Ratapan 3:31

כ (Kaf)

3:31 For the Lord ¹  will not

reject us forever. ² 

Ratapan 3:36

3:36 to defraud a person in a lawsuit –

the Lord ³  does not approve ⁴  of such things!

Ratapan 3:58

ר (Resh)

3:58 O Lord, ⁵  you championed ⁶  my cause, ⁷ 

you redeemed my life.

[3:31]  ¹ tc The MT reads אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “the Lord”) here rather than יהוה (YHWH, “the Lord”). See the tc note at 1:14.

[3:31]  ² tn The verse is unusually short and something unrecoverable may be missing.

[3:36]  ³ tc The MT reads אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “the Lord”) here rather than יהוה (YHWH, “the Lord”). See the tc note at 1:14.

[3:36]  ⁴ tn Heb “the Lord does not see.” The verb רָאָה (ra’ah, “to see”) is here used in reference to mental observation and approval: “to gaze at” with joy and pleasure (e.g., 2 Kgs 10:16; Mic 7:9; Jer 29:32; Isa 52:8; Job 20:17; 33:28; Pss 54:9; 106:5; 128:5; Son 3:11; 6:11; Eccl 2:1). If the line is parallel to the end of v. 35 then a circumstantial clause “the Lord not seeing” would be appropriate. The infinitives in 34-36 would then depend on the verbs in v. 33; see D. R. Hillers, Lamentations (AB), 71.

[3:58]  ⁵ tc The MT reads אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “the Lord”) here rather than יהוה (YHWH, “the Lord”) as in the following verse. See the tc note at 1:14.

[3:58]  ⁶ tn This verb, like others in this stanza, could be understood as a precative (“Plead”).

[3:58]  ⁷ tn Heb “the causes of my soul.” The term נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my soul”) is a synecdoche of part (= my soul) for the whole person (= me).