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.
• 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.
• New Living Translation (NLT)We couldn’t go into the streets without danger to our lives. Our end was near; our days were numbered. We were doomed!

Context of Lamentations 4:18

16The Lord himself has scattered them; he no longer watches over them. The priests are shown no honor, the elders no favor. 17Moreover, our eyes failed, looking in vain for help; from our towers we watched for a nation that could not save us. 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. 19Our pursuers were swifter than eagles in the sky; they chased us over the mountains and lay in wait for us in the desert. 20The Lord’s anointed, our very life breath, was caught in their traps. We thought that under his shadow we would live 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 3:52Those who were my enemies without cause hunted me like a bird.
• 1 Samuel 24:14“Against whom has the king of Israel come out? Who are you pursuing? A dead dog? A flea?
• 2 Kings 25:4Then the city wall was broken through, and the whole army fled at night through the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden, though the Babylonians were surrounding the city. They fled toward the Arabah,
• Job 10:16If I hold my head high, you stalk me like a lion and again display your awesome power against me.
• Psalms 140:11May slanderers not be established in the land; may disaster hunt down the violent.
• Jeremiah 16:16“But now I will send for many fishermen,” declares the Lord, “and they will catch them. After that I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them down on every mountain and hill and from the crevices of the rocks.
• Jeremiah 39:4When Zedekiah king 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 headed toward the Arabah.
• Jeremiah 52:7Then the city wall was broken through, and the whole army fled. They left the city at night through the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden, though the Babylonians were surrounding the city. They fled toward the Arabah,
• Jeremiah 1:12The Lord said to me, “You have seen correctly, for I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled.”
• Jeremiah 51:33This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Daughter Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time it is trampled; the time to harvest her will soon come.”
• Ezekiel 7:2“Son of man, this is what the Sovereign Lord says to the land of Israel: “ ‘The end! The end has come upon 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 go by and every vision comes to nothing’?
• Amos 8:2“What do you see, Amos?” he asked. “A basket of ripe fruit,” I answered. Then the Lord said to me, “The time is ripe for my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.

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