Lamentations 1:17

Lamentations 1:17 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Zion spreadeth forth her hands, and there is none to comfort her: the Lord hath commanded concerning Jacob, that his adversaries should be round about him: Jerusalem is as a menstruous woman among them.
• New International Version (NIV)Zion stretches out her hands, but there is no one to comfort her. The Lord has decreed for Jacob that his neighbors become his foes; Jerusalem has become an unclean thing among them.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Zion stretches out her hands, but there is none to comfort her; the Lord has commanded against Jacob that his neighbors should be his foes; Jerusalem has become a filthy thing among them.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Zion spreads out her hands, But no one comforts her; The Lord has commanded concerning Jacob That those around him become his adversaries; Jerusalem has become an unclean thing among them.

Context of Lamentations 1:17

15The Lord has rejected all the mighty ones in my midst. He has summoned an assembly against me to crush my young men. In a winepress the Lord has trampled the virgin daughter of Judah. 16Over these things I weep. My eyes overflow with water. For far from me is a comforter, who might refresh my soul. My children are desolate, because the enemy has prevailed.” Zion spreads out her hands— there is no one to comfort her. Adonai has decreed against Jacob. Those surrounding him have become his foes; Jerusalem has become niddah in their eyes. 18“Adonai is righteous, for I have rebelled against His word. Hear now, all peoples— look at my suffering! My maidens and my young men have gone into captivity. 19I called to my lovers— they deceived me! My kohanim and my elders perished in the city when they sought food to keep themselves alive.

Lamentations 1:17 word by word

פֵּֽרְשָׂ֨ה צִיּ֜וֹן בְּיָדֶ֗יהָ אֵ֤ין מְנַחֵם֙ לָ֔הּ צִוָּ֧ה יְהוָ֛ה לְיַעֲקֹ֖ב סְבִיבָ֣יו צָרָ֑יו הָיְתָ֧ה יְרוּשָׁלִַ֛ם לְנִדָּ֖ה בֵּינֵיהֶֽם׃ סRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Zionצִיּוֹןtsîyôn · ZionH6726
• spreadeth forthפָּרַשׂpâraώ · to spreadH6566
• her handsיָדyâd · handH3027
• none to comfortנָחַםnâcham · to be sorry: comfortH5162
• her: the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• hath commandedצָוָהtsâvâh · to commandH6680
• concerning Jacobיַעֲקֹבya‛ăqôb · JacobH3290
• his adversariesצַרtsar tsâr · enemyH6862
• round aboutסָבִיבsâbîyb sebîybâh · around: neighoursH5439
• him: Jerusalemיְרוּשָׁלִַ֫ם, יְרוּשְׁלֵםyerûshâlaim yerûshâlayim · JerusalemH3389
• is as a menstruous womanנִדָּהniddâh · impurityH5079

Cross-references for Lamentations 1:17

• 1 Kings 8:22Then Solomon stood before the altar of Adonai in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven,
• Isaiah 1:15When you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you. When you multiply prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood!”
• Jeremiah 4:31For I heard a cry like one in labor, the anguish of one giving birth to her first child— the cry of the Daughter of Zion gasping for breath, stretching out her hands saying, “Oy , now to me! For my soul faints before murderers.”
• Lamentations 1:2Bitterly she weeps in the night, her tears are on her cheeks. Among all her lovers, there is no one to comfort her. All her friends have betrayed her. They have become her enemies!
• Lamentations 2:1How my Lord has clouded over the daughter of Zion in His anger! He hurled down the splendor of Israel from heaven to earth. He has not remembered His footstool in the day of His anger.
• 2 Kings 24:2Then Adonai sent against him marauding bands of the Chaldeans, Arameans, Moabites and Ammonites—He sent them against Judah to destroy it, as was the word of Adonai that He had spoken by the hand of His servants the prophets.
• 2 Kings 25:1Now it came to pass in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and his entire army advanced against Jerusalem, set up camp by it, and built a siege wall all around it.
• Jeremiah 6:3Shepherds with their flocks are coming against her. All around her they pitch their tents, each pasturing in his own place.
• Jeremiah 16:6Both great and small will die in this land; they will not be buried; neither will anyone lament for them, or cut themselves or shave his head for them.
• Jeremiah 21:4thus says Adonai, the God of Israel: ‘I will soon turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, which you use to fight against the king of Babylon and against the Chaldeans, who are besieging you outside the walls—I will assemble them in the center of this city.
• Jeremiah 34:22Indeed, I will command,” declares Adonai, “and cause them to return to this city. They will fight against it, capture it, and burn it down with fire; and I will make the cities of Judah a wasteland, with no one living.”
• Ezekiel 7:23“Forge the chain! For the land is full of bloodshed. The city is full of violence.
• Hosea 8:8Israel has been swallowed up! Now they are among the nations, like an ornament with no delight in it.
• Luke 19:43For the days will come upon you when your enemies will surround you with barricades and hem you in on all sides.
• Lamentations 1:9Her uncleanness was in her skirts. She did not consider her future. Her demise was astonishing, there was no one to comfort her. “Adonai, see my affliction, for the enemy has triumphed!”
• Lamentations 4:15“Turn away! Unclean!” They cry to them. “Turn away, turn away! Don’t touch!” So they fled and wandered about. People among the nations say, “They can stay here no longer.”

Commentaries on Lamentations 1:17

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 17Zion spreadeth forth her hands - Extending the hands is the form in supplication. Jerusalem is as a menstruous woman - To whom none dared to approach, either to help or comfort, because of the law, Leviticus 15:19-27.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 17Spreadeth forth her hands - In prayer Exodus 9:29, Exodus 9:33, but Zion entreats in vain. There is no one to comfort her - not God, for He is chastising her, nor man, for all the neighboring nations have become her enemies. See Lamentations 1:2. That his adversaries … - Rather, that those round about him should be his adversaries; all the neighboring states should regard him with aversion. Jerusalem is … - i. e. is become an abomination. The words are…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 12-22Verses 12-22 Jerusalem, sitting dejected on the ground, calls on those that passed by, to consider whether her example did not concern them. Her outward sufferings were great, but her inward sufferings were harder to bear, through the sense of guilt. Sorrow for sin must be great sorrow, and must affect the soul. Here we see the evil of sin, and may take warning to flee from the wrath to come. Whatever may be learned from the sufferings of Jerusalem, far…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. 1717. Like a woman in labor-throes (Jr 4:31). menstruous woman--held unclean, and shunned by all; separated from her husband and from the temple (compare La 1:8; Le 14:19, &c.). Tzaddi.Read the comment

Topics related to Lamentations 1:17

• Menstruation

In the dictionaries

• Jacob
• Jerusalem
• Jacob, Israel
• Faint
• Poetry
• Acrostic
• Alphabet
• Lamentations, Book of
• Poetry, Hebrew
• Proverbs, the Book of

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