Lamentations 1:20
in Lamentations 1See, O LORD, how distressed I am! I am churning within; my heart is pounding within me, for I have been most rebellious. Outside, the sword bereaves; inside, there is death.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Behold, O Jehovah; for I am in distress; my heart is troubled; My heart is turned within me; for I have grievously rebelled: Abroad the sword bereaveth, at home there is as death.
KJV
Behold, O Lord; for I am in distress: my bowels are troubled; mine heart is turned within me; for I have grievously rebelled: abroad the sword bereaveth, at home there is as death.
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This verse in Lamentations 1
Commentary
3 notes on this verseAbroad the sword bereaveth - War is through the country; and at home death; the pestilence and famine rage in the city; calamity in every shape is fallen upon me. Virgil represents the calamities of Troy under the same image: - - Nec soli poenas dant sanguine Teucri: Quondam etiam victis redit in praecordia virtus; Victoresque cadunt Danai. Crudelis ubique Luctus, ubique Pavor, et plurima mortis imago. Aeneid. lib. 2:366. “Not only Trojans fall; but, in their turn, The vanquished triumph, and the victors mourn. Ours take new courage from despair and night; Confused the fortune is, confused the fight.
This site's exposition
Behold, O Lord; for I am in distress
on Lamentations 1:20-22
The chapter closes as it began, addressed to the Lord directly, behold, O Lord, for I am in distress, my bowels are troubled, the sword bereaving abroad and death waiting at home. The prayer turns imprecatory in its last lines, asking the Lord to bring upon her enemies the day he has already brought upon her, do unto them as thou hast done unto me, a pattern the bench reads as the honest cry of a sufferer laid before the Judge rather than executed by the sufferer's own hand. The last word is the poem's own, my heart is faint, closing the acrostic on the note it opened, affliction still spoken directly to the God who sent it.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Abroad the sword bereaves and slays all that comes in its way, and at home all provisions are cut off by the besiegers, so that there is as death, that is, famine, which is as bad as the pestilence, or worse-- the sword without and terror within, Deut. xxxii.
The words behind it
18 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| רְאֵ֨ה | reeh | see | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| יְהוָ֤ה | yahweh | O Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| צַר־ | tzar- | distress | H6862 → | 109 times |
| לִי֙ | li | [belongs] to me | ||
| מֵעַ֣י | meai | inward parts my | H4578 → | |
| חֳמַרְמָ֔רוּ | chomarmaru | they are in turmoil | H2560 → | |
| נֶהְפַּ֤ךְ | nehpakh | it has been overturned | H2015 → | 94 times |
| לִבִּי֙ | libi | heart my | H3820 → | 595 times |
| בְּקִרְבִּ֔י | bekirbi | in inner being my | H7130 → | 227 times |
| כִּ֥י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| מָר֖וֹ | maro | extremely <be rebellious> | H4784 → | 45 times |
| מָרִ֑יתִי | mariti | I have been rebellious | H4784 → | 45 times |
| מִח֥וּץ | michutz | from outside | H2351 → | 164 times |
| שִׁכְּלָה־ | shikelah- | it has bereaved | H7921 → | |
| חֶ֖רֶב | cherev | a sword | H2719 → | 413 times |
| בַּבַּ֥יִת | babayit | [is] in the house | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| כַּמָּֽוֶת׃ ס | kamavet | like <the> death | H4194 → |
רְאֵ֨הsee
reehH7200 →1300 times
יְהוָ֤הO Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
צַר־distress
tzar-H6862 →109 times
לִי֙[belongs] to me
li
מֵעַ֣יinward parts my
meaiH4578 →
חֳמַרְמָ֔רוּthey are in turmoil
chomarmaruH2560 →
נֶהְפַּ֤ךְit has been overturned
nehpakhH2015 →94 times
לִבִּי֙heart my
libiH3820 →595 times
בְּקִרְבִּ֔יin inner being my
bekirbiH7130 →227 times
כִּ֥יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
מָר֖וֹextremely <be rebellious>
maroH4784 →45 times
מָרִ֑יתִיI have been rebellious
maritiH4784 →45 times
מִח֥וּץfrom outside
michutzH2351 →164 times
שִׁכְּלָה־it has bereaved
shikelah-H7921 →
חֶ֖רֶבa sword
cherevH2719 →413 times
בַּבַּ֥יִת[is] in the house
babayitH1004 →2046 times
כַּמָּֽוֶת׃ סlike <the> death
kamavetH4194 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Proverbs 28:13He who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.
it leads to
- 1 John 1:8–10
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
- Psalms 32:3–5
When I kept silent, my bones became brittle from my groaning all day long.
- Job 31:33
if I have covered my transgressions like Adam by hiding my guilt in my heart,
- Luke 15:18–24
I will get up and go back to my father and say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.
- Jeremiah 3:12–13
Go, proclaim this message toward the north: ‘Return, O faithless Israel,’ declares the LORD. ‘I will no longer look on you with anger, for I am merciful,’ declares the LORD. ‘I will not be…
- 1 John 1:8–10
Through
Lamentations 2:11My eyes fail from weeping; I am churning within. My heart is poured out in grief over the destruction of the daughter of my people, because children and infants faint in the streets of…
it leads to
- Lamentations 1:16
For these things I weep; my eyes flow with tears. For there is no one nearby to comfort me, no one to revive my soul. My children are destitute because the enemy has prevailed.
- Job 16:13
His archers surround me. He pierces my kidneys without mercy and spills my gall on the ground.
- Jeremiah 4:19
My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain! Oh, the pain in my chest! My heart pounds within me; I cannot be silent. For I have heard the sound of the horn, the alarm…
- Lamentations 1:16
Where this verse is studied
2 studies on this verse
About Lamentations
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Calvin, Commentary on Jeremiah and Lamentations and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.