Lamentations 3:21
in Lamentations 3Yet I call this to mind, and therefore I have hope:
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
This I recall to my mind; therefore have I hope.
KJV
This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.
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This verse in Lamentations 3
Commentary
9 notes on this verseThird, memory results regards faithfulness. "But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope." Hence Sirach 51:8 says: "Then I remembered thy mercy, O Lord, and thy work from of old."
This site's exposition
Remember my affliction and wandering
on Lamentations 3:19-21
The man recalls “the wormwood and the gall”, and at first memory only rehearses the pain: “Surely my soul remembers and is humbled within me”. The turn comes, “Yet I call this to mind, and therefore I have hope”. Hope follows the recalling, and the grief before it stands.
This site's exposition
Yet I call this to mind
The turn comes in this line. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown take this to point forward to the mercies, and they report Calvin took it to point back to the man's weakness. Albert Barnes reads a resolve to bring the truth back to the heart, knowing that God hears the contrite.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
This I recall to my mind,....
That, bad as things are, it is owing to the mercy of God that they are not worse. We are afflicted by the rod of his wrath, but it is of the lord's mercies that we are not consumed,
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
This I recall - Rather, “This will I bring back to my heart, therefore will I hope.” Knowing that God hears the prayer of the contrite, he begins again to hope.
MEMORY is very often the servant of despondency. Despairing minds call to remembrance every dark foreboding in the past and every gloomy feature in the present. Memory stands like a handmaiden clothed in sackcloth, presenting to her master a cup of mingled gall and wormwood. Like Mercury, she hastens with winged heel to gather fresh thorns with which to fill the uneasy pillow and to bind fresh rods with which to scourge the already bleeding heart. There is, however, no necessity for this. Wisdom will transform Memory into an angel of comfort.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
This--namely, what follows; the view of the divine character (La 3:22, 23). CALVIN makes "this" refer to Jeremiah's infirmity. His very weakness (La 3:19, 20) gives him hope of God interposing His strength for him (compare Ps 25:11, 17;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
MEMORY is very often the servant of despondency. Despairing minds call to remembrance every dark foreboding in the past and every gloomy feature in the present. Memory stands like a handmaiden clothed in sackcloth, presenting to her master a cup of mingled gall and wormwood. Like Mercury, she hastens with winged heel to gather fresh thorns with which to fill the uneasy pillow and to bind fresh rods with which to scourge the already bleeding heart. There is, however, no necessity for this. Wisdom will transform Memory into an angel of comfort. That same recollection which may, in its left hand, bring so many dark and gloomy omens, may be trained to bear in its right hand a wealth of hopeful signs! She need not wear a crown of iron. She may encircle her brow with a fillet of gold, all spangled with stars! When Christian, according to Bunyan, was locked up in Doubting Castle, Memory formed the crab-tree club with which the famous giant beat his captives so terribly. They remembered how they had left the right road, how they had been warned not to do so and how in rebellion against their better selves they wandered into By-Path Meadow. They remembered all their past misdeeds, their sins, their evil thoughts and evil words—and all these were so many knots in the club—causing sad bruises and wounds in their poor suffering persons. But one night, according to Bunyan, this same Memory which had scourged them, helped to set them free—for she whispered something in Christian's ear and he cried out as one half amazed, "What a fool am I to lie in a stinking dungeon, when I may as well walk at liberty! I have a key in my bosom called Promise, that will, I am persuaded, open any lock in Doubting Castle." So he put his hand into his bosom and with much joy he plucked out the key and thrust it into the lock.
The words behind it
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| זֹ֛את | zot | this | H2063 → | |
| אָשִׁ֥יב | ʾashiv | I bring back | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| לִבִּ֖י | libi | heart my | H3820 → | 595 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | there- | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כֵּ֥ן | ken | -fore | H3651 → | 771 times |
| אוֹחִֽיל׃ ס | ʾochil | I will wait | H3176 → |
זֹ֛אתthis
zotH2063 →
אָשִׁ֥יבI bring back
ʾashivH7725 →1056 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
לִבִּ֖יheart my
libiH3820 →595 times
עַל־there-
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
כֵּ֥ן-fore
kenH3651 →771 times
אוֹחִֽיל׃ סI will wait
ʾochilH3176 →
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
Habakkuk 2:3For the vision awaits an appointed time; it testifies of the end and does not lie. Though it lingers, wait for it, since it will surely come and will not delay.
it leads to
- Psalms 27:14
Wait patiently for the LORD; be strong and courageous. Wait patiently for the LORD!
- Hebrews 10:36–37
You need to persevere, so that after you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised.
- Lamentations 3:25–26
The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him.
- Ezekiel 12:25
because I, the LORD, will speak whatever word I speak, and it will be fulfilled without delay. For in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak a message and bring it to pass,…
- Psalms 102:13
You will rise up and have compassion on Zion, for it is time to show her favor— the appointed time has come.
- Psalms 27:14
Through
Psalms 130:7O Israel, put your hope in the LORD, for with the LORD is loving devotion, and with Him is redemption in abundance.
it leads to
- Ephesians 1:7–8
In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace
- Psalms 40:3
He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD.
- Revelation 5:9
And they sang a new song: “Worthy are You to take the scroll and open its seals, because You were slain, and by Your blood You purchased for God those from every tribe and…
- Ephesians 1:7–8
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies17
On this verse
On this chapter
About Lamentations
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, Lamentations; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 654: “Memory—The Handmaid Of Hope” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); 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.