Ratapan 4:3

ג (Gimel)

4:3 Even the jackals ¹  nurse their young

at their breast, ² 

but my people ³  are cruel,

like ostriches ⁴  in the desert.

[4:3]  ¹ tn The noun תַּנִּין (tannin) means “jackals.” The plural ending ־ִין (-in) is diminutive (GKC 242 §87.e) (e.g., Lam 1:4).

[4:3]  ² tn Heb “draw out the breast and suckle their young.”

[4:3]  ³ tn Heb “the daughter of my people.”

[4:3]  ⁴ tc The MT Kethib form כִּי עֵנִים (ki ’enim) is by all accounts a textual corruption for כַּיְעֵנִים (kay’enim, “like ostriches”) which is preserved in the Qere and the medieval Hebrew mss, and reflected in the LXX.