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“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.” 16Adonai Himself has scattered them. He will look on them no more. They did not respect the kohanim. They did not favor the elders. Even now our eyes waste away looking in vain for our help. From our towers we watched for a nation that could not save us. 18They hunted our steps, so we could not walk in our streets. Our end was near. Our days were numbered, for our end had come. 19Our pursuers were swifter than eagles of the sky; they pursued us over the mountains; they ambushed us in the wilderness.

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 1:19I called to my lovers— they deceived me! My kohanim and my elders perished in the city when they sought food to keep themselves alive.
• 2 Kings 24:7No longer did the king of Egypt march out of his country, for the king of Babylon had seized all the land that once belonged to the king of Egypt, from the Wadi of Egypt to the Euphrates River.
• Isaiah 20:5So they will be dismayed and ashamed, because they hoped in Ethiopia and boasted in Egypt.
• Isaiah 30:1“Oy , the rebellious children” —it is a declaration of Adonai— “Who carry out a plan, but not Mine, and make an alliance, but not of My Ruach, so they may add sin to sin,
• Isaiah 31:1Oy , those going down to Egypt for help. They are relying on horses, trusting in chariots since they are many, and in horsemen since they are very mighty, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel nor seek Adonai!
• Jeremiah 2:18But now, what is on the road to Egypt? Drinking the waters of the Nile? Or what is on the road to Assyria? Drinking the waters of the Euphrates?
• Jeremiah 8:20“Harvest is past, summer is over, yet we are not saved.”
• Jeremiah 30:7Oy ! For that day is monumental. There will be none like it— a time of trouble for Jacob! Yet out of it he will be saved.
• Ezekiel 29:6Then all the inhabitants of Egypt will know that I am Adonai, because they were a staff of reed to the house of Israel.

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