Lamentations 3:21
in Lamentations 3Yet I call this to mind, and therefore I have hope:
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
This I recall to my mind; therefore have I hope.
KJV
This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.
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This verse in Lamentations 3
Commentary
4 notes on this verseThird, memory results regards faithfulness. "But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope." Hence Sirach 51:8 says: "Then I remembered thy mercy, O Lord, and thy work from of old."
This site's exposition
Remembering mine affliction and my misery
on Lamentations 3:19-21
Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall repeats the taste of the previous unit, memory at first only rehearsing the pain rather than relieving it. My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me shows grief working its way down into humility before it becomes anything else. The turn arrives in one short sentence, this I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope, and the bench marks the pivot exactly here: something else is recalled to mind, unnamed until the next unit, hope following the recalling rather than replacing the grief that came before it.
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)
This I recall - Rather, “This will I bring back to my heart, therefore will I hope.” Knowing that God hears the prayer of the contrite, he begins again to hope.
MEMORY is very often the servant of despondency. Despairing minds call to remembrance every dark foreboding in the past and every gloomy feature in the present. Memory stands like a handmaiden clothed in sackcloth, presenting to her master a cup of mingled gall and wormwood. Like Mercury, she hastens with winged heel to gather fresh thorns with which to fill the uneasy pillow and to bind fresh rods with which to scourge the already bleeding heart. There is, however, no necessity for this. Wisdom will transform Memory into an angel of comfort.
The words behind it
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| זֹ֛את | zot | this | H2063 → | |
| אָשִׁ֥יב | ʾashiv | I bring back | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| לִבִּ֖י | libi | heart my | H3820 → | 595 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | there- | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כֵּ֥ן | ken | -fore | H3651 → | 771 times |
| אוֹחִֽיל׃ ס | ʾochil | I will wait | H3176 → |
זֹ֛אתthis
zotH2063 →
אָשִׁ֥יבI bring back
ʾashivH7725 →1056 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
לִבִּ֖יheart my
libiH3820 →595 times
עַל־there-
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
כֵּ֥ן-fore
kenH3651 →771 times
אוֹחִֽיל׃ סI will wait
ʾochilH3176 →
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
Habakkuk 2:3For the vision awaits an appointed time; it testifies of the end and does not lie. Though it lingers, wait for it, since it will surely come and will not delay.
it leads to
- Psalms 27:14
Wait patiently for the LORD; be strong and courageous. Wait patiently for the LORD!
- Hebrews 10:36–37
You need to persevere, so that after you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised.
- Lamentations 3:25–26
The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him.
- Ezekiel 12:25
because I, the LORD, will speak whatever word I speak, and it will be fulfilled without delay. For in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak a message and bring it to pass,…
- Psalms 102:13
You will rise up and have compassion on Zion, for it is time to show her favor— the appointed time has come.
- Psalms 27:14
Through
Psalms 130:7O Israel, put your hope in the LORD, for with the LORD is loving devotion, and with Him is redemption in abundance.
it leads to
- Ephesians 1:7–8
In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace
- Psalms 40:3
He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD.
- Revelation 5:9
And they sang a new song: “Worthy are You to take the scroll and open its seals, because You were slain, and by Your blood You purchased for God those from every tribe and…
- Ephesians 1:7–8
Where this verse is studied
2 studies on this verse
On Lamentations 3:21
Great Is Thy Faithfulness: Lamentations 3:22–24 · MannaFest
Open the study →
On Lamentations 3:21
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 Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, Lamentations; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 654: “Memory—The Handmaid Of Hope” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Lamentations.