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.
• 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.
• New Living Translation (NLT)Jerusalem reaches out for help, but no one comforts her. Regarding his people Israel, the Lord has said, “Let their neighbors be their enemies! Let them be thrown away like a filthy rag!”

Context of Lamentations 1:17

15“The Lord has rejected all the warriors in my midst; he has summoned an army against me to crush my young men. In his winepress the Lord has trampled Virgin Daughter Judah. 16“This is why I weep and my eyes overflow with tears. No one is near to comfort me, no one to restore my spirit. My children are destitute because the enemy has prevailed.” 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. 18“The Lord is righteous, yet I rebelled against his command. Listen, all you peoples; look on my suffering. My young men and young women have gone into exile. 19“I called to my allies but they betrayed me. My priests and my elders perished in the city while they searched 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 8:22Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven
• Isaiah 1:15When you spread out your hands in prayer, I hide my eyes from you; even when you offer many prayers, I am not listening. Your hands are full of blood!
• Jeremiah 4:31I hear a cry as of a woman in labor, a groan as of one bearing her first child— the cry of Daughter Zion gasping for breath, stretching out her hands and saying, “Alas! I am fainting; my life is given over to murderers.”
• Lamentations 1:2Bitterly she weeps at night, tears are on her cheeks. Among all her lovers there is no one to comfort her. All her friends have betrayed her; they have become her enemies.
• Lamentations 2:1How the Lord has covered Daughter Zion with the cloud of his anger! He has hurled down the splendor of Israel from heaven to earth; he has not remembered his footstool in the day of his anger.
• 2 Kings 24:2The Lord sent Babylonian, Aramean, Moabite and Ammonite raiders against him to destroy Judah, in accordance with the word of the Lord proclaimed by his servants the prophets.
• 2 Kings 25:1So in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his whole army. He encamped outside the city and built siege works all around it.
• Jeremiah 6:3Shepherds with their flocks will come against her; they will pitch their tents around her, each tending his own portion.”
• Jeremiah 16:6“Both high and low will die in this land. They will not be buried or mourned, and no one will cut themselves or shave their head for the dead.
• Jeremiah 21:4‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I am about to turn against you the weapons of war that are in your hands, which you are using to fight the king of Babylon and the Babylonians who are outside the wall besieging you. And I will gather them inside this city.
• Jeremiah 34:22I am going to give the order, declares the Lord, and I will bring them back to this city. They will fight against it, take it and burn it down. And I will lay waste the towns of Judah so no one can live there.”
• Ezekiel 7:23“ ‘Prepare chains! For the land is full of bloodshed, and the city is full of violence.
• Hosea 8:8Israel is swallowed up; now she is among the nations like something no one wants.
• Luke 19:43The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side.
• Lamentations 1:9Her filthiness clung to her skirts; she did not consider her future. Her fall was astounding; there was none to comfort her. “Look, Lord, on my affliction, for the enemy has triumphed.”
• Lamentations 4:15“Go away! You are unclean!” people cry to them. “Away! Away! Don’t touch us!” When they flee and wander about, people among the nations say, “They can stay here no 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