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 treated all the warriors inside my ⌞walls⌟ with contempt. He called an army to defeat my young men. The Lord trampled the people of Judah in a winepress. 16I’m crying because of ⌞all⌟ these things. My eyes—my eyes flow with tears. No one can give me the comfort I need to keep me alive. Everyone is too far away from me. My children are devastated because my enemies have won.” Zion holds out its hands. No one offers it comfort. The Lord has given this order about Jacob: His own neighbors will become his opponents. Jerusalem has become a filthy thing among them. 18“The Lord is right in what he did, because I rebelled against his word. Please listen, all you people, and look at my pain. My young women and young men have gone into captivity. 19I called for those who love me, but they betrayed me. My priests and leaders breathed their last breath in the city, looking 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 8:22In the presence of the entire assembly of Israel, Solomon stood in front of the Lord’s altar. He stretched out his hands toward heaven
• Isaiah 1:15So when you stretch out your hands ⌞in prayer⌟, I will turn my eyes away from you. Even though you offer many prayers, I will not listen because your hands are covered with blood.
• Jeremiah 4:31I hear a woman in labor. I hear the woman cry with anguish as she gives birth to her first child. My people Zion are gasping for breath. They are stretching out their hands, saying, “How horrible it is for us! We’re defenseless in the presence of murderers!”
• Lamentations 1:2Jerusalem cries bitterly at night with tears running down its cheeks. Out of all those who love the city, no one offers it comfort. All of Jerusalem’s friends have betrayed it and become its enemies.
• Lamentations 2:1“Look how the Lord has covered the people of Zion with the cloud of his anger! He has thrown down Israel’s beauty from heaven to earth. He didn’t ⌞even⌟ remember his footstool on the day of his anger.
• 2 Kings 24:2The Lord sent raiding parties of Babylonians, Arameans, Moabites, and Ammonites against Jehoiakim to destroy Judah as the Lord had predicted through his servants the prophets.
• 2 Kings 25:1On the tenth day of the tenth month of the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked Jerusalem with his entire army. They set up camp and built dirt ramps around the city walls.
• Jeremiah 6:3With their flocks, shepherds will come to them, pitch their tents all around them, and each of them will tend his own flock.
• Jeremiah 16:6“Old and young alike will die in this land. No one will mourn for them or bury them. No one will cut his own body or shave his own head for them.
• Jeremiah 21:4‘This is what the Lord God of Israel says: I’m going to take your weapons away from you. You are using these weapons to fight the king of Babylon as well as the Babylonians who are now blockading you outside the wall. I will bring the Babylonians inside this city.
• Jeremiah 34:22I am going to give a command,” declares the Lord. “I will bring that army back to this city to attack it, capture it, and burn it down. I will destroy the cities of Judah so that no one will live there.”
• Ezekiel 7:23“Get the chains ready! The land is filled with murder, and the city is filled with violence.
• Hosea 8:8Israel will be swallowed up. It has already mixed in with the other nations. It has become worthless.
• Luke 19:43The time will come when enemy armies will build a wall to surround you and close you in on every side.
• Lamentations 1:9Jerusalem’s own filth ⌞covers⌟ its clothes. It gave no thought to its future. Its downfall was shocking. No one offers it comfort. ‘O Lord, look at my suffering, because my enemies have triumphed.’
• Lamentations 4:15‘Get away! You’re unclean,’ people yelled at them. ‘Get away! Get away! Don’t touch anyone.’ When they fled and wandered around, the people of the nations said, ‘They can’t stay here any 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