Lamentations 1:14
in Lamentations 1My transgressions are bound into a yoke, knit together by His hand; they are draped over my neck, and the Lord has broken my strength. He has delivered me into the hands of those I cannot withstand.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The yoke of my transgressions is bound by his hand; They are knit together, they are come up upon my neck; he hath made my strength to fail: The Lord hath delivered me into their hands, against whom I am not able to stand.
KJV
The yoke of my transgressions is bound by his hand: they are wreathed, and come up upon my neck: he hath made my strength to fall, the Lord hath delivered me into their hands, from whom I am not able to rise up.
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This verse in Lamentations 1
Commentary
9 notes on this verseThe yoke of my transgressions - I am now tied and bound by the chain of my sins; and it is so wreathed, so doubled and twisted round me, that I cannot free myself. A fine representation of the miseries of a penitent soul, which feels that nothing but the pitifulness of God’s mercy can loose it.
This site's exposition
Is this nothing to you, all you who pass by
on Lamentations 1:12-16
Jerusalem asks every passerby whether any sorrow is like hers, “which the LORD made me suffer on the day of His fierce anger”. The cry is the city's over her ruin, with fire in her bones and the Lord treading “the Virgin Daughter of Judah” in a winepress.
This site's exposition
My transgressions are bound into a yoke
Albert Barnes explains the yoke: her transgressions are the cords knit round it, bound so tight by His hand that she cannot throw it off. Jeremiah wore such a yoke on his neck in Jeremiah 27:2. The Lord is Adonai, the title Barnes counts fourteen times in the book.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
Here is indicated the rigor in justice of the Lord God, insofar as a divine judge. Around this idea three further notions are proposed. First is considered a diligent concern about sin. As said: "My transgressions were bound into a yoke." That is, as one …
IS WEAKENED: the sixth topic of complaint, as when looking forward to receiving good from the Lord he fell into the greatest distress. Historical interpretation THE YOKE HAS WATCHED: THE YOKE of iniquity is to sleep, to rest securely and unpunished in the numbness of …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Observe, We never are entangled in any yoke but what is framed out of our own transgressions. The sinner is holden with the cords of his own sins, Prov. v. 22 . The yoke of Christ's commands is an easy yoke ( Matt. xi.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
The fetters we are held in are of our own making, and it is with our own rod that we are beaten. When the church had spoken here as if she thought the Lord severe she does well to correct herself, at least to explain herself, but acknowledging (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
The yoke of my transgressions is bound by his hand,.... That is, the punishment of her sins was laid upon her by the Lord himself; his hand was in it; it came from him; the Chaldeans were only instruments; and a heavy yoke this was.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Thus the translation will be, "in His hand." Or else, "the yoke of my transgressions" (that is, of punishment for my transgressions) is held so fast fixed on me "by" God, that there is no loosening of it; thus English Version, "by His hand." wreathed--My sins are like the withes entwined about the neck to fasten the yoke to. into their hands, from whom--into the hands of those, from whom, &c.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Crushing it. It [the fire] crushed it and broke it through punishment and suffering.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Trampled. He trampled and trod, an expression of, “pave, pave סֹלּוּ the road.” 51 Yeshayahuu:10.
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. 4 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
16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| נִשְׂקַד֩ | niskad | it has been bound on | H8244 → | |
| עֹ֨ל | ʾol | [the] yoke of | H5923 → | |
| פְּשָׁעַ֜י | peshaai | transgressions my | H6588 → | 93 times |
| בְּיָד֗וֹ | beyado | by hand his | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| יִשְׂתָּֽרְג֛וּ | yistaregu | they are woven together | H8276 → | |
| עָל֥וּ | ʾalu | they have come up | H5927 → | |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| צַוָּארִ֖י | tzavari | neck my | H6677 → | |
| הִכְשִׁ֣יל | hikhshil | he has made feeble | H3782 → | |
| כֹּחִ֑י | kochi | strength my | H3581 → | |
| נְתָנַ֣נִי | netanani | he has given me | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| אֲדֹנָ֔י | ʾadonai | [the] Lord | H136 → | 440 times |
| בִּידֵ֖י | bidei | in [the] hands of | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | [those whom] not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| אוּכַ֥ל | ʾukhal | I am able | H3201 → | |
| קֽוּם׃ ס | kum | to stand | H6965 → | 628 times |
נִשְׂקַד֩it has been bound on
niskadH8244 →
עֹ֨ל[the] yoke of
ʾolH5923 →
פְּשָׁעַ֜יtransgressions my
peshaaiH6588 →93 times
בְּיָד֗וֹby hand his
beyadoH3027 →1618 times
יִשְׂתָּֽרְג֛וּthey are woven together
yistareguH8276 →
עָל֥וּthey have come up
ʾaluH5927 →
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
צַוָּארִ֖יneck my
tzavariH6677 →
הִכְשִׁ֣ילhe has made feeble
hikhshilH3782 →
כֹּחִ֑יstrength my
kochiH3581 →
נְתָנַ֣נִיhe has given me
netananiH5414 →2011 times
אֲדֹנָ֔י[the] Lord
ʾadonaiH136 →440 times
בִּידֵ֖יin [the] hands of
bideiH3027 →1618 times
לֹא־[those whom] not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
אוּכַ֥לI am able
ʾukhalH3201 →
קֽוּם׃ סto stand
kumH6965 →628 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
Isaiah 47:6I was angry with My people; I profaned My heritage, and I placed them under your control. You showed them no mercy; even on the elderly you laid a most heavy yoke.
it leads to
- Zechariah 1:15
but I am fiercely angry with the nations that are at ease. For I was a little angry, but they have added to the calamity.’
- 2 Chronicles 28:9
But a prophet of the LORD named Oded was there, and he went out to meet the army that returned to Samaria. “Look,” he said to them, “because of His wrath against Judah, the…
- Deuteronomy 28:50
a ruthless nation with no respect for the old and no pity for the young.
- Obadiah 1:10
Because of the violence against your brother Jacob, you will be covered with shame and cut off forever.
- James 2:13
For judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
- Zechariah 1:15
Through
Jeremiah 28:14For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations to make them serve Nebuchadnezzar king of…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 28:48
you will serve your enemies the LORD will send against you in famine, thirst, nakedness, and destitution. He will place an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you.
- Deuteronomy 28:48
Through
Ezekiel 25:4therefore I will indeed give you as a possession to the people of the East. They will set up their camps and pitch their tents among you. They will eat your fruit and drink…
it leads to
- Judges 6:33
Then all the Midianites, Amalekites, and other people of the east gathered together, crossed over the Jordan, and camped in the Valley of Jezreel.
- Deuteronomy 28:33
A people you do not know will eat the produce of your land and of all your toil. All your days you will be oppressed and crushed.
- Judges 6:33
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Lamentations
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Glossa Ordinaria, Commentary (church-history corpus); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Lamentations.