“Our Inheritance Has Been Turned Over to Strangers”: A Cry of Loss in Biblical Hebrew
נַחֲלָתֵ֨נוּ֙ נֶֽהֶפְכָ֣ה לְזָרִ֔ים בָּתֵּ֖ינוּ לְנָכְרִֽים׃ (Lamentations 5:2) Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our houses to foreigners. Word-by-Word Explanation נַחֲלָתֵנוּ – “our inheritance” Noun from נַחֲלָה meaning “inheritance,” “land,” or “heritage.” - The suffix ֵנוּ = “our” This refers to the ancestral land of Yisraʾel—something sacred and identity-defining. נֶהֶפְכָה – “has been turned…