en_tn/lam/05/20.md

800 B

Why do you forget us forever? Why do you abandon us for the length of your days?

The author uses these rhetorical questions to express his feelings that Yahweh has forgotten them. These questions can be written as a statement. Alternate translation: "It is as though you will forget us forever or not come back to us for a very long time!" (See: rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-rquestion)

for the length of your days

Here this idiom refers to the duration of God's life. Since God lives forever, it can also be translated as "forever." Perhaps the writer was uing hyperbole and exaggerating the length of time he believed that God was forsaking them. Alternate translation: "for as long as you live" or "forever" (See: rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-idiom and rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-hyperbole)