Discovery BoxLamentations 2:15 
Contextס (Samek)
2:15 All who passed by on the road
clapped their hands to mock you. 1
They sneered and shook their heads
at Daughter Jerusalem.
“Ha! Is this the city they called 2
‘The perfection of beauty, 3
the source of joy of the whole earth!’?” 4
Lamentations 2:19
Contextק (Qof)
2:19 Get up! Cry out in the night 5
when the night watches start! 6
Pour out your heart 7 like water
before the face of the Lord! 8
Lift up your hands 9 to him
for your children’s lives; 10
they are fainting 11
at every street corner. 12
1 tn Heb “clap their hands at you.” Clapping hands at someone was an expression of malicious glee, derision and mockery (Num 24:10; Job 27:23; Lam 2:15).
2 tn Heb “of which they said.”
3 tn Heb “perfection of beauty.” The noun יֹפִי (yofi, “beauty”) functions as a genitive of respect in relation to the preceding construct noun: Jerusalem was perfect in respect to its physical beauty.
4 tn Heb “the joy of all the earth.” This is similar to statements found in Pss 48:2 and 50:2.
5 tc The Kethib is written בַּלַּיִל (ballayil) a defective spelling for בַּלַּיְלָה (ballaylah, “night”). The Qere reads בַּלַּיְלָה (ballaylah, “night”), which is preserved in numerous medieval Hebrew
tn The noun בַּלַּיְלָה (ballaylah, “night”) functions as an adverbial accusative of time: “in the night.”
6 tn Heb “at the head of the watches.”
7 tn The noun לֵבָב (levav, “heart”) functions here as a metonymy of association for the thoughts and emotions in the heart. The Hebrew לֵבָב (levav) includes the mind so that in some cases the translation “heart” implies an inappropriate division between the cognitive and affective. This context is certainly emotionally loaded, but as part of a series of admonitions to address God in prayer, these emotions are inextricably bound with the thoughts of the mind. The singular “heart” is retained in the translation to be consistent with the personification of Jerusalem (cf. v. 18).
8 tc The MT reads אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “the Lord”) here rather than יהוה (YHWH, “the
9 sn Lifting up the palms or hands is a metaphor for prayer.
10 tn Heb “on account of the life of your children.” The noun נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) refers to the “life” of their dying children (e.g., Lam 2:12). The singular noun נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “life”) is used as a collective, as the plural genitive noun that follows makes clear: “your children.”
11 tc The BHS editors and many commentators suggest that the fourth bicola in 2:19 is a late addition and should be deleted. Apart from the four sets of bicola in 1:7 and 2:19, every stanza in chapters 1-4 consists of three sets of bicola.
tn Heb “who are fainting.”
12 tn Heb “at the head of every street.”
