Lamentations 1:11

Lamentations 1:11 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)All her people sigh, they seek bread; they have given their pleasant things for meat to relieve the soul: see, O Lord, and consider; for I am become vile.
• New International Version (NIV)All her people groan as they search for bread; they barter their treasures for food to keep themselves alive. “Look, Lord, and consider, for I am despised.”
• English Standard Version (ESV)All her people groan as they search for bread; they trade their treasures for food to revive their strength. "Look, O Lord, and see, for I am despised."
• New King James Version (NKJV)All 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.”

Context of Lamentations 1:11

9She defiled herself with immorality and gave no thought to her future. Now she lies in the gutter with no one to lift her out. “Lord, see my misery,” she cries. “The enemy has triumphed.” 10The enemy has plundered her completely, taking every precious thing she owns. She has seen foreigners violate her sacred Temple, the place the Lord had forbidden them to enter. Her people groan as they search for bread. They have sold their treasures for food to stay alive. “O Lord, look,” she mourns, “and see how I am despised. 12“Does it mean nothing to you, all you who pass by? Look around and see if there is any suffering like mine, which the Lord brought on me when he erupted in fierce anger. 13“He has sent fire from heaven that burns in my bones. He has placed a trap in my path and turned me back. He has left me devastated, racked with sickness all day long.

Lamentations 1:11 word by word

כָּל־עַמָּ֤הּ נֶאֱנָחִים֙ מְבַקְּשִׁ֣ים לֶ֔חֶם נָתְנ֧וּ מַחֲמַדֵּיהֶ֛ם בְּאֹ֖כֶל לְהָשִׁ֣יב נָ֑פֶשׁ רְאֵ֤ה יְהוָה֙ וְֽהַבִּ֔יטָה כִּ֥י הָיִ֖יתִי זוֹלֵלָֽה׃ סRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• All her peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
• sighאָנַח'ânach · to sighH584
• they seekבָּקַשׁbâqash · to seekH1245
• breadלֶ֫חֶםlechem · food: breadH3899
• they have givenנָתַןnâthan · to give: giveH5414
• their pleasant thingsמַחְמֹדmachmûd machmûd · desirableH4262
• their pleasant thingsמַחְמָדmachmâd · desireH4261
• for meatאֹ֫כֶל'ôkel · foodH400
• to relieveשׁוּבshûb · to return: rescueH7725
• the soulנֶ֫פֶשׁnephesh · soul: lifeH5315
• seeרָאָהrâ'âh · to see: seeH7200
• O Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• and considerנָבַטnâbaţ · to lookH5027
• for I am become vileזָלַלzâlal · be vileH2151

Cross-references for Lamentations 1:11

• Lamentations 1:19“I begged my allies for help, but they betrayed me. My priests and leaders starved to death in the city, even as they searched for food to save their lives.
• Lamentations 2:12They cry out to their mothers, “We need food and drink!” Their lives ebb away in the streets like the life of a warrior wounded in battle. They gasp for life as they collapse in their mothers’ arms.
• Lamentations 4:4The parched tongues of their little ones stick to the roofs of their mouths in thirst. The children cry for bread, but no one has any to give them.
• Deuteronomy 28:52They will attack your cities until all the fortified walls in your land—the walls you trusted to protect you—are knocked down. They will attack all the towns in the land the Lord your God has given you.
• 2 Kings 6:25As a result, there was a great famine in the city. The siege lasted so long that a donkey’s head sold for eighty pieces of silver, and a cup of dove’s dung sold for five pieces of silver.
• Jeremiah 19:9I will see to it that your enemies lay siege to the city until all the food is gone. Then those trapped inside will eat their own sons and daughters and friends. They will be driven to utter despair.’
• Jeremiah 38:9“My lord the king,” he said, “these men have done a very evil thing in putting Jeremiah the prophet into the cistern. He will soon die of hunger, for almost all the bread in the city is gone.”
• Jeremiah 52:6By July 18 in the eleventh year of Zedekiah’s reign, the famine in the city had become very severe, and the last of the food was entirely gone.
• Ezekiel 4:15“All right,” the Lord said. “You may bake your bread with cow dung instead of human dung.”
• Ezekiel 5:16“I will shower you with the deadly arrows of famine to destroy you. The famine will become more and more severe until every crumb of food is gone.
• 1 Samuel 30:11Along the way they found an Egyptian man in a field and brought him to David. They gave him some bread to eat and water to drink.
• Lamentations 1:9She defiled herself with immorality and gave no thought to her future. Now she lies in the gutter with no one to lift her out. “Lord, see my misery,” she cries. “The enemy has triumphed.”
• Lamentations 2:20“O Lord, think about this! Should you treat your own people this way? Should mothers eat their own children, those they once bounced on their knees? Should priests and prophets be killed within the Lord’s Temple?
• Job 40:4“I am nothing—how could I ever find the answers? I will cover my mouth with my hand.
• Psalms 25:15My eyes are always on the Lord, for he rescues me from the traps of my enemies.

Commentaries on Lamentations 1:11

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 11They have given their pleasant things - Jerusalem is compared to a woman brought into great straits, who parts with her jewels and trinkets in order to purchase by them the necessaries of life.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 11Sigh … seek - Are sighing … are seeking. The words are present participles, describing the condition of the people. After a siege lasting a year and a half the whole country, far and near, would be exhausted. To relieve the soul - See the margin, i. e. to bring back life to them. They bring out their jewels and precious articles to obtain with them at least a meal.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. 1111. (Jr 37:21; 38:9; 52:6). given ... pleasant things for meat--(2Ki 6:25; Job 2:4). relieve ... soul--literally, "to cause the soul or life to return." for I am become vile--Her sins and consequent sorrows are made the plea in craving God's mercy. Compare the like plea in Psa 25:11. Lamed.Read the comment

Topics related to Lamentations 1:11

• Afflictions and Adversities
• Famine

In the dictionaries

• Faint
• Poetry
• Acrostic
• Alphabet
• Lamentations, Book of
• Poetry, Hebrew
• Proverbs, the Book of
• torment, tormented, tormentor

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