Lamentations 5:17
in Lamentations 5Because of this, our hearts are faint; because of these, our eyes grow dim—
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For this our heart is faint; For these things our eyes are dim;
KJV
For this our heart is faint; for these things our eyes are dim.
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This verse in Lamentations 5
Commentary
6 notes on this verseSecond, is the glory of the temple. Here sadness is placed upon it. That is, due to a multitude of tears. For, as the prophet Jeremiah 8:18 declares: "My grief is beyond healing, my heart is sick within me."
This site's exposition
The crown has fallen from our head
on Lamentations 5:16-18
Verse 16 mourns that “The crown has fallen from our head” and names the cause as confession: “we have sinned”. The body answers with faint hearts and dim eyes, and the grief lands on one hill, “Mount Zion, which lies desolate, patrolled by foxes”.
This site's exposition
our hearts are faint
Albert Barnes ties the first cause to the fallen crown of verse 16, and verse 18 names the second as Mount Zion. Jeremiah speaks of his own heart growing faint in Jeremiah 8:18. Thomas Aquinas reads the dim eyes as eyes worn out by tears.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
): For this our heart is faint, and sinks under the load of its own heaviness; for these things our eyes are dim, and our sight is gone, as is usual in a deliquium, or fainting fit. "It is because of the mountain of Zion, which is desolate, the holy mountain, and the temple built upon that mountain.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens+odd-straight-quotes
For this our heart is faint,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Is faint ... - Or, has become “faint” - have become “dim.” “For this,” i. e. for the loss of our crown etc.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
For this our hearts ached, etc. Because of that which is delineated in the verse following, “Over Mount Tzion, which was devastated [and] foxes meandered over it.” 13 Below, verse. Our hearts ache only for the destruction of Mount Tzion, and nothing else. (Palgei Mayim)
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| זֶ֗ה | zeh | this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| הָיָ֤ה | hayah | it has become | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| דָוֶה֙ | daveh | faint | H1739 → | |
| לִבֵּ֔נוּ | libenu | heart our | H3820 → | 595 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| אֵ֖לֶּה | ʾeleh | these [things] | H428 → | |
| חָשְׁכ֥וּ | chashekhu | they have grown dim | H2821 → | |
| עֵינֵֽינוּ׃ | ʾeineinu | eyes our | H5869 → | 887 times |
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
זֶ֗הthis
zehH2088 →1180 times
הָיָ֤הit has become
hayahH1961 →3559 times
דָוֶה֙faint
davehH1739 →
לִבֵּ֔נוּheart our
libenuH3820 →595 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
אֵ֖לֶּהthese [things]
ʾelehH428 →
חָשְׁכ֥וּthey have grown dim
chashekhuH2821 →
עֵינֵֽינוּ׃eyes our
ʾeineinuH5869 →887 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
Isaiah 38:14I chirp like a swallow or crane; I moan like a dove. My eyes grow weak as I look upward. O Lord, I am oppressed; be my security.”
it leads to
- Isaiah 59:11
We all growl like bears and moan like doves. We hope for justice, but find none, for salvation, but it is far from us.
- Psalms 69:3
I am weary from my crying; my throat is parched. My eyes fail, looking for my God.
- Nahum 2:7
It is decreed that the city be exiled and carried away; her maidservants moan like doves, and beat upon their breasts.
- Job 30:29
I have become a brother of jackals, a companion of ostriches.
- Psalms 123:1–4
I lift up my eyes to You, the One enthroned in heaven.
- Isaiah 59:11
Through
Isaiah 1:5Why do you want more beatings? Why do you keep rebelling? Your head has a massive wound, and your whole heart is afflicted.
it leads to
- Daniel 9:8–11
O LORD, we are covered with shame—our kings, our leaders, and our fathers—because we have sinned against You.
- Daniel 9:8–11
Through
Job 17:7My eyes have grown dim with grief, and my whole body is but a shadow.
it leads to
- Psalms 31:9–10
Be merciful to me, O LORD, for I am in distress; my eyes fail from sorrow, my soul and body as well.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 31:9–10
Through
Lamentations 2:11My eyes fail from weeping; I am churning within. My heart is poured out in grief over the destruction of the daughter of my people, because children and infants faint in the streets of…
it leads to
- Lamentations 1:20
See, O LORD, how distressed I am! I am churning within; my heart is pounding within me, for I have been most rebellious. Outside, the sword bereaves; inside, there is death.
- Lamentations 1:20
Where this verse is studied
About Lamentations
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Lamentations.