Lamentations 1:21
in Lamentations 1People have heard my groaning, but there is no one to comfort me. All my enemies have heard of my trouble; they are glad that You have caused it. May You bring the day You have announced, so that they may become like me.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
They have heard that I sigh; there is none to comfort me; All mine enemies have heard of my trouble; they are glad that thou hast done it: Thou wilt bring the day that thou hast proclaimed, and they shall be like unto me.
KJV
They have heard that I sigh: there is none to comfort me: all mine enemies have heard of my trouble; they are glad that thou hast done it: thou wilt bring the day that thou hast called, and they shall be like unto me.
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This verse in Lamentations 1
Commentary
12 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
They have heard ... - Or, “They heard that I sigh,” that I have “no comforter.” Thou wilt bring the day ... - literally, thou hast brought “the day thou hast proclaimed, and they shall be like unto me.” The day of Judah’s punishment was the proof that the nations now triumphing over Jerusalem’s fall would certainly be visited.
This site's exposition
See, O LORD, how distressed I am
on Lamentations 1:20-22
The chapter closes as prayer, “See, O LORD, how distressed I am!” The prayer asks Him to “deal with them as You have dealt with me”, laying the case before the Judge. The acrostic ends on “my heart is faint”, still spoken to the God who sent the affliction.
This site's exposition
People have heard my groaning
The enemies are glad that the LORD caused her trouble, and Jamieson, Fausset & Brown say they thought Judah ruined for good. The day the LORD announced is Babylon's, foretold in Jeremiah 50 and 51. Albert Barnes calls Judah's fall the proof that her enemies would become like her.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
THEY HAVE HEARD: the second topic of indignation; for it shows to whom this act principally pertains, that is to God himself, whom the enemies have despised in their own affairs, whence: Let all their evil be present. Historical interpretation THEY HAVE HEARD: there is …
One is here accused of faults towards others. First, one is faulted for lack of aid. As said: "Hear how I groan; there is none to comfort me." Namely, like the Egyptians, or others in whom I can trust. Like the utterance of Jeremiah 31:15: …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Note, Our prayers may and must agree with God's word; and what day God has here called we are to call for, and no other. And though we are bound in charity to forgive our enemies, and to pray for them, yet we may in faith pray for the accomplishment of that which God has spoken against his and his church's enemies, that will not repent to give him glory.
), 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
); they rejoice in the trouble itself; they rejoice that it is God's doing; it pleases them to find that God and his Israel have fallen out, and they act accordingly with a great deal of strangeness towards them. Jerusalem is as a menstruous woman among them, that they are afraid of touching and are shy of,
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
4 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.
They have heard that I sigh: there is none to comfort me,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
they are glad that thou hast done it--because they thought that therefore Judah is irretrievably ruined (Jer 40:3). the day . . . called--(but) thou wilt bring on them the day of calamity which thou hast announced, namely, by the prophets (Jer 50:1-46;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+unbalanced-parens
They have heard that I sigh - My affliction is public enough; but no one comes to comfort me. They are glad that thou hast done it - On the contrary, they exult in my misery; and they see that Thou hast done what they were incapable of performing. Thou wilt bring the day that thou hast called, and they shall be like unto me - Babylon shall be visited in her turn; and thy judgments poured out upon her shall equal her state with my own. See the last six chapters of the preceding prophecy for the accomplishment of this prediction.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| שָׁמְע֞וּ | shameu | they heard | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| כִּ֧י | ki | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| נֶאֱנָחָ֣ה | neenachah | [was] groaning | H584 → | 13 times |
| אָ֗נִי | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| אֵ֤ין | ʾein | not | H369 → | 789 times |
| מְנַחֵם֙ | menachem | a comforter | H5162 → | 108 times |
| לִ֔י | li | [belonged] to me | ||
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| אֹ֨יְבַ֜י | ʾoyevai | enemies my | H341 → | 282 times |
| שָׁמְע֤וּ | shameu | they heard | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| רָֽעָתִי֙ | raati | distress my | H7451 → | 662 times |
| שָׂ֔שׂוּ | sasu | they rejoiced | H7797 → | |
| כִּ֥י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אַתָּ֖ה | ʾatah | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| עָשִׂ֑יתָ | ʾasita | you have acted | H6213 → | |
| הֵבֵ֥אתָ | heveta | you have brought | H935 → | 2568 times |
| יוֹם־ | yom- | [the] day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| קָרָ֖אתָ | karata | [which] you proclaimed | H7121 → | 733 times |
| וְיִֽהְי֥וּ | veyihyu | and they may be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| כָמֽוֹנִי׃ ס | khamoni | like me | H3644 → |
שָׁמְע֞וּthey heard
shameuH8085 →1159 times
כִּ֧יthat
kiH3588 →4482 times
נֶאֱנָחָ֣ה[was] groaning
neenachahH584 →13 times
אָ֗נִיI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
אֵ֤יןnot
ʾeinH369 →789 times
מְנַחֵם֙a comforter
menachemH5162 →108 times
לִ֔י[belonged] to me
li
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
אֹ֨יְבַ֜יenemies my
ʾoyevaiH341 →282 times
שָׁמְע֤וּthey heard
shameuH8085 →1159 times
רָֽעָתִי֙distress my
raatiH7451 →662 times
שָׂ֔שׂוּthey rejoiced
sasuH7797 →
כִּ֥יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
אַתָּ֖הyou
ʾatahH859 →1094 times
עָשִׂ֑יתָyou have acted
ʾasitaH6213 →
הֵבֵ֥אתָyou have brought
hevetaH935 →2568 times
יוֹם־[the] day
yom-H3117 →2304 times
קָרָ֖אתָ[which] you proclaimed
karataH7121 →733 times
וְיִֽהְי֥וּand they may be
veyihyuH1961 →3559 times
כָמֽוֹנִי׃ סlike me
khamoniH3644 →
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
Lamentations 1:8Jerusalem has sinned greatly; therefore she has become an object of scorn. All who honored her now despise her, for they have seen her nakedness; she herself groans and turns away.
it leads to
- Isaiah 59:2–13
But your iniquities have built barriers between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear.
- Lamentations 1:20–22
See, O LORD, how distressed I am! I am churning within; my heart is pounding within me, for I have been most rebellious. Outside, the sword bereaves; inside, there is death.
- Isaiah 59:2–13
Through
Lamentations 1:22Let all their wickedness come before You, and deal with them as You have dealt with me because of all my transgressions. For my groans are many, and my heart is faint.
it leads to
- Revelation 6:10
And they cried out in a loud voice, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You avenge our blood and judge those who dwell upon the earth?”
- Jeremiah 8:18
My sorrow is beyond healing; my heart is faint within me.
- Psalms 109:14–15
May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD, and the sin of his mother never be blotted out.
- Revelation 6:10
Through
Lamentations 1:16For 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.
it leads to
- Psalms 119:136
My eyes shed streams of tears because Your law is not obeyed.
- Lamentations 1:2
She weeps aloud in the night, with tears upon her cheeks. Among all her lovers there is no one to comfort her. All her friends have betrayed her; they have become her enemies.
- 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,…
- Psalms 119:136
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Lamentations
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
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; John Calvin, Commentary on Jeremiah and Lamentations; 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.