Mazmur 119:82

119:82 My eyes grow tired as I wait for your promise to be fulfilled. ¹ 

I say, ²  “When will you comfort me?”

Yesaya 15:3

15:3 In their streets they wear sackcloth;

on their roofs and in their town squares

all of them wail,

they fall down weeping.

Ratapan 1:16

ע (Ayin)

1:16 I weep because of these things;

my eyes ³  flow with tears. ⁴ 

For there is no one in sight who can comfort me ⁵ 

or encourage me. ⁶ 

My children ⁷  are desolated ⁸ 

because an enemy has prevailed.

Ratapan 3:48-51

3:48 Streams ⁹  of tears flow from my eyes ¹⁰ 

because my people ¹¹  are destroyed. ¹² 

ע (Ayin)

3:49 Tears flow from my eyes ¹³  and will not stop;

there will be no break ¹⁴ 

3:50 until the Lord looks down from heaven

and sees what has happened. ¹⁵ 

3:51 What my eyes see ¹⁶  grieves me ¹⁷  –

all the suffering of the daughters in my city. ¹⁸ 

[119:82]  ¹ tn Heb “my eyes fail for your word.” The psalmist has intently kept his eyes open, looking for God to intervene, but now his eyes are watery and bloodshot, impairing his vision. See Ps 69:3.

[119:82]  ² tn Heb “saying.”

[1:16]  ³ tc The MT and several medieval Hebrew mss read עֵינִי עֵינִי (’eni, ’eni, “my eye, my eye”). However, the second עֵינִי (’eni) does not appear in several other medieval Hebrew mss, or in Old Greek, Syriac Peshitta or Latin Vulgate.

[1:16]  tn Heb “My eye, my eye.” The Hebrew text repeats the term for literary emphasis to stress the emotional distress of personified Jerusalem.

[1:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “with water.” The noun מַּיִם (mayim, “water”) functions as an adverbial accusative of manner or impersonal instrument. The term מַּיִם (mayim, “water”) is a metonymy of material (= water) for the thing formed (= tears).

[1:16]  ⁵ tn Heb “For a comforter is far from me.”

[1:16]  ⁶ tn The phrase מֵשִׁיב נַפְשִׁי (meshiv nafshi, “one who could cause my soul to return”) is a Hebrew idiom that means “one who could encourage me.” The noun נַפְשִׁי (nafshi) refers to the whole person (e.g., Gen 27:4, 25; 49:6; Lev 26:11, 30; Num 23:10; Judg 5:21; 16:30; Isa 1:14; Lam 3:24). When used with the noun נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) the Hiphil הָשִׁיב (hashiv) of שׁוּב (shuv, “to turn, return”) means “to encourage, refresh, cheer” a person emotionally (Ruth 4:15; Pss 19:8; 23:3; Prov 25:13; Lam 1:11, 16, 19).

[1:16]  ⁷ tn Heb “my sons.” The term “my sons” (בַנַי, banay) is a figurative description (hypocatastasis) of the former inhabitants of Jerusalem/Judah personified as the Lady Jerusalem’s children. Jerusalem mourns (and views) their devastation like a mother would her children.

[1:16]  ⁸ tn The verb שָׁמֵם (shamem) means “to be desolated.” The verb is used used in reference to land destroyed in battle and left “deserted” (Isa 49:8; Ezek 33:28; 35:12, 15; 36:4). When used in reference to persons, it describes the aftermath of a physical attack, such as rape (2 Sam 13:20) or military overthrow of a city (Isa 54:1; Lam 1:13, 16; 3:11).

[3:48]  ⁹ tn Heb “canals.” The phrase “canals of water” (eye water = tears) is an example of hyperbole. The English idiom “streams of tears” is also hyperbolic.

[3:48]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “my eyes flow down with canals of water.”

[3:48]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the daughter of my people,” or “the Daughter, my people.”

[3:48]  ¹² tn Heb “because of the destruction of [the daughter of my people].”

[3:49]  ¹³ tn Heb “my eye flows.” The term “eye” is a metonymy of association, standing for the “tears” which flow from one’s eyes.

[3:49]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “without stopping.” The noun הַפוּגָה (hafugah, “stop”) is a hapax legomenon (word that occurs only once in Hebrew scriptures). The form of the noun is unusual, probably being derived from the denominative Hiphil verbal stem of the root פּוּג (pug, “to grow weary, ineffective; numb, become cold”).

[3:50]  ¹⁵ tn The phrase “what has happened” is added in the translation for smoother English style and readability.

[3:51]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “my eye causes grief to my soul.” The term “eye” is a metonymy of association, standing for that which one sees with the eyes.

[3:51]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “my soul.” The term נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my soul”) is a synecdoche of part (= my soul) for the whole person (= me).

[3:51]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “at the sight of all the daughters of my city.” It is understood that seeing the plight of the women, not simply seeing the women, is what is so grievous. To make this clear, “suffering” was supplied in the translation.