New Living Translation
Lamentations 5:13
13Young men are led away to work at millstones, and boys stagger under heavy loads of wood.
Lamentations 5:13 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)They took the young men to grind, and the children fell under the wood.
- New International Version (NIV)Young men toil at the millstones; boys stagger under loads of 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.
Context of Lamentations 5:13
11Our enemies rape the women in Jerusalem and the young girls in all the towns of Judah. 12Our princes are being hanged by their thumbs, and our elders are treated with contempt. Young men are led away to work at millstones, and boys stagger under heavy loads of wood. 14The elders no longer sit in the city gates; the young men no longer dance and sing. 15Joy has left our hearts; our dancing has turned to mourning.
Read all of Lamentations 5Lamentations 5:13 word by word
בַּחוּרִים֙ טְח֣וֹן נָשָׂ֔אוּ וּנְעָרִ֖ים בָּעֵ֥ץ כָּשָֽׁלוּ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Lamentations 5:13
- Exodus 11:5All the firstborn sons will die in every family in Egypt, from the oldest son of Pharaoh, who sits on his throne, to the oldest son of his lowliest servant girl who grinds the flour. Even the firstborn of all the livestock will die.
- Judges 16:21So the Philistines captured him and gouged out his eyes. They took him to Gaza, where he was bound with bronze chains and forced to grind grain in the prison.
- Job 31:10then let my wife serve another man; let other men sleep with her.
- Isaiah 47:2Take heavy millstones and grind flour. Remove your veil, and strip off your robe. Expose yourself to public view.
- Exodus 1:11So the Egyptians made the Israelites their slaves. They appointed brutal slave drivers over them, hoping to wear them down with crushing labor. They forced them to build the cities of Pithom and Rameses as supply centers for the king.
- Exodus 2:11Many years later, when Moses had grown up, he went out to visit his own people, the Hebrews, and he saw how hard they were forced to work. During his visit, he saw an Egyptian beating one of his fellow Hebrews.
- Exodus 23:5If you see that the donkey of someone who hates you has collapsed under its load, do not walk by. Instead, stop and help.
- Nehemiah 5:1About this time some of the men and their wives raised a cry of protest against their fellow Jews.
- Isaiah 58:6“No, this is the kind of fasting I want: Free those who are wrongly imprisoned; lighten the burden of those who work for you. Let the oppressed go free, and remove the chains that bind people.
- Matthew 23:4They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden.
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
In the dictionaries
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
New Living Translation — © 1996, 2004, 2015 Tyndale House Foundation
Commentaries