Lamentations 3:12
in Lamentations 3He bent His bow and set me as the target for His arrow.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow.
KJV
He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow.
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This verse in Lamentations 3
Commentary
3 notes on this verseHe hath bent his bow,.... Which is put for all the instruments, of war; the Chaldeans were archers, and shot their arrows into the city: and set me as a mark for the arrow; as a target to shoot at; signifying that God dealt with him, or his people, as enemies, the object of his wrath and indignation; and if he directed his arrow against them, it must needs hit them; there was no escaping his vengeance; see Job 7:20.
This site's exposition
He was unto me as a bear lying in wait
on Lamentations 3:10-13
He was unto me as a bear lying in wait, and as a lion in secret places, casts the Lord's dealing in the language of ambush, an enemy who waits rather than one who strikes openly. Turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces, he hath made me desolate follows the predator figure with the same violence stated plainly, no longer softened by simile. The picture changes to the archer for the unit's close, he hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow, the arrows of his quiver entering into my reins, affliction now aimed rather than merely encountered.
The record, by era
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow - One might conjecture that the following thought in the Toozek i Teemour was borrowed from this: - “One addressed the caliph Aaly, and said, ‘If the heavens were a bow, and the earth the cord thereof; if calamities were arrows, man the butt for those arrows; and the holy blessed God the unerring marksman; where could the sons of Adam flee for succor?’ The caliph replied, ‘The children of Adam must flee unto the Lord.’” This was the state of poor Jerusalem.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
[He] positioned me as a target. He set me up opposite His arrows to shoot at me like a target, 12 By having to hurdle over the thorns I was forced to slow down, thereby becoming an easy target for my enemy. (Lechem Dimah) aseneil in O.F.
2 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
He spread thorns across my roads. An expression of thorns, [meaning that] He “has strewn” them with thorns, [i.e.,] He scattered thorns on my ways. 8 Alternatively, ‘he forced me off my path.’ (Ibn Ezra)
The arrows of His quiver. Arrows that are put into the quiver, called cuivre [in O.F.].
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
5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| דָּרַ֤ךְ | darakh | he has bent | H1869 → | 62 times |
| קַשְׁתוֹ֙ | kashto | bow his | H7198 → | |
| וַיַּצִּיבֵ֔נִי | vaiyatziveni | and he has set up me | H5324 → | |
| כַּמַּטָּרָ֖א | kamatara' | like <the> target | H4307 → | |
| לַחֵֽץ׃ ס | lachetz | for <the> arrow | H2671 → |
דָּרַ֤ךְhe has bent
darakhH1869 →62 times
קַשְׁתוֹ֙bow his
kashtoH7198 →
וַיַּצִּיבֵ֔נִיand he has set up me
vaiyatziveniH5324 →
כַּמַּטָּרָ֖אlike <the> target
kamatara'H4307 →
לַחֵֽץ׃ סfor <the> arrow
lachetzH2671 →
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
Psalms 38:2For Your arrows have pierced me deeply, and Your hand has pressed down on me.
it leads to
- Job 6:4
For the arrows of the Almighty have pierced me; my spirit drinks in their poison; the terrors of God are arrayed against me.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 32:4
For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was drained as in the summer heat. Selah
- Job 6:4
Through
Job 6:4For the arrows of the Almighty have pierced me; my spirit drinks in their poison; the terrors of God are arrayed against me.
it leads to
- Psalms 38:2
For Your arrows have pierced me deeply, and Your hand has pressed down on me.
- Job 30:15
Terrors are turned loose against me; they drive away my dignity as by the wind, and my prosperity has passed like a cloud.
- Psalms 88:15–16
From my youth I was afflicted and near death. I have borne Your terrors; I am in despair.
- Proverbs 18:14
The spirit of a man can endure his sickness, but who can survive a broken spirit?
- Psalms 38:2
Through
Lamentations 2:4He has bent His bow like an enemy; His right hand is positioned. Like a foe He has killed all who were pleasing to the eye; He has poured out His wrath like fire…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 7:20
Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, My anger and My fury will be poured out on this place, on man and beast, on the trees of the field and the produce…
- Jeremiah 21:5
And I Myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and a mighty arm, with anger, fury, and great wrath.
- Jeremiah 7:20
Where this verse is studied
2 studies on this verse
On Lamentations 3:12
Great Is Thy Faithfulness: Lamentations 3:22–24 · MannaFest
Open the study →
On Lamentations 3:12
The Weeping Prophet — the Confessions of Jeremiah
Open the study →
Also on Lamentations 3: 4 studies that walk through this chapter ▾
About Lamentations
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.