Bible Strands
Lamentations 5:5
We are closely pursued; we are weary and find no rest.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The collective voice of Judah’s survivors speaks to God immediately after Jerusalem’s destruction, describing their present condition of exhaustion and subjugation. They report their physical depletion following the loss of basic provisions.
The words — The Hebrew נִרְדָּ֔פְנוּ (nir.Da.fe.nu) literally means "we have been pursued," directly followed by יָגַ֖עְנוּ (ya.Ga'.nu) for "we have become weary." These verbs state the active, unrelenting pressure on the people before noting their depleted state.
The thread — The text tracks forced subjugation and neck-bearing burden in Nehemiah 9:36 and Lamentations 1:14, where sin is bound into a yoke over the neck. Deuteronomy 28:48 parallels this pattern by describing hostile placement and servitude under famine and thirst.
Why it lands — The passage states the fact of unrelieved exhaustion and denied rest without offering comfort or resolution. It requires the reader to acknowledge the reality of sustained oppression and the absence of granted relief.
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
Our necks are under persecution: we labour, and have no rest.
Cross-references
- Nehemiah 9:36 So here we are today as slaves in the land You gave our fathers to enjoy its fruit and goodness—here we are as slaves!
- Lamentations 1:14 My transgressions are bound into a yoke, knit together by His hand; they are draped over my neck, and the Lord has broken my strength. He has delivered me into the hands of those I cannot withstand.
- Deuteronomy 28:48 you will serve your enemies the LORD will send against you in famine, thirst, nakedness, and destitution. He will place an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you.
- Jeremiah 27:8 As for the nation or kingdom that does not serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and does not place its neck under his yoke, I will punish that nation by sword and famine and plague, declares the LORD, until I have destroyed it by his hand.
- Jeremiah 27:11 But the nation that will put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will leave in its own land, to cultivate it and reside in it, declares the LORD.”
- Jeremiah 28:14 For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations to make them serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and they will serve him. I have even given him control of the beasts of the field.’”
- 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.
- Jeremiah 27:2 This is what the LORD said to me: “Make for yourself a yoke out of leather straps and put it on your neck.
- Lamentations 4:19 Those who chased us were swifter than the eagles in the sky; they pursued us over the mountains and ambushed us in the wilderness.
- Matthew 11:29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.