Lamentations 4:18

Lamentations 4:18 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)They hunt our steps, that we cannot go in our streets: our end is near, our days are fulfilled; for our end is come.
• New International Version (NIV)People stalked us at every step, so we could not walk in our streets. Our end was near, our days were numbered, for our end had come.
• English Standard Version (ESV)They dogged our steps so that we could not walk in our streets; our end drew near; our days were numbered, for our end had come.
• New King James Version (NKJV)They tracked our steps So that we could not walk in our streets. Our end was near; Our days were over, For our end had come.

Context of Lamentations 4:18

16The Lord himself has scattered them. He will no longer look favorably on them. They no longer respected the priests, nor did they honor their older leaders.” 17“We are still straining our eyes, trying in vain to find help. We waited and waited for a nation that didn’t save us. ⌞The enemy⌟ kept tracking us down, so we couldn’t even go out into the streets. Our end was near. Our time was up. Our end had come. 19Those who were hunting us were faster than eagles in the sky. They chased us in the mountains and ambushed us in the wilderness. 20The person the Lord anointed ⌞as king⌟, who is the breath of our life, was caught in their pits. We had thought that we would live in our king’s shadow among the nations.”

Lamentations 4:18 word by word

צָד֣וּ צְעָדֵ֔ינוּ מִלֶּ֖כֶת בִּרְחֹבֹתֵ֑ינוּ קָרַ֥ב קִצֵּ֛ינוּ מָלְא֥וּ יָמֵ֖ינוּ כִּי־בָ֥א קִצֵּֽינוּ׃ סRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• They huntצוּדtsûd · to huntH6679
• our stepsצַ֫עַדtsa‛ad · stepH6806
• that we cannot goיָלַךְyâlak · to walkH3212
• in our streetsרְחוֹבrechôb rechôb · street/plazaH7339
• our endקֵץqêts · endH7093
• is nearקָרַבqârab · to present: comeH7126
• our daysיוֹםyôm · dayH3117
• are fulfilledמָלֵאmâlê' mâlâ' · to fillH4390
• is comeבּוֹאbô' · to come (in): comeH935

Cross-references for Lamentations 4:18

• Lamentations 3:52“Those who were my enemies for no reason hunted me like a bird.
• 1 Samuel 24:14Against whom has the king of Israel come out? Whom are you pursuing? A dead dog? One flea?
• 2 Kings 25:4The enemy broke through the city walls that night. All Judah’s soldiers left on the road of the gate between the two walls beside the king’s garden. While the Babylonians were attacking the city from all sides, the king took the road to the plain ⌞of Jericho⌟.
• Job 10:16Like a proud, ferocious lion you hunt me down. You keep working your miracles against me.
• Psalms 140:11Do not let slanderers prosper on earth. Let evil hunt down violent people with one blow after another.
• Jeremiah 16:16“I’m going to send for many fishermen,” declares the Lord, “and they will catch the people of Israel. After that, I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt for them on every mountain and hill and even in the cracks in the rocks.
• Jeremiah 39:4When King Zedekiah of Judah and all the soldiers saw them, they fled. They left the city at night by way of the king’s garden through the gate between the two walls, and they took the road to the plain ⌞of Jericho⌟.
• Jeremiah 52:7The enemy broke through the city walls, and all Judah’s soldiers fled. They left the city at night through the gate between the two walls beside the king’s garden. While the Babylonians were attacking the city from all sides, they took the road to the plain ⌞of Jericho⌟.
• Jeremiah 1:12Then the Lord said to me, “Right. I am watching to make sure that my words come true.”
• Jeremiah 51:33This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: The people of Babylon are like a threshing floor at the time it is trampled. Their harvest time will come soon.
• Ezekiel 7:2“Son of man, this is what the Almighty Lord says to ⌞the people in⌟ the land of Israel: The end is coming! The end is coming to the four corners of the earth.
• Ezekiel 12:22“Son of man, what is this proverb you have in Israel: ‘Days go by, and every vision comes to nothing’?
• Amos 8:2He asked, “What do you see, Amos?” “A basket of ripe summer fruit,” I answered. Then the Lord said to me, “My people Israel are now ripe. I will no longer overlook what they have done.

Commentaries on Lamentations 4:18

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 18We cannot go in our streets - Supposed to refer to the darts and other missiles cast from the mounds which they had raised on the outside of the walls, by which those who walked in the streets were grievously annoyed, and could not shield themselves.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 17-20Verses 17-20 A rapid sketch of the last days of the siege and the capture of the king. Lamentations 4:17 Rather, “Still do our eyes waste away looking for our vain help.” In our watching - Or, “on our watchtower.” Lamentations 4:18 Or, They hunted “our steps that we could not go out into the streets. To hunt” means here to lie in ambush, and catch by snares; and the streets are literally “the wide places,” especially at the gates. Toward the end of the…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 13-20Verses 13-20 Nothing ripens a people more for ruin, nor fills the measure faster, than the sins of priests and prophets. The king himself cannot escape, for Divine vengeance pursues him. Our anointed King alone is the life of our souls; we may safely live under his shadow, and rejoice in Him in the midst of our enemies, for He is the true God and eternal life.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-22Although God’s people still experience his judgment, they will soon experience restoration.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1818. They--the Chaldeans. cannot go--without danger. Koph.Read the comment

In the dictionaries

• Comparable
• Dim
• Poetry
• Acrostic
• Alphabet
• Lamentations, Book of
• Poetry, Hebrew
• Proverbs, the Book of
• Siege

Commentaries on Lamentations 4

• 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