displaced – separated from the interjection,“ Alas!”
4:7 wholesome and hale... suggestive of the assonance in zaku nezireha
4:10 cannibalizing their own children, just to survive... The horror here suggested( arguably the most disturbing in an already unsettling book) may well be hyperbolic stock imagery of disaster. See the responsum of Rabbi Ephraim Oshry( Responsa from the Holocaust, # 112,“ Cannibalism”) –“ One cannot imagine, let alone describe, the hunger that raged in the concentration camps and the ghettoes among the Jews. Even so, the Jewish people did not descend from their level of sanctity; they never ate human flesh.”
beautiful nation... See comment at 3:48, above.
4:11 pouring out His blazing wrath... The basis of the bitter expression in the Passover Haggadah: shfokh hamatkha –“ Pour out Your wrath....”
4:13 who tolerated the shedding of innocent blood... The prophets and priests did not personally shed blood. Compare Sotah 46b, commenting on the expiatory ritual of the heifer killed in response to an unsolved murder( Deuteronomy 21:1-6).
4:15 roamed and rambled: reflecting the alliteration of ki natzu gam na’ u
4:16 countenance... reflective of p’ nei Adonai, p’ nei kohanim
4:17 Quietly we have waited; expectantly we wait still: Reflecting the double formulation of b’ tzipiyateinu tzipinu. The cadence and rhetorical effect intended by this translation are modeled on Lincoln’ s second inaugural address, famously replete with biblical imagery and allusion:“ Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray,( that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away).”
4:18 Our days are done... A phrase incorporated into the poetry of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow(“ The Day is Done”) and the music of Peter Yarrow(“ Day is Done”), as well as the lyrics popularly( though not officially) associated with the military bugle call“ Taps”(“ Day is done; gone the sun”).
4:20 salvation... evoking the theologically charged messianic nuance of meshiah Adonai.
4:21 the Land of Uz... It is not clear whether the biblical Land of Uz is a real, geographical location or a fictional invention. Utz may carry the meaning of“ counsel” – especially fitting in the context of Job. This verse might accordingly be rendered:“ Unto you, Fair Edom – heed my counsel – this bitter cup will pass in due course. In your drunkenness, you will reveal your shame.”
4:40 let us turn back to the Lord... Just past the mid-point of the book( 3:34), this verse anticipates the contrition and penitence prescribed in the penultimate 5:21(“ Allow us to return to You”), providing internal symmetry to an already exceedingly structured book.
5:5 breathing down our very necks... That is,‘ al tzavareinu nirdafnu. Compare JPS:“ We are hotly pursued”
5:15 Alternatively:“ The Sabbath, the source of our joy and jubilation, has turned into a time for mourning.”
5:16 Oh! Woe! Evoking the formality of the double interjection: oy na.
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