Lamentations 3:44
in Lamentations 3You have covered Yourself with a cloud that no prayer can pass through.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud, so that no prayer can pass through.
KJV
Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud, that our prayer should not pass through.
⋯
This verse in Lamentations 3
Commentary
5 notes on this verseSecond, is a refusal from prayer of a person sinning. "Thou hast wrapped thyself with a cloud so that no prayer can pass through." Namely, regarding such sins displaying faults against prayer. Thus, Isaiah 59:2 claims: "But your iniquities have made a separation between you …
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
"This cloud is so thick that our prayers seem as if they were lost in it; they cannot pass through; we cannot obtain an audience." Note, The prolonging of troubles is sometimes a temptation, even to praying people, to question whether God be what they have always believed him to be, a prayer-hearing God.
Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud,.... With wrath and anger, as a cloud; he wrapped up himself in thick darkness, so as not to be seen or come at: sin, when it appears not pardoned, is as a cloud between God and his people; and this causes him to show his anger and displeasure; which is the cloud about him, Or the hiding of his face.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
covered--namely, thyself (so La 3:44), so as not to see and pity our calamities, for even the most cruel in seeing a sad spectacle are moved to pity. Compare as to God "hiding His face," Ps 10:11;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The "cloud" is our sins, and God's wrath because of them (Isa 44:22;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| סַכּ֤וֹתָה | sakotah | you have covered | H5526 → | |
| בֶֽעָנָן֙ | veanan | with <the> cloud | H6051 → | |
| לָ֔ךְ | lakh | <to> yourself | ||
| מֵעֲב֖וֹר | meavor | from passing through | H5674 → | 556 times |
| תְּפִלָּֽה׃ | tefilah | prayer of | H8605 → |
סַכּ֤וֹתָהyou have covered
sakotahH5526 →
בֶֽעָנָן֙with <the> cloud
veananH6051 →
לָ֔ךְ<to> yourself
lakh
מֵעֲב֖וֹרfrom passing through
meavorH5674 →556 times
תְּפִלָּֽה׃prayer of
tefilahH8605 →
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 15:1Then the LORD said to me: “Even if Moses and Samuel should stand before Me, My heart would not go out to this people. Send them from My presence, and let them go.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 11:14
As for you, do not pray for these people. Do not raise up a cry or a prayer on their behalf, for I will not be listening when they call out to Me in…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 14:14
then even if these three men—Noah, Daniel, and Job—were in it, their righteousness could deliver only themselves, declares the Lord GOD.
- Ezekiel 14:20–21
then as surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, they could not deliver their own sons or daughters. Their righteousness could deliver only themselves.
- Jeremiah 14:11
Then the LORD said to me, “Do not pray for the well-being of this people.
- Psalms 106:23
So He said He would destroy them— had not Moses His chosen one stood before Him in the breach to divert His wrath from destroying them.
- Jeremiah 11:14
Through
Psalms 97:2Clouds and darkness surround Him; righteousness and justice are His throne’s foundation.
it leads to
- Psalms 89:14
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; loving devotion and faithfulness go before You.
- Psalms 89:14
Through
Zechariah 7:13And just as I had called and they would not listen, so when they called I would not listen, says the LORD of Hosts.
it leads to
- Proverbs 1:24–28
Because you refused my call, and no one took my outstretched hand,
- Proverbs 1:24–28
Through
Jeremiah 14:11Then the LORD said to me, “Do not pray for the well-being of this people.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 7:16
As for you, do not pray for these people, do not offer a plea or petition on their behalf, and do not beg Me, for I will not listen to you.
- Jeremiah 7:16
Where this verse is studied
About Lamentations
This page draws on 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.