Photo Credit: Jewish Press
I dislike the word “dirge.” The word kinah is generally translated as either “lamentation” or as “dirge.” Here’s why “lamentation” is a much better translation, and why you should avoid “dirge” at all costs:
- “Dirge” sounds funny. It’s a monosyllabic word with far too much going on in it, sound-wise. And it rhymes with various other terms that conjure odd sequences in your head. (“Do you have the urge to splurge on a dirge to purge the scourge of hurt? Let it surge!”)
- “Lamentation” is a much better fit, semantically. It comes from the Latin word “lamentatio” and means “to wail, moan, or weep.” This is identical to the meaning of kinah, which comes from the root K.N.N, as in Vekir’u Lamekonenos (Yir. 9:16), “call to the wailers” to come mourn the Beis HaMikdash. By contrast, “dirge” is used to refer to sad, slow, songs. It’s more about the musical genre than a reference to crying or mourning itself. If you want to criticize Litvishe zemiros, feel free to call them dirges (although personally I enjoy them). But kinnos are definitely a lamentation, focused on crying over the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash rather than a particular melody.
- The word “dirge” has an odd etymology. It originally stems from the Latin imperative root “dirige,” meaning “direct!” It is literally translated in Hebrew as Necheni, “direct me.” How do I know this? Because the word comes from the Catholic Church’s Office for the Dead, which begins with the word “dirige,” citing from Tehillim 5:9, “Hashem, Necheni Betzidkasecha.” Why would you translate the word kinah with the Christian translation of the word Necheni?
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