Lamentations 1:17

Lamentations 1:17 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Zion spreadeth forth her hands, and there is none to comfort her: the Lord hath commanded concerning Jacob, that his adversaries should be round about him: Jerusalem is as a menstruous woman among them.
• New International Version (NIV)Zion stretches out her hands, but there is no one to comfort her. The Lord has decreed for Jacob that his neighbors become his foes; Jerusalem has become an unclean thing among them.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Zion stretches out her hands, but there is none to comfort her; the Lord has commanded against Jacob that his neighbors should be his foes; Jerusalem has become a filthy thing among them.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Zion spreads out her hands, But no one comforts her; The Lord has commanded concerning Jacob That those around him become his adversaries; Jerusalem has become an unclean thing among them.

Context of Lamentations 1:17

15The Lord has rejected all the mighty men within me. He has summoned an army against me to crush my young warriors. The Lord has trampled Virgin Daughter Judah like grapes in a winepress. 16I weep because of these things; my eyes flow with tears. For there is no one nearby to comfort me, no one to keep me alive. My children are desolate because the enemy has prevailed. Zion stretches out her hands; there is no one to comfort her. The Lord has issued a decree against Jacob that his neighbors should be his adversaries. Jerusalem has become something impure among them. 18The Lord is just, for I have rebelled against his command. Listen, all you people; look at my pain. My young women and young men have gone into captivity. 19I called to my lovers, but they betrayed me. My priests and elders perished in the city while searching for food to keep themselves alive.

Lamentations 1:17 word by word

פֵּֽרְשָׂ֨ה צִיּ֜וֹן בְּיָדֶ֗יהָ אֵ֤ין מְנַחֵם֙ לָ֔הּ צִוָּ֧ה יְהוָ֛ה לְיַעֲקֹ֖ב סְבִיבָ֣יו צָרָ֑יו הָיְתָ֧ה יְרוּשָׁלִַ֛ם לְנִדָּ֖ה בֵּינֵיהֶֽם׃ סRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Zionצִיּוֹןtsîyôn · ZionH6726
• spreadeth forthפָּרַשׂpâraώ · to spreadH6566
• her handsיָדyâd · handH3027
• none to comfortנָחַםnâcham · to be sorry: comfortH5162
• her: the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• hath commandedצָוָהtsâvâh · to commandH6680
• concerning Jacobיַעֲקֹבya‛ăqôb · JacobH3290
• his adversariesצַרtsar tsâr · enemyH6862
• round aboutסָבִיבsâbîyb sebîybâh · around: neighoursH5439
• him: Jerusalemיְרוּשָׁלִַ֫ם, יְרוּשְׁלֵםyerûshâlaim yerûshâlayim · JerusalemH3389
• is as a menstruous womanנִדָּהniddâh · impurityH5079

Cross-references for Lamentations 1:17

• 1 Kings 8:22Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the entire congregation of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven.
• Isaiah 1:15When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will refuse to look at you; even if you offer countless prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.
• Jeremiah 4:31I hear a cry like a woman in labor, a cry of anguish like one bearing her first child. The cry of Daughter Zion gasping for breath, stretching out her hands: “Woe is me, for my life is weary because of the murderers!”
• Lamentations 1:2She weeps bitterly during the night, with tears on her cheeks. There is no one to offer her comfort, not one from all her lovers. All her friends have betrayed her; they have become her enemies.
• Lamentations 2:1How the Lord has overshadowed Daughter Zion with his anger! He has thrown down Israel’s glory from heaven to earth. He did not acknowledge his footstool in the day of his anger.
• 2 Kings 24:2The Lord sent Chaldean, Aramean, Moabite, and Ammonite raiders against Jehoiakim. He sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the Lord he had spoken through his servants the prophets.
• 2 Kings 25:1In the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon advanced against Jerusalem with his entire army. They laid siege to the city and built a siege wall against it all around.
• Jeremiah 6:3Shepherds and their flocks will come against her; they will pitch their tents all around her. Each will pasture his own portion.
• Jeremiah 16:6“Both great and small will die in this land without burial. No lament will be made for them, nor will anyone cut himself or shave his head for them.
• Jeremiah 21:4‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I am about to repel the weapons of war in your hands, those you are using to fight the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the wall, and I will bring them into the center of this city.
• Jeremiah 34:22I am about to give the command — this is the Lord’s declaration — and I will bring them back to this city. They will fight against it, capture it, and burn it. I will make Judah’s cities a desolation, without inhabitant.”
• Ezekiel 7:23Forge the chain, for the land is filled with crimes of bloodshed, and the city is filled with violence.
• Hosea 8:8Israel is swallowed up! Now they are among the nations like discarded pottery.
• Luke 19:43For the days will come on you when your enemies will build a barricade around you, surround you, and hem you in on every side.
• Lamentations 1:9Her uncleanness stains her skirts. She never considered her end. Her downfall was astonishing; there was no one to comfort her. Lord, look on my affliction, for the enemy boasts.
• Lamentations 4:15“Stay away! Unclean!” people shouted at them. “Away, away! Don’t touch us!” So they wandered aimlessly. It was said among the nations, “They can stay here no longer.”

Commentaries on Lamentations 1:17

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 17Zion spreadeth forth her hands - Extending the hands is the form in supplication. Jerusalem is as a menstruous woman - To whom none dared to approach, either to help or comfort, because of the law, Leviticus 15:19-27.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 17Spreadeth forth her hands - In prayer Exodus 9:29, Exodus 9:33, but Zion entreats in vain. There is no one to comfort her - not God, for He is chastising her, nor man, for all the neighboring nations have become her enemies. See Lamentations 1:2. That his adversaries … - Rather, that those round about him should be his adversaries; all the neighboring states should regard him with aversion. Jerusalem is … - i. e. is become an abomination. The words are…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. 1-22Chapter 1 mourns the destruction and desolation of Jerusalem, recognizing that this was God’s well-deserved judgment on Israel’s sins.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1717. Like a woman in labor-throes (Jr 4:31). menstruous woman--held unclean, and shunned by all; separated from her husband and from the temple (compare La 1:8; Le 14:19, &c.). Tzaddi.Read the comment

Topics related to Lamentations 1:17

• Menstruation

In the dictionaries

• Jacob
• Jerusalem
• Jacob, Israel
• Faint
• Poetry
• Acrostic
• Alphabet
• 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