Lamentations 1:4

Lamentations 1:4 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)The ways of Zion do mourn, because none come to the solemn feasts: all her gates are desolate: her priests sigh, her virgins are afflicted, and she is in bitterness.
• New International Version (NIV)The roads to Zion mourn, for no one comes to her appointed festivals. All her gateways are desolate, her priests groan, her young women grieve, and she is in bitter anguish.
• English Standard Version (ESV)The roads to Zion mourn, for none come to the festival; all her gates are desolate; her priests groan; her virgins have been afflicted, and she herself suffers bitterly.
• New Living Translation (NLT)The roads to Jerusalem are in mourning, for crowds no longer come to celebrate the festivals. The city gates are silent, her priests groan, her young women are crying— how bitter is her fate!

Context of Lamentations 1:4

2She weeps bitterly in the night, Her tears are on her cheeks; Among all her lovers She has none to comfort her. All her friends have dealt treacherously with her; They have become her enemies. 3Judah has gone into captivity, Under affliction and hard servitude; She dwells among the nations, She finds no rest; All her persecutors overtake her in dire straits. The roads to Zion mourn Because no one comes to the set feasts. All her gates are desolate; Her priests sigh, Her virgins are afflicted, And she is in bitterness. 5Her adversaries have become the master, Her enemies prosper; For the Lord has afflicted her Because of the multitude of her transgressions. Her children have gone into captivity before the enemy. 6And from the daughter of Zion All her splendor has departed. Her princes have become like deer That find no pasture, That flee without strength Before the pursuer.

Lamentations 1:4 word by word

דַּרְכֵ֨י צִיּ֜וֹן אֲבֵל֗וֹת מִבְּלִי֙ בָּאֵ֣י מוֹעֵ֔ד כָּל־שְׁעָרֶ֙יהָ֙ שֽׁוֹמֵמִ֔ין כֹּהֲנֶ֖יהָ נֶאֱנָחִ֑ים בְּתוּלֹתֶ֥יהָ נּוּג֖וֹת וְהִ֥יא מַר־לָֽהּ׃ סRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• The waysדֶּ֫רֶךְderek · way: roadH1870
• of Zionצִיּוֹןtsîyôn · ZionH6726
• do mournאָבֵל'âbêl · mourningH57
• because none comeבּוֹאbô' · to come (in): comeH935
• to the solemn feastsמוֹעֵדmô‛êd mô‛êd mô‛âdâh · meeting: festivalH4150
• all her gatesשַׁ֫עַרsha‛ar · gateH8179
• are desolateשָׁמֵםshâmêm · be desolate: destroyedH8074
• her priestsכֹּהֵןkôhên · priestH3548
• sighאָנַח'ânach · to sighH584
• her virginsבְּתוּלָהbethûlâh · virginH1330
• are afflictedיָגָהyâgâh · to sufferH3013
• in bitternessמָרַרmârar · to provokeH4843

Cross-references for Lamentations 1:4

• Lamentations 2:6He has done violence to His tabernacle, As if it were a garden; He has destroyed His place of assembly; The Lord has caused The appointed feasts and Sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion. In His burning indignation He has spurned the king and the priest.
• Lamentations 5:13Young men ground at the millstones; Boys staggered under loads of wood.
• Isaiah 24:4The earth mourns and fades away, The world languishes and fades away; The haughty people of the earth languish.
• Jeremiah 14:2“Judah mourns, And her gates languish; They mourn for the land, And the cry of Jerusalem has gone up.
• Micah 3:12Therefore because of you Zion shall be plowed like a field, Jerusalem shall become heaps of ruins, And the mountain of the temple Like the bare hills of the forest.
• Lamentations 2:9Her gates have sunk into the ground; He has destroyed and broken her bars. Her king and her princes are among the nations; The Law is no more, And her prophets find no vision from the Lord.
• Jeremiah 9:11“I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a den of jackals. I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant.”
• Jeremiah 10:22Behold, the noise of the report has come, And a great commotion out of the north country, To make the cities of Judah desolate, a den of jackals.
• Jeremiah 33:10“Thus says the Lord: ‘Again there shall be heard in this place—of which you say, “It is desolate, without man and without beast”—in the cities of Judah, in the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man and without inhabitant and without beast,
• Lamentations 1:11All her people sigh, They seek bread; They have given their valuables for food to restore life. “See, O Lord, and consider, For I am scorned.”
• Lamentations 2:10The elders of the daughter of Zion Sit on the ground and keep silence; They throw dust on their heads And gird themselves with sackcloth. The virgins of Jerusalem Bow their heads to the ground.
• Isaiah 32:9Rise up, you women who are at ease, Hear my voice; You complacent daughters, Give ear to my speech.
• Joel 1:8Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth For the husband of her youth.

Commentaries on Lamentations 1:4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4The ways of Zion do mourn - A fine prosopopoeia. The ways in which the people trod coming to the sacred solemnities, being now no longer frequented, are represented as shedding tears; and the gates themselves partake of the general distress. All poets of eminence among the Greeks and Romans have recourse to this image. So Moschus, in his Epitaph on Bion, ver. 1-3: - , ̔<-144 ̔ . , , . . . "Ye winds, with grief your waving summits bow, Ye Dorian fountains…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4Zion, as the holy city, is the symbol of the religious life of the people, just as Judah in the previous verse represents their national life. The “virgins” took a prominent part in all religious festivals Jeremiah 31:13; Exodus 15:20.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4Zion: In the Psalms and prophetic books, Zion represents the city of Jerusalem. In Lamentations, Zion is a poetic name for the city of Jerusalem. The writer uses this name even when the city lies in ruins (destroyed buildings and broken walls). Hebrews 12:22–24 speaks of the heavenly Zion (see also Revelation 14:1–5). The annual festivals in Jerusalem included: The Passover The Feast of Unleavened Bread The Feast of the Firstfruits (also called the Feast…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. feasts--the passover, pentecost (or the feast of weeks), and the feast of tabernacles. gates--once the place of concourse. He.Read the comment

Topics related to Lamentations 1:4

• Captivity
• Virgin
• Zion

In the dictionaries

• Faint
• Poetry
• Acrostic
• Alphabet
• Gate
• Lamentations, Book of
• Poetry, Hebrew
• Proverbs, the Book of
• Writing

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