Lamentations 3:18
in Lamentations 3So I say, “My strength has perished, along with my hope from the LORD.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And I said, My strength is perished, and mine expectation from Jehovah.
KJV
And I said, My strength and my hope is perished from the Lord:
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This verse in Lamentations 3
Commentary
7 notes on this verseAnd my hope - That first, that last support of the miserable - it is gone! it is perished! The sovereign God alone can revive it.
This site's exposition
I am a laughingstock to all my people
on Lamentations 3:14-18
“He has intoxicated me with wormwood”, the bitter plant Deuteronomy 29:18 names as the fruit of turning from the covenant. The unit ends at its lowest point, with hope named as gone: “My strength has perished, along with my hope from the LORD”.
This site's exposition
My strength has perished
This line is the lowest point of the chapter. Adam Clarke calls hope the first and last help of the man in misery, and Thomas Aquinas hears despair. The answer comes soon, as hope comes back at Lamentations 3:21 and the LORD becomes the portion of the soul at 3:24.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
"So I say, 'Gone is my glory and my expectation from the Lord'." That is, like one who concludes in desperation. Also, like one who would claim: since I am amidst obstacles, and the Lord rejects me, He does not aid me. Again: "so, I …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
10 ), for with God there is everlasting strength, and he is his people's never-failing hope, whatever they may think. That grief returned upon every remembrance of his troubles, and his reflections were as melancholy as his prospects,
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number+unbalanced-parens
And I said, my strength and my hope are perished from the Lord.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
gravel--referring to the grit that often mixes with bread baked in ashes, as is the custom of baking in the East (Pr 20:17). We fare as hardly as those who eat such bread. The same allusion is in "Covered me with ashes," namely, as bread.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The words behind it
5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וָאֹמַר֙ | vaomar | and I said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אָבַ֣ד | ʾavad | it has perished | H6 → | |
| נִצְחִ֔י | nitzchi | endurance my | H5331 → | |
| וְתוֹחַלְתִּ֖י | vetochalti | and hope my | H8431 → | |
| מֵיְהוָֽה׃ ס | meyahweh | from Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
וָאֹמַר֙and I said
vaomarH559 →5305 times
אָבַ֣דit has perished
ʾavadH6 →
נִצְחִ֔יendurance my
nitzchiH5331 →
וְתוֹחַלְתִּ֖יand hope my
vetochaltiH8431 →
מֵיְהוָֽה׃ סfrom Yahweh
meyahwehH3068 →6520 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
Ezekiel 37:11Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Look, they are saying, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope has perished; we are cut off.’
it leads to
- Ephesians 2:1
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,
- Psalms 77:7–9
“Will the Lord spurn us forever and never show His favor again?
- Ezekiel 39:25
Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Now I will restore Jacob from captivity and will have compassion on the whole house of Israel, and I will be jealous for My holy name.
- Ephesians 2:1
Through
Psalms 116:11In my alarm I said, “All men are liars!”
it leads to
- Jeremiah 9:4–5
“Let everyone guard against his neighbor; do not trust any brother, for every brother deals craftily, and every friend spreads slander.
- Romans 3:4
Certainly not! Let God be true and every man a liar. As it is written: “So that You may be proved right when You speak and victorious when You judge.”
- Psalms 31:22
In my alarm I said, “I am cut off from Your sight!” But You heard my plea for mercy when I called to You for help.
- Jeremiah 9:4–5
Through
Psalms 31:22In my alarm I said, “I am cut off from Your sight!” But You heard my plea for mercy when I called to You for help.
it leads to
- Psalms 116:11
In my alarm I said, “All men are liars!”
- Hebrews 5:7
During the days of Jesus’ earthly life, He offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the One who could save Him from death, and He was heard because of His…
- Psalms 116:11
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 on the Old Testament; 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); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Lamentations.