Lamentations 1:5

Lamentations 1:5 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Her adversaries are the chief, her enemies prosper; for the Lord hath afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions: her children are gone into captivity before the enemy.
• New International Version (NIV)Her foes have become her masters; her enemies are at ease. The Lord has brought her grief because of her many sins. Her children have gone into exile, captive before the foe.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Her foes have become the head; her enemies prosper, because the Lord has afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions; her children have gone away, captives before the foe.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Her adversaries have become the master, Her enemies prosper; For the Lord has afflicted her Because of the multitude of her transgressions. Her children have gone into captivity before the enemy.

Context of Lamentations 1:5

3The enemies have taken Judah's people away as slaves. The slaves have only trouble and difficult work. They now live among strangers. They have no rest, and they live far away from home. They cannot go away from those who do cruel things to them. 4Zion's streets are sad places now. Nobody comes to worship God there any longer. There is nothing to hear at the city gates. The priests are sad. Strangers are cruel to the young women. The people in Zion are very sad. The people's enemies rule them now. Those who hate them have plenty. The Lord has caused trouble for the people because they did so many wrong things. The enemies took the children away to work as slaves. 6Zion is not beautiful any longer. Her leaders are like animals without food. They are too weak to run from their enemies. 7Jerusalem's people are in trouble and they are away from their homes now. So they remember the good things that they had a long time ago. When their enemies came, nobody was there with them. Nobody helped them. Their enemies laughed when they destroyed Jerusalem.

Lamentations 1:5 word by word

הָי֨וּ צָרֶ֤יהָ לְרֹאשׁ֙ אֹיְבֶ֣יהָ שָׁל֔וּ כִּֽי־יְהוָ֥ה הוֹגָ֖הּ עַ֣ל רֹב־פְּשָׁעֶ֑יהָ עוֹלָלֶ֛יהָ הָלְכ֥וּ שְׁבִ֖י לִפְנֵי־צָֽר׃ סRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Her adversariesצַרtsar tsâr · enemyH6862
• are the chiefרֹאשׁrô'sh · head: leaderH7218
• her enemiesאֹיֵב'ôyêb 'ôyêb · enemyH341
• prosperשָׁלָהshâlâh shâlav · to prosperH7951
• for the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• hath afflictedיָגָהyâgâh · to sufferH3013
• her for the multitudeרֹבrôb · abundanceH7230
• of her transgressionsפֶּ֫שַׁעpesha‛ · transgressionH6588
• her childrenעוֹלֵל‛ôlêl ‛ôlâl · infantH5768
• are goneהָלַךְhâlak · to go: wentH1980
• into captivityשְׁבִיshebîy · captivityH7628
• beforeפָּנֶהpânîym · face: beforeH6440

Cross-references for Lamentations 1:5

• Lamentations 2:17The Lord has done what he decided to do. Yes, he has done what he told you about a long time ago. He has destroyed your city and he has not felt sorry about it. He has caused your enemies to be happy. He has made them strong so that they could win against you.
• Lamentations 3:46All our enemies have insulted us.
• Leviticus 26:17God will fight against you. Your enemies will win the war. They will become your rulers. Your soldiers will run away even when nobody is running after them.
• Deuteronomy 28:43Foreign people who live among you will become stronger and stronger. They will have more and more power over you, as you become weaker.
• Psalms 80:6You have caused the people who live near us to laugh at us. Our enemies insult us.
• Psalms 89:42You have made his enemies strong, so that they win against him and they are happy.
• Isaiah 63:18For only a short time, the holy place belonged to us, your special people. Then our enemies knocked down your temple.
• Jeremiah 12:7I have decided to turn away from my nation. I will leave the people that I chose to belong to me. I will put the people that I love under the power of their enemies.
• Micah 7:8My enemy, do not be happy because I am in trouble. I have fallen down, but I will get up. I am in the dark, but the Lord will be a light to me.
• Lamentations 1:18‘The Lord is right to punish us. We have not obeyed him. Listen, all people everywhere, and look at us. We are in very bad trouble. The enemy has taken away our young women and our young men to be slaves.’
• Lamentations 3:39He only punishes us when we do wrong things. We are still alive, so we should not be angry with God.
• Leviticus 26:15The people may not respect or obey God's rules. So they will not be doing what they promised to him.
• Deuteronomy 4:25One day, you will have lived in the land for a long time. You will have children and grandchildren. Remember that you still must not make any kind of image as your idol. That would be a sin. Do not do any evil things that will cause the Lord your God to become angry.
• Deuteronomy 28:15But if you refuse to listen to the Lord your God, all these curses will happen to you. So be careful to obey all his commands and rules that I am giving you today. If you do not obey the Lord, these curses will happen to you:
• Deuteronomy 29:18So be very careful that you do not turn away from the Lord our God to worship the gods of those nations. No man, woman, clan or tribe among you must ever want to do that. That would be like the root of a plant that gives fruits which are full of poison.
• Deuteronomy 31:16The Lord said to Moses, ‘You will soon die. After you die, the people will soon go away from me. They will start to worship foreign gods of the land where they are going. They will turn against me. They will not obey the covenant that I made with them.

Commentaries on Lamentations 1:5

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 5Her adversaries are the chief - They have now supreme dominion over the whole land.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 5Are the chief … prosper - Or, “are become the head” … are at rest. Judaea is so entirely crushed that her enemies did not need to take precautions against resistance on her part. Children - i. e. “young children,” who are driven before the enemy (literally the adversary), not as a flock of lambs which follow the shepherd, but for sale as slaves.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 5because of her many transgression: Judah's sins before the Babylonian invasion are described in 2 Kings 21:1–9, 16; 24:3–4 (compare 2 Chronicles 33:1–10, 22–23 and 2 Chronicles 36:11–16). Similarly, a list of Israel's sins before Assyria destroyed it is found in 2 Kings 17:14–23.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 55. the chief--rule her (De 28:43, 44). adversaries ... prosper; for the Lord--All the foes' attempts would have failed, had not God delivered His people into their hands (Jr 30:15). Vau.Read the comment

Topics related to Lamentations 1:5

• Afflictions and Adversities
• Captivity
• Chastisement
• Jerusalem

In the dictionaries

• Faint
• Poetry
• Acrostic
• Alphabet
• Lamentations, Book of
• Poetry, Hebrew
• Proverbs, the Book of
• Yahweh, Yah

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