Lamentations 1:9
in Lamentations 1Her uncleanness stains her skirts; she did not consider her end. Her downfall was astounding; there was no one to comfort her. Look, O LORD, on my affliction, for the enemy has triumphed!
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Her filthiness was in her skirts; she remembered not her latter end; Therefore is she come down wonderfully; she hath no comforter: Behold, O Jehovah, my affliction; for the enemy hath magnified himself.
KJV
Her filthiness is in her skirts; she remembereth not her last end; therefore she came down wonderfully: she had no comforter. O Lord, behold my affliction: for the enemy hath magnified himself.
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This verse in Lamentations 1
Commentary
4 notes on this verseHer filthiness is in her skirts,.... Her sin is manifest to all, being to be seen in her punishment. The allusion is to a menstruous woman, to whom she is compared, both before and after; whose blood flows down to the skirts of her garments, and there seen; by which it is known that she is in her separation.
This site's exposition
Jerusalem remembered in the days of her affliction
on Lamentations 1:7-9
Memory becomes its own affliction, Jerusalem remembering in her misery all the pleasant things she once had, while the adversaries mock at her sabbaths, worship itself become a subject for scorn. The poet names the cause without softening it, Jerusalem hath grievously sinned, therefore she is removed, judgment stated as consequence rather than accident. Her filthiness is in her skirts because she remembereth not her last end, a figure the bench reads as the moral history of a nation that never reckoned with where its course was leading, and the unit closes in the line that turns the whole poem to prayer, O Lord, behold my affliction.
The record, by era
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Her filthiness is in her skirts - Her personal defilement is no longer concealed beneath the raiment Jer 13:22. She came down wonderfully - Jerusalem once enthroned as a princess must sit on the ground as a slave.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
She forgot how fatal must be the end of her iniquity. Or, as the words following imply: She, in despair, cannot lift herself up to lay hold of God's promises as to her "latter end" [CALVIN]. wonderfully--Hebrew, "wonders," that is, with amazing dejection.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
The oppressor extended his hand. Ammon and Mo’av. 40 Alternatively, Nevuchadnetzar. (Targum)
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
17 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| טֻמְאָתָ֣הּ | tumatah | uncleanness her | H2932 → | |
| בְּשׁוּלֶ֗יהָ | beshuleiha | [was] on skirts her | H7757 → | |
| לֹ֤א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| זָֽכְרָה֙ | zakherah | she remembered | H2142 → | 230 times |
| אַחֲרִיתָ֔הּ | ʾacharitah | outcome her | H319 → | |
| וַתֵּ֣רֶד | vatered | and she has come down | H3381 → | 381 times |
| פְּלָאִ֔ים | pelaim | wonders | H6382 → | |
| אֵ֥ין | ʾein | not | H369 → | 789 times |
| מְנַחֵ֖ם | menachem | a comforter | H5162 → | 108 times |
| לָ֑הּ | lah | [belonged] to her | ||
| רְאֵ֤ה | reeh | see | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| יְהוָה֙ | yahweh | O Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| עָנְיִ֔י | ʾaneyi | affliction my | H6040 → | 36 times |
| כִּ֥י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| הִגְדִּ֖יל | higdil | it has magnified itself | H1431 → | |
| אוֹיֵֽב׃ ס | ʾoyev | [the] enemy | H341 → | 282 times |
טֻמְאָתָ֣הּuncleanness her
tumatahH2932 →
בְּשׁוּלֶ֗יהָ[was] on skirts her
beshuleihaH7757 →
לֹ֤אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
זָֽכְרָה֙she remembered
zakherahH2142 →230 times
אַחֲרִיתָ֔הּoutcome her
ʾacharitahH319 →
וַתֵּ֣רֶדand she has come down
vateredH3381 →381 times
פְּלָאִ֔יםwonders
pelaimH6382 →
אֵ֥יןnot
ʾeinH369 →789 times
מְנַחֵ֖םa comforter
menachemH5162 →108 times
לָ֑הּ[belonged] to her
lah
רְאֵ֤הsee
reehH7200 →1300 times
יְהוָה֙O Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
עָנְיִ֔יaffliction my
ʾaneyiH6040 →36 times
כִּ֥יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
הִגְדִּ֖ילit has magnified itself
higdilH1431 →
אוֹיֵֽב׃ ס[the] enemy
ʾoyevH341 →282 times
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
Ecclesiastes 4:1Again I looked, and I considered all the oppression taking place under the sun. I saw the tears of the oppressed, and they had no comforter; the power lay in the hands of their…
it leads to
- Ecclesiastes 3:16
Furthermore, I saw under the sun that in the place of judgment there is wickedness, and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness.
- Ecclesiastes 5:8
If you see the oppression of the poor and the denial of justice and righteousness in the province, do not be astonished at the matter; for one official is watched by a superior, and…
- 2 Timothy 4:16–17
At my first defense, no one stood with me, but everyone deserted me. May it not be charged against them.
- Isaiah 5:7
For the vineyard of the LORD of Hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the plant of His delight. He looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but…
- Isaiah 51:23
I will place it in the hands of your tormentors, who told you: ‘Lie down, so we can walk over you,’ so that you made your back like the ground, like a street to…
- Ecclesiastes 3:16
Through
Deuteronomy 32:29If only they were wise, they would understand it; they would comprehend their fate.
it leads to
- Psalms 81:13
If only My people would listen to Me, if Israel would follow My ways,
- Deuteronomy 5:29
If only they had such a heart to fear Me and keep all My commandments always, so that it might be well with them and with their children forever.
- Hosea 14:9
Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them. For the ways of the LORD are right, and the righteous walk in them but the rebellious stumble in…
- Psalms 81:13
Where this verse is studied
2 studies on this verse
About Lamentations
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, Lamentations; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.