Lamentations 1:8
in Lamentations 1Jerusalem 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.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Jerusalem hath grievously sinned; therefore she is become as an unclean thing; All that honored her despise her, because they have seen her nakedness: Yea, she sigheth, and turneth backward.
KJV
Jerusalem hath grievously sinned; therefore she is removed: all that honoured her despise her, because they have seen her nakedness: yea, she sigheth, and turneth backward.
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This verse in Lamentations 1
Commentary
10 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Grievously sinned - literally, “Jerusalem hath sinned a sin,” giving the idea of a persistent continuance in wickedness. Removed - Or, become an abomination. Sin has made Jerusalem an object of horror, and therefore she is cast away. Yea, she sigheth ... - Jerusalem groans over the infamy of her deeds thus brought to open shame, and turns her back upon the spectators in order to hide herself.
This site's exposition
In the days of her affliction and wandering Jerusalem remembers
on Lamentations 1:7-9
Jerusalem “remembers all the treasures that were hers in days of old” while her enemies laugh at her downfall, so memory adds to the affliction. Her uncleanness stains her skirts because “she did not consider her end”, and the unit closes on the line: “Look, O LORD, on my affliction”.
This site's exposition
Jerusalem has sinned greatly
The Hebrew reads that Jerusalem has sinned a sin, and Albert Barnes takes the doubling as settled, continued wickedness. Jamieson, Fausset & Brown read the word rendered scorn as the separation of an unclean woman under Leviticus 15:19, an image Lamentations 1:17 repeats. She turns away in shame.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
ALL WHO HONORED: the thirteenth topic of complaint. Historical interpretation. JERUSALEM HAS GRIEVOUSLY SINNED: one sin, alone of its kind, designates the reason for such misery, a sin through which everything is fettered and without which everything is released, that is incredulity, whence it is …
Here in Verse 8 is shown the cause of the misery: Jerusalem. First is indicated its very sinning, secondly, its progress. As said: "she became filthy." There are two further notions. First sin is referred to as "filthy". Namely, as expressed, "antonomastically", within infidelity and …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Like Job's friends, they saw it was to no purpose, her grief was so great; and miserable comforters were they all in such a case. Jerusalem's God is here complained to concerning all these things, and all is referred to his compassionate consideration (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
): Jerusalem has grievously sinned, has sinned sin (so the word is), sinned wilfully, deliberately, has sinned that sin which of all others is the abominable things that the Lord hates, the sin of idolatry. The sins of Jerusalem, that makes such a profession and enjoys such privileges, are of all others the most grievous sins.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
Jerusalem hath grievously sinned,....
2 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
By the prevalency of the enemies against her they perceive her weakness, and that she is not so strong a people as they thought she had been; and by the prevalency of God's judgments against her they perceive her wickedness, which now comes to light and is every where talked of.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
(1Ki 8:46). is removed--as a woman separated from the congregation of God for legal impurity, which is a type of moral impurity. 15:19, &c. her nakedness--They have treated her as contumeliously as courtesans from whom their clothes are stripped. turneth backward--as modest women do from shame, that is, she is cast down from all hope of restoration [CALVIN].
The words behind it
18 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| חֵ֤טְא | chet' | sin | H2399 → | |
| חָֽטְאָה֙ | chateah | she has sinned | H2398 → | 238 times |
| יְר֣וּשָׁלִַ֔ם | yerushalim | Jerusalem | H3389 → | 643 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | there- | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כֵּ֖ן | ken | -fore | H3651 → | 771 times |
| לְנִידָ֣ה | lenidah | <into> impurity | H5206 → | |
| הָיָ֑תָה | hayatah | she has become | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| כָּֽל־ | kal- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| מְכַבְּדֶ֤יהָ | mekhabedeiha | [those who] honored her | H3513 → | |
| הִזִּיל֙וּהָ֙ | hiziluha | they despise her | H2107 → | |
| כִּי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| רָא֣וּ | rau | they have seen | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| עֶרְוָתָ֔הּ | ʾervatah | nakedness her | H6172 → | |
| גַּם־ | gam- | also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| הִ֥יא | hi' | she | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| נֶאֶנְחָ֖ה | neenchah | <she> has groaned | H584 → | 13 times |
| וַתָּ֥שָׁב | vatashov | and she has turned away | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| אָחֽוֹר׃ ס | ʾachor | backward | H268 → | 41 times |
חֵ֤טְאsin
chet'H2399 →
חָֽטְאָה֙she has sinned
chateahH2398 →238 times
יְר֣וּשָׁלִַ֔םJerusalem
yerushalimH3389 →643 times
עַל־there-
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
כֵּ֖ן-fore
kenH3651 →771 times
לְנִידָ֣ה<into> impurity
lenidahH5206 →
הָיָ֑תָהshe has become
hayatahH1961 →3559 times
כָּֽל־all
kal-H3605 →5413 times
מְכַבְּדֶ֤יהָ[those who] honored her
mekhabedeihaH3513 →
הִזִּיל֙וּהָ֙they despise her
hiziluhaH2107 →
כִּי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
רָא֣וּthey have seen
rauH7200 →1300 times
עֶרְוָתָ֔הּnakedness her
ʾervatahH6172 →
גַּם־also
gam-H1571 →769 times
הִ֥יאshe
hi'H1931 →1879 times
נֶאֶנְחָ֖ה<she> has groaned
neenchahH584 →13 times
וַתָּ֥שָׁבand she has turned away
vatashovH7725 →1056 times
אָחֽוֹר׃ סbackward
ʾachorH268 →41 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
Jeremiah 13:22And if you ask yourself, “Why has this happened to me?” It is because of the magnitude of your iniquity that your skirts have been stripped off and your body has been exposed.
it leads to
- Nahum 3:5
“Behold, I am against you,” declares the LORD of Hosts. “I will lift your skirts over your face. I will show your nakedness to the nations and your shame to the kingdoms.
- Jeremiah 16:10–11
When you tell these people all these things, they will ask you, ‘Why has the LORD pronounced all this great disaster against us? What is our guilt? What is the sin that we have…
- Jeremiah 5:19
And when the people ask, ‘For what offense has the LORD our God done all these things to us?’ You are to tell them, ‘Just as you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods…
- Deuteronomy 7:17
You may say in your heart, “These nations are greater than we are; how can we drive them out?”
- Jeremiah 13:26
So I will pull your skirts up over your face, that your shame may be seen.
- Nahum 3:5
Through
Jeremiah 13:26So I will pull your skirts up over your face, that your shame may be seen.
it leads to
- Hosea 2:10
And then I will expose her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and no one will deliver her out of My hands.
- Ezekiel 23:29
They will treat you with hatred, take all for which you have worked, and leave you naked and bare, so that the shame of your prostitution will be exposed. Your indecency and promiscuity
- Ezekiel 16:37
therefore I will surely gather all the lovers with whom you found pleasure, all those you loved and all those you hated. I will gather them against you from all around and expose you…
- Hosea 2:10
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Lamentations
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); 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 (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Lamentations.