Lamentations 3:18

18 so I say, "Gone is my glory, and all that I had hoped for from the Lord."

Lamentations 3:18 Meaning and Commentary

Lamentations 3:18

And I said, my strength and my hope are perished from the
Lord.
] The former of these words signifies, according to Aben Ezra, "my standing", my subsistence, my continuance in being, or my perpetuity; according to Jarchi, my abiding F18 in this world; it is rendered "blood" in ( Isaiah 63:3 ) ; which is the support of life; and which when gone, or ceases to circulate, a man ceases to be: the sense is, that the prophet, or those he represents, looked upon themselves as dead men, at least of a short continuance; their natural strength was exhausted, and they must quickly die, and had no hope of living, or of enjoying the divine favour, or good things, at the hand of God. Some understand it of spiritual strength to do good, and of hope of having good things, or deliverance from the hand of God, which they were despairing of; for the words are the language of despondency, and betray great, weakness and infirmity; for in the Lord is everlasting strength, and he is the hope of his people, and the Saviour of them in time of trouble, ( Isaiah 26:4 ) ( 45:24 ) ( Jeremiah 14:8 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F18 (yxun) "duratio mea", Montanus; "perennitas mea", Cocceius.

Lamentations 3:18 In-Context

16 He has made my teeth grind on gravel, and made me cower in ashes;
17 my soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is;
18 so I say, "Gone is my glory, and all that I had hoped for from the Lord."
19 The thought of my affliction and my homelessness is wormwood and gall!
20 My soul continually thinks of it and is bowed down within me.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.