English Standard Version
Lamentations 5:13
13Young men are compelled to grind at the mill, and boys stagger 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.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Young men ground at the millstones; Boys staggered under loads of wood.
- New Living Translation (NLT)Young men are led away to work at millstones, and boys stagger under heavy loads of wood.
Context of Lamentations 5:13
11Women are raped in Zion, young women in the towns of Judah. 12Princes are hung up by their hands; no respect is shown to the elders. Young men are compelled to grind at the mill, and boys stagger under loads of wood. 14The old men have left the city gate, the young men their music. 15The joy of our hearts has ceased; our dancing has been 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 in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the cattle.
- Judges 16:21And the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes and brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles. And he ground at the mill in the prison.
- Job 31:10then let my wife grind for another, and let others bow down on her.
- Isaiah 47:2Take the millstones and grind flour, put off your veil, strip off your robe, uncover your legs, pass through the rivers.
- Exodus 1:11Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. They built for Pharaoh store cities, Pithom and Raamses.
- Exodus 2:11One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people.
- Exodus 23:5If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying down under its burden, you shall refrain from leaving him with it; you shall rescue it with him.
- Nehemiah 5:1Now there arose a great outcry of the people and of their wives against their Jewish brothers.
- Isaiah 58:6"Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?
- Matthew 23:4They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.
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
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries