Lamentations 5:17

17 Because of this, our heart is sick; because of these, our eyes grow dim:^[a]

Lamentations 5:17 Meaning and Commentary

Lamentations 5:17

For this our heart is faint
Our spirits sink; we are ready to swoon and die away; either for this, that we have sinned; because of our sins, they are so many, so great, and so aggravated; or for those distresses and calamities they have brought upon us before mentioned; or for the desolation of Zion, more especially, after expressed; and so the Targum,

``for this house of the sanctuary, which is desolate, our heart is weak:''

for these [things] our eyes are dim;
or "darkened" ^F2 almost blinded with weeping; can scarcely see out of them; or as persons in a swoon; for dimness of sight usually attends faintness of spirit.

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FOOTNOTES:

F2 (wkvx) "contenebrati sunt", V. L. "obtenebrati", Pagninus, Montanus, Calvin, Cocceius.

Lamentations 5:17 In-Context

15 Joy has left our hearts; our dancing has turned to mourning.

16 The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us, for we have sinned.

17 Because of this, our heart is sick; because of these, our eyes grow dim:

18 because of Mount Zion, which lies desolate [and has] jackals prowling in it.

19 You, Lord, are enthroned forever; Your throne endures from generation to generation.

Footnotes

• [a] Ps 69:23; Ec 12:3