Lamentations 5:21
in Lamentations 5Restore us to Yourself, O LORD, so we may return; renew our days as of old,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Turn thou us unto thee, O Jehovah, and we shall be turned; Renew our days as of old.
KJV
Turn thou us unto thee, O Lord, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old.
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This verse in Lamentations 5
Commentary
4 notes on this verseThirdly, a prayer is prolonged. As stated: "Restore us to thyself, O Lord, that we may be restored! Renew our days as of old!" And as the prophet Jeremiah elsewhere proclaims: "bring me back that I may be restored, for thou art the Lord my …
This site's exposition
Turn thou us unto thee, O Lord
on Lamentations 5:21-22
Verse 21 prays the same turning the book has asked for since chapter 3, turn thou us unto thee, O Lord, and we shall be turned, renew our days as of old, repentance requested as a gift rather than produced by will. The book's own last line refuses a tidy ending, but thou hast utterly rejected us, thou art very wroth against us, and the commentators note the ancient reading custom of repeating verse 21 aloud after verse 22 so the public reading does not close there, a practice named as reception history and not a change to the text itself.
The record, by era
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Renew our days as of old - Restore us to our former state. Let us regain our country, our temple, and all the Divine offices of our religion; but, more especially, thy favor.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Jeremiah is not speaking of spiritual conversion, but of that outward turning whereby God receives men into His fatherly favor, manifested in bestowing prosperity [CALVIN]. Still, as Israel is a type of the Church, temporal goods typify spiritual blessings; and so the sinner may use this prayer for God to convert him.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Adonoy return us. Because he concludes with words of reproof, he had to repeat the preceding verse again, 14 In order to end on a note of consolation. and so did Yeshayahu, Trei Osor, and Koheles.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Why [then O Eternal] do You forget us. Have You not sworn to us Yourself that just as You exist, so does Your oath exist?
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. 3 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
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הֲשִׁיבֵ֨נוּ | hashivenu | cause to return us | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| יְהוָ֤ה׀ | yahweh | O Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֵלֶ֙יךָ֙ | ʾeleikha | to yourself | H413 → | 5510 times |
| וְֽנָשׁ֔וּבָה | venashuv | so let us return | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| חַדֵּ֥שׁ | chadesh | renew | H2318 → | |
| יָמֵ֖ינוּ | yameinu | days our | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| כְּקֶֽדֶם׃ | kekedem | like ancient time | H6924 → | 87 times |
הֲשִׁיבֵ֨נוּcause to return us
hashivenuH7725 →1056 times
יְהוָ֤ה׀O Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֵלֶ֙יךָ֙to yourself
ʾeleikhaH413 →5510 times
וְֽנָשׁ֔וּבָהso let us return
venashuvH7725 →1056 times
חַדֵּ֥שׁrenew
chadeshH2318 →
יָמֵ֖ינוּdays our
yameinuH3117 →2304 times
כְּקֶֽדֶם׃like ancient time
kekedemH6924 →87 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 85:4Restore us, O God of our salvation, and put away Your displeasure toward us.
it leads to
- Psalms 80:3
Restore us, O God, and cause Your face to shine upon us, that we may be saved.
Reached by 4 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 80:3
Through
Psalms 80:3Restore us, O God, and cause Your face to shine upon us, that we may be saved.
it leads to
- Psalms 80:19
Restore us, O LORD God of Hosts; cause Your face to shine upon us, that we may be saved.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 80:7
Restore us, O God of Hosts, and cause Your face to shine upon us, that we may be saved.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Numbers 6:25–26
may the LORD cause His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
- Psalms 85:4
Restore us, O God of our salvation, and put away Your displeasure toward us.
- Psalms 80:19
Through
Psalms 80:19Restore us, O LORD God of Hosts; cause Your face to shine upon us, that we may be saved.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 3:22–23
“Return, O faithless children, and I will heal your faithlessness.” “Here we are. We come to You, for You are the LORD our God.
- Jeremiah 3:22–23
Through
Jeremiah 31:18I have surely heard Ephraim’s moaning: ‘You disciplined me severely, like an untrained calf. Restore me, that I may return, for You are the LORD my God.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 31:9
They will come with weeping, and by their supplication I will lead them; I will make them walk beside streams of waters, on a level path where they will not stumble. For I am…
- Jeremiah 31:9
Through
Psalms 80:7Restore us, O God of Hosts, and cause Your face to shine upon us, that we may be saved.
it leads to
- Psalms 51:10
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
- Psalms 51:10
Where this verse is studied
No study on the site is anchored to this verse yet.
Also on Lamentations 5: 1 study that walk through this chapter ▾
About Lamentations
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Carl Friedrich Keil, Lamentations; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Lamentations.