Ratapan 5:6

5:6 We have submitted ¹  to Egypt and Assyria

in order to buy food to eat. ² 

Ratapan 5:10

5:10 Our skin is hot as an oven

due to a fever from hunger. ³ 

Ratapan 5:19

5:19 But you, O Lord, reign forever;

your throne endures from generation to generation.

[5:6]  ¹ tn Heb “we have given the hand”; cf. NRSV “We have made a pact.” This is a Semitic idiom meaning “to make a treaty with” someone, placing oneself in a subservient position as vassal. The prophets criticized these treaties.

[5:6]  ² tn Heb “bread.” The term “bread” is a synecdoche of specific (= bread) for the general (= food).

[5:10]  ³ tn Heb “because of the burning heat of famine.”