Bible Strands
Lamentations 1:5
Her foes have become her masters; her enemies are at ease. For the LORD has brought her grief because of her many transgressions. Her children have gone away as captives before the enemy.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The poet of Lamentations describes the post-siege condition of Jerusalem (Zion) to the community of exiles and mourners. The passage records the immediate aftermath of the city's fall, noting the absence of pilgrims and the groaning of its leaders.
The words — The phrase לְרֹאשׁ (le.roSh) literally means "into a head," indicating that opponents have been elevated to positions of authority over the city. The verb הוֹגָהּ (ho.Ga) states that Yahweh has actively caused her deep grief or anguish.
The thread — Jeremiah 30:14 records that God struck the city as an enemy would after her allies abandoned her. Deuteronomy 32:15 describes how prosperity leads to abandoning the God who made them, mirroring the stated cause of grief in this verse.
Why it lands — The text demands acknowledgment that political defeat and familial displacement are direct consequences of covenant failure. It requires the reader to trace present suffering to specific transgressions rather than abstract 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
King James Version
Her adversaries are the chief, her enemies prosper; for the Lord hath afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions: her children are gone into captivity before the enemy.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 32:15 But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked—becoming fat, bloated, and gorged. He abandoned the God who made him and scorned the Rock of his salvation.
- Psalms 90:7 For we are consumed by Your anger and terrified by Your wrath.
- Jeremiah 30:14 All your lovers have forgotten you; they no longer seek you, for I have struck you as an enemy would, with the discipline of someone cruel, because of your great iniquity and your numerous sins.
- Jeremiah 39:9 Then Nebuzaradan captain of the guard carried away to Babylon the remnant of the people who had remained in the city, along with the deserters who had defected to him.
- Ezekiel 8:17 “Son of man,” He said to me, “do you see this? Is it not enough for the house of Judah to commit the abominations they are practicing here, that they must also fill the land with violence and continually provoke Me to anger? Look, they are even putting the branch to their nose!
- Ezekiel 9:9 He replied, “The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great. The land is full of bloodshed, and the city is full of perversity. For they say, ‘The LORD has forsaken the land; the LORD does not see.’
- Leviticus 26:15 and if you reject My statutes, despise My ordinances, and neglect to carry out all My commandments, and so break My covenant,
- Deuteronomy 4:25 After you have children and grandchildren and you have been in the land a long time, if you then act corruptly and make an idol of any form—doing evil in the sight of the LORD your God and provoking Him to anger—
- Deuteronomy 28:15 If, however, you do not obey the LORD your God by carefully following all His commandments and statutes I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:
- Deuteronomy 29:18 Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the LORD our God to go and worship the gods of those nations. Make sure there is no root among you that bears such poisonous and bitter fruit,