Lamentations 1:4

Lamentations 1:4 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)The ways of Zion do mourn, because none come to the solemn feasts: all her gates are desolate: her priests sigh, her virgins are afflicted, and she is in bitterness.
• New International Version (NIV)The roads to Zion mourn, for no one comes to her appointed festivals. All her gateways are desolate, her priests groan, her young women grieve, and she is in bitter anguish.
• English Standard Version (ESV)The roads to Zion mourn, for none come to the festival; all her gates are desolate; her priests groan; her virgins have been afflicted, and she herself suffers bitterly.
• New King James Version (NKJV)The roads to Zion mourn Because no one comes to the set feasts. All her gates are desolate; Her priests sigh, Her virgins are afflicted, And she is in bitterness.

Context of Lamentations 1:4

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. 3Judah has gone into exile following affliction and harsh slavery; she lives among the nations but finds no place to rest. All her pursuers have overtaken her in narrow places. The roads to Zion mourn, for no one comes to the appointed festivals. All her gates are deserted; her priests groan, her young women grieve, and she herself is bitter. 5Her adversaries have become her masters; her enemies are at ease, for the Lord has made her suffer because of her many transgressions. Her children have gone away as captives before the adversary. 6All the splendor has vanished from Daughter Zion. Her leaders are like stags that find no pasture; they stumble away exhausted before the hunter.

Lamentations 1:4 word by word

דַּרְכֵ֨י צִיּ֜וֹן אֲבֵל֗וֹת מִבְּלִי֙ בָּאֵ֣י מוֹעֵ֔ד כָּל־שְׁעָרֶ֙יהָ֙ שֽׁוֹמֵמִ֔ין כֹּהֲנֶ֖יהָ נֶאֱנָחִ֑ים בְּתוּלֹתֶ֥יהָ נּוּג֖וֹת וְהִ֥יא מַר־לָֽהּ׃ סRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• The waysדֶּ֫רֶךְderek · way: roadH1870
• of Zionצִיּוֹןtsîyôn · ZionH6726
• do mournאָבֵל'âbêl · mourningH57
• because none comeבּוֹאbô' · to come (in): comeH935
• to the solemn feastsמוֹעֵדmô‛êd mô‛êd mô‛âdâh · meeting: festivalH4150
• all her gatesשַׁ֫עַרsha‛ar · gateH8179
• are desolateשָׁמֵםshâmêm · be desolate: destroyedH8074
• her priestsכֹּהֵןkôhên · priestH3548
• sighאָנַח'ânach · to sighH584
• her virginsבְּתוּלָהbethûlâh · virginH1330
• are afflictedיָגָהyâgâh · to sufferH3013
• in bitternessמָרַרmârar · to provokeH4843

Cross-references for Lamentations 1:4

• Lamentations 2:6He has wrecked his temple as if it were merely a shack in a field, destroying his place of meeting. The Lord has abolished appointed festivals and Sabbaths in Zion. He has despised king and priest in his fierce anger.
• Lamentations 5:13Young men labor at millstones; boys stumble under loads of wood.
• Isaiah 24:4The earth mourns and withers; the world wastes away and withers; the exalted people of the earth waste away.
• Jeremiah 14:2Judah mourns; her city gates languish. Her people are on the ground in mourning; Jerusalem’s cry rises up.
• Micah 3:12Therefore, because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become ruins, and the temple’s mountain will be a high thicket.
• Lamentations 2:9Zion’s gates have fallen to the ground; he has destroyed and shattered the bars on her gates. Her king and her leaders live among the nations, instruction is no more, and even her prophets receive no vision from the Lord.
• Jeremiah 9:11I will make Jerusalem a heap of rubble, a jackals’ den. I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, an uninhabited place.
• Jeremiah 10:22Listen! A noise — it is coming — a great commotion from the land to the north. The cities of Judah will be made desolate, a jackals’ den.
• Jeremiah 33:10“This is what the Lord says: In this place, which you say is a ruin, without people or animals — that is, in Judah’s cities and Jerusalem’s streets that are a desolation without people, without inhabitants, and without animals — there will be heard again
• Lamentations 1:11All her people groan while they search for bread. They have traded their precious belongings for food in order to stay alive. Lord, look and see how I have become despised.
• Lamentations 2:10The elders of Daughter Zion sit on the ground in silence. They have thrown dust on their heads and put on sackcloth. The young women of Jerusalem have bowed their heads to the ground.
• Isaiah 32:9Stand up, you complacent women; listen to me. Pay attention to what I say, you overconfident daughters.
• Joel 1:8Grieve like a young woman dressed in sackcloth, mourning for the husband of her youth.

Commentaries on Lamentations 1:4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4The ways of Zion do mourn - A fine prosopopoeia. The ways in which the people trod coming to the sacred solemnities, being now no longer frequented, are represented as shedding tears; and the gates themselves partake of the general distress. All poets of eminence among the Greeks and Romans have recourse to this image. So Moschus, in his Epitaph on Bion, ver. 1-3: - , ̔<-144 ̔ . , , . . . "Ye winds, with grief your waving summits bow, Ye Dorian fountains…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4Zion, as the holy city, is the symbol of the religious life of the people, just as Judah in the previous verse represents their national life. The “virgins” took a prominent part in all religious festivals Jeremiah 31:13; Exodus 15:20.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4Zion: In the Psalms and prophetic books, Zion represents the city of Jerusalem. In Lamentations, Zion is a poetic name for the city of Jerusalem. The writer uses this name even when the city lies in ruins (destroyed buildings and broken walls). Hebrews 12:22–24 speaks of the heavenly Zion (see also Revelation 14:1–5). The annual festivals in Jerusalem included: The Passover The Feast of Unleavened Bread The Feast of the Firstfruits (also called the Feast…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. feasts--the passover, pentecost (or the feast of weeks), and the feast of tabernacles. gates--once the place of concourse. He.Read the comment

Topics related to Lamentations 1:4

• Captivity
• Virgin
• Zion

In the dictionaries

• Faint
• Poetry
• Acrostic
• Alphabet
• Gate
• Lamentations, Book of
• Poetry, Hebrew
• Proverbs, the Book of
• Writing

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