“I called for my lovers, but they deceived me. My priests and my elders gave up the spirit in the city, while they sought food for themselves to refresh their souls.
Parallel Translations
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“I called for my lovers, but they deceived me. My priests and my elders gave up the spirit in the city, while they sought food for themselves to refresh their souls.
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I called for my lovers, but they deceived me: my priests and mine elders gave up the ghost in the city, while they sought their meat to relieve their souls.
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I called for my lovers, but they deceived me; my priests and mine elders perished in the city, while they sought them food to refresh their souls.
Cross-references (13)
Passages linked to Lamentations 1:19 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Lamentations 1:2 She weeps bitterly in the night. Her tears are on her cheeks. Among all her lovers she has no one to comfort her. All her friends have dealt treacherously with her. They have become her enemies.
- Lamentations 1:11 All her people sigh. They seek bread. They have given their pleasant things for food to refresh their soul. “Look, Yahweh, and see; for I have become despised.”
- Lamentations 2:20 “Look, Yahweh, and see to whom you have done thus! Should the women eat their offspring, the children that they held and bounced on their knees? Should the priest and the prophet be killed in the sanctuary of the Lord?
- Job 19:13-19 “He has put my brothers far from me. My acquaintances are wholly estranged from me. My relatives have gone away. My familiar friends have forgotten me. Those who dwell in my house and my maids consider me a stranger. I am an alien in their sight. I call to my servant, and he gives me no answer. I beg him with my mouth. My breath is offensive to my wife. I am loathsome to the children of my own mother. Even young children despise me. If I arise, they speak against me. All my familiar friends abhor me. They whom I loved have turned against me.
- Jeremiah 2:28 “But where are your gods that you have made for yourselves? Let them arise, if they can save you in the time of your trouble; for you have as many gods as you have towns, O Judah.
- Jeremiah 14:15-18 Therefore Yahweh says concerning the prophets who prophesy in my name, but I didn’t send them, yet they say, ‘Sword and famine will not be in this land.’ Those prophets will be consumed by sword and famine. The people to whom they prophesy will be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword. They will have no one to bury them—them, their wives, their sons, or their daughters, for I will pour their wickedness on them. “You shall say this word to them: “ ‘Let my eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease; for the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great breach, with a very grievous wound. If I go out into the field, then, behold, the slain with the sword! If I enter into the city, then, behold, those who are sick with famine! For both the prophet and the priest go about in the land, and have no knowledge.’ ”
- Jeremiah 23:11-15 for both prophet and priest are profane. Yes, in my house I have found their wickedness,” says Yahweh. Therefore their way will be to them as slippery places in the darkness. They will be driven on, and fall therein; for I will bring evil on them, even the year of their visitation,” says Yahweh. “I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria. They prophesied by Baal, and caused my people Israel to err. In the prophets of Jerusalem I have also seen a horrible thing: they commit adultery and walk in lies. They strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one returns from his wickedness. They have all become to me as Sodom, and its inhabitants as Gomorrah.” Therefore Yahweh of Armies says concerning the prophets: “Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink poisoned water; for from the prophets of Jerusalem ungodliness has gone out into all the land.”
- Jeremiah 27:13-15 Why will you die, you and your people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as Yahweh has spoken concerning the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon? Don’t listen to the words of the prophets who speak to you, saying, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon;’ for they prophesy a lie to you. For I have not sent them,” says Yahweh, “but they prophesy falsely in my name; that I may drive you out, and that you may perish, you, and the prophets who prophesy to you.”
- Jeremiah 30:14 All your lovers have forgotten you. They don’t seek you. For I have wounded you with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the greatness of your iniquity, because your sins were increased.
- Jeremiah 37:7-9 “Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, ‘You shall tell the king of Judah, who sent you to me to inquire of me: “Behold, Pharaoh’s army, which has come out to help you, will return to Egypt into their own land. The Chaldeans will come again, and fight against this city. They will take it and burn it with fire.” ’ “Yahweh says, ‘Don’t deceive yourselves, saying, “The Chaldeans will surely depart from us;” for they will not depart.
- Lamentations 4:7-9 Her nobles were purer than snow. They were whiter than milk. They were more ruddy in body than rubies. Their polishing was like sapphire. Their appearance is blacker than a coal. They are not known in the streets. Their skin clings to their bones. It is withered. It has become like a stick. Those who are killed with the sword are better than those who are killed with hunger; For these pine away, stricken through, for lack of the fruits of the field.
- Lamentations 4:17 Our eyes still fail, looking in vain for our help. In our watching we have watched for a nation that could not save.
- Lamentations 5:12 Princes were hanged up by their hands. The faces of elders were not honored.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (16 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain Here the people of God complain in the person…
Here the people of God complain in the person of a woman, as we have before seen, that in their calamity they were left destitute of every comfort. And it is a circumstance which increases grief, when no one is present to shew any kindness to the miserable; for it is no small alleviation of sorrow, when friends offer their kind services, and as far as they can, endeavor to mitigate the severity of the evil.
The Church of God now says, that she was so forsaken by friends as to be left alone to pine away in her mourning and sorrow. There may, however, be here an allusion to shameful and impure connections; for by this term, friends, the Spirit often points out the Egyptians as well as others in whom the Israelites had foolishly trusted; for in this manner, we know, they had turned aside from conjugal fidelity. God had bound them to himself, that they might acquiesce in his favor alone; and so to acquiesce was their spiritual chastity. Rightly, then, does Scripture compare both the Egyptians and the Assyrians to harlots, whenever the Israelites sought aid from them. But as this explanation seems too refined, I am content to view what is said simply as a complaint., that the people of God, though looking in all directions, yet could find no comfort in the world. I cried, she said, to my friends; they deceived me.
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It is then added, My priests and mine elders expired in the city. Had they been slain in battle, it would have been no wonder; for they who go against an enemy, go as it were to meet death. But God’s people here deplore a more grievous evil, that the priests died in the city, not through the enemies’ sword, but through famine, which is as it were the extreme of evils. It is then said, that the priests as well as the elders perished through famine, because they could not find food. And when it is said that they sought food to refresh the soul, there is a contrast to be understood between ordinary food and a remedy for the famine; for we naturally seek food whenever we feel hungry; but the Prophet refers here to something more than this, even that the priests and the elders sought food, because long abstinence urged them; and it was very sad, that the priests, who excelled in honor, and also the elders, were thus reduced to want. Had such a thing happened to the common people, it would not have been so wonderful; for the long siege of the city had consumed all their provisions. But when the priests, and those who had wealth, were thus oppressed with hunger, we may conclude that the want which the Prophet wished to describe was extreme. It follows, —
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain That is, they died for hunger.
That is, they died for hunger.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Lam 1:19 I called for my lovers, [but] they…
Lam 1:19 I called for my lovers, [but] they deceived me: my priests and mine elders gave up the ghost in the city, while they sought their meat to relieve their souls.
Ver. 19. I called for my lovers, but they deceived me.] My confederates, idols, and other sweethearts, never yet true to any that trusted them. See Jer 22:20; Jer 30:14.
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My priests and mine elders, &c.] What then became of poor folk? and how gracious was God to Jeremiah in the provision made for him by the king, who yet loved him not!
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain I desired help of my allies and confederates who…
I desired help of my allies and confederates who courted my friendship and alliance in any prosperity, but they failed mine expectation, none of them either would or could succour me. My misery was such through the famine, that not only my common people, but those of the best rank in the city, magistrates and priests, fainted as they went along the street seeking bread to satisfy their hunger.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain I called for my lovers, but they deceived me,....…
I called for my lovers, but they deceived me,.... Either her idols, with whom she had committed spiritual adultery, that is, idolatry; but these could not answer her expectations, and help her: or the Egyptians, that courted her friendship, and with whom she was in alliance, and in whom she trusted; and these, in the times of her distress, she called upon to make good their engagements, but they disappointed her, and stood not to their covenant and promises, but left her to stand and fall by herself; this Jerusalem said, according to the Targum, when she was delivered into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar; but these words, "they deceived me", it makes to be the Romans, that came with Titus and Vespasian, and built bulwarks against Jerusalem:
my priests and mine elders gave up the ghost in the city; or died in the city of Jerusalem; not by the sword of the enemy, but through famine; and so, in the Arabic language, the word (i) signifies to labour under famine, and want of food, and perish through it; and if this was the case of their priests that officiated in holy things, and of their elders or civil magistrates, what must be the case of the common people?
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while they sought their meat to relieve their souls; or "fetch (k) them back"; which were just fainting and dying away through hunger; and who did expire while they were begging their bread, or inquiring in one place after another where they could get any, either freely or for money.
(i) "esurivit et fame ac inedia laboravit", Golius, col. 556. (k) "et reducerent animam suam", Montanus.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Deceived - They did not answer my expectation.
Deceived - They did not answer my expectation.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 19. I called for my lovers] My allies;…
Verse 19. I called for my lovers] My allies; the Egyptians and others.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain I called for ... - Rather, to “my lovers.”
I called for ... - Rather, to “my lovers.”
While they sought their meat - literally, “for they sought food for themselves to revive their souls.” Complete the sense by adding, “and found none.”
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Me. Egypt attempted to relieve Juda, to no purpose,…
Me. Egypt attempted to relieve Juda, to no purpose, ver. 2. (Calmet) --- It could not, or at least did not, prove of any service to the Jews, chap. ii. 18. (Worthington)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain lovers-- (Lam 1:2; Jer 30:14).
lovers-- (Lam 1:2; Jer 30:14).
elders--in dignity, not merely age.
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sought . . . meat--Their dignity did not exempt them from having to go and seek bread (Lam 1:11).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 19. I called for, etc. — Rather, I called…
19. I called for, etc. — Rather, I called to, my lovers.
Priests and… elders — The men to whom the people should have recourse in times of trouble: the former as representing the community before God, and being the medium of his grace; and the latter as the leaders in civil matters. Even these have pined away while they sought (in vain) their meat to relieve their souls.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 19. my lovers] See on Lam_1:2.
19. my lovers] See on Lam_1:2.
meat to refresh their souls] See on Lam_1:11. The LXX add (but unnecessarily, and with injury to the metre), and found it not.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (19) I called for.—Better, to. The “lovers,” as in…
(19) I called for.—Better, to. The “lovers,” as in Lam_1:2, are the former allies of Judah.
My priests and mine elders.—The pressure of the famine of the besieged city is emphasised by the fact that even these, the honoured guides of the people, had died of hunger. On the phrase that follows, see Lam_1:11. A conjectural addition, at the end of the verse, “and found not,” is supplied in the LXX and Syriac versions; but rhetorically there is more force in the aposiopesis, the suggestive silence, of the Hebrew.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain For my lovers; render, to my lovers (see on…
For my lovers; render, to my lovers (see on ver. 2).
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain I called for my lovers, but they deceived me.
Lam_1:19-22
I called for my lovers, but they deceived me.
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Deceitful helpers
1. It is an increase of sorrow to be disappointed of their help by whom we looked to be delivered out of our troubles.
2. God often maketh our friends, that love us unfeignedly, utterly unable to do us any good in our distress.
3. The misery of that people must needs be great, whose rulers can neither hold themselves nor others.
4. Gods plagues do often overtake the great ones, as well as others.
5. Gods people may come to the extremest beggary that can be in this life.
(1) Outward things are no part of their felicity, which is purchased for them by Christ Jesus.
(2) God will now and then show Himself the preserver of His people, when all means do fail. (J. Udall.)
Behold, O Lord; for I am in distress.--
Prayer in distress
1. We must not give over, but continue in prayer, though we be not heard in that we entreat for. God hath commanded us to pray without ceasing, and set no time when we shall be heard.
2. God seeth all things; but we must with lamentation lay open our miseries before Him.
(1) Mercy is denied to them that hide their sins.
(2) Forgiveness is granted upon a free confession.
3. We then pray most earnestly when we feet most sensibly the burden of that we would be rid of, and the want of that we would have.
4. There is no rest or quietness within us, when God presseth us with the weight of our own sins.
5. The godly do always, in the due consideration of their sins, aggravate them against themselves in greatest measure.
(1) They see best into their own offences.
(2) They measure them by the heavy anger of God, deserved by the same (Luk_18:13).
6. The things that are ordained for our greatest good in this life, do turn to our greatest harm when our sins provoke Gods anger to break forth against us. (J. Udall.)
There is none to comfort me.
Comfortless
1. It is the duty of all men to comfort the afflicted, and not to add to their miseries (Mat_25:40; Jam_1:27; 1Co_12:26; Heb_13:3).
(1) We owe this duty one to another.
(2) No misery can befall another, but when God will it may light upon ourselves.
2. It is the property of the wicked to rejoice at the miseries of the godly, with whom they should mourn (Psa_69:12; Psa_137:3; Jdg_16:25).
(1) They are affected as their father the devil, who rejoiceth in nothing but the calamity of mankind.
(2) Their hatred maketh them glad when any evil lighteth on the righteous.
3. We are the fittest scholars to learn Gods Word and make right use of it, when afflictions are upon us.
(1) In prosperity we forget God and ourselves also.
(2) We are in our corrupt nature as naughty children that will not learn except they be well whipped.
(3) In afflictions we can more easily consider of our estate, both present, past, and to come.
4. Every tittle of Gods Word shall be accomplished in due season (Mat_5:18).
5. Though the troubles of the righteous be many, yet arc not the elect to be discerned from the reprobate by affliction.
6. It greatly easeth the godly in their afflictions to consider that their foes shall be destroyed (Rev_18:20).
7. The punishments that Gods people sustain in this life are sure tokens that the wicked shall be plagued, howsoever they escape for a time. (J. Udall.)
Thou wilt bring the day that Thou hast called.--
The day that right all wrongs
In that day--
1. God shall no longer be shut out of His own world.
2. Christ shall no longer be denied and blasphemed.
3. Evil shall no longer prevail.
4. Error shall give place to truth.
5. The saints shall no longer be maligned. (H. Bonar, D. D.)
.
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 1:19 I begged my allies: Egypt had a great…
1:19 I begged my allies: Egypt had a great deal of interest in Judah because Judah controlled the only good route to the north. However, Egypt turned her back on Judah when Babylon attacked Jerusalem (Jer 37:5-11). • When there was little rain in the fall and spring in Palestine, a summer without rain could destroy crops and cause a food shortage. The food supply also ran out under the prolonged siege of a city (Jan 588–July 586 BC), and many people starved to death (2 Kgs 25:2-3; cp. Jer 37:21).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.