And her gates shall lament and mourn: Of course, it is not the city gates themselves that will cry. They are personified, that is, they behave like humans. They represent the city of Jerusalem, and by further extension, the people of Jerusalem. The gates were the main places in ancient cities where business was carried out and where disputes were settled. The gate of a city was more than a heavy door, it was a small building built into the thick city wall, with the passageway into the city running through it. Along both sides of this passageway there were small rooms, which served as the “town office.” For translators it may be difficult to keep the image of the gates with its connotations, in which case a less figurative rendering will be needed; for example, for this line Contemporary English Version simply says “The city will mourn.”

The Hebrew verbs rendered lament and mourn are very close in meaning. Lament can describe the reaction to a wider set of unfortunate circumstances than mourn, since the latter verb is usually more closely associated with someone’s death. We may say “weep and mourn.”

Ravaged, she shall sit upon the ground: This line continues to compare Jerusalem to a woman, but it does it more explicitly. Jerusalem will become like a woman sitting on the ground in total disarray. Good News Translation adds “like a woman” to make this metaphor clear.

The Hebrew word rendered ravaged means “deserted” or “empty” and should not imply sexual force or rape. So Good News Translation “stripped naked” is not recommended. Ravaged in this context means the people have been taken away from the city, which is a thought similar to the one expressed in 1.7-8. Ravaged may be rendered “desolate,” “anguished,” “in disarray,” or “[completely] confused.” “Sitting on the ground” is often linked with the act of mourning (see Lam 2.10).

Several translation examples for this verse are:

• And you will weep and mourn;
desolate, you will sit on the ground.

• And the people of Jerusalem will weep and mourn;
because the city is in disarray, they will sit in the dust.

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .