Lamentations 5:13

Lamentations 5:13 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)They took the young men to grind, and the children fell under the wood.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Young men are compelled to grind at the mill, and boys stagger under loads of wood.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Young men ground at the millstones; Boys staggered under loads of wood.
• New Living Translation (NLT)Young men are led away to work at millstones, and boys stagger under heavy loads of wood.

Context of Lamentations 5:13

11Women have been violated in Zion, and virgins in the towns of Judah. 12Princes have been hung up by their hands; elders are shown no respect. Young men toil at the millstones; boys stagger under loads of wood. 14The elders are gone from the city gate; the young men have stopped their music. 15Joy is gone from our hearts; our dancing has turned to mourning.

Lamentations 5:13 word by word

בַּחוּרִים֙ טְח֣וֹן נָשָׂ֔אוּ וּנְעָרִ֖ים בָּעֵ֥ץ כָּשָֽׁלוּ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• They tookנָשָׂאnâώâ' nâsâh · to lift: raiseH5375
• the young menבָּחוּרbâchûr bâchûr · youthH970
• to grindטְחוֹןţechôn · grindingH2911
• and the childrenנַ֫עַרna‛ar · youthH5288
• fellכָּשַׁלkâshal · to stumbleH3782
• under the woodעֵץ‛êts · tree: woodH6086

Cross-references for Lamentations 5:13

• Exodus 11:5Every firstborn son in Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sits on the throne, to the firstborn son of the female slave, who is at her hand mill, and all the firstborn of the cattle as well.
• Judges 16:21Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding grain in the prison.
• Job 31:10then may my wife grind another man’s grain, and may other men sleep with her.
• Isaiah 47:2Take millstones and grind flour; take off your veil. Lift up your skirts, bare your legs, and wade through the streams.
• Exodus 1:11So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh.
• Exodus 2:11One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people.
• Exodus 23:5If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen down under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help them with it.
• Nehemiah 5:1Now the men and their wives raised a great outcry against their fellow Jews.
• Isaiah 58:6“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?
• Matthew 23:4They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.

Commentaries on Lamentations 5:13

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 13They took the young men to grind - This was the work of female slaves. See the note on Isaiah 47:2.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 13They took the young men to grind - Or, “The young men” have borne the mill, a menial and laborious task usually performed by slaves (compare Isaiah 47:2). The children fell under the wood - Or, lads have stumbled under burdens of wood. By lads are meant youths up to the age of military service; another form of menial labor.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 12-17These terrible things happened because the people had sinned (see Isaiah 24:7–12; Jeremiah 7:24; Jeremiah 13:18; Jeremiah 25:10–11; Amos 8:10).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1313. young men ... grind--The work of the lowest female slave was laid on young men (Jud 16:21; Job 31:10). children fell under ... wood--Mere children had to bear burdens of wood so heavy that they sank beneath them.Read the comment

Topics related to Lamentations 5:13

• Captive
• Mill
• Patriotism
• Servant

In the dictionaries

• Crown
• Persecution
• Acrostic
• Lamentations, Book of
• Poetry, Hebrew

Commentaries on Lamentations 5

• 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