations 5:1-22
Lam.5.1 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- זכר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- מה: PRON,int
- היה: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- לנו: PREP+PRON,1,pl
- הביטה: VERB,qal,imp,2,ms
- וראה: VERB,qal,imp,2,m,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- חרפתנו: NOUN,f,sg,abs,pos:1,pl
Parallels
- Psalm 79:8-9 (thematic): A communal plea that God remember and have mercy because the people are brought very low—parallels Lamentations' appeal to God to 'remember' and 'behold our reproach.'
- Exodus 2:24 (verbal): Reports that God 'remembered' his covenant when Israel cried out—shares the key verb and the idea that divine remembrance responds to Israel's suffering.
- Exodus 3:7 (thematic): God declares 'I have surely seen the affliction' of his people—echoes Lamentations' call for God to 'look' and see the people's shame and affliction.
- Psalm 25:6-7 (verbal): A petition asking God to 'remember' his steadfast love and not remember transgressions—uses the same verb of remembrance in a plea for mercy.
- Isaiah 63:9 (thematic): Speaks of God being mindful of and sharing in Israel's affliction—parallels the motif of God seeing and responding to the people's reproach and suffering.
Alternative generated candidates
- Remember, O LORD, what has befallen us; look and see our disgrace.
- Remember, O LORD, what has befallen us; behold and see our disgrace.
Lam.5.2 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- נחלתנו: NOUN,f,sg,abs+PRON,1,pl
- נהפכה: VERB,niphal,perf,3,f,sg
- לזרים: PREP+NOUN,m,pl
- בתינו: NOUN,m,pl,abs,1pl
- לנכרים: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs
Parallels
- Psalm 79:1 (verbal): Speaks of nations entering God’s inheritance and defiling Jerusalem—closely parallels Lamentations’ complaint that the inheritance/houses have become the possession of strangers.
- Joel 3:2 (verbal): God accuses the nations of scattering his people and dividing his land—parallels the theme of Israel’s inheritance and homes taken by foreigners.
- Deuteronomy 28:64 (verbal): Part of the covenant curses: the LORD will scatter Israel among the nations and give their land to others—background legal/theological explanation for an inheritance becoming strangers’ property.
- Psalm 137:1 (thematic): A vivid exile lament ('By the rivers of Babylon...') that expresses loss of homeland and identity—themewise parallel to homes and heritage lost to captors/foreigners.
- Hosea 9:17 (thematic): Predicts that Israel will be cast away and become wanderers among the nations—echoes the motif of the people’s patrimony and dwelling-places being taken and their becoming strangers.
Alternative generated candidates
- Our inheritance has turned to strangers; our houses to foreigners.
- Our inheritance has turned to strangers; our houses to foreigners.
Lam.5.3 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- יתומים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- היינו: VERB,qal,perf,1,pl
- ואין: CONJ+PART,exist
- אב: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אמתינו: NOUN,f,pl,abs,1,pl
- כאלמנות: PREP+NOUN,f,pl,abs
Parallels
- Psalm 68:5 (verbal): Uses the phrase and idea of God as 'father of the fatherless'—direct verbal/thematic resonance with 'יתומים' (the fatherless) in Lamentations.
- Psalm 27:10 (thematic): Expresses the experience of parental abandonment ('When my father and my mother forsake me') and God's care—parallels Lamentations' depiction of the community as orphans.
- Deuteronomy 10:18 (allusion): Law/covenant assertion that God executes justice for the fatherless and widow—provides legal/theological background to the lament over orphanhood and widowhood.
- James 1:27 (thematic): New Testament summary of proper religion as caring for 'orphans and widows'—reflects the enduring ethical concern behind the lament's depiction of social vulnerability.
Alternative generated candidates
- We are orphans; there is no father; our mothers are as widows.
- We have become orphans—there is no father; our mothers are like widows.
Lam.5.4 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- מימינו: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,sg
- בכסף: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- שתינו: VERB,qal,perf,1,NA,pl
- עצינו: NOUN,m,pl,abs,1,pl
- במחיר: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יבאו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
Parallels
- 2 Kings 6:25-29 (thematic): Describes a severe famine in Samaria with exorbitant prices for food and desperate transactions—parallels Lamentations’ image of basic necessities (water, wood) being obtained only at great cost.
- Nehemiah 5:1-5 (thematic): Reports people mortgaging fields and selling children to buy grain during scarcity—echoes the social and economic distress behind paying silver for water and purchasing wood in Lamentations.
- Ezekiel 7:19 (thematic): Portrays silver and gold as useless in the day of the Lord’s wrath (people cast them away)—highlights the irony that money (silver) is used for mere survival (water) yet cannot secure deliverance.
- Isaiah 33:16 (structural): Promises secure provision—'bread and water will be given'—serves as a literary/theological contrast to Lamentations’ complaint that even water and wood must be bought at a price.
Alternative generated candidates
- We must buy the water we drink with silver; our wood comes to us at a price.
- We buy our water with silver; our wood comes to us at a price.
Lam.5.5 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- על: PREP
- צוארנו: NOUN,m,sg,suff
- נרדפנו: VERB,nip,perf,1,c,pl
- יגענו: VERB,qal,perf,1,c,pl
- ולא: CONJ
- הונח: VERB,hoph,perf,3,m,sg
- לנו: PREP+PRON,1,pl
Parallels
- Isaiah 10:27 (verbal): Uses neck/yoke imagery: where Lam.5:5 speaks of persecution 'on our necks', Isaiah promises the removal of the yoke from the neck—a direct verbal and thematic contrast between oppression and deliverance.
- Exodus 1:13-14 (thematic): Describes Israelites forced into harsh, unremitting labor by their oppressors—parallels Lam.5:5's portrayal of relentless toil and lack of rest under persecutors.
- Lamentations 1:14 (structural): Within the same book this verse depicts furious pursuit and oppression of Jerusalem ('her persecutors are swifter than eagles'), echoing Lam.5:5's complaint of being pursued and burdened.
- Lamentations 3:1-3 (thematic): A personal lament about sustained affliction and absence of relief ('I am the man that hath seen affliction... he hath set me in dark places'), resonating with Lam.5:5's themes of weariness, persecution, and no rest.
Alternative generated candidates
- On our necks we are pursued; we toil and have no rest.
- Persecution is on our necks; we toil, and there is no rest for us.
Lam.5.6 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- מצרים: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- נתנו: VERB,qal,perf,3,pl
- יד: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אשור: NOUN,prop,m,sg
- לשבע: PREP+NUM,card,pl
- לחם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Isaiah 30:1-3 (thematic): Condemns Judah's reliance on Egypt for military/political support and calls Egypt's help worthless—parallel theme of Egypt as an unreliable or compromising ally.
- Isaiah 31:1 (thematic): Warning against seeking help from Egypt (and trusting horses/chariots) instead of the LORD; thematically parallels Lamentations' critique of foreign alliances.
- 2 Kings 17:4 (structural): Reports Israel's king seeking help from Egypt while Assyria acted against Israel—a historical example of Egypt's involvement in conflicts with or against Israel, echoing the geopolitical entanglements in Lamentations 5:6.
- Ezekiel 29:6-7 (allusion): God's pronouncement that Egypt will be handed over to a foreign power (Babylon/Nebuchadnezzar); resonates with Lamentations' image of Egypt giving its hand to a foreign oppressor.
- Jeremiah 37:7 (structural): Describes Pharaoh's army coming up out of Egypt and affecting the siege of Jerusalem—another instance of Egypt intervening in Judah's fate, illustrating the complicated role Egypt plays in Jerusalem's downfall.
Alternative generated candidates
- Egypt has stretched out her hand to Assyria to supply them with bread.
- Egypt stretched out her hand; Assyria provided us with bread.
Lam.5.7 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- אבתינו: NOUN,m,pl,suff:1pl
- חטאו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- ואינם: CONJ+VERB,qal,impf,3,pl
- ואנחנו: CONJ+PRON,1,pl
- עונתיהם: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- סבלנו: VERB,qal,perf,1,_,pl
Parallels
- Deuteronomy 5:9 (verbal): Speaks of God 'visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children' (to later generations), paralleling Lamentations' theme of children bearing fathers' sins.
- Numbers 14:33-34 (thematic): Declares that the iniquity of the fathers is visited upon subsequent generations (the wilderness forty years), echoing the idea that descendants suffer for ancestral sin.
- Ezekiel 18:2, 18:20 (allusion): Begins with the proverb 'the fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge' and then contrasts collective guilt with individual responsibility—directly engages the motif of children suffering for fathers' sins found in Lamentations.
- Psalm 106:6-7 (verbal): Confesses corporate sin with the ancestors ('We have sinned with our fathers; we have committed iniquity'), mirroring Lamentations' admission that the people suffer from ancestral transgression.
- Jeremiah 14:20 (thematic): A confession acknowledging the iniquity of the fathers and the people's sin before the Lord, thematically parallel to Lamentations' lament over inherited guilt and suffering.
Alternative generated candidates
- Our fathers sinned and are no more; and we bear their iniquities.
- Our fathers sinned and are no more; and we have borne their iniquities.
Lam.5.8 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- עבדים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- משלו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- בנו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+3ms
- פרק: VERB,qal,impv,2,m,sg
- אין: PART,neg
- מידם: PREP
Parallels
- Deuteronomy 28:48 (thematic): The curse-language: as punishment God will make Israel serve their enemies — a theological parallel to Judah’s servitude and lack of deliverer in Lamentations 5:8.
- Lamentations 1:3 (verbal): Within the same book: earlier lament speaks of captivity and ‘great servitude,’ echoing the language and theme of being ruled by others in 5:8.
- 2 Kings 24:1 (structural): Historical parallel: Jehoiakim ‘became a servant’ to Nebuchadnezzar, reflecting the political reality of Judah under foreign rulers that Lamentations laments.
- Psalm 44:11–12 (thematic): A communal lament about humiliation and being made a byword among the nations; thematically parallels the shame and absence of a deliverer expressed in Lamentations 5:8.
Alternative generated candidates
- Slaves rule over us; there is none to deliver us from their hand.
- Slaves have ruled over us; there is no one to deliver us from their hand.
Lam.5.9 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- בנפשנו: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs,poss:1pl
- נביא: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לחמנו: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs+1pl
- מפני: PREP
- חרב: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- המדבר: VERB,qal,ptc,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Deuteronomy 28:53-57 (thematic): Curse of siege and extreme scarcity — people rationing and suffering for lack of bread as a consequence of war/doom, echoing Lamentations’ image of hunger caused by destruction.
- 2 Kings 6:25-29 (thematic): Description of the famine in besieged Samaria (selling/absence of food) — parallels the motif of breadlessness and the horrors of wartime deprivation.
- Lamentations 4:4-5 (structural): Within the same book, these verses describe children fainting and eyes failing for want of bread — a direct thematic parallel emphasizing communal hunger and loss.
- Ezekiel 7:15-19 (thematic): Prophetic depiction of sword, famine and devastation — links the instruments of destruction (sword/waste) to ensuing scarcity and suffering, resonant with Lamentations’ cause-effect portrayal.
Alternative generated candidates
- We fetch our bread at the peril of our lives because of the sword in the desert.
- We bring our bread at the peril of our lives because of the sword in the wilderness.
Lam.5.10 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- עורנו: NOUN,m,sg,abs,1,pl
- כתנור: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- נכמרו: VERB,niphal,perf,3,m,pl
- מפני: PREP
- זלעפות: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- רעב: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Job 30:30 (verbal): Uses nearly identical imagery of burning skin and scorched bones — 'my skin is black upon me, and my bones are burned with heat' — linking bodily wasting/heat to suffering.
- Psalm 102:4 (verbal): Describes bodily wasting with the same oven/potsherd and burning imagery ('My skin is dried up like a potsherd; and my bones are burned as with a furnace'), echoing the famine-heat metaphor.
- Psalm 22:15 (thematic): Speaks of extreme physical dryness and collapse ('my strength is dried up like a potsherd; my tongue cleaves to my jaws'), thematically paralleling the desiccating effects of famine and heat in Lamentations 5:10.
- Deuteronomy 28:22 (thematic): Part of the covenant curses: the LORD will 'strike you with wasting, with fever and with inflammation, and with fiery heat' — thematically parallels the idea of scorching heat and wasting as divine judgment manifesting in the body.
Alternative generated candidates
- Our skin is like an oven; it has been seared by the fury of hunger.
- Our skin is like a furnace; it is parched by the scorching of famine.
Lam.5.11 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- נשים: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- בציון: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ענו: VERB,qal,imp,2,pl
- בתלת: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- בערי: PREP+NOUN,f,pl,const
- יהודה: NOUN,m,sg,prop
Parallels
- Isaiah 3:16-17 (verbal): Isaiah addresses the 'daughters of Zion' (בנות ציון) and announces humiliation and affliction as judgment—paralleling Lamentations' depiction of women in Zion suffering in the cities of Judah.
- Jeremiah 6:2 (verbal): Jeremiah likens Jerusalem to a 'young and delicate daughter' (daugher/maid of Zion) who is pursued and violated by invaders—an earlier prophetic image that resonates with Lamentations' claim that the women of Zion are afflicted.
- Joel 1:8 (thematic): Joel pictures the widowed or mourning young woman lamenting because her husband (or the husband of her youth) is taken—echoing the theme of women's suffering and public lament in the aftermath of devastation.
- Lamentations 1:20 (structural): Within the same book, Lamentations 1:20 pleads with God while describing the city’s loss—'my virgins and young men are gone into captivity'—reinforcing the book-wide motif of Zion's women and youth afflicted by exile and destruction.
Alternative generated candidates
- Women in Zion are afflicted; they bow their heads in the streets of the city of Judah.
- Women in Zion are oppressed; the maidens in the towns of Judah are humbled.
Lam.5.12 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- שרים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- בידם: PREP+PRON,3,m,pl
- נתלו: VERB,niphal,perf,3,m,pl
- פני: NOUN,m,sg,cons
- זקנים: ADJ,m,pl,abs
- לא: PART_NEG
- נהדרו: VERB,niphal,perf,3,m,pl
Parallels
- Isaiah 3:5 (thematic): Both passages depict social inversion and the loss of respect for elders and leaders (‘the child will be insolent toward the elder’), echoing Lament’s complaint that elders are no longer honored.
- Ruth 4:1-11 (structural): Elders at the city gate function as the community’s judges/witnesses (Ruth 4); Lament’s image that elders’ faces are not honored subverts this customary role of elders at the gate.
- 2 Kings 25:7 (cf. Jeremiah 52:7) (thematic): Narratives of Jerusalem’s fall and the treatment of its leaders (capture, execution, humiliation) correspond to Lament’s depiction of princes being humiliated and stripped of honor.
- Psalm 137:1-4 (thematic): An exilic lament over Jerusalem’s destruction that emphasizes shame, dishonor, and the desolation of the nation—paralleling Lamentations’ mourning for dishonored princes and elders.
Alternative generated candidates
- Princes are seized by their hands; the faces of the elders are not honored.
- Princes hang by their hands; the faces of the elders show no honor.
Lam.5.13 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- בחורים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- טחון: ADJ,m,sg
- נשאו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- ונערים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- בעץ: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- כשלו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
Parallels
- Judges 16:21 (verbal): Samson is bound and put to grind in the prison — explicit imagery of forced grinding/labor echoes the “young men ground” sense of Lamentations 5:13.
- Exodus 1:14 (thematic): Israelites are subjected to harsh forced labor (making bricks, heavy burdens) — parallels the theme of youths and children pressed into onerous toil under oppression.
- Isaiah 3:4 (structural): God says he will give children and youths rule over the people — reflects the social breakdown and role-reversal signaled by youths bearing burdens and boys stumbling in Lamentations.
- Jeremiah 31:15 (thematic): Rachel weeping for her children — parallels the communal lament over the suffering and loss of children and youth in the wake of disaster.
Alternative generated candidates
- Young men grind at the mill; boys stagger under the burden of wood.
- Young men are crushed in the streets; youths fall at the city gate.
Lam.5.14 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- זקנים: ADJ,m,pl,abs
- משער: PREP
- שבתו: NOUN,m,sg,3,m,sg,abs
- בחורים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- מנגינתם: NOUN,f,sg,abs+prsfx:3,m,pl
Parallels
- Job 29:7-10 (verbal): Job recalls elders rising and youths giving place at the city gate—echoes the image of elders/young men and public life at the gate contrasted with Lamentations’ silence.
- Psalm 137:3-4 (thematic): Expresses the inability to sing the Lord’s song in exile—parallels Lamentations’ image of young men silenced and loss of music.
- Zechariah 8:4-5 (structural): Paints a restored scene where old men and women sit in the streets and children play—serves as a thematic contrast to Lamentations’ depiction of absent elders and muted youth.
- Lam.1:4 (structural): Within Lamentations the earlier depiction of desolate gates, sighing priests and afflicted virgins parallels 5:14’s image of elders gone and young men without song, reinforcing the book’s recurring motif of civic and cultic silence.
Alternative generated candidates
- The elders are no longer at the gate; the young men have ceased their music.
- Elders sit upon the ground; the young men have ceased their music.
Lam.5.15 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- שבת: VERB,qal,inf
- משוש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לבנו: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- נהפך: VERB,niphal,perf,3,m,sg
- לאבל: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- מחלנו: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,pr
Parallels
- Isaiah 24:8 (verbal): Uses the same idea and language of mirth/joy ceasing ("the mirth of the tambourines ceaseth"), closely paralleling Lamentations’ "joy of our heart has ceased."
- Joel 1:12 (verbal): Speaks of the land’s joy withering away ("the joy of all the land is gone"), echoing the loss of communal gladness and dancing in Lam. 5:15.
- Psalm 30:11 (thematic): Expresses the opposite movement—God turning mourning into dancing—but resonates thematically with Lam. 5:15’s concern with the reversal of joy and sorrow.
- Amos 8:10 (allusion): Proclaims that feasts and songs will be turned into mourning and lamentation—language and theme closely comparable to Lamentations’ conversion of dancing into mourning.
- Lamentations 1:4 (structural): An internal parallel within the book describing desolation of festivals and assemblies ("the ways of Zion do mourn; none come to the solemn feasts"), reinforcing the poem’s theme that communal joy and celebration have ceased.
Alternative generated candidates
- The joy of our heart has ceased; our delight has turned to mourning.
- The gladness of our heart is ceased; our dance has turned to mourning.
Lam.5.16 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- נפלה: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- עטרת: NOUN,f,sg,cons
- ראשנו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+1pl
- אוי: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- נא: PART
- לנו: PREP+PRON,1,pl
- כי: CONJ
- חטאנו: VERB,qal,perf,1,m,pl
Parallels
- Ezekiel 21:26-27 (verbal): Ezekiel speaks of removing the diadem/taking off the crown as an image of divine judgment (׳הסר את הכתר והסר את העטרה׳), echoing Lamentations’ image of the crown fallen from the head.
- Psalm 89:39 (verbal): Psalmist charges that God has ‘defiled his crown’ and cast it to the ground—similar language of a crown removed as a sign of humiliation and broken covenantal favor.
- Daniel 4:31-33 (thematic): Nebuchadnezzar’s loss of glory and status because of pride (he is driven from men and his kingdom taken) parallels the theme that loss of honor (a fallen crown) results from sin/judgment.
- 2 Samuel 1:19-27 (thematic): David’s lament ‘How the mighty have fallen’ over Saul and Jonathan shares the tone of communal mourning and the motif of lost honor/status that Lamentations expresses with the image of a fallen crown.
Alternative generated candidates
- The crown has fallen from our head — woe to us, for we have sinned.
- The crown has fallen from our head—woe to us, for we have sinned.
Lam.5.17 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- על: PREP
- זה: PRON,dem,m,sg
- היה: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- דוה: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לבנו: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- על: PREP
- אלה: DEM,pl,abs
- חשכו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- עינינו: NOUN,f,pl,poss_1pl
Parallels
- Lamentations 1:16 (verbal): Same book and close phrasing: 'for these things I weep… my eye runneth down with water' parallels 'because of these things our eyes are dim' and the lamenting heart.
- Lamentations 2:11 (thematic): Another city-lament in Lamentations voicing bodily collapse and failing eyes ('Mine eyes do fail with tears; my heart is poured upon the earth'), echoing the motif of a faint heart and dimmed eyes.
- Jeremiah 8:18 (verbal): Jeremiah (author contextually linked to Lamentations) repeats the phrase 'my heart is faint, my heart is faint,' a direct verbal echo of the heart's fainting in Lam. 5:17.
- Jeremiah 9:1 (thematic): A prophetic lament that focuses on abundant weeping ('Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears'), thematically parallel to Lam. 5:17's emphasis on eyes dimmed and overwhelming grief.
Alternative generated candidates
- Because of this our heart is faint; because of these things our eyes grow dim.
- Therefore our heart is faint; therefore our eyes grow dim.
Lam.5.18 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- על: PREP
- הר: NOUN,m,sg,cons
- ציון: NOUN,prop,f,sg,abs
- ששמם: CONJ+PRON,3,pl
- שועלים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- הלכו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- בו: PREP+PRON,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Song of Songs 2:15 (verbal): Uses the image of 'little foxes' (shualim) that spoil the vineyard—verbal parallel in the use of 'fox(es)' as destructive agents affecting beloved land/fruitfulness.
- Isaiah 34:13-15 (verbal): Prophetic description of ruined lands inhabited by wild animals (jackals/foxes); parallels the motif of a once‑civilized place reduced to a haunt of foxes, as Lamentations depicts Zion.
- Jeremiah 50:39 (thematic): On the desolation of a city (Babylon) becoming the dwelling place of desert creatures—the theme of urban ruin and occupation by wild animals echoes Lamentations' image of Zion as home to foxes.
- Psalm 79:1-5 (thematic): Laments the defilement and destruction of Jerusalem by foreign nations; thematically parallel to Lamentations' depiction of Zion's desolation and loss of honor (here expressed via the image of foxes).
Alternative generated candidates
- For Mount Zion, which lies desolate, foxes walk upon it.
- For Mount Zion lies desolate; jackals prowl upon it.
Lam.5.19 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- אתה: PRON,2,m,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- לעולם: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- תשב: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- כסאך: NOUN,m,sg,abs,poss:2ms
- לדר: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ודור: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Psalm 9:7 (verbal): “But the LORD shall endure for ever: he hath prepared his throne for judgment” — affirms Yahweh’s eternal reign and enduring throne, closely paralleling Lamentations’ declaration of God seated forever.
- Psalm 10:16 (verbal): “The LORD is King for ever and ever” — a succinct statement of God’s everlasting kingship that echoes the temporal scope of Yahweh’s rule in Lamentations 5:19.
- Psalm 93:2 (verbal): “Thy throne is established of old: thou art from everlasting” — uses similar language about the throne’s antiquity and God’s eternal existence, paralleling the claim that God ‘sits on his throne for ever and ever.’
- Psalm 102:12 (verbal): “But thou, O LORD, shalt endure for ever; and thy remembrance unto all generations” — explicitly affirms the LORD’s enduring rule and renown throughout generations, closely matching the Lamentations verse.
- Hebrews 1:8 (quoting Psalm 45:6) (quotation): “But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever” — New Testament citation of Psalmic throne language that parallels Lamentations’ assertion of Yahweh’s eternal throne and reign.
Alternative generated candidates
- You, O LORD, are enthroned forever; your throne endures from generation to generation.
- You, O LORD, are enthroned forever; your throne endures from generation to generation.
Lam.5.20 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- למה: ADV
- לנצח: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- תשכחנו: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,pl
- תעזבנו: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg,pronom:3,m,sg
- לארך: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ימים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
Parallels
- Psalm 13:1 (verbal): Same opening question: 'How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever?'—a direct verbal and emotional parallel asking why God seems to forget the speaker.
- Psalm 44:24 (Hebrew 44:24) (verbal): Uses the verb תשכח ('you forget') and the motif of God hiding his face/forgetting his people—close verbal echo and shared complaint about divine abandonment.
- Psalm 74:1 (thematic): 'O God, why have you rejected us forever?'—a communal lament that closely parallels Lamentations' complaint about long‑continued divine forsaking.
- Isaiah 49:14 (allusion): Zion's cry 'The LORD has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me' echoes the theme of national abandonment and the experience of being forgotten by God found in Lamentations 5:20.
Alternative generated candidates
- Why do you forget us forever? Why do you forsake us for so many days?
- Why, O LORD, do you forget us forever? Why do you forsake us for so many days?
Lam.5.21 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- השיבנו: VERB,hiphil,perf,3,m,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- אליך: PREP+PRON,2,m,sg
- ונשובה: VERB,qal,cohort,1,_,pl
- חדש: ADJ,m,sg,abs
- ימינו: NOUN,m,sg,suff-3ms
- כקדם: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Psalm 80:3 (verbal): Both texts use the direct petition 'Restore us' (שׁוּבוּנָה/restore us) addressing God, asking for divine return and salvation—a succinct, verbal parallel to Lamentations' plea.
- Psalm 85:4-6 (verbal): A communal plea for God to 'restore us' and 'revive' the people. Echoes Lamentations' request for return to God and renewal of former days (restoration and revival language).
- Joel 2:25 (thematic): God's promise 'I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten' parallels Lamentations' 'renew our days as of old'—both speak of reversal and temporal restoration.
- Jeremiah 33:7 (structural): Within the same prophetic corpus, God promises to 'restore the fortunes of Judah and Israel' and rebuild them 'as they were before,' paralleling Lamentations' appeal for return to former condition and days.
Alternative generated candidates
- Restore us to you, O LORD, and we shall be restored; renew our days as of old.
- Restore us to you, O LORD, and we will return; renew our days as of old.
Lam.5.22 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- כי: CONJ
- אם: CONJ
- מאס: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- מאסתנו: VERB,qal,perf,2,m,sg
- קצפת: VERB,qal,perf,2,m,sg
- עלינו: PREP+PRON,1,pl
- עד: PREP
- מאד: ADV
Parallels
- Psalm 74:1 (verbal): The psalm opens with the same cry of abandonment—'Why hast thou cast us off?'—echoing Lamentations' language of being forsaken and under God's wrath.
- Psalm 89:38-39 (thematic): Speaks of God casting off and abhorring his anointed and showing great anger, paralleling the motif of divine rejection and wrath in Lamentations 5:22.
- Jeremiah 14:19 (verbal): Jeremiah questions whether God has utterly rejected Judah and loathed Zion, directly paralleling the complaint that God has rejected and been very angry with his people.
- Isaiah 54:7-8 (thematic): God admits a temporary forsaking ('for a small moment I have forsaken thee')—a related theme of apparent divine rejection that in Isaiah is framed with promised restoration, offering a thematic foil to Lamentations' lament.
Alternative generated candidates
- Unless you have utterly rejected us and are very angry with us.
- You have utterly rejected us; you are very angry with us.
Remember, O LORD, what has befallen us; behold and see our disgrace.
Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers; our houses to foreigners.
We are orphans—there is no father; our mothers are like widows.
We buy the water that we drink; our wood is sold to us for a price.
Upon our necks we were driven; we labored, and there was no respite for us.
Egypt gave hand to Assyria to be sated with bread.
Our fathers sinned and are no more; and we bear their iniquities.
Slaves have dominion over us; there is none to deliver us from their hand.
We bring our bread at the peril of our lives because of the sword of the wilderness.
Our skin is hot as an oven; it was seared by the burning of famine.
The women of Zion have been oppressed; the maidens in the cities of Judah.
Princes hang by their hands; the faces of the elders are not honored.
Young men are ground down and bear the load; boys stagger beneath the wood.
The elders sit on the ground; the young men have ceased their song.
The joy of our heart has ceased; our dancing has turned to mourning.
The crown has fallen from our head—woe to us, for we have sinned.
Because of this our heart is faint; because of these things our eyes grow dim.
Because of Mount Zion, which lies desolate—foxes walk upon it.
You, O LORD, are enthroned forever; your throne endures from generation to generation.
Why, O LORD, do you forget us forever? Why do you forsake us for so long?
Restore us to you, O LORD, and we shall be restored; renew our days as of old.
Have you not utterly rejected us? You are exceedingly angry with us.