Lamentations 3:52
in Lamentations 3Without cause my enemies hunted me like a bird.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
They have chased me sore like a bird, they that are mine enemies without cause.
KJV
Mine enemies chased me sore, like a bird, without cause.
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This verse in Lamentations 3
Commentary
3 notes on this verseMine enemies chased me - From this to the end of the chapter the prophet speaks of his own personal sufferings, and especially of those which he endured in the dungeon. See Jer 38:6, etc.
This site's exposition
Mine enemies chased me sore, like a bird, without cause
on Lamentations 3:52-54
Mine enemies chased me sore, like a bird, without cause returns the chapter to the first-person voice and to narrative, a specific memory rather than the general complaint of the verses before it. They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and cast a stone upon me describes an ancient method of sealing a pit prison, ordinarily read as biography rather than figure by the older commentators, ground the bench connects to the cistern Jeremiah was lowered into during the siege. Waters flowed over mine head; then I said, I am cut off marks the low point of the narrative, drowning language used of a dry pit to state despair at its most complete.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
They have done it without cause, without any provocation given them. Though God was righteous, they were unrighteous. David often complains of those that hated him without cause; and such are the enemies of Christ and his church, John xv.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| צ֥וֹד | tzod | certainly <to hunt> | H6679 → | 18 times |
| צָד֛וּנִי | tzaduni | they hunted me | H6679 → | 18 times |
| כַּצִּפּ֖וֹר | katzipor | like <the> bird | H6833 → | |
| אֹיְבַ֥י | ʾoyevai | enemies my | H341 → | 282 times |
| חִנָּֽם׃ | chinam | without cause | H2600 → |
צ֥וֹדcertainly <to hunt>
tzodH6679 →18 times
צָד֛וּנִיthey hunted me
tzaduniH6679 →18 times
כַּצִּפּ֖וֹרlike <the> bird
katziporH6833 →
אֹיְבַ֥יenemies my
ʾoyevaiH341 →282 times
חִנָּֽם׃without cause
chinamH2600 →
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 35:7For without cause they laid their net for me; without reason they dug a pit for my soul.
it leads to
- John 15:25
But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated Me without reason.’
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 140:5
The proud hide a snare for me; the cords of their net are spread along the path, and lures are set out for me. Selah
- John 15:25
Through
Psalms 35:19Let not my enemies gloat over me without cause, nor those who hate me without reason wink in malice.
it leads to
- Psalms 69:4
Those who hate me without cause outnumber the hairs of my head; many are those who would destroy me— my enemies for no reason. Though I did not steal, I must repay.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 6:13
winking his eyes, speaking with his feet, and pointing with his fingers.
- Psalms 69:4
Through
Psalms 11:1In the LORD I take refuge. How then can you say to me: “Flee like a bird to your mountain!
it leads to
- Isaiah 26:3–4
You will keep in perfect peace the steadfast of mind, because he trusts in You.
- Psalms 56:11
in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?
- 1 Samuel 23:14
And David stayed in the wilderness strongholds and in the hill country of the Wilderness of Ziph. Day after day Saul searched for him, but God would not deliver David into his hand.
- Psalms 25:2
in You, my God, I trust. Do not let me be put to shame; do not let my enemies exult over me.
- Isaiah 26:3–4
Where this verse is studied
No study on the site is anchored to this verse yet.
Also on Lamentations 3: 6 studies that walk through this chapter ▾
- Acrostics: From Aleph to Taw
- The Fruit of the SpiritGalatians 5:22–23 names a singular fruit (karpos, not fruits) with nine visible facets. Gifts are distributed; fruit is unified. Every believer bears the whole fruit. The grammar is the theology.
- Great Is Thy Faithfulness: Lamentations 3:22–24 · MannaFest
- Lamentations — the Study Guide
- The Weeping Prophet — the Confessions of Jeremiah
- The Yoke
About Lamentations
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.