Lamentations 3:34
in Lamentations 3To crush underfoot all the prisoners of the land,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
To crush under foot all the prisoners of the earth,
KJV
To crush under his feet all the prisoners of the earth,
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This verse in Lamentations 3
Commentary
4 notes on this verseTo crush under his feet - He can neither gain credit nor pleasure in trampling upon those who are already bound, and in suffering; such he knows to be the state of man here below. From which it most assuredly follows, that God never afflicts us but for our good, nor chastises but that we may be partakers of his holiness. All the prisoners of the earth - By the prisoners of the earth, or land, Dr. Blayney understands those insolvent debtors who were put in prison, and there obliged to work out the debt.
This site's exposition
To crush under his feet all the prisoners of the earth
on Lamentations 3:34-36
To crush under his feet all the prisoners of the earth opens a list of the injustices the Lord does not approve, prisoners abused, a man's right turned aside before the face of the most High, a man subverted in his cause. The three lines share one grammatical subject held back until the end, the Lord approveth not, so that the reader hears each wrong named before learning that God stands against it rather than behind it. Barnes reads the unit as answering any reading of the chapter's earlier suffering that would make God the author of injustice generally, the specific complaint against the exile's own cruelty rather than a claim that no suffering is ever just.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
on Lamentations 3:34-36
If men injure them under colour of law, and in the pretended administration of justice,--if they turn aside the right of a man, so that he cannot discover what his rights are or cannot come at them, they are out of his reach,--if they subvert a man in his cause, and bring in a wrong verdict, or give a false judgment, let them know, (1.) That God sees them.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
on Lamentations 3:34-36
This triplet has an infinitive in the beginning of each verse, the governing finite verb being in the end of La 3:36, "the Lord approveth not," which is to be repeated in each verse.
The words behind it
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לְדַכֵּא֙ | ledake' | to crush | H1792 → | |
| תַּ֣חַת | tachat | under | H8478 → | |
| רַגְלָ֔יו | raglav | feet his | H7272 → | 247 times |
| כֹּ֖ל | kol | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| אֲסִ֥ירֵי | ʾasirei | [the] prisoners of | H615 → | |
| אָֽרֶץ׃ | ʾaretz | [the] land | H776 → | 2504 times |
לְדַכֵּא֙to crush
ledake'H1792 →
תַּ֣חַתunder
tachatH8478 →
רַגְלָ֔יוfeet his
raglavH7272 →247 times
כֹּ֖לall
kolH3605 →5413 times
אֲסִ֥ירֵי[the] prisoners of
ʾasireiH615 →
אָֽרֶץ׃[the] land
ʾaretzH776 →2504 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
Psalms 102:20to hear a prisoner’s groaning, to release those condemned to death,
it leads to
- Psalms 146:7
He executes justice for the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets the prisoners free,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 79:11
May the groans of the captives reach You; by the strength of Your arm preserve those condemned to death.
- Exodus 3:7
The LORD said, “I have indeed seen the affliction of My people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their oppressors, and I am aware of their sufferings.
- Isaiah 61:1–3
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty…
- Psalms 146:7
Through
Psalms 69:33For the LORD listens to the needy and does not despise His captive people.
it leads to
- Acts 5:18–19
and arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail.
- Psalms 68:6
God settles the lonely in families; He leads the prisoners out to prosperity, but the rebellious dwell in a sun-scorched land.
- Zechariah 9:11–12
As for you, because of the blood of My covenant, I will release your prisoners from the waterless pit.
- Revelation 2:10
Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Look, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison to test you, and you will suffer tribulation for ten days. Be faithful…
- Acts 5:18–19
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Lamentations
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.