Lamentations 1:11

11 All of Jerusalem's people groan as they search for bread. They trade their treasures for food just to stay alive. They say, "Lord, look at us. Think about our condition. Everyone looks down on us."

Lamentations 1:11 Meaning and Commentary

Lamentations 1:11

All her people sigh
Not her priests only, ( Lamentations 1:4 ) ; but all the common people, because of their affliction, particularly for want of bread. So the Targum,

``all the people of Jerusalem sigh because of the famine;''
for it follows: they seek bread;
to eat, as the Targum; inquire where it is to be had, but in vain: they have given their pleasant things for meat to relieve the soul:
or, "to cause the soul to return" F24; to fetch it back when fainting and swooning away through famine; and therefore would give anything for food; part with their rich clothes, jewels, and precious stones; with whatsoever they had that was valuable in their cabinets or coffers, that they might have meat to keep from fainting and dying; to refresh and recruit their spirits spent with hunger: see, O Lord, and consider; for I am become vile;
mean, base, and contemptible, in the eyes of men, through penury and want of food; through poverty, affliction, and distress; and therefore desires the Lord would consider her case, and look with pity and compassion on her.
FOOTNOTES:

F24 (vpn byvhl) "ad reducendum animam", Montanus, Piscator.

Lamentations 1:11 In-Context

9 Her skirts are dirty. She didn't think about how things might turn out. Her fall from power amazed everyone. And no one was there to comfort her. She said, "Lord, please pay attention to how much I'm suffering. My enemies have won the battle over me."
10 Jerusalem's enemies took away all of its treasures. Its people saw strangers enter its temple. The LORD had commanded them not to do that.
11 All of Jerusalem's people groan as they search for bread. They trade their treasures for food just to stay alive. They say, "Lord, look at us. Think about our condition. Everyone looks down on us."
12 They also say, "All of you who are passing by, don't you care about what has happened to us? Just look at our condition. Has anyone suffered the way we have? The LORD has brought all of this on us. He has made us suffer. His anger has burned against us.
13 "He sent fire down from heaven. It went deep down into our very bones. He spread a net to catch us by the feet. He stopped us right where we were. He made our city empty. We are sick all the time.
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