Lamentations 2:19

ק (Qof) Get up! Cry out in the night ¹  when the night watches start! ²  Pour out your heart ³  like water before the face of the Lord! ⁴  Lift up your hands ⁵  to him for your children’s lives; ⁶  they are fainting ⁷  at every street corner. ⁸ 

Jud 7:19; 1Sa 1:15; 1Sa 7:6; Job 3:24; Ps 28:2; Ps 42:8; Ps 62:8; Ps 63:4; Ps 119:55,147,148; Ps 134:2; Ps 141:2; Ps 142:2; Isa 26:9; Isa 51:20; La 2:11,12; La 4:1-9; Eze 5:10,16; Na 3:10; Mt 14:25; Mr 1:35; Mr 13:35; Lu 6:12; 1Ti 2:8

¹ 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 mss.

tn The noun בַּלַּיְלָה (ballaylah, “night”) functions as an adverbial accusative of time: “in the night.”

² tn Heb “at the head of the watches.”

³ 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).

⁴ tc The MT reads אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “the Lord”) here rather than יהוה (YHWH, “the Lord”). See the tc note at 1:14.

⁵ sn Lifting up the palms or hands is a metaphor for prayer.

⁶ 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.”

⁷ 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.”

⁸ tn Heb “at the head of every street.”