Lamentations 3:21–24
Amid the ruins, the poet recalls: they are new every morning
Study it word by word21This I will bring back to my heart; therefore I will await.
22The loyal loves of YHWH: indeed we have not been consumed, for his mercies have not come to an end.
23They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
24My portion is YHWH, says my soul; therefore I will await him.
In its context
19Remember my affliction and my wandering, the wormwood and the poison.
20My soul surely remembers and sinks down within me.
…
25Good is YHWH to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him.
26Good it is that one should await, and silently, the salvation of YHWH.
Its words in the original
- אָשִׁיבashiv· return, turn back
Turn back, return. Also turn away; in the causative form, bring back, give back, answer. Figuratively, turn back to God (change course). Often adverbial: "again".
- לִבִּlibi· heart
Heart. In Hebrew it is not only the place of feelings: it is the center of the person, where one thinks, decides and wills; also the middle of something.
- אוֹחִילochil· wait, hope
Wait patiently; hope.
- חַסְדֵיchasde· loyal love
"Chesed": love that stays faithful to a commitment. It is kindness that does not remain a feeling: it acts in favor of the other and does not abandon him. The Bible says it above all of God's love for his people.
- יְהוָהyehva· YHWH
The personal name of the God of Israel, written in Hebrew with four letters, Y-H-W-H, without vowels. Out of reverence Jews stopped pronouncing it and read "Adonai" (Lord), so many Bibles put "the LORD" or "Jehovah". This translation keeps the four letters. The name is related to the verb "to be" (Exodus 3:14-15). He is not a god other than Elohim: "YHWH Elohim" is the same Creator God, called by his name.
- תָמְנוּtamnu· be finished, be complete
Come to an end, be used up; be complete.
- כָלוּchalu· finish, consume
Finish, complete something; come to an end. Also put an end to something, consume it, destroy it.
- רַחֲמָיrachamay· compassion
Deep compassion, tender mercy like that of a mother; also the womb.
- חֲדָשִׁיםchadashim· new
New.
- בְּקָרִיםbekarim· morning
Morning, dawn.
- רַבָּהraba· many, great
Many, much, abundant, great; also "elder" or "chief".
- אֱמוּנָתֶemunate· faithfulness, steadiness
Steadiness; from there faithfulness, being trustworthy.
- חֶלְקִchelki· portion, share
Portion, the share that falls to someone; also smoothness (of speech).
- אָמְרָהamra· say
Say, speak. The most common verb for bringing in what someone says; sometimes "think" (say to oneself) or "command".
- נַפְשִׁnafshi· soul, living being, life
A breathing being, a living being. It is translated "living being" (people and animals), "life" (when living or dying is at stake), "person" (in counts and laws), "soul" (the person at the innermost: desires, joy, anguish) or "myself". In the Old Testament it names the whole living being, not only a part of it.