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Lamentations 3

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The Prophet's Intense Personal Lament 1–20

1
I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath. ​
2
He hath led me and caused me to walk in darkness, and not in light.
3
Surely against me he turneth his hand again and again all the day.
4
My flesh and my skin hath he made old; he hath broken my bones. ​
5
He hath builded against me, and compassed me with gall and travail.
6
He hath made me to dwell in dark places, as those that have been long dead.
7
He hath walled me about, that I cannot go forth; he hath made my chain heavy.
8
Yea, when I cry, and call for help, he shutteth out my prayer. ​
9
He hath walled up my ways with hewn stone; he hath made my paths crooked.
10
He is unto me as a bear lying in wait, as a lion in secret places.
11
He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces; he hath made me desolate.
12
He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow.
13
He hath caused the shafts of his quiver to enter into my reins.
14
I am become a derision to all my people, and their song all the day.
15
He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath sated me with wormwood. ​
16
He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones; he hath covered me with ashes.
17
And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace; I forgat prosperity.
18
And I said, My strength is perished, and mine expectation from Jehovah. ​
19
Remember mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall.
20
My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is bowed down within me.

The Lord's Faithfulness 21–26

21
This I recall to my mind; therefore have I hope. ​
22
It is of Jehovah’s lovingkindnesses that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. ​
23
They are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness. ​
24
Jehovah is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. ​
25
Jehovah is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.
26
It is good that a man should hope and quietly wait for the salvation of Jehovah.

The Discipline of Suffering 27–39

27
It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. ​
28
Let him sit alone and keep silence, because he hath laid it upon him.
29
Let him put his mouth in the dust, if so be there may be hope.
30
Let him give his cheek to him that smiteth him; let him be filled full with reproach.
31
For the Lord will not cast off for ever.
32
For though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his lovingkindnesses.
33
For he doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men. ​
34
To crush under foot all the prisoners of the earth,
35
To turn aside the right of a man before the face of the Most High,
36
To subvert a man in his cause, the Lord approveth not. ​
37
Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not?
38
Out of the mouth of the Most High cometh there not evil and good? ​
39
Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins? ​

A Call to Repentance and Corporate Confession 40–47

40
Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to Jehovah. ​
41
Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens.
42
We have transgressed and have rebelled; thou hast not pardoned.
43
Thou hast covered with anger and pursued us; thou hast slain, thou hast not pitied.
44
Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud, so that no prayer can pass through. ​
45
Thou hast made us an offscouring and refuse in the midst of the peoples. ​
46
All our enemies have opened their mouth wide against us.
47
Fear and the pit are come upon us, devastation and destruction.

Weeping for the Destruction of the People 48–54

48
Mine eye runneth down with streams of water, for the destruction of the daughter of my people. ​
49
Mine eye poureth down, and ceaseth not, without any intermission,
50
Till Jehovah look down, and behold from heaven.
51
Mine eye affecteth my soul, because of all the daughters of my city.
52
They have chased me sore like a bird, they that are mine enemies without cause.
53
They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and have cast a stone upon me.
54
Waters flowed over my head; I said, I am cut off.

Prayer for Vindication and Retribution 55–66

55
I called upon thy name, O Jehovah, out of the lowest dungeon. ​
56
Thou heardest my voice; hide not thine ear at my breathing, at my cry.
57
Thou drewest near in the day that I called upon thee; thou saidst, Fear not. ​
58
O Lord, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul; thou hast redeemed my life.
59
O Jehovah, thou hast seen my wrong; judge thou my cause.
60
Thou hast seen all their vengeance and all their devices against me.
61
Thou hast heard their reproach, O Jehovah, and all their devices against me,
62
The lips of those that rose up against me, and their device against me all the day.
63
Behold thou their sitting down, and their rising up; I am their song.
64
Thou wilt render unto them a recompense, O Jehovah, according to the work of their hands. ​
65
Thou wilt give them hardness of heart, thy curse unto them.
66
Thou wilt pursue them in anger, and destroy them from under the heavens of Jehovah.

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Lamentations 3

Verse 1

the rod of his wrath — Geber is a man in his strength, and the speaker is that man, yet struck with the shebet, the rod, of ebrah, an outburst of wrath. The two words stand in one verse only here and in Prov 22:8, 'the rod of his anger shall fail'. 'Seen' (raah) marks affliction known at first hand.

Verse 4

broken my bones — The body is described in three parts: flesh, skin and bones. Balah, 'made old', is the verb of Ps 32:3, 'my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long'; shabar, 'broken', is the verb of Isa 38:13, 'as a lion, so will he break all my bones'; Ps 51:8 has the same figure, 'the bones which thou hast broken'.

Verse 8

he shutteth out my prayer — The verse has two verbs of crying: zaaq, a cry of anguish, and shava, a cry for help. Satham is to stop up. 'Prayer' is tephillah, the word of Ps 143:1. The same experience is voiced in Ps 22:2, 'I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not', and the cloud of v.44 states it again.

Verse 15

made me drunken with wormwood — 'Bitterness' is merorim, the word of the Passover 'bitter herbs' (Ex 12:8; Num 9:11). La'anah, wormwood, is the portion named in Jer 9:15, 'I will feed them… with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink', and it comes back in v.19. Filled (saba) and made drunken (ravah) are verbs of a cup drunk to the full.

Verse 18

My strength and my hope is perished — Abad is to be lost or to wander away; tocheleth, 'hope', is expectation. The speaker says it of himself ('I said'), as in Ps 31:22, 'I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes: nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications.' The turn comes in v.21.

Verse 21

therefore have I hope — 'Recall to my mind' is literally to bring back (shuv) to the heart (lev). Yachal, to wait expectantly, is the verb of v.24, 'therefore will I hope in him', and of Ps 130:7, 'Let Israel hope in the LORD: for with the LORD there is mercy'. What is recalled is given in vv.22–23.

Verse 22

the LORD'S mercies — Chesed, covenant kindness, stands here in the plural. 'Not consumed' is tamam, to be finished off; Neh 9:31 says it from the other side, 'for thy great mercies' sake thou didst not utterly consume them'. 'Fail' is kalah, to come to an end, the verb of Ps 143:7. The LORD declares himself 'merciful and gracious' in Ex 34:6.

Verse 23

They are new every morning — Chadash, new, with boqer, daybreak: the mercies of v.22 come fresh each day. 'Faithfulness' is emunah, the word of Ps 143:1. Ps 30:5 has the same rhythm: 'weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.' Heb 10:23 says, 'he is faithful that promised'.

Verse 24

The LORD is my portion — Cheleq, an assigned share, is the Levites' word: 'I am thy part and thine inheritance' (Num 18:20). It is used of the LORD in Ps 16:5, 'The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance', and Ps 73:26, 'God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever'. 'Hope' (yachal) is the verb of v.21.

Verse 27

bear the yoke in his youth — Ol is the yoke laid on the neck; neurim is youth. Verse 26 prepares it: 'It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.' Ps 119:71 gives the same verdict, 'It is good for me that I have been afflicted', and Christ speaks of his own yoke, 'my yoke is easy, and my burden is light' (Matt 11:30).

Verse 33

doth not afflict willingly — 'Willingly' renders lev, the heart: the affliction (anah) and the grief (yagah) do not come from the LORD's heart. Verse 32 sets it beside compassion: 'though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies.' Ezek 33:11 states it, 'I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked'.

Verse 36

the Lord approveth not — 'Approveth' renders raah, to see: the Lord does not look on such wrong. 'Subvert' is avath, to make crooked, and 'cause' is riv, a legal case. Hab 1:13 says, 'Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil', and Isa 59:15 records that 'the LORD saw it, and it displeased him'. 'Lord' here is Adonai.

Verse 38

evil and good — The question has the same answer in Isa 45:7, 'I make peace, and create evil', Amos 3:6, 'shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?', and Job 2:10, 'shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?' 'Evil' (ra) is calamity set against tov, good. 'Most High' is Elyon.

Verse 39

a living man complain — Anan, to complain, occurs only here and in Num 11:1. The ground given is 'the punishment of his sins' (chet). Micah answers in the same spirit: 'I will bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause' (Mic 7:9). Prov 19:3 describes the other course, 'his heart fretteth against the LORD'.

Verse 40

search and try our ways — Chaphas is to search and chaqar to examine thoroughly; it is the self-inquiry of Ps 139:23, 'Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts'. The turning is shuv, back 'to the LORD'. Joel 2:12 makes the same call: 'turn ye even to me with all your heart'. Verse 41 continues: 'Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God.'

Verse 44

covered thyself with a cloud — Sakak, to cover, is the verb of v.43, 'Thou hast covered with anger', and anan is the cloud. The barrier to prayer (tephillah) repeats v.8, 'he shutteth out my prayer'. Zech 7:13 gives the principle: 'as he cried, and they would not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear, saith the LORD of hosts'.

Verse 45

offscouring and refuse — Sechi, offscouring, and maos, refuse, each occur only here. The KJV word returns in 1 Cor 4:13, where the apostles are 'made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day'. The verse says it is the LORD who 'made' (sum, set) them so, 'in the midst of the people'.

Verse 48

rivers of water — Peleg is a channel of water, the figure of Ps 119:136, 'Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy law'. 'Destruction' is sheber, a breaking, and 'the daughter of my people' (bath ammi) names the nation as in Jer 9:1: 'Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears'.

Verse 55

out of the low dungeon — Bor, a pit or cistern, with tachti, lowest: the pair of Ps 88:6, 'Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps'. Bor is also the 'pit' of Ps 143:7 and the dungeon into which Jeremiah was let down with cords (Jer 38:6). The speaker 'called' (qara) there, the verb repeated in v.57.

Verse 57

Thou drewest near — Qarab, to come near, answers qara, 'called': the day of the call is the day of the nearness. 'Fear not' is the LORD's word in Isa 41:10, 'Fear thou not; for I am with thee'. Ps 145:18 states the rule: 'The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him'; and James 4:8, 'Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.'

Verse 64

according to the work of their hands — Shuv, to give back, with gemul, a requital: the prayer of Ps 28:4, 'Give them according to their deeds'. The verb is the LORD's own in Deut 32:41, 'I will render vengeance to mine enemies'. The petition is addressed to him ('Render… O LORD'), leaving the recompense with the one who judges.