Ratapan 5:15-18

5:15 Our hearts no longer have any joy; ¹ 

our dancing is turned to mourning.

5:16 The crown has fallen from our head;

woe to us, for we have sinned!

5:17 Because of this, our hearts are sick; ² 

because of these things, we can hardly see ³  through our tears. ⁴ 

5:18 For wild animals ⁵  are prowling over Mount Zion,

which lies desolate.

[5:15]  ¹ tn Heb “the joy of our heart has ceased.”

[5:17]  ² tn Heb “are faint” or “are sick.” The adjective דַּוָּי (davvay, “faint”) is used in reference to emotional sorrow (e.g., Isa 1:5; Lam 1:22; Jer 8:18). The related adjective דָּוֶה (daveh) means “(physically) sick” and “(emotionally) sad,” while the related verb דָּוָה (davah) means “to be sad.” The cognate Aramaic term means “sorrow,” and the cognate Syriac term refers to “misery.”

[5:17]  ³ tn Heb “our eyes are dim.” The physical description of losing sight is metaphorical, perhaps for being blinded by tears or more abstractly for being unable to see (= envision) any hope. The collocation “darkened eyes” is too rare to clarify the nuance.

[5:17]  ⁴ tn The phrase “through our tears” is added in the translation for the sake of clarification.

[5:18]  ⁵ tn Heb “jackals.” The term “jackals” is a synecdoche of species (= jackals) for general (= wild animals).