Lamentations 1

A later reading (2015) is here.
This being a first read of Lamentations for me, I will be free with colour coding so we can see the many repeated words and similar sounds in this chapter. (There were too many to colour in this technology. The repetition is intense. Later maybe I will diagram it.) I have taken some freedom with words and placement due to the restriction of the acrostic form - a demand I think I should respect as a translator of this letter game.

I wonder too, given the playful structure of this lament, whether there is some latticework in the acrostic - i.e. if aleph in each of chapters 1-4 is related etc. That will make for some interesting parallel analysis. One can get a sense of the possibility just by reading the four (or five) chapters across: Lamentations 1:1, 2:1, 3:1-3, 4:1, 5:1. You might note the connection with the Song of Songs in Lamentations 4:1 (Compare Song 5:11). The beloved, the chosen, the elect, Zion is judged. There are other possible connections with the Song.

Verse	Hebrew text	A translation	What shall we say?
Aleph	אֵיכָה יָשְׁבָה בָדָד הָעִיר רַבָּתִי עָם הָיְתָה כְּאַלְמָנָה רַבָּתִי בַגֹּויִם שָׂרָתִי בַּמְּדִינֹות הָיְתָה לָמַס ס	Ah how solitary sits the city Filled with people she became as a widow Filled from the nations Princess among the provinces she came into forced service	It is very difficult to think away from the Latin version for the number of times it has been set to music. Music is a language of the spirit subtending time.
Beth	בָּכֹו תִ בְכֶּה בַּלַּיְלָה וְדִמְעָתָהּ עַל לֶחֱיָהּ אֵין לָהּ מְנַחֵם מִכָּל אֹהֲבֶיהָ כָּל רֵעֶיהָ בָּגְדוּ בָהּ הָיוּ לָהּ לְאֹיְבִים ס	Beside herself with weeping in the night And her tears on her cheeks There is for her none to comfort  among all her lovers All her companions have defrauded her They have become her enemies	Comfort and See are among the most highly repeated words in this chapter
Gimel	גָּלְתָה יְהוּדָה מֵעֹנִי וּמֵרֹב עֲבֹדָה הִיא יָשְׁבָה בַגֹּויִם לֹא מָצְאָה מָנֹוחַ כָּל רֹדְפֶיהָ הִשִּׂיגוּהָ בֵּין הַמְּצָרִים ס	Gone is Judah into exile from humiliation and great bondage She sat among the nations She found no rest All her persecutors take hold on her between her adversities
Dalet	דַּרְכֵי צִיֹּון אֲבֵלֹות מִבְּלִי בָּאֵי מֹועֵד כָּל שְׁעָרֶיהָ שֹׁומֵמִין כֹּהֲנֶיהָ נֶאֱנָחִים בְּתוּלֹתֶיהָ נּוּגֹות וְהִיא מַר־לָהּ ס	Desolate are all her gates the ways of Zion are in mourning none come to her feasts Her priests sigh Her virgins are afflicted and she is bitter	Line 3 of the Hebrew is first in the English to allow a D to begin.
He	הָיוּ צָרֶיהָ לְרֹאשׁ אֹיְבֶיהָ שָׁלוּ כִּי יְהוָה הוֹגָהּ עַל רֹב פְּשָׁעֶיהָ עוֹלָלֶיהָ הָלְכוּ שְׁבִי לִפְנֵי צָר ס	Her adversary has taken precedence Her enemies prosper For יְהוָה has afflicted her on account of her many transgressions Her babes are taken captive in the face of adversity	Although 'head' occurs 7 times in this scroll, I think there must be an idiom here that takes precedence over any possible concordant translation.
Vav	וַיֵּצֵא מִבַּת צִיּוֹן כָּל הֲדָרָהּ הָיוּ שָׂרֶיהָ כְּאַיָּלִים  לֹא מָצְאוּ מִרְעֶה וַיֵּלְכוּ בְלֹא כֹחַ לִפְנֵי רוֹדֵף  ס	Vanished from the daughter of Zion is all her honour Her princes have become like hart that find no pasture and they walk without strength in the face of their persecutors	I needed the V
Zayin	זָכְרָה יְרוּשָׁלִַם יְמֵי עָנְיָהּ וּמְרוּדֶיהָ כֹּל מַחֲמֻדֶיהָ  אֲשֶׁר הָיוּ מִימֵי קֶדֶם בִּנְפֹל עַמָּהּ בְּיַד צָר וְאֵין עוֹזֵר לָהּ רָאוּהָ צָרִים שָׂחֲקוּ עַל מִשְׁבַּתֶּהָ ס	Zion remembers the days of her humiliation and Jerusalem from her miseries all her delectable goods that she had in former days when her people fell by the hand of adversity and there was none to help her Her adversaries saw her They mocked her sabbath	Zion is added and Jerusalem displaced for the zayin. I think the ellipsis of 'remembers' works - but as in all my awkward translations, it is important to get the pause and not be in a hurry
Chet	חֵטְא חָטְאָה יְרוּשָׁלִַם עַל כֵּן לְנִידָה הָיָתָה כָּל מְכַבְּדֶיהָ הִזִּילוּהָ כִּי רָאוּ עֶרְוָתָהּ גַּם הִיא נֶאֶנְחָה וַתָּשָׁב אָחוֹר ס	How sinful Jerusalem's sin therefore she is isolated All who honoured her despise her for they see her nakedness even as she sighs and turns away	נִידָה is a unique word apparently. If there is great sin, what can be the consequence? In this context, exile can lead to repentance or to self-defense. But the immediate effect may be a quivering isolation, a moment of vulnerability that enables a real recognition of foolishness.
Tet	טֻמְאָתָהּ בְּשׁוּלֶיהָ לֹא זָכְרָה אַחֲרִיתָהּ וַתֵּרֶד פְּלָאִים אֵין מְנַחֵם לָהּ רְאֵה יְהוָה אֶת עָנְיִי כִּי הִגְדִּיל אוֹיֵב ס	Tendered in her robes is her uncleanness She did not remember her consequences and she fell down with wonders there is none to comfort her see יְהוָה my humiliation for the enemy is magnified	A strong pervasive, interpenetrating, and intrinsic substitute beginning with 't' for the preposition 'in'. The sentence with wonders seems to associate the exile with the passover wonders in the land of Ham - it is not easy to make a sentence with it
Yod	יָדוֹ פָּרַשׂ צָר עַל כָּל מַחֲמַדֶּיהָ   כִּי רָאֲתָה גוֹיִם בָּאוּ מִקְדָּשָׁהּ אֲשֶׁר צִוִּיתָה לֹא יָבֹאוּ בַקָּהָל לָךְ ס	Yes, adversity spread its hand on all her delectable goods for she has seen the nations enter her holy place whom you charged not to enter into your assembly
Kaf	כָּל עַמָּהּ נֶאֱנָחִים מְבַקְּשִׁים לֶחֶם נָתְנוּ מַחֲמַדֵּיהֶם בְּאֹכֶל לְהָשִׁיב נָפֶשׁ רְאֵה יְהוָה וְהַבִּיטָה כִּי הָיִיתִי זוֹלֵלָה ס	Know that all her people sigh seeking bread they give their delectable goods for food to turn life around see יְהוָה and look for I have become polluted	While שׁוּב has many possible glosses, I will try and include a 'turn' in it so that the many times it appears can be heard. I usually avoid that lovely word 'soul' as a translation of נָפֶשׁ because of its false associations of bodiless - here they need real food
Lamed	לוֹא אֲלֵיכֶם כָּל עֹבְרֵי דֶרֶךְ הַבִּיטוּ וּרְאוּ אִם יֵשׁ מַכְאוֹב כְּמַכְאֹבִי אֲשֶׁר עוֹלַל לִי אֲשֶׁר הוֹגָה יְהוָה בְּיוֹם חֲרוֹן אַפּוֹ ס	Look - not for you - all you passing this way and see if there is sorrow like my sorrow which is imposed on me which יְהוָה afflicted in the day of his fierce anger	The inference of a question here ([Is it] nothing to you?) seems misleading as to other possible meanings. Such as - let it not come to you JPS or it's not about you, etc. Fierce - also in Lam 4:11, anger - thematic - occurs 10 times but not in chapter 5
Mem	מִמָּרוֹם שָׁלַח אֵשׁ בְּעַצְמֹתַי וַיִּרְדֶּנָּה פָּרַשׂ רֶשֶׁת לְרַגְלַי הֱשִׁיבַנִי אָחוֹר נְתָנַנִי שֹׁמֵמָה כָּל הַיּוֹם דָּוָה ס	Mightily from on high he has sent fire into my bones and he subjugates her He has spread a net for my feet He has turned me away He has made me desolate every day - faint	fire recurs in Lam 2:3-:4, 4:11 faint Lam 5:17 only - frame? The switch in pronoun is strange - but whether me or her, I suspect the meaning is clear with identification of the individual with the corporate affliction
Nun	נִשְׂקַד עֹל פְּשָׁעַי בְּיָדוֹ יִשְׂתָּרְגוּ עָלוּ עַל צַוָּארִי הִכְשִׁיל כֹּחִי נְתָנַנִי אֲדֹנָי בִּידֵי לֹא אוּכַל קוּם ס	Now bound by his hand is the yoke of my transgressions They are intertwined - they come up to my neck He has made my strength fail My Lord has given me into the hands of those against whom I cannot rise	compare Job 40:17 - Even Behemoth - I wonder if this is an argument for evolution
Samech	סִלָּה כָל אַבִּירַי אֲדֹנָי בְּקִרְבִּי קָרָא עָלַי מוֹעֵד לִשְׁבֹּר בַּחוּרָי גַּת דָּרַךְ אֲדֹנָי לִבְתוּלַת בַּת יְהוּדָה ס	Suspended has my Lord all the mighty in my midst He has called against me a feast to crush my youth In a winepress my Lord has trodden the virgin daughter of Judah	(or JB Spurned)
Ayin	עַל אֵלֶּה אֲנִי בוֹכִיָּה  עֵינִי עֵינִי יֹרְדָה מַּיִם כִּי רָחַק מִמֶּנִּי מְנַחֵם מֵשִׁיב נַפְשִׁי הָיוּ בָנַי שׁוֹמֵמִים כִּי גָבַר אוֹיֵב  ס	I - I weep for these things my eye, my eye running with water for the comforter is too far from me to return my life My children are desolate for an enemy has prevailed	For yod a Y, for aleph and ayin a glottal. The Hebrew ani, ayini are as close as the English I, eye. My eye sees the Hebrew repeated I.
Peh	פֵּרְשָׂה צִיּוֹן בְּיָדֶיהָ אֵין מְנַחֵם לָהּ צִוָּה יְהוָה לְיַעֲקֹב סְבִיבָיו צָרָיו הָיְתָה יְרוּשָׁלִַם לְנִדָּה בֵּינֵיהֶם ס	Pathos - Zion spreads with her hands there is none to comfort her יְהוָה charged  concerning Jacob that his adversaries would surround him Jerusalem has become impure among them
Tsade	צַדִּיק הוּא יְהוָה כִּי פִיהוּ מָרִיתִי שִׁמְעוּ נָא כָל הָעַמִּים וּרְאוּ מַכְאֹבִי בְּתוּלֹתַי וּבַחוּרַי הָלְכוּ בַשֶּׁבִי ס	So Righteous is יְהוָה for I disobeyed his bidding Hear please - all peoples and see my sorrow My virgins and my youth are gone into captivity	I have to find ts in a word since there is no English equivalent letter. In the psalms I was sometimes a little flippant - e.g. tza! in Psalm 34. In Psalm 119 I used S and St. Here I have followed what I did in Psalm 145 where another poet said the same thing.
Qof	קָרָאתִי לַמְאַהֲבַי הֵמָּה רִמּוּנִי כֹּהֲנַי וּזְקֵנַי בָּעִיר גָּוָעוּ כִּי בִקְשׁוּ אֹכֶל לָמוֹ וְיָשִׁיבוּ אֶת נַפְשָׁם ס	Queried I for my lovers they misled me My priests and my elders expired in the city as they sought their food to restore their lives
Resh	רְאֵה יְהוָה כִּי צַר לִי מֵעַי חֳמַרְמָר וּנֶהְפַּךְ לִבִּי בְּקִרְבִּי כִּי מָרוֹ מָרִיתִי מִחוּץ שִׁכְּלָה חֶרֶב בַּבַּיִת כַּמָּוֶת ס	Regard יְהוָה for I am in adversity My belly is in turmoil and overturned is my heart within me for I have wantonly disobeyed In the streets the sword bereaves in the house - as death	Seeing - 8 times in this chapter - 8 more in the remaining ones - 'regard' this once for the R. Mar מָרִ as a sound is repeated as bitter, overturned, and disobeyed
Shin	שָׁמְעוּ כִּי נֶאֱנָחָה אָנִי אֵין מְנַחֵם לִי כָּל אֹיְבַי שָׁמְע וּרָעָתִי שָׂשׂוּכִּי אַתָּה עָשִׂיתָ הֵבֵאתָ יוֹם קָרָאת וְיִהְיוּ כָמֹנִי ס	Sighing, my sighing they have heard there is none to comfort me All my enemies hear of my evil they rejoice that you have done it You will bring the day you have called and they will be as I am	The enemy has public knowledge that increases shame and stimulates a desire for equal retribution
Taf	תָּבֹא כָל רָעָתָם לְפָנֶיךָ וְעוֹלֵל לָמוֹ כַּאֲשֶׁר עוֹלַלְתָּ לִי עַל כָּל פְּשָׁעָי כִּי רַבּוֹת אַנְחֹתַי וְלִבִּי דַוָּי פ	To your face let all their evil come and impose on them as you have imposed on me on account of all my transgressions for many are my sighs and my heart is faint	How strangely close is עלל from which we get עֹולֵל (which I have rendered impose) to עולל for babes or children Notice the closing Peh rather than Samech- this is the only verse without a Samech