Lamentations 1:21
in Lamentations 1People have heard my groaning, but there is no one to comfort me. All my enemies have heard of my trouble; they are glad that You have caused it. May You bring the day You have announced, so that they may become like me.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
They have heard that I sigh; there is none to comfort me; All mine enemies have heard of my trouble; they are glad that thou hast done it: Thou wilt bring the day that thou hast proclaimed, and they shall be like unto me.
KJV
They have heard that I sigh: there is none to comfort me: all mine enemies have heard of my trouble; they are glad that thou hast done it: thou wilt bring the day that thou hast called, and they shall be like unto me.
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This verse in Lamentations 1
Commentary
3 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
They have heard ... - Or, “They heard that I sigh,” that I have “no comforter.” Thou wilt bring the day ... - literally, thou hast brought “the day thou hast proclaimed, and they shall be like unto me.” The day of Judah’s punishment was the proof that the nations now triumphing over Jerusalem’s fall would certainly be visited.
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
on Lamentations 1:21-22
Note, Our prayers may and must agree with God's word; and what day God has here called we are to call for, and no other. And though we are bound in charity to forgive our enemies, and to pray for them, yet we may in faith pray for the accomplishment of that which God has spoken against his and his church's enemies, that will not repent to give him glory.
The words behind it
20 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| שָׁמְע֞וּ | shameu | they heard | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| כִּ֧י | ki | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| נֶאֱנָחָ֣ה | neenachah | [was] groaning | H584 → | 13 times |
| אָ֗נִי | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| אֵ֤ין | ʾein | not | H369 → | 789 times |
| מְנַחֵם֙ | menachem | a comforter | H5162 → | 108 times |
| לִ֔י | li | [belonged] to me | ||
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| אֹ֨יְבַ֜י | ʾoyevai | enemies my | H341 → | 282 times |
| שָׁמְע֤וּ | shameu | they heard | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| רָֽעָתִי֙ | raati | distress my | H7451 → | 662 times |
| שָׂ֔שׂוּ | sasu | they rejoiced | H7797 → | |
| כִּ֥י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אַתָּ֖ה | ʾatah | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| עָשִׂ֑יתָ | ʾasita | you have acted | H6213 → | |
| הֵבֵ֥אתָ | heveta | you have brought | H935 → | 2568 times |
| יוֹם־ | yom- | [the] day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| קָרָ֖אתָ | karata | [which] you proclaimed | H7121 → | 733 times |
| וְיִֽהְי֥וּ | veyihyu | and they may be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| כָמֽוֹנִי׃ ס | khamoni | like me | H3644 → |
שָׁמְע֞וּthey heard
shameuH8085 →1159 times
כִּ֧יthat
kiH3588 →4482 times
נֶאֱנָחָ֣ה[was] groaning
neenachahH584 →13 times
אָ֗נִיI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
אֵ֤יןnot
ʾeinH369 →789 times
מְנַחֵם֙a comforter
menachemH5162 →108 times
לִ֔י[belonged] to me
li
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
אֹ֨יְבַ֜יenemies my
ʾoyevaiH341 →282 times
שָׁמְע֤וּthey heard
shameuH8085 →1159 times
רָֽעָתִי֙distress my
raatiH7451 →662 times
שָׂ֔שׂוּthey rejoiced
sasuH7797 →
כִּ֥יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
אַתָּ֖הyou
ʾatahH859 →1094 times
עָשִׂ֑יתָyou have acted
ʾasitaH6213 →
הֵבֵ֥אתָyou have brought
hevetaH935 →2568 times
יוֹם־[the] day
yom-H3117 →2304 times
קָרָ֖אתָ[which] you proclaimed
karataH7121 →733 times
וְיִֽהְי֥וּand they may be
veyihyuH1961 →3559 times
כָמֽוֹנִי׃ סlike me
khamoniH3644 →
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
Lamentations 1:8Jerusalem has sinned greatly; therefore she has become an object of scorn. All who honored her now despise her, for they have seen her nakedness; she herself groans and turns away.
it leads to
- Isaiah 59:2–13
But your iniquities have built barriers between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear.
- Lamentations 1:20–22
See, 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.
- Isaiah 59:2–13
Through
Lamentations 1:22Let all their wickedness come before You, and deal with them as You have dealt with me because of all my transgressions. For my groans are many, and my heart is faint.
it leads to
- Revelation 6:10
And they cried out in a loud voice, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You avenge our blood and judge those who dwell upon the earth?”
- Jeremiah 8:18
My sorrow is beyond healing; my heart is faint within me.
- Psalms 109:14–15
May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD, and the sin of his mother never be blotted out.
- Revelation 6:10
Through
Lamentations 1:16For 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.
it leads to
- Psalms 119:136
My eyes shed streams of tears because Your law is not obeyed.
- Lamentations 1:2
She weeps aloud in the night, with tears upon her cheeks. Among all her lovers there is no one to comfort her. All her friends have betrayed her; they have become her enemies.
- Jeremiah 14:17
You are to speak this word to them: ‘My eyes overflow with tears; day and night they do not cease, for the virgin daughter of my people has been shattered by a crushing blow,…
- Psalms 119:136
Where this verse is studied
2 studies on this verseAbout Lamentations

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Calvin, Commentary on Jeremiah and Lamentations and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
