Lamentations 1:5

Lamentations 1:5 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Her adversaries are the chief, her enemies prosper; for the Lord hath afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions: her children are gone into captivity before the enemy.
• New International Version (NIV)Her foes have become her masters; her enemies are at ease. The Lord has brought her grief because of her many sins. Her children have gone into exile, captive before the foe.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Her foes have become the head; her enemies prosper, because the Lord has afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions; her children have gone away, captives before the foe.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Her 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.

Context of Lamentations 1:5

3Judah has been led away into captivity, oppressed with cruel slavery. She lives among foreign nations and has no place of rest. Her enemies have chased her down, and she has nowhere to turn. 4The 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! Her oppressors have become her masters, and her enemies prosper, for the Lord has punished Jerusalem for her many sins. Her children have been captured and taken away to distant lands. 6All the majesty of beautiful Jerusalem has been stripped away. Her princes are like starving deer searching for pasture. They are too weak to run from the pursuing enemy. 7In the midst of her sadness and wandering, Jerusalem remembers her ancient splendor. But now she has fallen to her enemy, and there is no one to help her. Her enemy struck her down and laughed as she fell.

Lamentations 1:5 word by word

הָי֨וּ צָרֶ֤יהָ לְרֹאשׁ֙ אֹיְבֶ֣יהָ שָׁל֔וּ כִּֽי־יְהוָ֥ה הוֹגָ֖הּ עַ֣ל רֹב־פְּשָׁעֶ֑יהָ עוֹלָלֶ֛יהָ הָלְכ֥וּ שְׁבִ֖י לִפְנֵי־צָֽר׃ סRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Her adversariesצַרtsar tsâr · enemyH6862
• are the chiefרֹאשׁrô'sh · head: leaderH7218
• her enemiesאֹיֵב'ôyêb 'ôyêb · enemyH341
• prosperשָׁלָהshâlâh shâlav · to prosperH7951
• for the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• hath afflictedיָגָהyâgâh · to sufferH3013
• her for the multitudeרֹבrôb · abundanceH7230
• of her transgressionsפֶּ֫שַׁעpesha‛ · transgressionH6588
• her childrenעוֹלֵל‛ôlêl ‛ôlâl · infantH5768
• are goneהָלַךְhâlak · to go: wentH1980
• into captivityשְׁבִיshebîy · captivityH7628
• beforeפָּנֶהpânîym · face: beforeH6440

Cross-references for Lamentations 1:5

• Lamentations 2:17But it is the Lord who did just as he planned. He has fulfilled the promises of disaster he made long ago. He has destroyed Jerusalem without mercy. He has caused her enemies to gloat over her and has given them power over her.
• Lamentations 3:46“All our enemies have spoken out against us.
• Leviticus 26:17I will turn against you, and you will be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you will rule over you, and you will run even when no one is chasing you!
• Deuteronomy 28:43“The foreigners living among you will become stronger and stronger, while you become weaker and weaker.
• Psalms 80:6You have made us the scorn of neighboring nations. Our enemies treat us as a joke.
• Psalms 89:42You have strengthened his enemies and made them all rejoice.
• Isaiah 63:18How briefly your holy people possessed your holy place, and now our enemies have destroyed it.
• Jeremiah 12:7“I have abandoned my people, my special possession. I have surrendered my dearest ones to their enemies.
• Micah 7:8Do not gloat over me, my enemies! For though I fall, I will rise again. Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light.
• Lamentations 1:18“The Lord is right,” Jerusalem says, “for I rebelled against him. Listen, people everywhere; look upon my anguish and despair, for my sons and daughters have been taken captive to distant lands.
• Lamentations 3:39Then why should we, mere humans, complain when we are punished for our sins?
• Leviticus 26:15and if you break my covenant by rejecting my decrees, treating my regulations with contempt, and refusing to obey my commands,
• Deuteronomy 4:25“In the future, when you have children and grandchildren and have lived in the land a long time, do not corrupt yourselves by making idols of any kind. This is evil in the sight of the Lord your God and will arouse his anger.
• Deuteronomy 28:15“But if you refuse to listen to the Lord your God and do not obey all the commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come and overwhelm you:
• Deuteronomy 29:18I am making this covenant with you so that no one among you—no man, woman, clan, or tribe—will turn away from the Lord our God to worship these gods of other nations, and so that no root among you bears bitter and poisonous fruit.
• Deuteronomy 31:16The Lord said to Moses, “You are about to die and join your ancestors. After you are gone, these people will begin to worship foreign gods, the gods of the land where they are going. They will abandon me and break my covenant that I have made with them.

Commentaries on Lamentations 1:5

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 5Her adversaries are the chief - They have now supreme dominion over the whole land.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 5Are the chief … prosper - Or, “are become the head” … are at rest. Judaea is so entirely crushed that her enemies did not need to take precautions against resistance on her part. Children - i. e. “young children,” who are driven before the enemy (literally the adversary), not as a flock of lambs which follow the shepherd, but for sale as slaves.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 5because of her many transgression: Judah's sins before the Babylonian invasion are described in 2 Kings 21:1–9, 16; 24:3–4 (compare 2 Chronicles 33:1–10, 22–23 and 2 Chronicles 36:11–16). Similarly, a list of Israel's sins before Assyria destroyed it is found in 2 Kings 17:14–23.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 55. the chief--rule her (De 28:43, 44). adversaries ... prosper; for the Lord--All the foes' attempts would have failed, had not God delivered His people into their hands (Jr 30:15). Vau.Read the comment

Topics related to Lamentations 1:5

• Afflictions and Adversities
• Captivity
• Chastisement
• Jerusalem

In the dictionaries

• Faint
• Poetry
• Acrostic
• Alphabet
• Lamentations, Book of
• Poetry, Hebrew
• Proverbs, the Book of
• Yahweh, Yah

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