Lamentations 3:61

Study note

Setting — The speaker addresses Yahweh, cataloging the hostility of assailants within a prolonged lament. The appeal occurs amid a sequence of verses detailing observed malice, slander, and daily opposition.

The words — The Hebrew שָׁמַ֫עְתָּ (sha.ma'.ta) means "you have heard," directly governing חֶרְפָּתָם (cher.pa.Ta/m) for "their reproach" and מַחְשְׁבֹתָם (mach.she.vo.Ta/m) for "their plots." These terms specify that divine perception covers both public insults and concealed schemes.

The thread — The appeal to God’s awareness of contempt appears in Psalms 89:50 and Lamentations 5:1, where sufferers invoke Yahweh’s memory against disgrace, while Zephaniah 2:8 records Yahweh speaking as the one who has heard the reproach.

Why it lands — The text asserts that Yahweh perceives both spoken taunts and hidden designs without delay. It requires the reader to treat divine observation as the baseline for justice rather than human vindication.

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.