Lamentations 1:18
in Lamentations 1The LORD is righteous, for I have rebelled against His command. Listen, all you people; look upon my suffering. My young men and maidens have gone into captivity.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Jehovah is righteous; for I have rebelled against his commandment: Hear, I pray you, all ye peoples, and behold my sorrow: My virgins and my young men are gone into captivity.
KJV
The Lord is righteous; for I have rebelled against his commandment: hear, I pray you, all people, and behold my sorrow: my virgins and my young men are gone into captivity.
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This verse in Lamentations 1
Commentary
10 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The sure sign of repentance; justifying God, condemning herself (Ne 9:33; Da 9:7-14). his commandment--literally, "mouth"; His word in the mouth of the prophets.
This site's exposition
Zion stretches out her hands
on Lamentations 1:17-19
“Zion stretches out her hands, but there is no one to comfort her”, the refrain of 1:2, 1:9, 1:16 and 1:21. The Hebrew word behind “an unclean thing” is the Law's term for a woman's ritual impurity in Leviticus 15:19. Zion confesses, “I have rebelled against His command”.
This site's exposition
The LORD is righteous
Zion calls the LORD righteous and owns she rebelled against His command, which Jamieson, Fausset & Brown call the sure sign of repentance, Nehemiah 9:33. In the Hebrew, command is His mouth, His word through the prophets. The first word, righteous, gives the letter tsade.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
MY VIRGINS: the eighth topic of indignation; for virgins cannot defend themselves nor hurt another. Historical interpretation THE LORD IS JUST: SADE, which is put before, and is interpreted 'of justice', means that the justices of the Lord are right, which is well portrayed in …
Here is lamented the captivity itself, and around this idea three propositions are advanced. First is proposed an acknowledgment of the justice from a judge. As expressed: "The Lord is in the right, for I have rebelled against his word." And as the prophet Daniel …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
21 ), Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O you my friends! It helps to make a burden sit lighter if our friends sympathize with us, and mingle their tears with ours, for this is an evidence that, though we are in affliction, we are not in contempt, which is commonly as much dreaded in an affliction as any thing.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number+unbalanced-parens
), in which he is justified in their affliction and is humbly solicited to justify himself in their deliverance. The Miseries of Jerusalem; Grief for the Loss of Ordinances.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
It is said of the Chaldeans that they had no compassion upon young men nor maidens, not on the fair sex, not on the blooming age, 2 Chron. xxxvi. Her friends failed her; some would not and others could not give her any relief. She spread forth her hands, as begging relief, but there is none to comfort her (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
2 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Is it nothing - The prophet speaks in the name of the Jewish church. Fire - A judgment as consuming, and afflictive as fire. Is bound - Put upon my neck on account of my transgressions.
The Lord is righteous,....
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| צַדִּ֥יק | tzadik | [is] righteous | H6662 → | |
| ה֛וּא | hu' | he | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| יְהוָ֖ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| כִּ֣י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| פִ֣יהוּ | fihu | mouth his | H6310 → | 498 times |
| מָרִ֑יתִי | mariti | I have been rebellious | H4784 → | 45 times |
| שִׁמְעוּ־ | shimu- | listen | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| נָ֣א | na' | please | H4994 → | |
| כָל־ | khol- | O all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הָֽעַמִּ֗ים | haamim | the peoples | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| וּרְאוּ֙ | ureu | and see | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| מַכְאֹבִ֔י | makhovi | pain my | H4341 → | 16 times |
| בְּתוּלֹתַ֥י | betulotai | young women my | H1330 → | 50 times |
| וּבַחוּרַ֖י | uvachurai | and young men my | H970 → | 44 times |
| הָלְכ֥וּ | halekhu | they have gone | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| בַשֶּֽׁבִי׃ ס | vashevi | in <the> captivity | H7628 → |
צַדִּ֥יק[is] righteous
tzadikH6662 →
ה֛וּאhe
hu'H1931 →1879 times
יְהוָ֖הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
כִּ֣יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
פִ֣יהוּmouth his
fihuH6310 →498 times
מָרִ֑יתִיI have been rebellious
maritiH4784 →45 times
שִׁמְעוּ־listen
shimu-H8085 →1159 times
נָ֣אplease
na'H4994 →
כָל־O all
khol-H3605 →5413 times
הָֽעַמִּ֗יםthe peoples
haamimH5971 →1873 times
וּרְאוּ֙and see
ureuH7200 →1300 times
מַכְאֹבִ֔יpain my
makhoviH4341 →16 times
בְּתוּלֹתַ֥יyoung women my
betulotaiH1330 →50 times
וּבַחוּרַ֖יand young men my
uvachuraiH970 →44 times
הָלְכ֥וּthey have gone
halekhuH1980 →1546 times
בַשֶּֽׁבִי׃ סin <the> captivity
vasheviH7628 →
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
Jeremiah 12:1Righteous are You, O LORD, when I plead before You. Yet about Your judgments I wish to contend with You: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live…
it leads to
- Malachi 3:15
So now we call the arrogant blessed. Not only do evildoers prosper, they even test God and escape.’”
- Psalms 92:7
that though the wicked sprout like grass, and all evildoers flourish, they will be forever destroyed.
- Psalms 37:1
Do not fret over those who do evil; do not envy those who do wrong.
- Psalms 73:3–28
For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
- Psalms 37:35
I have seen a wicked, ruthless man flourishing like a well-rooted native tree,
- Malachi 3:15
Through
Zephaniah 3:5The LORD within her is righteous; He does no wrong. He applies His justice morning by morning; He does not fail at dawn, yet the unjust know no shame.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 32:4
He is the Rock, His work is perfect; all His ways are just. A God of faithfulness without injustice, righteous and upright is He.
- Psalms 145:17
The LORD is righteous in all His ways and kind in all His deeds.
- Deuteronomy 32:4
Through
Psalms 119:75I know, O LORD, that Your judgments are righteous, and that in faithfulness You have afflicted me.
it leads to
- Revelation 3:19
Those I love, I rebuke and discipline. Therefore be earnest and repent.
- Revelation 3:19
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Lamentations
This page draws on Carl Friedrich Keil, Lamentations; Glossa Ordinaria, Commentary (church-history corpus); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Lamentations.