Lamentations 3:53

53 They tried to end my life in a pit and threw stones at me;

Lamentations 3:53 in Other Translations

KJV
53 They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and cast a stone upon me.
ESV
53 they flung me alive into the pit and cast stones on me;
NLT
53 They threw me into a pit and dropped stones on me.
MSG
53 They threw me into a pit, then pelted me with stones.
CSB
53 They dropped me alive into a pit and threw stones at me.

Lamentations 3:53 Meaning and Commentary

Lamentations 3:53

They have cut off my life in the dungeon
Jarchi interprets it,

``they bound me in the prison.''
Jeremiah was both in a prison and in a dungeon, where he was deprived of the society of men, as if he had been dead; and he was in danger of losing his life; but whether any respect is had to it here is not certain: it seems rather to respect the people of the Jews in captivity, who were deprived of their rights and liberties, and of the comforts of life; and were like dead men in their graves, to whom they are compared, ( Ezekiel 37:11 ) ; but since Jeremiah was not dead, nor did he die in the dungeon, Jarchi's sense seems best, and agrees with what follows; and is confirmed by the version of others, who render it, "they shut up my life in the dungeon" F17; or himself there: and cast a stone upon me;
to see if he was dead, or to prevent him from rising. The allusion is to the putting of stones at the mouths of dens and dungeons, caves and graves, to keep in those there put: or they stoned me, as the Targum; that is, they endeavoured to do it: or the Jews in captivity were like persons stoned to death, or like dead men covered with a heap of stones; for that Jeremiah was stoned to death there is no reason to believe.
FOOTNOTES:

F17 (yyx rwbb wtmu) "concluserunt in fovea vitam meam", Noldius, Concord. Ebr. Part. p. 141, "manciparunt fovea vitam meam", Cocceius.

Lamentations 3:53 In-Context

51 What I see brings grief to my soul because of all the women of my city.
52 Those who were my enemies without cause hunted me like a bird.
53 They tried to end my life in a pit and threw stones at me;
54 the waters closed over my head, and I thought I was about to perish.
55 I called on your name, LORD, from the depths of the pit.

Cross References 1

  • 1. Jeremiah 37:16; S Jeremiah 38:6
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