Bible Strands
Lamentations 3:52
Without cause my enemies hunted me like a bird.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The speaker addresses God while recounting the siege of Jerusalem, immediately following grief over the city's inhabitants and preceding a description of being cast alive into a pit.
The words — חִנָּם (chi.Nam) translates literally to "without cause," and צָדוּ/נִי (tza.Du./ni) means "they hunted me."
The thread — The motif of baseless persecution runs through Psalms 35:7, where foes dig pits and lay nets without reason, and Psalms 35:19, where opponents gloat and hate without justification.
Why it lands — It requires the reader to recognize that innocent suffering can occur independently of personal guilt, demanding a clear distinction between unjust human violence and divine judgment.
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
Mine enemies chased me sore, like a bird, without cause.
Cross-references
- Psalms 35:19 Let not my enemies gloat over me without cause, nor those who hate me without reason wink in malice.
- Psalms 35:7 For without cause they laid their net for me; without reason they dug a pit for my soul.
- 1 Samuel 24:10 Behold, this day you have seen with your own eyes that the LORD delivered you into my hand in the cave. I was told to kill you, but I spared you and said, ‘I will not lift my hand against my lord, since he is the LORD’s anointed.’
- 1 Samuel 25:28 Please forgive your servant’s offense, for the LORD will surely make a lasting dynasty for my lord, because he fights the LORD’s battles. May no evil be found in you as long as you live.
- 1 Samuel 26:18 And he continued, “Why is my lord pursuing his servant? What have I done? What evil is in my hand?
- Psalms 11:1 For the choirmaster. Of David. In the LORD I take refuge. How then can you say to me: “Flee like a bird to your mountain!
- Psalms 69:4 Those who hate me without cause outnumber the hairs of my head; many are those who would destroy me—my enemies for no reason. Though I did not steal, I must repay.
- Psalms 109:3 They surround me with hateful words and attack me without cause.
- Psalms 119:161 Rulers persecute me without cause, but my heart fears only Your word.
- Jeremiah 37:15 The officials were angry with Jeremiah, and they beat him and placed him in jail in the house of Jonathan the scribe, for it had been made into a prison.