Lamentations 3

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] part of the Ketuvim ("Writings").[3][4] This book contains the elegies of the prophet Jeremiah. In this chapter he refers to his own experience under affliction as an example as to how the people of Judah should behave under theirs, so as to have hope of a restoration.

Lamentations 3
Book of Lamentations in Hebrew Bible, MS Sassoon 1053, images 467-469 (Medieval manuscript).
BookBook of Lamentations
Hebrew Bible partKetuvim
Order in the Hebrew part6
CategoryThe five scrolls
Christian Bible partOld Testament
Order in the Christian part25

Text

The original text was written in Hebrew language. This chapter, the longest in the book, is divided into 66 verses.

The chapter is acrostic, divided into 22 stanzas. The stanzas consist of three lines (each line is numbered as one verse), each of which begins with the same Hebrew letter of the Hebrew alphabet in regular order (22 letters of alphabet in number, make up the total of 66 verses).[5]

Textual versions

Some early witnesses for the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text, which includes Codex Leningradensis (1008).[6][lower-alpha 1] Fragments containing parts of this chapter were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, i.e., 3Q3 (3QLam; 30 BCE‑50 CE) with extant verses 53-62[8][9][10]

There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus (B; B; 4th century), Codex Alexandrinus (A; A; 5th century) and Codex Marchalianus (Q; Q; 6th century).[11][lower-alpha 2]

Verse 1
I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of His wrath.[13]
  • "Who has seen affliction": - i. e. has experienced, suffered it.[14] Jeremiah's own affliction in the dungeon of Malchiah (Jeremiah 38:6); that of his countrymen also in the siege.[5]
  • "By the rod of His wrath": showing that it is not Babylon who has humbled Israel as Jehovah's instrument, but that God himself has brought these troubles upon his people. "He had led me, has hedged me about," etc.[15] The king of Babylon, called "the rod of the Lord's anger" (Isaiah 10:5).[16] This phrase can be connected to Lamentations 2:22. The Targum states, "by the rod of him that chastiseth in his anger."[16]

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.[17]

English Standard Version:

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;[18]
his mercies never come to an end;[19]

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). The word "we" is unclear, especially considering that in verse 23 (which is clearly parallel) the subject of the sentence is "the Lord's mercies," not "we," so probably the reading of the Targum and the Peshitta (as adopted by Thenius, Ewald, and Bickell) is correct, "The Lord's mercies, verily they cease not" (tammu for tamnu).[16]

An example of a change from singular to plural, compare also Lamentations 3:40-47.[5]

Verse 23
They are new every morning:
great is thy faithfulness.[20]

Cross reference: Malachi 3:6; Isaiah 33:2[5]

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," says my soul,
"Therefore I hope in Him!"[21]

Verses 46–51

In verses 46–51, two initial letters, "Ayin" and "Pe", are transposed.[5] This is found is three instances in the whole book (Lamentations 2:16–17; 3:46-51; 4:16–17).[5] 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, but Fausset thinks it is doubtful.[22]

See also

Notes
  1. Since 1947 the whole book is missing from Aleppo Codex.[7]
  2. Only Lamentations 1:1–2:20 are extant in the Codex Sinaiticus.[12]

References
  1. Collins 2014, pp. 365–367.
  2. Hayes 2015, Chapter 20.
  3. Metzger, Bruce M., et al. The Oxford Companion to the Bible. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993.
  4. Keck, Leander E. 2001. The New Interpreter's Bible: Volume: VI. Nashville: Abingdon
  5. Robert Jamieson, Andrew Robert Fausset; David Brown. Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary On the Whole Bible. "Lamentations 3". 1871. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  6. Würthwein 1995, pp. 35-37.
  7. P. W. Skehan (2003), "BIBLE (TEXTS)", New Catholic Encyclopedia, 2 (2nd ed.), Gale, pp. 355–362
  8. Ulrich 2010, p. 752.
  9. "General Info".
  10. Fitzmyer 2008, p. 28.
  11. Würthwein 1995, pp. 73-74.
  12.  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Codex Sinaiticus". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  13. Lamentations 3:1 NKJV
  14. Barnes, Albert. Notes on the Bible - Lamentations 3. London, Blackie & Son, 1884. Reprint, Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1998. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  15. Joseph S. Exell; Henry Donald Maurice Spence-Jones (Editors). On "Lamentations 3". In: The Pulpit Commentary. 23 volumes. First publication: 1890. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  16. John Gill. Exposition of the Entire Bible. Lamentations 3. Published in 1746-1763. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  17. Lamentations 3:22 KJV
  18. ESV notes: Syriac, Targum; Hebrew: Because of the steadfast love of the Lord, we are not cut off
  19. Lamentations 3:22 ESV
  20. Lamentations 3:23 KJV
  21. Lamentations 3:24 NKJV
  22. Jamieson, Robert; Fausset, Andrew Robert; Brown, David. Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary on the Whole Bible. "Lamentations 1: Introduction". 1871.

Sources

Jewish

Christian
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