Lamentations 1:16
in Lamentations 1For these things I weep; my eyes flow with tears. For there is no one nearby to comfort me, no one to revive my soul. My children are destitute because the enemy has prevailed.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For these things I weep; mine eye, mine eye runneth down with water; Because the comforter that should refresh my soul is far from me: My children are desolate, because the enemy hath prevailed.
KJV
For these things I weep; mine eye, mine eye runneth down with water, because the comforter that should relieve my soul is far from me: my children are desolate, because the enemy prevailed.
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This verse in Lamentations 1
Commentary
6 notes on this verseFor these things I weep,.... The congregation of Judah, the godly among them, particularly Jeremiah, who represented them, wept for the sins the people had been guilty of, and for the punishment inflicted on them, or the sore calamities that were brought upon them.
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
For these things I weep
Zion speaks here, and John Gill hears Jeremiah and the faithful of Judah weeping with her. The words revive my soul use the Hebrew idiom of Lamentations 1:11 and 1:19, where food keeps the starving alive. The verse opens with ayin, the letter whose name means eye.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church3 voices
Here in Verse 16 a taking away of consolation is lamented. So first is the bewailing within grief. As stated: "For these things I weep, my eyes flow with tears." And Jeremiah 9:1: "O that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of …
In describing loftily the sweetness of contemplation, you have renewed the groans of my fallen state, since I hear what I have lost inwardly while mounting outwardly, though undeserving, to the topmost height of rule. Know then that I am stricken with so great sorrow that I can scarcely speak, for the dark shades of grief block up the eyes of my soul. Whatever is beheld is sad; whatever is thought delightful appears to my heart lamentable. For I reflect to what a dejected height of external advancement I have mounted in falling from the lofty height of my rest. And, being sent for my faults into the exile of employment from the face of my Lord, I say with the prophet, in the words, as it were of destroyed Jerusalem, "He who should comfort me has departed far from me." But when, in seeking something similar to express my condition and title, you frame periods and declamations in your letter, certainly, dearest brother, you call an ape a lion. Herein we see that you do as we often do, when we call mangy whelps leopards or tigers. For I, my good man, have, as it were, lost my children, since through earthly cares I have lost works of righteousness. Therefore "call me not Naomi that is fair; but call me Mara, for I am full of bitterness."
THEREFORE DO I WEEP: the seventh topic of indignation; it displays a cruel and tyrannical deed and the violence of the enemies. Historical interpretation He HAS TRODDEN THE WINE-PRESS: THE WINE-PRESS signifies vengeance and punishment for sin, whence Isaiah: Why then is thy apparel red …
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
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
20 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| אֵ֣לֶּה׀ | ʾeleh | these [things] | H428 → | |
| אֲנִ֣י | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| בוֹכִיָּ֗ה | vokhiyah | [am] weeping | H1058 → | 114 times |
| עֵינִ֤י׀ | ʾeini | eye my | H5869 → | 887 times |
| עֵינִי֙ | ʾeini | eye my | H5869 → | 887 times |
| יֹ֣רְדָה | yoredah | [is] going down | H3381 → | 381 times |
| מַּ֔יִם | mayim | water | H4325 → | 581 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| רָחַ֥ק | rachak | he is far | H7368 → | |
| מִמֶּ֛נִּי | mimeni | from me | H4480 → | |
| מְנַחֵ֖ם | menachem | a comforter | H5162 → | 108 times |
| מֵשִׁ֣יב | meshiv | [one who] restores | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| נַפְשִׁ֑י | nafshi | life my | H5315 → | 754 times |
| הָי֤וּ | hayu | they are | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| בָנַי֙ | vanai | children my | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| שֽׁוֹמֵמִ֔ים | shomemim | desolate | H8074 → | 86 times |
| כִּ֥י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| גָבַ֖ר | gavar | he has prevailed | H1396 → | |
| אוֹיֵֽב׃ ס | ʾoyev | [the] enemy | H341 → | 282 times |
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
אֵ֣לֶּה׀these [things]
ʾelehH428 →
אֲנִ֣יI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
בוֹכִיָּ֗ה[am] weeping
vokhiyahH1058 →114 times
עֵינִ֤י׀eye my
ʾeiniH5869 →887 times
עֵינִי֙eye my
ʾeiniH5869 →887 times
יֹ֣רְדָה[is] going down
yoredahH3381 →381 times
מַּ֔יִםwater
mayimH4325 →581 times
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
רָחַ֥קhe is far
rachakH7368 →
מִמֶּ֛נִּיfrom me
mimeniH4480 →
מְנַחֵ֖םa comforter
menachemH5162 →108 times
מֵשִׁ֣יב[one who] restores
meshivH7725 →1056 times
נַפְשִׁ֑יlife my
nafshiH5315 →754 times
הָי֤וּthey are
hayuH1961 →3559 times
בָנַי֙children my
vanaiH1121 →4930 times
שֽׁוֹמֵמִ֔יםdesolate
shomemimH8074 →86 times
כִּ֥יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
גָבַ֖רhe has prevailed
gavarH1396 →
אוֹיֵֽב׃ ס[the] enemy
ʾoyevH341 →282 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 119:136My eyes shed streams of tears because Your law is not obeyed.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 9:1
Oh, that my head were a spring of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep day and night over the slain daughter of my people.
Reached by 4 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 14:17
You are to speak this word to them: ‘My eyes overflow with tears; day and night they do not cease, for the virgin daughter of my people has been shattered by a crushing blow,…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 9:4
“Go throughout the city of Jerusalem,” said the LORD, “and put a mark on the foreheads of the men sighing and groaning over all the abominations committed there.”
- 1 Samuel 15:11
“I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned away from following Me and has not carried out My instructions.” And Samuel was distressed and cried out to the LORD all…
- Psalms 119:158
I look on the faithless with loathing because they do not keep Your word.
- Jeremiah 9:1
Through
Lamentations 2:18The hearts of the people cry out to the Lord. O wall of the Daughter of Zion, let your tears run down like a river day and night. Give yourself no relief, and your…
it leads to
- Psalms 119:145
I call with all my heart; answer me, O LORD! I will obey Your statutes.
- Lamentations 2:8
The LORD determined to destroy the wall of the Daughter of Zion. He stretched out a measuring line and did not withdraw His hand from destroying. He made the ramparts and walls lament; together…
- Psalms 119:145
Through
Jeremiah 13:17But if you do not listen, I will weep in secret because of your pride. My eyes will overflow with tears, because the LORD’s flock has been taken captive.
it leads to
- Malachi 2:2
If you do not listen, and if you do not take it to heart to honor My name,” says the LORD of Hosts, “I will send a curse among you, and I will curse…
- Malachi 2:2
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Lamentations
This page draws on Glossa Ordinaria, Commentary (church-history corpus); Gregory the Dialogist, Epistle VI. To Narses, Patrician; 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.