Bible Strands
Lamentations 3:54
The waters flowed over my head, and I thought I was going to die.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The speaker, having been cast alive into a pit and pelted with stones, addresses God while floodwaters reach his head and he declares he has been cut off from life.
The words — The text employs צָפוּ (tza.fu, "they overflowed") to describe the waters and נִגְזַרְתִּי (nig.zarti, "I have been cut off") to record the speaker's statement of impending death.
The thread — The imagery of drowning waters and being cut off from life runs through Jonah 2:3, Psalms 18:4, and Ezekiel 37:11.
Why it lands — It demands that a reader acknowledge how extreme physical peril forces a direct, unadorned address to God before any deliverance is stated.
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
Waters flowed over mine head; then I said, I am cut off.
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 37:11 Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Look, they are saying, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope has perished; we are cut off.’
- Jonah 2:3 For You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the current swirled about me; all Your breakers and waves swept over me.
- Psalms 18:4 The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of chaos overwhelmed me.
- Psalms 69:1 For the choirmaster. To the tune of “Lilies.” Of David. Save me, O God, for the waters are up to my neck.
- Lamentations 3:18 So I say, “My strength has perished, along with my hope from the LORD.”
- 2 Corinthians 1:8 We do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the hardships we encountered in the province of Asia. We were under a burden far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life.
- Job 17:11 My days have passed; my plans are broken off—even the desires of my heart.
- Psalms 31:22 In my alarm I said, “I am cut off from Your sight!” But You heard my plea for mercy when I called to You for help.
- Psalms 69:15 Do not let the floods engulf me or the depths swallow me up; let not the Pit close its mouth over me.
- Psalms 124:4 then the floods would have engulfed us, then the torrent would have overwhelmed us,