The first two parallel units of verse 6 focus on the destruction of the Temple. Broken down in the first half-line is matched by laid in ruins in the second. Booth is matched by place of … feasts. The second unit is parallel to the first in a more general way in its first half-line, and in its second half-line repeats appointed feast and enlarges it by adding sabbath. The third unit personalizes what the LORD has done through the rejection of the king and the priest, who can no longer officiate in the Temple.
The reference to the destruction of the Temple is a reminder that it is no longer a place of refuge, and is no more secure than a temporary hut in a garden.
He has broken down his booth like that of a garden is not entirely clear in Hebrew. Broken down translates another term for “destroy, lay waste, smash.” Booth appears to be a variant spelling in Hebrew of the word found in Isaiah 1.8, which Good News Translation translates as “watchman’s hut.” Another form of the same word is used in Psalm 76.2, where it refers to God’s “dwelling place” in Zion, and so refers to the Temple.
Like that of a garden is literally “like a garden,” and this expression does not fit well with the earlier part of the half-line. Therefore Revised Standard Version has modified it in translation so that the booth is not “like a garden” but like a booth (hut, shed) found in a garden. New English Bible and others follow the Septuagint and say “He stripped his tabernacle as a vine is stripped.” Hebrew Old Testament Text Project gives two possible translations: “He has broken down its walls, which are like those of a garden” and “He has broken down his hut, which is like one in a garden.” The second of these agrees with Revised Standard Version and may be recommended to translators.
In many areas there is no difference between a garden and any other area used for growing crops. People may simply speak of “the field,” or they may distinguish between areas used for growing food crops for people and those used for growing food for animals. In some areas temporary huts are put up in fields for people to sleep in while protecting crops from robbers and birds. In such cases it is possible to say, for example, “God tore down the Temple as a man tears down a field hut.” If no temporary huts are known, but houses are of fragile construction, it may be possible to say “God tore down the Temple as easily as tearing down a house.” It may also be possible to translate without using the picture of a hut: “God broke down the Temple. This was no work for him at all”; or “God destroyed the Temple. He did it very easily.”
The place of his appointed feasts translates the Hebrew for “his appointed feasts” and is the same word used in 1.4. See there for comments. The place of is supplied by Revised Standard Version because this half-line is parallel to the half-line before, and so refers again to the Temple as the place where festivals were celebrated.
The LORD has brought to an end in Zion: brought to an end is literally “caused to forget” and is translated by New English Bible as “blotted out all memory.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch says “He lets his people forget….” In Zion means “in Jerusalem.”
Appointed feast repeats the same word used in the first unit. The destruction of the Temple meant that these festivals could no longer take place. Sabbath refers to the Jewish day consecrated to God for worship and rest from daily activities. The sabbath was the seventh day of the week and began at sundown on Friday (the sixth day) and ended at sundown on Saturday. Translators should not translate sabbath by a word meaning “Sunday,” the day most Christians worship in church. Likewise “Saturday” will not suggest a day of worship. An expression like “day of rest” may mean nothing more than a holiday or a “day off.” Therefore it may be necessary to say “Jewish day of rest,” “Jewish day for worshiping God,” or “Jewish holy day.”
In his fierce indignation translates “in the indignation of his anger,” which is a way of saying “in the heat of his anger.”
Spurned king and priest: spurned means “rejected, refused to help,” and occurs with this sense in Deuteronomy 32.19; Psalm 107.11. Good News Translation says “King and priest alike have felt the force of his anger.” Although priest is singular in the Hebrew, it is to be understood as collective and in many languages will have to be translated as a plural: “He has angrily rejected both the king and the priests” or “In his anger he has taken away the honor of both the king and the priests.” For discussion of priest see comments on 1.4.
Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. A Handbook on Lamentations. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1992. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .