Ratapan 4:17
Konteksע (Ayin)
4:17 Our eyes continually failed us
as we looked in vain for help. 1
From our watchtowers we watched
for a nation that could not rescue us.
Ratapan 2:16
Konteksפ (Pe)
2:16 All your enemies
gloated over you. 2
They sneered and gnashed their teeth;
they said, “We have destroyed 3 her!
Ha! We have waited a long time for this day.
We have lived to see it!” 4
[4:17] 1 tn Heb “Our eyes failed in vain for help.”
[2:16] 2 tn Heb “they have opened wide their mouth against you.”
[2:16] 3 tn Heb “We have swallowed!”
[2:16] 4 tn Heb “We have attained, we have seen!” The verbs מָצָאנוּ רָאִינוּ (matsa’nu ra’inu) form a verbal hendiadys in which the first retains its full verbal sense and the second functions as an object complement. It forms a Hebrew idiom that means something like, “We have lived to see it!” The three asyndetic 1st person common plural statements in 2:16 (“We waited, we destroyed, we saw!”) are spoken in an impassioned, staccato style reflecting the delight of the conquerors.
