Lamentations 1:19

Lamentations 1:19 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)I called for my lovers, but they deceived me: my priests and mine elders gave up the ghost in the city, while they sought their meat to relieve their souls.
• New International Version (NIV)“I called to my allies but they betrayed me. My priests and my elders perished in the city while they searched for food to keep themselves alive.
• English Standard Version (ESV)"I called to my lovers, but they deceived me; my priests and elders perished in the city, while they sought food to revive their strength.
• New King James Version (NKJV)“I called for my lovers, But they deceived me; My priests and my elders Breathed their last in the city, While they sought food To restore their life.

Context of Lamentations 1:19

17Zion stretches out her hands, But there is no comforter for her. The Lord has commanded concerning Jacob That his neighbors should be his enemies; Jerusalem has become a filthy thing [an object of contempt] among them. 18“The Lord is righteous and just; For I have rebelled against His commandment (His word). Hear now, all you peoples, And look at my pain; My virgins and my young men Have gone into captivity. I [Jerusalem] called to my lovers (political allies), but they deceived me. My priests and my elders perished in the city While they looked for food to restore their strength. 20See, O Lord, how distressed I am! My spirit is deeply disturbed; My heart is overturned within me and cannot rest, For I have been very rebellious. In the street the sword kills and bereaves; In the house there is [famine, disease and] death! 21People have heard that I groan, That I have no comforter [in You]. All my enemies have heard of my desperation; They are delighted [O Lord] that You have done it. Oh, that You would bring the day [of judgment] which You have proclaimed So that they will become like me.

Lamentations 1:19 word by word

קָרָ֤אתִי לַֽמְאַהֲבַי֙ הֵ֣מָּה רִמּ֔וּנִי כֹּהֲנַ֥י וּזְקֵנַ֖י בָּעִ֣יר גָּוָ֑עוּ כִּֽי־בִקְשׁ֥וּ אֹ֙כֶל֙ לָ֔מוֹ וְיָשִׁ֖יבוּ אֶת־נַפְשָֽׁם׃ סRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• I calledקָרָאqârâ' · to call: call toH7121
• for my loversאָהֵב'âhab 'âhêb · to love: loverH157
• they deceivedרָמָהrâmâh · to deceiveH7411
• me: my priestsכֹּהֵןkôhên · priestH3548
• and mine eldersזָקֵןzâqên · old: elderH2205
• gave up the ghostגָּוַעgâva‛ · to dieH1478
• in the cityעִיר‛îyr ‛âr ‛âyar · cityH5892
• while they soughtבָּקַשׁbâqash · to seekH1245
• their meatאֹ֫כֶל'ôkel · foodH400
• to relieveשׁוּבshûb · to return: rescueH7725
• their soulsנֶ֫פֶשׁnephesh · soul: lifeH5315

Cross-references for Lamentations 1:19

• Lamentations 1:2She weeps bitterly in the night And her tears are [constantly] on her cheeks; Among all her lovers (political allies) She has no one to comfort her. All her friends have dealt treacherously with her; They have become her enemies.
• Lamentations 4:17[And as for us,] yet our eyes failed, Looking in vain for help. Watching [from the towers] we watched For a nation that could not save.
• Job 19:13“He has put my brothers far from me, And my acquaintances are completely estranged from me.
• Jeremiah 2:28But where are your gods Which you made for yourself? Let them get up, if they can save you In the time of your trouble! For [as many as] the number of your cities Are your gods, O Judah. [Why do not your many man-made idols run to help you?]
• Jeremiah 30:14All your lovers (allies) have forgotten you; They do not seek and long for you. For I have injured you with the wound of an enemy, With the punishment of a cruel and merciless foe, Because your guilt is great And your sins are glaring and innumerable.
• Jeremiah 37:7“Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘This is what you are to say to the king of Judah, who sent you to Me to inquire of Me: “Behold, Pharaoh’s army, which has come out to help you, will return to Egypt, to their own land.
• Lamentations 1:11All her people groan, seeking bread; They have exchanged their desirable and precious things for food To restore their lives. “See, O Lord, and consider How despised and repulsive I have become!”
• Lamentations 2:20See, O Lord, and look! With whom have You dealt this way? Should women eat their offspring, The little ones who were born healthy and beautiful? Should priest and prophet be killed In the sanctuary of the Lord?
• Lamentations 4:7Her princes were purer than snow, They were whiter than milk [in appearance]; They were more ruddy in body than rubies, Their polishing was like lapis lazuli (sapphire).
• Lamentations 5:12Princes were hung by their hands; Elders were not respected.
• Jeremiah 14:15Therefore, thus says the Lord concerning the [false] prophets who are prophesying in My Name, although I did not send them—yet they keep saying, ‘Sword and famine shall not be in this land’: by sword and famine those prophets shall meet their end and be consumed.
• Jeremiah 23:11“For both [false] prophet and priest are ungodly (profane, polluted); Even in My house I have found their wickedness,” says the Lord.
• Jeremiah 27:13Why will you die, you and your people, by the sword, by famine and by virulent disease, as the Lord has spoken to any nation which will not serve the king of Babylon?

Commentaries on Lamentations 1:19

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 19I called for my lovers - My allies; the Egyptians and others.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 19I called for … - Rather, to “my lovers.” While they sought their meat - literally, “for they sought food for themselves to revive their souls.” Complete the sense by adding, “and found none.”Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 12-22Verses 12-22 Jerusalem, sitting dejected on the ground, calls on those that passed by, to consider whether her example did not concern them. Her outward sufferings were great, but her inward sufferings were harder to bear, through the sense of guilt. Sorrow for sin must be great sorrow, and must affect the soul. Here we see the evil of sin, and may take warning to flee from the wrath to come. Whatever may be learned from the sufferings of Jerusalem, far…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 19I called out to my lovers: Egypt was very interested in Judah because Judah controlled the only good route to the north. However, Egypt abandoned Judah when Babylon attacked Jerusalem (Jeremiah 37:5–11). When there was little rain in the fall and spring in Palestine, a summer without rain could ruin crops and cause a food shortage. The food supply also ran out during the long siege of a city, which lasted from January 588 to July 586 BC. Many people…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1919. lovers--(La 1:2; Jr 30:14). elders--in dignity, not merely age. sought ... meat--Their dignity did not exempt them from having to go and seek bread (La 1:11). Resh.Read the comment

Topics related to Lamentations 1:19

• Death
• Famine
• Government

In the dictionaries

• Faint
• Ghost
• Poetry
• Acrostic
• Alphabet
• Betray
• Lamentations, Book of
• Poetry, Hebrew
• Proverbs, the Book of

Commentaries on Lamentations 1

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings