Lam 2:4 | NET2full | STEP | He prepared his bow like an enemy ; his right hand was ready to shoot. Like a foe he killed everyone , even our strong young men ; he has poured out his anger like fire on the tent of Daughter Zion .

‏ Lamentations 2:4

ד (Dalet)

4 He prepared his bow ^{▼▼tn Heb “bent His bow.” When the verb דָּרַךְ (darakh) is used with the noun קֶשֶׁת (qeshet, “archer-bow”), it means “to bend [a bow]” to string it in preparation for shooting arrows (1 Chr 5:18; 8:40; 2 Chr 14:7; Jer 50:14, 29; 51:3). This idiom is used figuratively to describe the assaults of the wicked (Pss 11:2; 37:14) and the judgments of the Lord (Ps 7:13; Lam 2:4; 3:12) (BDB 202 s.v. דָּרַךְ 4). The translation “he prepared his bow” is the slightly more general modern English idiomatic equivalent of the ancient Hebrew idiom “he bent his bow”—both refer to preparations to get ready to shoot arrows.} like an enemy;
his right hand was ready to shoot. ^{▼▼tn Heb “His right hand is stationed.”}
Like a foe he killed everyone,
even our strong young men; ^{▼▼tn Heb “the ones who were pleasing to the eye.”}
he has poured out his anger like fire
on the tent ^{▼▼tn The singular noun אֹהֶל (ʾohel, “tent”) may function as a collective, referring to all tents in Judah. A parallel expression occurs in verse 2 using the plural: “all the dwellings of Jacob” (כָּל־נְאוֹת יַעֲקֹב, kol neʾot yaʿaqov). The singular “tent” matches the image of “Daughter Zion.” On the other hand, the singular “the tent of Daughter Zion” might be a hyperbolic synecdoche of container (= tent) for contents (= inhabitants of Zion).} of Daughter Zion.