Lamentations 4:20
in Lamentations 4The LORD’s anointed, the breath of our life, was captured in their pits. We had said of him, “Under his shadow we will live among the nations.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of Jehovah, was taken in their pits; Of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the nations.
KJV
The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the Lord, was taken in their pits, of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the heathen.
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This verse in Lamentations 4
Commentary
4 notes on this verseThe breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the Lord - That is, Zedekiah the king, who was as the life or the city, was taken in his flight by the Chaldeans, and his eyes were put out; so that he was wholly unfit to perform any function of government; though they had fondly hoped that if they surrendered and should be led captives, yet they should be permitted to live under their own laws and king in the land of their bondage.
This site's exposition
The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the Lord
on Lamentations 4:20-22
Verse 20 names the disaster's political center, the breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the Lord, king Zedekiah taken in the invaders' pits, the throne in whose shadow the people had hoped to live even in exile among the nations. Verse 21 turns to Edom with bitter irony, rejoice and be glad, for the same cup of wrath is coming to you too, kin who had stood aside or worse at Jerusalem's fall, a charge Obadiah's short book takes up at length. The chapter closes on an asymmetry: Zion's punishment is accomplished and her exile will not be renewed, while Edom's iniquity is still to be visited and her sins still to be uncovered, judgment simply relocated and not cancelled.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
The anointed - Zedekiah, who though a bad man yet afforded some protection to the Jews. We said - We promised ourselves that though the land of Judah was encompassed with Pagan nations, yet through Zedekiah's valour and good conduct we should live comfortably.
Thus apt are sinking interests not only to catch at every twig, but to think it will recover them. Jerusalem died of a consumption, a flattering distemper. Even when she was ready to expire she formed some hopeful symptoms to herself, and on them grounded a hope that she should recover; but what came of it?
The words behind it
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ר֤וּחַ | ruach | [the] breath of | H7307 → | |
| אַפֵּ֙ינוּ֙ | ʾapeinu | nostrils our | H639 → | 276 times |
| מְשִׁ֣יחַ | meshiach | [the] [one] anointed of | H4899 → | |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| נִלְכַּ֖ד | nilkad | he was captured | H3920 → | |
| בִּשְׁחִיתוֹתָ֑ם | bishchitotam | in pits their | H7825 → | |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | whom | H834 → | 5497 times |
| אָמַ֔רְנוּ | ʾamarnu | we had said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| בְּצִלּ֖וֹ | betzilo | in shadow his | H6738 → | |
| נִֽחְיֶ֥ה | nichyeh | we will live | H2421 → | |
| בַגּוֹיִֽם׃ ס | vagoyim | among the nations | H1471 → | 561 times |
ר֤וּחַ[the] breath of
ruachH7307 →
אַפֵּ֙ינוּ֙nostrils our
ʾapeinuH639 →276 times
מְשִׁ֣יחַ[the] [one] anointed of
meshiachH4899 →
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
נִלְכַּ֖דhe was captured
nilkadH3920 →
בִּשְׁחִיתוֹתָ֑םin pits their
bishchitotamH7825 →
אֲשֶׁ֣רwhom
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
אָמַ֔רְנוּwe had said
ʾamarnuH559 →5305 times
בְּצִלּ֖וֹin shadow his
betziloH6738 →
נִֽחְיֶ֥הwe will live
nichyehH2421 →
בַגּוֹיִֽם׃ סamong the nations
vagoyimH1471 →561 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
Genesis 2:7Then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.
it leads to
- Ecclesiastes 12:7
before the dust returns to the ground from which it came and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
- Job 33:4
The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
- 1 Corinthians 15:45
So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being;” the last Adam a life-giving spirit.
- Isaiah 64:8
But now, O LORD, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You are the potter; we are all the work of Your hand.
- Acts 17:25
Nor is He served by human hands, as if He needed anything, because He Himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.
- Ecclesiastes 12:7
Through
2 Samuel 1:14So David asked him, “Why were you not afraid to lift your hand to destroy the LORD’s anointed?”
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 26:9
But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him, for who can lift a hand against the LORD’s anointed and be guiltless?”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Numbers 12:8
I speak with him face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the LORD. Why then were you unafraid to speak against My servant Moses?”
- 1 Samuel 26:9
Through
Jeremiah 39:5But the army of the Chaldeans pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. They seized him and brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of…
it leads to
- 2 Kings 23:33
And Pharaoh Neco imprisoned Jehoahaz at Riblah in the land of Hamath so that he could not reign in Jerusalem, and he imposed on Judah a levy of a hundred talents of silver and…
- 2 Kings 23:33
About Lamentations
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.