Bible Strands
Lamentations 5:18
because of Mount Zion, which lies desolate, patrolled by foxes.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The communal speaker addresses God in the wake of Jerusalem's destruction, placing Zion's ruin between descriptions of national despair and a declaration of divine permanence.
The words — The verse highlights שׁוּעָלִ֖ים (shu'alim, "foxes") and שֶׁ/שָּׁמֵ֔ם (shemem, "desolate") to describe Mount Zion's ruined state.
The thread — This depiction of Zion's desolation appears alongside prophetic warnings in Micah 3:12, Jeremiah 9:11, and 1 Kings 9:7 regarding the fate of the city and temple.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that the holy site's current state of ruin contrasts with the immediate assertion of God's unchanging throne, requiring the reader to hold present devastation and divine sovereignty together without resolving the tension.
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
Because of the mountain of Zion, which is desolate, the foxes walk upon it.
Cross-references
- Micah 3:12 Therefore, because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, and the temple mount a wooded ridge.
- Jeremiah 9:11 “And I will make Jerusalem a heap of rubble, a haunt for jackals; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.”
- 1 Kings 9:7 then I will cut off Israel from the land that I have given them, and I will banish from My presence this temple I have sanctified for My Name. Then Israel will become an object of scorn and ridicule among all peoples.
- Psalms 74:2 Remember Your congregation, which You purchased long ago and redeemed as the tribe of Your inheritance—Mount Zion, where You dwell.
- Isaiah 32:13 and for the land of my people, overgrown with thorns and briers—even for every house of merriment in this city of revelry.
- Jeremiah 17:3 O My mountain in the countryside, I will give over your wealth and all your treasures as plunder, because of the sin of your high places, within all your borders.
- Jeremiah 26:9 How dare you prophesy in the name of the LORD that this house will become like Shiloh and this city will be desolate and deserted!” And all the people assembled against Jeremiah in the house of the LORD.
- Jeremiah 52:13 He burned down the house of the LORD, the royal palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem—every significant building.
- Lamentations 2:8 The LORD determined to destroy the wall of the Daughter of Zion. He stretched out a measuring line and did not withdraw His hand from destroying. He made the ramparts and walls lament; together they waste away.