Lamentations 1:13

He sent fire from on high, and it overpowered my bones. He spread a net for my feet and turned me back. He made me desolate, faint all the day long.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The speaker is Zion, personified as a mourning woman, addressing passersby in Jerusalem during the day of the Lord’s fierce anger. She describes her total devastation following the city's destruction.

The words — The Hebrew מִמָּרוֹם (mi.ma.Rom) literally means "from a high place," specifying the origin of the judgment. The verb שָׁלַח (sha.lach) translates directly to "he sent," establishing divine agency in the event.

The thread — The motif of divine entanglement appears in Job 19:6, where God draws a net around the speaker, while Job 30:30 and Habakkuk 3:16 describe physical decay and trembling as responses to divine confrontation.

Why it lands — The text states that the speaker's bones were overpowered by fire, her feet were caught in a net, and she was left desolate and faint all day. It requires the reader to acknowledge sustained, day-long weakness as a direct outcome of divine action rather than circumstantial misfortune.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

מִמָּר֛וֹםmi./ma.Romfrom/ a high place שָֽׁלַח־sha.lach-he sent אֵ֥שׁ'eshfire בְּעַצְמֹתַ֖יbe./'atz.mo.Ta/iin/ bones/ my וַיִּרְדֶּ֑נָּהva/i.yir.De./nahand/ he mastered/ it פָּרַ֨שׂpa.Rashe spread out רֶ֤שֶׁתRe.sheta net לְרַגְלַי֙le./rag.La/ifor/ feet/ my הֱשִׁיבַ֣נִיhe.shi.Va./nihe made turn back/ me אָח֔וֹר'a.Chorbackward נְתָנַ֙נִי֙ne.ta.Na./nihe made/ me שֹֽׁמֵמָ֔הsho.me.Mahdesolate כָּל־kol-all הַיּ֖וֹםhai./Yomthe/ day דָּוָֽה׃ סda.Vahfaint

King James Version

From above hath he sent fire into my bones, and it prevaileth against them: he hath spread a net for my feet, he hath turned me back: he hath made me desolate and faint all the day.

Cross-references

Job 30:30 My skin grows black and peels, and my bones burn with fever.
Habakkuk 3:16 I heard and trembled within; my lips quivered at the sound. Decay entered my bones; I trembled where I stood. Yet I must wait patiently for the day of distress to come upon the people who invade us.
Job 19:6 then understand that it is God who has wronged me and drawn His net around me.
Psalms 22:14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are disjointed. My heart is like wax; it melts away within me.
Ezekiel 17:20 I will spread My net over him and catch him in My snare. I will bring him to Babylon and execute judgment upon him there for the treason he committed against Me.
Psalms 66:11 You led us into the net; You laid burdens on our backs.
Ezekiel 12:13 But I will spread My net over him, and he will be caught in My snare. I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans; yet he will not see it, and there he will die.
Nahum 1:6 Who can withstand His indignation? Who can endure His burning anger? His wrath is poured out like fire; even rocks are shattered before Him.
Hebrews 12:29 “For our God is a consuming fire.”
Deuteronomy 28:65 Among those nations you will find no repose, not even a resting place for the sole of your foot. There the LORD will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and a despairing soul.