Lamentations 3:10
in Lamentations 3He is a bear lying in wait, a lion hiding in ambush.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
He is unto me as a bear lying in wait, as a lion in secret places.
KJV
He was unto me as a bear lying in wait, and as a lion in secret places.
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This verse in Lamentations 3
Commentary
5 notes on this verseHe was unto me as a bear lying in wait,.... For its prey, which seizes on it at once, and tears it in pieces; such were the Chaldeans to the Jews by divine permission: and as a lion in secret places; lurking there, in order to take every opportunity and advantage, and fall upon any creature that comes that way. The same thing is signified here as before; see Hos 5:14.
This site's exposition
He is a bear lying in wait
on Lamentations 3:10-13
The Lord's dealing is pictured as an ambush: “He is a bear lying in wait, a lion hiding in ambush”. The predator gives way to violence: “He forced me off my path and tore me to pieces”. Then comes the archer, who “set me as the target for His arrow”.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
The manner for afflicting is stated here. First the manner is insidious, second, it is open. Regarding the insidious manner for afflicting two more ideas are presented. First is the insidious action of enemies. "He is to me like a bear lying in wait, like …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
): " He was unto me as a bear lying in wait, surprising me with his judgments, and as a lion in secret places; so that which way soever I went I was in continual fear of being set upon and could never think myself safe." Do men shoot at those thy are enemies to?
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Having dwelt upon the difficulties which hemmed in his path, he now shows that there are dangers attending upon escape. Lam 3:11 The meaning is, “God, as a lion, lying in wait, has made me turn aside from my path, but my flight was in vain, for springing upon me from His ambush lie has torn me in pieces.” Desolate - Or, astonied, stupefied that he cannot flee. The word is a favorite one with Jeremiah.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
He is a bear lying in wait for me. The Holy One, Blessed Is He, turned into a bear in wait for me. 7 Alternatively, bear refers to Nevuchadnetzar who lay in wait to attack the Bnei Yisroel who are symbolized by a lion. (Eichah Rabbah:4)
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
He spread thorns across my roads. An expression of thorns, [meaning that] He “has strewn” them with thorns, [i.e.,] He scattered thorns on my ways. 8 Alternatively, ‘he forced me off my path.’ (Ibn Ezra)
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
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| דֹּ֣ב | do | [is] a bear | H1677 → | |
| אֹרֵ֥ב | ʾorev | lying in wait | H693 → | |
| הוּא֙ | hu' | he | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| לִ֔י | li | to me | ||
| אֲרִ֖י | ʾaryeh | a lion | H738 → | |
| בְּמִסְתָּרִֽים׃ | bemistarim | in hiding places | H4565 → |
דֹּ֣ב[is] a bear
doH1677 →
אֹרֵ֥בlying in wait
ʾorevH693 →
הוּא֙he
hu'H1931 →1879 times
לִ֔יto me
li
אֲרִ֖יa lion
ʾaryehH738 →
בְּמִסְתָּרִֽים׃in hiding places
bemistarimH4565 →
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
Hosea 6:1Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us to pieces, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bind up our wounds.
it leads to
- Job 5:18
For He wounds, but He also binds; He strikes, but His hands also heal.
- Deuteronomy 32:39
See now that I am He; there is no God besides Me. I bring death and I give life; I wound and I heal, and there is no one who can deliver from My…
- 1 Samuel 2:6
The LORD brings death and gives life; He brings down to Sheol and raises up.
- Lamentations 3:40–41
Let us examine and test our ways, and turn back to the LORD.
- Hosea 14:4
I will heal their apostasy; I will freely love them, for My anger has turned away from them.
- Job 5:18
Through
Hosea 5:14For I am like a lion to Ephraim and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear them to pieces and then go away. I will carry them…
it leads to
- Micah 5:8
Then the remnant of Jacob will be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, like a lion among the beasts of the forest, like a young lion among flocks of sheep, which…
- Psalms 7:2
or they will shred my soul like a lion and tear me to pieces with no one to rescue me.
- Micah 5:8
Through
Psalms 10:9He lies in wait like a lion in a thicket; he lurks to seize the oppressed; he catches the lowly in his net.
it leads to
- Psalms 17:12
like a lion greedy for prey, like a young lion lurking in ambush.
- Psalms 17:12
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies17
On this verse
On this chapter
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); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Lamentations.