Lamentations 1:3 Meaning and Explanation
“Judah is gone into captivity because of affliction, and because of great servitude: she dwelleth among the heathen, she findeth no rest: all her persecutors overtook her between the straits.”
King James Version (KJV)
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Read Full Chapter →Judah has been carried into exile and finds no rest among foreign peoples, hunted down with no way to escape.
What Does Lamentations 1:3 Mean?
The people are now a captive nation, dwelling among strangers whose gods and customs are not their own. The promised land had been their inheritance and their rest; exile is the undoing of both. She wanders without a home and without peace, the very rest God had once given her now withdrawn.
'Between the straits' pictures a fugitive caught in a narrow place, overtaken where there is no room to turn. There is no open road, no refuge ahead, only pursuers behind. The verse lets us feel the claustrophobia of judgment fallen, the sense of being trapped with nowhere left to run.
Lamentations 1:3 in the Original Language
manoach (מָנוֹחַ), 'rest' -- the settled peace of a secure home, the very gift exile strips away.
Frequently Asked Questions About Lamentations 1:3
What does Lamentations 1:3 mean?
Judah has been carried into exile and finds no rest among foreign peoples, hunted down with no way to escape.