Lamentations 5:18
in Lamentations 5because of Mount Zion, which lies desolate, patrolled by foxes.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For the mountain of Zion, which is desolate: The foxes walk upon it.
KJV
Because of the mountain of Zion, which is desolate, the foxes walk upon it.
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This verse in Lamentations 5
Commentary
8 notes on this verseThe foxes walk upon it - Foxes are very numerous in Palestine, see on Jdg 15:4 (note). It was usual among the Hebrews to consider all desolated land to be the resort of wild beasts; which is, in fact, the case every where when the inhabitants are removed from a country.
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
patrolled by foxes
Mount Zion, where the temple stood, lies desolate, and Albert Barnes takes the foxes as jackals that live only among ruins. The holy mountain had become wild land. Micah 3:12 had said Zion would be plowed like a field, and Thomas Aquinas reads this verse as that word come true.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
Here is indeed cause for sadness: "For Mount Zion which lies desolate; jackals prowl over it." That is, where the temple is. And: "jackals prowl over it." As if they were residing in remote desert places. Thus, the prophet Micah reports: "Therefore because of you …
A commentator
BonaventureCollations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 13 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
This refers much more directly to the time of the New Testament, when Scripture was made evident, and mostly toward the end, when those Scriptures were understood which had not been understood before. For then there shall be a "mountain," that is, the contemplative Church; …
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
Because of the mountain of Zion, which is desolate,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The foxes - Or, jackals. As these animals live among ruins, and shun the presence of man, it shows that Zion is laid waste and deserted.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
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)
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Adonoy, You. We know that You will remain forever. And because that is so..
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
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עַ֤ל | ʾal | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הַר־ | har- | [the] mountain of | H2022 → | |
| צִיּוֹן֙ | tziyon | Zion | H6726 → | 154 times |
| שֶׁשָּׁמֵ֔ם | sheshamem | that [is] desolate | H8074 → | 86 times |
| שׁוּעָלִ֖ים | shualim | foxes | H7776 → | |
| הִלְּכוּ־ | hilekhu- | they have prowled | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| בֽוֹ׃ פ | vo | on it |
עַ֤לon
ʾalH5921 →5755 times
הַר־[the] mountain of
har-H2022 →
צִיּוֹן֙Zion
tziyonH6726 →154 times
שֶׁשָּׁמֵ֔םthat [is] desolate
sheshamemH8074 →86 times
שׁוּעָלִ֖יםfoxes
shualimH7776 →
הִלְּכוּ־they have prowled
hilekhu-H1980 →1546 times
בֽוֹ׃ פon it
vo
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
Micah 3:12Therefore, because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, and the temple mount a wooded ridge.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 26:18
“Micah the Moreshite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah and told all the people of Judah that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Zion will be plowed like a…
- Psalms 79:1
The nations, O God, have invaded Your inheritance; they have defiled Your holy temple and reduced Jerusalem to rubble.
- Micah 4:1–2
In the last days the mountain of the house of the LORD will be established as the chief of the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and the peoples will stream to…
- Jeremiah 26:18
Through
Jeremiah 9:11“And I will make Jerusalem a heap of rubble, a haunt for jackals; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.”
it leads to
- Isaiah 25:2
Indeed, You have made the city a heap of rubble, the fortified town a ruin. The fortress of strangers is a city no more; it will never be rebuilt.
- Isaiah 34:13
Her towers will be overgrown with thorns, her fortresses with thistles and briers. She will become a haunt for jackals, an abode for ostriches.
- Isaiah 13:22
Hyenas will howl in her fortresses and jackals in her luxurious palaces. Babylon’s time is at hand, and her days will not be prolonged.
- Jeremiah 10:22
Listen! The sound of a report is coming— a great commotion from the land to the north. The cities of Judah will be made a desolation, a haunt for jackals.
- Jeremiah 51:37
Babylon will become a heap of rubble, a haunt for jackals, an object of horror and scorn, without inhabitant.
- Isaiah 25:2
Where this verse is studied
About Lamentations
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bonaventure, Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 13; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Lamentations.