Lamentations 1:4

Lamentations 1:4 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)The ways of Zion do mourn, because none come to the solemn feasts: all her gates are desolate: her priests sigh, her virgins are afflicted, and she is in bitterness.
• New International Version (NIV)The roads to Zion mourn, for no one comes to her appointed festivals. All her gateways are desolate, her priests groan, her young women grieve, and she is in bitter anguish.
• English Standard Version (ESV)The roads to Zion mourn, for none come to the festival; all her gates are desolate; her priests groan; her virgins have been afflicted, and she herself suffers bitterly.
• New King James Version (NKJV)The roads to Zion mourn Because no one comes to the set feasts. All her gates are desolate; Her priests sigh, Her virgins are afflicted, And she is in bitterness.

Context of Lamentations 1:4

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! 3Judah is gone into exile under affliction and great servitude. She dwells among the nations. She finds no resting place. All her pursuers have overtaken her in the midst of her distress. The roads to Zion mourn for no one comes to her moadim. All her gates are desolate. Her kohanim groan, her maidens grieve— she is in bitter anguish. 5Her foes have become her masters. Her enemies are at ease. For Adonai has afflicted her, because of her many transgressions. Her children have gone away as captives before the adversary. 6All her splendor has departed, from the daughter of Zion. Her princes are like stags that find no pasture. They have fled without strength before the pursuer.

Lamentations 1:4 word by word

דַּרְכֵ֨י צִיּ֜וֹן אֲבֵל֗וֹת מִבְּלִי֙ בָּאֵ֣י מוֹעֵ֔ד כָּל־שְׁעָרֶ֙יהָ֙ שֽׁוֹמֵמִ֔ין כֹּהֲנֶ֖יהָ נֶאֱנָחִ֑ים בְּתוּלֹתֶ֥יהָ נּוּג֖וֹת וְהִ֥יא מַר־לָֽהּ׃ סRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• The waysדֶּ֫רֶךְderek · way: roadH1870
• of Zionצִיּוֹןtsîyôn · ZionH6726
• do mournאָבֵל'âbêl · mourningH57
• because none comeבּוֹאbô' · to come (in): comeH935
• to the solemn feastsמוֹעֵדmô‛êd mô‛êd mô‛âdâh · meeting: festivalH4150
• all her gatesשַׁ֫עַרsha‛ar · gateH8179
• are desolateשָׁמֵםshâmêm · be desolate: destroyedH8074
• her priestsכֹּהֵןkôhên · priestH3548
• sighאָנַח'ânach · to sighH584
• her virginsבְּתוּלָהbethûlâh · virginH1330
• are afflictedיָגָהyâgâh · to sufferH3013
• in bitternessמָרַרmârar · to provokeH4843

Cross-references for Lamentations 1:4

• Lamentations 2:6Like the garden He laid waste His dwelling, destroyed His appointed meeting place. Adonai has caused moed and Shabbat to be forgotten in Zion. In the indignation of His anger He spurned king and kohen.
• Lamentations 5:13Young men toil at the millstone. Boys stagger under loads of wood.
• Isaiah 24:4The land faints and fades away, The world wilts and fades away, The exalted people of the earth wilt.
• Jeremiah 14:2Judah will mourn, and her gates languish. They will bow in black to the ground And Jerusalem’s wail will go up.
• Micah 3:12Therefore, because of you Zion will become a plowed field. Yes, Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins, and the Temple Mount will become a high place in a forest.
• Lamentations 2:9Her gates sank into the ground. Her bars He destroyed and shattered. Her king and princes are among nations. There is no more Torah. Also her prophets find no vision from Adonai.
• Jeremiah 9:11Who is the one wise enough to understand this? To whom has the mouth of Adonai spoken that he may explain it? Why is the land ruined, laid waste like a wilderness, so that no one passes through?”
• Jeremiah 10:22Listen! The sound of a report is coming— a great commotion out of the land of the north— to make the cities of Judah desolate, a haunt of jackals.
• Jeremiah 33:10Thus says Adonai: “Yet again in this place—which you are saying is a waste without man or beast, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem the desolate, without man, without inhabitant and without beast—there will be heard
• Lamentations 1:11All her people groan, as they seek bread. They traded their treasures for food to keep themselves alive. “Look, Adonai, and see! For I have become despised!”
• Lamentations 2:10The elders of the daughter of Zion sit upon the ground in silence. They threw dust on their heads and girded themselves with sackcloth. The maidens of Jerusalem have bowed their heads to the ground.
• Isaiah 32:9Rise up, you women at ease, And hear my voice. You complacent daughters, give ear to my words.
• Joel 1:8Wail like a virgin dressed in sackcloth for the husband of her youth!

Commentaries on Lamentations 1:4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4The ways of Zion do mourn - A fine prosopopoeia. The ways in which the people trod coming to the sacred solemnities, being now no longer frequented, are represented as shedding tears; and the gates themselves partake of the general distress. All poets of eminence among the Greeks and Romans have recourse to this image. So Moschus, in his Epitaph on Bion, ver. 1-3: - , ̔<-144 ̔ . , , . . . "Ye winds, with grief your waving summits bow, Ye Dorian fountains…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4Zion, as the holy city, is the symbol of the religious life of the people, just as Judah in the previous verse represents their national life. The “virgins” took a prominent part in all religious festivals Jeremiah 31:13; Exodus 15:20.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4Zion: In the Psalms and prophetic books, Zion represents the city of Jerusalem. In Lamentations, Zion is a poetic name for the city of Jerusalem. The writer uses this name even when the city lies in ruins (destroyed buildings and broken walls). Hebrews 12:22–24 speaks of the heavenly Zion (see also Revelation 14:1–5). The annual festivals in Jerusalem included: The Passover The Feast of Unleavened Bread The Feast of the Firstfruits (also called the Feast…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. feasts--the passover, pentecost (or the feast of weeks), and the feast of tabernacles. gates--once the place of concourse. He.Read the comment

Topics related to Lamentations 1:4

• Captivity
• Virgin
• Zion

In the dictionaries

• Faint
• Poetry
• Acrostic
• Alphabet
• Gate
• Lamentations, Book of
• Poetry, Hebrew
• Proverbs, the Book of
• Writing

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