Lamentations 3:58
in Lamentations 3You defend my cause, O Lord; You redeem my life.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
O Lord, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul; thou hast redeemed my life.
KJV
O Lord, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul; thou hast redeemed my life.
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This verse in Lamentations 3
Commentary
5 notes on this verseHere the judge and his justice is commended: "Thou hast taken up my cause, O Lord, thou hast redeemed my life." That is, during past times. As concurs Psalm 43:1: "Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause against an ungodly people."
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Some think Jeremiah makes these complaints, not only as an intercessor for Israel, but as a type of Christ, who was thought by some to be Jeremiah the weeping prophet, because he was much in tears ( Matt. xvi.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
O Lord, thou hast pleaded the cause of my soul,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
THE Prophet speaks experimentally as of a matter which he had proved for himself. There is no true understanding of the Truths of God except by a personal experience of them. We have heard of men sitting in their drawing rooms and writing volumes on voyages and travels—but such books always bear the marks of fiction upon their title page—they can never vie in interest and freshness with the adventures of men who have actually traversed lands unknown. The botanist who shall never have seen a flower must necessarily be a mere pretender to the science.
THE Prophet speaks experimentally as of a matter which he had proved for himself. There is no true understanding of the Truths of God except by a personal experience of them. We have heard of men sitting in their drawing rooms and writing volumes on voyages and travels—but such books always bear the marks of fiction upon their title page—they can never vie in interest and freshness with the adventures of men who have actually traversed lands unknown. The botanist who shall never have seen a flower must necessarily be a mere pretender to the science. And the soldier who has never shouldered a gun is nothing but a raw recruit. And so the man who knows the Truth of God only in the letter of it, by what he has heard with his ears, but does not know it by what, "he has tasted and his hands have handled and his eyes have looked upon of the Word of Life," knows, indeed, nothing to any purpose and it were well for him to confess his ignorance. Our Prophet puts it not, "Lord, You have pleaded the causes of another man's soul," but, "You have pleaded the causes of my soul." At the opening of this discourse I invite you to ask yourselves whether you have an interest in this pleading. Has the Lord pleaded the causes of your soul? Such a suggestion may be of great service to you. That eminent Puritan preacher, Mr. Thomas Dolittle, was once teaching the catechism to the children of the congregation, as was the custom of the Puritans on Sunday.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| רַ֧בְתָּ | ravta | you have conducted | H7378 → | |
| אֲדֹנָ֛י | ʾadonai | O Lord | H136 → | 440 times |
| רִיבֵ֥י | rivei | [the] cases of | H7379 → | |
| נַפְשִׁ֖י | nafshi | self my | H5315 → | 754 times |
| גָּאַ֥לְתָּ | gaalta | you have redeemed | H1350 → | |
| חַיָּֽי׃ | chaiyai | life my | H2416 → | 498 times |
רַ֧בְתָּyou have conducted
ravtaH7378 →
אֲדֹנָ֛יO Lord
ʾadonaiH136 →440 times
רִיבֵ֥י[the] cases of
riveiH7379 →
נַפְשִׁ֖יself my
nafshiH5315 →754 times
גָּאַ֥לְתָּyou have redeemed
gaaltaH1350 →
חַיָּֽי׃life my
chaiyaiH2416 →498 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
Psalms 34:22The LORD redeems His servants, and none who take refuge in Him will be condemned.
it leads to
- Psalms 103:4
who redeems your life from the Pit and crowns you with loving devotion and compassion,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Peter 1:18–19
For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life you inherited from your forefathers,
- Psalms 31:5
Into Your hands I commit my spirit; You have redeemed me, O LORD, God of truth.
- Psalms 103:4
Through
Psalms 103:4who redeems your life from the Pit and crowns you with loving devotion and compassion,
it leads to
- Psalms 71:23
When I sing praise to You my lips will shout for joy, along with my soul, which You have redeemed.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 34:22
The LORD redeems His servants, and none who take refuge in Him will be condemned.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 56:13
For You have delivered my soul from death, and my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before God in the light of life.
- Psalms 103:12
As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.
- Psalms 8:5
You made him a little lower than the angels; You crowned him with glory and honor.
- Psalms 71:23
Where this verse is studied
About Lamentations
This page draws on Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 579: “God Pleading For Saints, And Saints Pleading For God” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Lamentations.