Lamentations 1:6

6 All splendor has abandoned the people of Zion. Its influential people were like deer that couldn't find any pasture. They ran without any strength ahead of the hunters.

Lamentations 1:6 Meaning and Commentary

Lamentations 1:6

And from the daughter of Zion all her beauty is departed
The kingdom removed; the priesthood ceased; the temple, their beautiful house, burnt; the palaces of their king and nobles demolished; and everything in church and state that was glorious were now no more: her princes are become like harts [that] find no pasture;
that are heartless and without courage, fearful and timorous, as harts are, especially when destitute of food. The Targum is

``her princes run about for food, as harts run about in the wilderness, and find no place fit for pasture:''

and they are gone without strength before the pursuer;
having no spirit nor courage to oppose the enemy, nor strength to flee from him, they fell into his hands, and so were carried captive; see ( Jeremiah 52:8-10 ) . Jarchi observes, that the word for "pursuer" has here all its letters, and nowhere else; and so denotes the full pursuit of the enemy, and the complete victory obtained by him.

Lamentations 1:6 In-Context

4 "The roads to Zion are deserted. No one comes to the annual festivals. No one passes through any of its gates. Its priests are groaning. Its young women are made to suffer. Zion is bitter.

5 Its opponents are now in control. Its enemies have no worries. The LORD made Zion suffer for its many rebellious acts. Its children go ahead of their opponents into captivity.

6 All splendor has abandoned the people of Zion. Its influential people were like deer that couldn't find any pasture. They ran without any strength ahead of the hunters.

7 "Now, during its suffering and oppression, Jerusalem remembers all the treasures it had from ancient times, when its people fell into the power of their enemies with no one to help them. Their opponents looked on, and they laughed at Jerusalem's downfall.

8 Jerusalem has sinned so much that it has become a filthy thing. Everyone who used to honor it now despises it. They've seen it naked. Jerusalem groans and turns away.