Lamentations 1:9
in Lamentations 1Her uncleanness stains her skirts; she did not consider her end. Her downfall was astounding; there was no one to comfort her. Look, O LORD, on my affliction, for the enemy has triumphed!
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Her filthiness was in her skirts; she remembered not her latter end; Therefore is she come down wonderfully; she hath no comforter: Behold, O Jehovah, my affliction; for the enemy hath magnified himself.
KJV
Her filthiness is in her skirts; she remembereth not her last end; therefore she came down wonderfully: she had no comforter. O Lord, behold my affliction: for the enemy hath magnified himself.
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This verse in Lamentations 1
Commentary
11 notes on this verseHer filthiness is in her skirts,.... Her sin is manifest to all, being to be seen in her punishment. The allusion is to a menstruous woman, to whom she is compared, both before and after; whose blood flows down to the skirts of her garments, and there seen; by which it is known that she is in her separation.
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
Her uncleanness stains her skirts
John Gill reads the stain as sin shown openly, the image of the unclean woman from Lamentations 1:8. Her downfall was astounding, in the Hebrew a fall of wonders, and Albert Barnes sees a princess forced to sit on the ground. The closing plea is the first time Zion speaks.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
HER FILTHINESS: he bewails her in a threefold way: since she has sinned against the Lord, since she has not repented, since she after the stings of conscience did not want to return to the Lord, whence: AND SHE HAS NOT REMEBERED HER END &c. …
Here is viewed the process for sinning. So, first sin is viewed: "her uncleanness", namely, "was in her skirts", similar to one's affection, if progressing within sin. Then: "she took no thought of her doom" as to her death, or the divine judgment. As the …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
); they trample upon them, and insult over them, and in their eyes they have become vile, the tail of the nations, though once they were the head. Note, Sin is the reproach of any people.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
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
) she came down wonderfully. note, Grievous sins bring wondrous ruin; there are some workers of iniquity to whom there is a strange punishment, Job xxxi. They are such sins as may plainly be read in the punishment.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Her filthiness is in her skirts - Her personal defilement is no longer concealed beneath the raiment Jer 13:22. She came down wonderfully - Jerusalem once enthroned as a princess must sit on the ground as a slave.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
She forgot how fatal must be the end of her iniquity. Or, as the words following imply: She, in despair, cannot lift herself up to lay hold of God's promises as to her "latter end" [CALVIN]. wonderfully--Hebrew, "wonders," that is, with amazing dejection.
She remembereth not her last end - Although evident marks of her pollution appeared about her, and the land was defiled by her sinfulness even to its utmost borders, she had no thought or consideration of what must be the consequence of all this at the last. - Blayney.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
The oppressor extended his hand. Ammon and Mo’av. 40 Alternatively, Nevuchadnetzar. (Targum)
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
17 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| טֻמְאָתָ֣הּ | tumatah | uncleanness her | H2932 → | |
| בְּשׁוּלֶ֗יהָ | beshuleiha | [was] on skirts her | H7757 → | |
| לֹ֤א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| זָֽכְרָה֙ | zakherah | she remembered | H2142 → | 230 times |
| אַחֲרִיתָ֔הּ | ʾacharitah | outcome her | H319 → | |
| וַתֵּ֣רֶד | vatered | and she has come down | H3381 → | 381 times |
| פְּלָאִ֔ים | pelaim | wonders | H6382 → | |
| אֵ֥ין | ʾein | not | H369 → | 789 times |
| מְנַחֵ֖ם | menachem | a comforter | H5162 → | 108 times |
| לָ֑הּ | lah | [belonged] to her | ||
| רְאֵ֤ה | reeh | see | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| יְהוָה֙ | yahweh | O Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| עָנְיִ֔י | ʾaneyi | affliction my | H6040 → | 36 times |
| כִּ֥י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| הִגְדִּ֖יל | higdil | it has magnified itself | H1431 → | |
| אוֹיֵֽב׃ ס | ʾoyev | [the] enemy | H341 → | 282 times |
טֻמְאָתָ֣הּuncleanness her
tumatahH2932 →
בְּשׁוּלֶ֗יהָ[was] on skirts her
beshuleihaH7757 →
לֹ֤אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
זָֽכְרָה֙she remembered
zakherahH2142 →230 times
אַחֲרִיתָ֔הּoutcome her
ʾacharitahH319 →
וַתֵּ֣רֶדand she has come down
vateredH3381 →381 times
פְּלָאִ֔יםwonders
pelaimH6382 →
אֵ֥יןnot
ʾeinH369 →789 times
מְנַחֵ֖םa comforter
menachemH5162 →108 times
לָ֑הּ[belonged] to her
lah
רְאֵ֤הsee
reehH7200 →1300 times
יְהוָה֙O Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
עָנְיִ֔יaffliction my
ʾaneyiH6040 →36 times
כִּ֥יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
הִגְדִּ֖ילit has magnified itself
higdilH1431 →
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
Ecclesiastes 4:1Again I looked, and I considered all the oppression taking place under the sun. I saw the tears of the oppressed, and they had no comforter; the power lay in the hands of their…
it leads to
- Ecclesiastes 3:16
Furthermore, I saw under the sun that in the place of judgment there is wickedness, and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness.
- Ecclesiastes 5:8
If you see the oppression of the poor and the denial of justice and righteousness in the province, do not be astonished at the matter; for one official is watched by a superior, and…
- 2 Timothy 4:16–17
At my first defense, no one stood with me, but everyone deserted me. May it not be charged against them.
- Isaiah 5:7
For the vineyard of the LORD of Hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the plant of His delight. He looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but…
- Isaiah 51:23
I will place it in the hands of your tormentors, who told you: ‘Lie down, so we can walk over you,’ so that you made your back like the ground, like a street to…
- Ecclesiastes 3:16
Through
Deuteronomy 32:29If only they were wise, they would understand it; they would comprehend their fate.
it leads to
- Psalms 81:13
If only My people would listen to Me, if Israel would follow My ways,
- Deuteronomy 5:29
If only they had such a heart to fear Me and keep all My commandments always, so that it might be well with them and with their children forever.
- Hosea 14:9
Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them. For the ways of the LORD are right, and the righteous walk in them but the rebellious stumble in…
- Psalms 81:13
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); 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.