Lamentations 5:9

At the risk ¹  of our lives ²  we get our food ³  because robbers lurk ⁴  in the countryside. ⁵ 

We get our bread at the risk of our lives because of the sword in the desert.

We get our bread at the risk of our lives Because of the sword in the wilderness.

We must hunt for food in the wilderness at the risk of our lives.

We risk our lives to gather food in the bandit-infested desert.

We put our lives in danger to get our bread, because of the sword of the waste land.

We get our bread at the peril of our lives, because of the sword in the wilderness.

We get our bread at the risk of our lives, Because of the sword in the wilderness.

At the risk ¹  of our lives ²  we get our food ³  because robbers lurk ⁴  in the countryside. ⁵ 

¹ tn Heb “at the cost of our lives.” The preposition ב (bet) here denotes purchase price paid (e.g., Gen 30:16; Exod 34:20; 2 Sam 3:14; 24:24) (BDB 90 s.v. בְּ 3.a). The expression בְּנַפְשֵׁנוּ (bÿnafshenu) means “at the risk of our lives.” Similar expressions include בְנַפְשׁוֹ (bÿnafsho, “at the cost of his life,” 1 Kgs 2:23; Prov 7:23) and בְּנַפְשׁוֹתָם (bÿnafshotam, “at peril of their lives,” 2 Sam 23:17).

² tn Heb “our soul.” The noun נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “soul”) is used as a metonymy (= soul) of association (= life) (e.g., Gen 44:30; Exod 21:23; 2 Sam 14:7; Jon 1:14).

³ tn Heb “bread.” The term “bread” is a synecdoche of specific (= bread) for the general (= food).

⁴ tn Heb “because of the sword.” The term “sword” is a metonymy of instrument (= sword) for the persons who use the instrument (= murderers or marauders).

⁵ tn Heb “the wilderness.”