Lamentations 4:19 BSB

Lamentations 4:19

Those who chased us were swifter than the eagles in the sky; they pursued us over the mountains and ambushed us in the wilderness.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

Our pursuers were swifter than the eagles of the heavens: They chased us upon the mountains, they laid wait for us in the wilderness.

KJV

Our persecutors are swifter than the eagles of the heaven: they pursued us upon the mountains, they laid wait for us in the wilderness.

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Commentary

3 voices

John Gill

1697–1771

Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763)

Our persecutors are swifter than the eagles of the heavens,.... That fly in the heavens; and which, as they have a quick sight to discern their prey afar off, are very swift to pursue it; they are the swiftest of birds, and are so to a proverb. Apuleius (i) represents the swift pursuit of their prey, and sudden falling upon it, to be like thunder and lightning.

The record, by era

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible (1832)

They pursued us upon the mountains - They hunted down the poor Jews like wild beasts in every part of the country by their marauding parties, whilst the great army besieged Jerusalem. But this may apply to the pursuit of Zedekiah. See what follows.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

The last times just before the taking of the city. There was no place of escape; the foe intercepted those wishing to escape from the famine-stricken city, "on the mountains and in the wilderness." swifter . . . than . . . eagles--the Chaldean cavalry (Jer 4:13). pursued--literally, "to be hot"; then, "to pursue hotly" (Ge 31:36).

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

11 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
קַלִּ֤ים	ka.Lim	swift	H7031 →
הָיוּ֙	ha.Yu	they were	H1961 →
רֹדְפֵ֔ינוּ	ro.de.Fei.nu	pursuers our	H7291 →
מִנִּשְׁרֵ֖י	mi.nish.Rei	more than [the] eagles of	H5404 →
שָׁמָ֑יִם	sha.Ma.yim	heaven	H8064 →
עַל־	'al-	on	H5921 →
הֶהָרִ֣ים	he.ha.Rim	the mountains	H2022 →
דְּלָקֻ֔נוּ	de.la.Ku.nu	they hotly pursued us	H1814 →
בַּמִּדְבָּ֖ר	ba.mid.Bar	in the wilderness	H4057 →
אָ֥רְבוּ	'A.re.vu	they lay in wait	H693 →
לָֽנוּ׃ ס	La.nu	for us

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Habakkuk 1:8
Their horses are swifter than leopards, fiercer than wolves of the night. Their horsemen charge ahead, and their cavalry comes from afar. They fly like a vulture, swooping down to devour.
leads to
- Jeremiah 4:13
  Behold, he advances like the clouds, his chariots like the whirlwind. His horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us, for we are ruined!
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
Through
Hosea 8:1
Put the ram’s horn to your lips! An eagle looms over the house of the LORD, because the people have transgressed My covenant and rebelled against My law.
leads to
- Deuteronomy 28:49
  The LORD will bring a nation from afar, from the ends of the earth, to swoop down upon you like an eagle—a nation whose language you will not understand,
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
- Hosea 6:7
  But they, like Adam, have transgressed the covenant; there they were unfaithful to Me.
- Hosea 5:8
  Blow the ram’s horn in Gibeah, the trumpet in Ramah; raise the battle cry in Beth-aven: Lead on, O Benjamin!
Through
Jeremiah 4:13
Behold, he advances like the clouds, his chariots like the whirlwind. His horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us, for we are ruined!
leads to
- Isaiah 19:1
  This is the burden against Egypt: Behold, the LORD rides on a swift cloud; He is coming to Egypt. The idols of Egypt will tremble before Him, and the hearts of the Egyptians will…
- Isaiah 66:15
  For behold, the LORD will come with fire—His chariots are like a whirlwind—to execute His anger with fury and His rebuke with flames of fire.
- Isaiah 5:28
  Their arrows are sharpened, and all their bows are strung. The hooves of their horses are like flint; their chariot wheels are like a whirlwind.
- Habakkuk 1:8
  Their horses are swifter than leopards, fiercer than wolves of the night. Their horsemen charge ahead, and their cavalry comes from afar. They fly like a vulture, swooping down to devour.

About Lamentations

People Mourn over the Destruction of Jerusalem — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

Lamentations: the study guide →Read chapter 4 →The featured study →

Continue: Lamentations 4 →

01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

06About Lamentations

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

About Lamentations