Bible Strands
Lamentations 3:47
Panic and pitfall have come upon us—devastation and destruction.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The afflicted speaker in Lamentations 3 addresses the community of Judah during the Babylonian siege and subsequent fall of Jerusalem. The verse declares that sudden terror and traps have arrived, bringing ruin to the people.
The words — The text highlights פַּחַד (Pa.chad), meaning "terror," and פַּחַת (Fa.chat), meaning "pit," paired with הֶשְׁאֵת (Shet) for "devastation" and שֶׁבֶר (Shever) for "brokenness." These terms describe the sudden, inescapable nature of the coming judgment.
The thread — This pairing of terror, pit, and devastation appears in Isaiah 24:17, Isaiah 51:19, and Jeremiah 48:43 as a prophetic warning of inescapable judgment. The identical phrasing links Lamentations to earlier prophetic declarations of divine wrath.
Why it lands — The verse demands recognition that the described calamity is a realized historical reality, not a distant threat. It requires the reader to confront the concrete consequences of national failure without minimizing the severity of the devastation.
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
Fear and a snare is come upon us, desolation and destruction.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 24:17 Terror and pit and snare await you, O dweller of the earth.
- Isaiah 51:19 These pairs have befallen you: devastation and destruction, famine and sword. Who will grieve for you? Who can comfort you?
- Jeremiah 48:43 Terror and pit and snare await you, O dweller of Moab,” declares the LORD.
- Lamentations 1:4 The roads to Zion mourn, because no one comes to her appointed feasts. All her gates are deserted; her priests groan, her maidens grieve, and she herself is bitter with anguish.
- 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.
- Lamentations 2:1 How the Lord has covered the Daughter of Zion with the cloud of His anger! He has cast the glory of Israel from heaven to earth. He has abandoned His footstool in the day of His anger.
- Luke 21:35 For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of all the earth.