Lamentations 4:17

Lamentations 4:17 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)As for us, our eyes as yet failed for our vain help: in our watching we have watched for a nation that could not save us.
• New International Version (NIV)Moreover, our eyes failed, looking in vain for help; from our towers we watched for a nation that could not save us.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Our eyes failed, ever watching vainly for help; in our watching we watched for a nation which could not save.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Still our eyes failed us, Watching vainly for our help; In our watching we watched For a nation that could not save us.

Context of Lamentations 4:17

15“Get away!” the people shouted at them. “You’re defiled! Don’t touch us!” So they fled to distant lands and wandered among foreign nations, but none would let them stay. 16The Lord himself has scattered them, and he no longer helps them. People show no respect for the priests and no longer honor the leaders. We looked in vain for our allies to come and save us, but we were looking to nations that could not help us. 18We couldn’t go into the streets without danger to our lives. Our end was near; our days were numbered. We were doomed! 19Our enemies were swifter than eagles in flight. If we fled to the mountains, they found us. If we hid in the wilderness, they were waiting for us there.

Lamentations 4:17 word by word

עוֹדֵ֙ינוּ֙ תִּכְלֶ֣ינָה עֵינֵ֔ינוּ אֶל־עֶזְרָתֵ֖נוּ הָ֑בֶל בְּצִפִּיָּתֵ֣נוּ צִפִּ֔ינוּ אֶל־גּ֖וֹי לֹ֥א יוֹשִֽׁעַ׃ סRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• As for us, our eyesעַ֫יִן‛ayin · eyeH5869
• as yet failedכָּלָהkâlâh · to end: expendH3615
• for our vainהֶ֫בֶלhebel hăbêl · vanityH1892
• helpעֶזְרָה‛ezrâh ‛ezrâth · helpH5833
• in our watchingצְפִּיָּהtsephîyâh · outlook-postH6836
• we have watchedצָפָהtsâphâh · to watchH6822
• for a nationגּוֹיgôy gôy · nationH1471
• could not saveיָשַׁעyâsha‛ · to saveH3467

Cross-references for Lamentations 4:17

• 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.
• 2 Kings 24:7The king of Egypt did not venture out of his country after that, for the king of Babylon captured the entire area formerly claimed by Egypt—from the Brook of Egypt to the Euphrates River.
• Isaiah 20:5Then the Philistines will be thrown into panic, for they counted on the power of Ethiopia and boasted of their allies in Egypt!
• Isaiah 30:1“What sorrow awaits my rebellious children,” says the Lord. “You make plans that are contrary to mine. You make alliances not directed by my Spirit, thus piling up your sins.
• Isaiah 31:1What sorrow awaits those who look to Egypt for help, trusting their horses, chariots, and charioteers and depending on the strength of human armies instead of looking to the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.
• Jeremiah 2:18“What have you gained by your alliances with Egypt and your covenants with Assyria? What good to you are the streams of the Nile or the waters of the Euphrates River?
• Jeremiah 8:20“The harvest is finished, and the summer is gone,” the people cry, “yet we are not saved!”
• Jeremiah 30:7In all history there has never been such a time of terror. It will be a time of trouble for my people Israel. Yet in the end they will be saved!
• Ezekiel 29:6All the people of Egypt will know that I am the Lord, for to Israel you were just a staff made of reeds.

Commentaries on Lamentations 4:17

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 17We have watched for a nation - Viz., the Egyptians, who were their pretended allies, but were neither able nor wilting to help them against the Chaldeans.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. 1717. As for us--This translation forms the best antithesis to the language of the heathen (La 4:15, 16). Calvin translates, "While as yet we stood as a state, our eyes failed," &c. watched for a nation that could not save us--Egypt (2Ki 24:7; Is 30:7; Jr 37:5-11). Tzaddi.Read the comment

Topics related to Lamentations 4:17

• Confidence
• Vanity

In the dictionaries

• Comparable
• Dim
• Poetry
• Acrostic
• Alphabet
• Fail
• Lamentations, Book of
• Poetry, Hebrew
• Proverbs, the Book of

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