Young men (as in 1.18, where the word is associated with its female counterpart) normally refers to fully developed youths who are unmarried. But if in this context it has the same meaning as boys in the second part of the verse, it may refer to youths who have not yet developed their full strength. Compelled to grind at the mill has lent itself to various interpretations. The best sense is to assume that the enemy forced young men to operate a grinding mill, which consisted of two huge stones often called “millstones” (see Mark 9.42). The lower stone was stationary, and the grinder turned the upper stone to grind the grain between the two. Grinding was often the work of an animal, a prisoner, or servants and slaves. Good News Translation has emphasized the aspect of forced labor by saying “forced to grind grain like a slave.” (See Exo 11.5; Judges 16.21.)

Grind at the mill must often be expressed in terms of the local equipment used for grinding such things as corn or rice to make flour. This may involve using a small cylindrical stone on a flat stone surface in which the grinder works in a kneeling position. In some language areas the grinding of grain will be rendered by the terms used for crushing grains with a pestle in a mortar; for example, “Young men are forced to pound grain in a mortar.”

Boys translates a noun which has the same sense as Young men in the previous half-line. It is therefore difficult to argue that the poet is focusing on a younger group in the second part of the verse. These boys or “young men” are said to stagger under loads of wood. That is, because they are forced to carry loads which are too heavy for them, they stumble or stagger as they struggle under their burdens.

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 .