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 no longer watches over them. They did not honor the priests; they did not show favor to the elders. ע (Ayin) 17Our eyes continually failed us as we looked in vain for help. From our watchtowers we watched for a nation that could not rescue us. צ (Tsade) Our enemies hunted us down at every step so that we could not walk about in our streets. Our end drew near, our days were numbered, for our end had come! ק (Qof) 19Those who pursued us were swifter than eagles in the sky. They chased us over the mountains; they ambushed us in the wilderness. ר (Resh) 20Our very life breath – the Lord’s anointed king – was caught in their traps, of whom we thought, “Under his protection we will survive among the nations.” ש (Sin/Shin)

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 3:52For no good reason my enemies hunted me down like a bird.
• 1 Samuel 24:14Who has the king of Israel come out after? Who is it that you are pursuing? A dead dog? A single flea?
• 2 Kings 25:4The enemy broke through the city walls, and all the soldiers tried to escape. They left the city during the night. They went through the gate between the two walls that is near the king’s garden. (The Babylonians were all around the city.) Then they headed for the Jordan Valley.
• Job 10:16If I lift myself up, you hunt me as a fierce lion, and again you display your power against me.
• Psalms 140:11A slanderer will not endure on the earth; calamity will hunt down a violent man and strike him down.
• Jeremiah 16:16But for now I, the Lord, say: “I will send many enemies who will catch these people like fishermen. After that I will send others who will hunt them out like hunters from all the mountains, all the hills, and the crevices in the rocks.
• Jeremiah 39:4When King Zedekiah of Judah and all his soldiers saw them, they tried to escape. They departed from the city during the night. They took a path through the king’s garden and passed out through the gate between the two walls. Then they headed for the Jordan Valley.
• Jeremiah 52:7They broke through the city walls, and all the soldiers tried to escape. They left the city during the night. They went through the gate between the two walls that is near the king’s garden. (The Babylonians had the city surrounded.) Then they headed for the Jordan Valley.
• Jeremiah 1:12Then the Lord said, “You have observed correctly. This means I am watching to make sure my threats are carried out.”
• Jeremiah 51:33For the Lord God of Israel who rules over all says, ‘Fair Babylon will be like a threshing floor which has been trampled flat for harvest. The time for her to be cut down and harvested will come very soon.’
• Ezekiel 7:2“You, son of man – this is what the sovereign Lord says to the land of Israel: An end! The end is coming on the four corners of the land!
• Ezekiel 12:22“Son of man, what is this proverb you have in the land of Israel, ‘The days pass slowly, and every vision fails’?
• Amos 8:2He said, “What do you see, Amos?” I replied, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the Lord said to me, “The end has come for my people Israel! I will no longer overlook their sins.

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