Bible Strands
Lamentations 5:17
Because of this, our hearts are faint; because of these, our eyes grow dim—
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The speaker is the collective voice of Judah addressing God immediately after confessing national sin and acknowledging the fallen crown in Lamentations 5:16. The moment captures the direct aftermath of Jerusalem's siege and the loss of royal authority.
The words — The Hebrew דָוֶה (da.Veh) literally means "to faint" or "to become sick," describing the collapse of the people's heart. The verb חָשְׁכוּ (cha.she.Khu) literally means "to grow dark" or "to become dim," applied directly to their eyes.
The thread — This physical collapse from grief appears in Psalms 6:7, where eyes fail from grief, and Job 17:7, where eyes grow dim with grief. Isaiah 1:5 also links a wounded heart to divine judgment.
Why it lands — The text states that sin and siege produce irreversible physical and spiritual exhaustion before any theological explanation. It requires the reader to acknowledge human limitation and the concrete consequences of covenant failure without offering immediate comfort.
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
For this our heart is faint; for these things our eyes are dim.
Cross-references
- Psalms 6:7 My eyes fail from grief; they grow dim because of all my foes.
- Isaiah 1:5 Why do you want more beatings? Why do you keep rebelling? Your head has a massive wound, and your whole heart is afflicted.
- Job 17:7 My eyes have grown dim with grief, and my whole body is but a shadow.
- Lamentations 2:11 My eyes fail from weeping; I am churning within. My heart is poured out in grief over the destruction of the daughter of my people, because children and infants faint in the streets of the city.
- Isaiah 38:14 I chirp like a swallow or crane; I moan like a dove. My eyes grow weak as I look upward. O Lord, I am oppressed; be my security.”
- Leviticus 26:36 As for those of you who survive, I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies, so that even the sound of a windblown leaf will put them to flight. And they will flee as one flees the sword, and fall when no one pursues them.
- Deuteronomy 28:65 Among those nations you will find no repose, not even a resting place for the sole of your foot. There the LORD will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and a despairing soul.
- Psalms 31:9 Be merciful to me, O LORD, for I am in distress; my eyes fail from sorrow, my soul and body as well.
- Psalms 69:3 I am weary from my crying; my throat is parched. My eyes fail, looking for my God.
- Jeremiah 8:18 My sorrow is beyond healing; my heart is faint within me.