Christian Standard Bible
Lamentations 5:13
13Young men labor at millstones; boys stumble under loads of wood.
Lamentations 5:13 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)They took the young men to grind, and the children fell under the wood.
- New International Version (NIV)Young men toil at the millstones; boys stagger under loads of wood.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Young men are compelled to grind at the mill, and boys stagger under loads of wood.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Young men ground at the millstones; Boys staggered under loads of wood.
Context of Lamentations 5:13
11Women have been raped in Zion, virgins in the cities of Judah. 12Princes have been hung up by their hands; elders are shown no respect. Young men labor at millstones; boys stumble under loads of wood. 14The elders have left the city gate, the young men, their music. 15Joy has left our hearts; our dancing has turned to mourning.
Read all of Lamentations 5Lamentations 5:13 word by word
בַּחוּרִים֙ טְח֣וֹן נָשָׂ֔אוּ וּנְעָרִ֖ים בָּעֵ֥ץ כָּשָֽׁלוּ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Lamentations 5:13
- Exodus 11:5and every firstborn male in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne to the firstborn of the servant girl who is at the grindstones, as well as every firstborn of the livestock.
- Judges 16:21The Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes. They brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles, and he was forced to grind grain in the prison.
- Job 31:10let my own wife grind grain for another man, and let other men sleep with her.
- Isaiah 47:2Take millstones and grind flour; remove your veil, strip off your skirt, bare your thigh, wade through the streams.
- Exodus 1:11So the Egyptians assigned taskmasters over the Israelites to oppress them with forced labor. They built Pithom and Rameses as supply cities for Pharaoh.
- Exodus 2:11Years later, after Moses had grown up, he went out to his own people and observed their forced labor. He saw an Egyptian striking a Hebrew, one of his people.
- Exodus 23:5“If you see the donkey of someone who hates you lying helpless under its load, and you want to refrain from helping it, you must help with it.
- Nehemiah 5:1There was a widespread outcry from the people and their wives against their Jewish countrymen.
- Isaiah 58:6Isn’t this the fast I choose: To break the chains of wickedness, to untie the ropes of the yoke, to set the oppressed free, and to tear off every yoke?
- Matthew 23:4They tie up heavy loads that are hard to carry and put them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves aren’t willing to lift a finger to move them.
Commentaries on Lamentations 5:13
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 13They took the young men to grind - This was the work of female slaves. See the note on Isaiah 47:2.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 13They took the young men to grind - Or, “The young men” have borne the mill, a menial and laborious task usually performed by slaves (compare Isaiah 47:2). The children fell under the wood - Or, lads have stumbled under burdens of wood. By lads are meant youths up to the age of military service; another form of menial labor.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 12-17These terrible things happened because the people had sinned (see Isaiah 24:7–12; Jeremiah 7:24; Jeremiah 13:18; Jeremiah 25:10–11; Amos 8:10).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1313. young men ... grind--The work of the lowest female slave was laid on young men (Jud 16:21; Job 31:10). children fell under ... wood--Mere children had to bear burdens of wood so heavy that they sank beneath them.Read the comment
Topics related to Lamentations 5:13
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Lamentations 5
- 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
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