Lamentations 3:18
Context3:18 So I said, “My endurance has expired;
I have lost all hope of deliverance 1 from the Lord.”
Lamentations 3:21
Context3:21 But this I call 2 to mind; 3
therefore I have hope:
Lamentations 3:26
Context3:26 It is good to wait patiently 4
for deliverance from the Lord. 5
1 tn Heb “and my hope from the
2 tn Heb “I cause to return.”
3 tn Heb “to my heart.” The noun לֵבָב (levav, “heart”) has a broad range of meanings, including its use as a metonymy of association, standing for thoughts and thinking = “mind” (e.g., Deut 32:46; 1 Chr 29:18; Job 17:11; Ps 73:7; Isa 10:7; Hag 1:5, 7; 2:15, 18; Zech 7:10; 8:17).
4 tn Heb “waiting and silently.” The two adjectives וְיָחִיל וְדוּמָם (vÿyakhil vÿdumam, “waiting and silently”) form a hendiadys: The first functions verbally and the second functions adverbially: “to wait silently.” The adjective דוּמָם (dumam, “silently”) also functions as a metonymy of association, standing for patience or rest (HALOT 217 s.v.). This metonymical nuance is captured well in less literal English versions: “wait in patience” (TEV) and “wait patiently” (CEV, NJPS). The more literal English versions do not express the metonymy as well: “quietly wait” (KJV, NKJV, ASV), “waits silently” (NASB), “wait quietly” (RSV, NRSV, NIV).
5 tn Heb “deliverance of the