What Did YHWH Do in Lam 1:12?: Correcting a Misreading in the DJD Edition of 4QLam

In his edition of 4QLam in DJD XVI, F. M. Cross found a significant and otherwise unattested variant for a much-discussed crux, reading הוגירני יהוה, “YHWH frightened me (√יגר),” instead of הוגה יהוה “YHWH has afflicted (√יגה)”. However, close inspection of the manuscript indicates that the verb should actually be read הוגיאני; Cross incorrectly identified an ʾalef as a resh. Furthermore, I argue that the reading in 4QLam attests to the more primitive reading הוגיעני יהוה, from which the others developed, though this reading is not actually found in any extant manuscript. This means that instead of a text that originally read, “YHWH afflicted (me),” as many previous translations have concluded, or “YHWH frightened me,” as Cross suggested, one finds a text that said, “YHWH wearied me.”