Lamentations 4:18

Lamentations 4:18 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)They hunt our steps, that we cannot go in our streets: our end is near, our days are fulfilled; for our end is come.
• New International Version (NIV)People stalked us at every step, so we could not walk in our streets. Our end was near, our days were numbered, for our end had come.
• English Standard Version (ESV)They dogged our steps so that we could not walk in our streets; our end drew near; our days were numbered, for our end had come.
• New King James Version (NKJV)They tracked our steps So that we could not walk in our streets. Our end was near; Our days were over, For our end had come.

Context of Lamentations 4:18

16The presence of the LORD has scattered them; He regards them no more. The priests are shown no honor; the elders find no favor. 17All the while our eyes were failing as we looked in vain for help. We watched from our towers for a nation that could not save us. They stalked our every step, so that we could not walk in our streets. Our end drew near, our time ran out, for our end had come! 19Those who chased us were swifter than the eagles in the sky; they pursued us over the mountains and ambushed us in the wilderness. 20The LORD’s anointed, the breath of our life, was captured in their pits. We had said of him, “Under his shadow we will live among the nations.”

Lamentations 4:18 word by word

צָד֣וּ צְעָדֵ֔ינוּ מִלֶּ֖כֶת בִּרְחֹבֹתֵ֑ינוּ קָרַ֥ב קִצֵּ֛ינוּ מָלְא֥וּ יָמֵ֖ינוּ כִּי־בָ֥א קִצֵּֽינוּ׃ סRead the interlinear

• They stalkedצוּדtsûd · to huntH6679
• our every stepצַ֫עַדtsa‛ad · stepH6806
• so that we could not walkהָלַךְhâlak · to go: walkH1980
• in our streetsרְחוֹבrechôb rechôb · street/plazaH7339
• Our endקֵץqêts · endH7093
• drew nearקָרַבqârab · to present: comeH7126
• our timeיוֹםyôm · dayH3117
• our timeכִּיkîy · forH3588
• ran outמָלֵאmâlê' mâlâ' · to fillH4390
• had comeבּוֹאbô' · to come (in): comeH935

Cross-references for Lamentations 4:18

• Lamentations 3:52Without cause my enemies hunted me like a bird.
• 1 Samuel 24:14Against whom has the king of Israel come out? Whom are you pursuing? A dead dog? A flea?
• 2 Kings 25:4Then the city was breached; and though the Chaldeans had surrounded the city, all the men of war fled by night by way of the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden. They headed toward the Arabah,
• Job 10:16Should I hold my head high, You would hunt me like a lion, and again display Your power against me.
• Psalms 140:11May no slanderer be established in the land; may calamity hunt down the man of violence.
• Jeremiah 16:16But for now I will send for many fishermen, declares the LORD, and they will catch them. After that I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them down on every mountain and hill, even from the clefts of the rocks.
• Jeremiah 39:4When Zedekiah king of Judah and all the soldiers saw them, they fled. They left the city at night by way of the king’s garden, through the gate between the two walls, and they went out along the route to the Arabah.
• Jeremiah 52:7Then the city was breached; and though the Chaldeans had surrounded the city, all the men of war fled the city by night by way of the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden. They headed toward the Arabah,
• Jeremiah 1:12“You have observed correctly,” said the LORD, “for I am watching over My word to accomplish it.”
• Jeremiah 51:33For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “The Daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time it is trampled. In just a little while her harvest time will come.”
• Ezekiel 7:2“O son of man, this is what the Lord GOD says to the land of Israel: ‘The end! The end has come upon the four corners of the land.
• Ezekiel 12:22“Son of man, what is this proverb that you have in the land of Israel: ‘The days go by, and every vision fails’?
• Amos 8:2“Amos, what do you see?” He asked. “A basket of summer fruit,” I replied. So the LORD said to me, “The end has come for My people Israel; I will no longer spare them.”

Commentaries on Lamentations 4:18

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 18We cannot go in our streets - Supposed to refer to the darts and other missiles cast from the mounds which they had raised on the outside of the walls, by which those who walked in the streets were grievously annoyed, and could not shield themselves.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 17-20Verses 17-20 A rapid sketch of the last days of the siege and the capture of the king. Lamentations 4:17 Rather, “Still do our eyes waste away looking for our vain help.” In our watching - Or, “on our watchtower.” Lamentations 4:18 Or, They hunted “our steps that we could not go out into the streets. To hunt” means here to lie in ambush, and catch by snares; and the streets are literally “the wide places,” especially at the gates. Toward the end of the…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 13-20Verses 13-20 Nothing ripens a people more for ruin, nor fills the measure faster, than the sins of priests and prophets. The king himself cannot escape, for Divine vengeance pursues him. Our anointed King alone is the life of our souls; we may safely live under his shadow, and rejoice in Him in the midst of our enemies, for He is the true God and eternal life.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-22Although God’s people still experience his judgment, they will soon experience restoration.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1818. They--the Chaldeans. cannot go--without danger. Koph.Read the comment

In the dictionaries

• Comparable
• Dim
• Poetry
• Acrostic
• Alphabet
• Lamentations, Book of
• Poetry, Hebrew
• Proverbs, the Book of
• Siege

Commentaries on Lamentations 4

• 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
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings