The Cup or Qôs? Lost Prayer and Wordplay in Lamentations 4:21–22

What is it about?

The article discusses the Hebrew grammatical verb forms in Lam 4:21–22. In contrast to most modern Bible translations, it argues that the verb forms convey the speaker’s wishes or prayers (so-called precative perfects or “perfects of prayer”). Besides, it claims that the Hebrew text of Lam 4:21 contains a wordplay lost in translation. The Hebrew word כּוֹס (“cup”) alludes to Qôs (קוֹס), the patron god of the Edomites and the Idumaeans. The article concludes that the Hebrew text of Lam 4:21–22 originally had an ironic pun.

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