Bible Strands
Lamentations 5:11
Women have been ravished in Zion, virgins in the cities of Judah.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator addresses God, recounting the immediate aftermath of Jerusalem's fall and the siege's devastation. The speaker describes a moment of total societal collapse where national structures have failed.
The words — The Hebrew עִנּוּ ('i.nu) literally means "have humiliated" or "have violated," describing the assault on women. נָשִׁים (na.shim) and בְּתוּלֹת (be.tu.lot) specify married women and virgins, respectively, across the locations of Zion and the cities of Judah.
The thread — This specific pattern of sexual violence during siege appears in Isaiah 13:16, Zechariah 14:2, and Deuteronomy 28:30. The same language links Jerusalem's destruction to earlier prophetic warnings and covenant curses.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition of concrete societal breakdown, where even protected groups suffer systematic violation. It requires the reader to confront the brutal reality of conquest without softening the description.
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
They ravished the women in Zion, and the maids in the cities of Judah.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 13:16 Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes, their houses will be looted, and their wives will be ravished.
- Zechariah 14:2 For I will gather all the nations for battle against Jerusalem, and the city will be captured, the houses looted, and the women ravished. Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be removed from the city.
- Deuteronomy 28:30 You will be pledged in marriage to a woman, but another man will violate her. You will build a house but will not live in it. You will plant a vineyard but will not enjoy its fruit.