Lamentations 3:5
New International Version
He has besieged me and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship.

New Living Translation
He has besieged and surrounded me with anguish and distress.

English Standard Version
he has besieged and enveloped me with bitterness and tribulation;

Berean Standard Bible
He has besieged me and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship.

King James Bible
He hath builded against me, and compassed me with gall and travail.

New King James Version
He has besieged me And surrounded me with bitterness and woe.

New American Standard Bible
He has besieged and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship.

NASB 1995
He has besieged and encompassed me with bitterness and hardship.

NASB 1977
He has besieged and encompassed me with bitterness and hardship.

Legacy Standard Bible
He has besieged and encompassed me with gall and hardship.

Amplified Bible
He has besieged and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship.

Christian Standard Bible
He has laid siege against me, encircling me with bitterness and hardship.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
He has laid siege against me, encircling me with bitterness and hardship.

American Standard Version
He hath builded against me, and compassed me with gall and travail.

Contemporary English Version
He attacked and surrounded me with hardships and trouble;

English Revised Version
He hath builded against me, and compassed me with gall and travail.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
He has attacked me and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship.

Good News Translation
He has shut me in a prison of misery and anguish.

International Standard Version
He laid siege against me, surrounding me with bitterness and suffering.

Majority Standard Bible
He has besieged me and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship.

NET Bible
He has besieged and surrounded me with bitter hardship.

New Heart English Bible
He has built against me, and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship.

Webster's Bible Translation
He hath built against me, and compassed me with gall and labor.

World English Bible
He has built against me, and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
He has built up against me, "" And sets around poverty and weariness.

Young's Literal Translation
He hath built up against me, And setteth round poverty and weariness.

Smith's Literal Translation
He built against me, and he will surround with poison and distress.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
Beth. He hath built round about me, and he hath compassed me with gall and labour.

Catholic Public Domain Version
BETH. He has built all around me, and he has encircled me with gall and hardship.

New American Bible
He has besieged me all around with poverty and hardship;

New Revised Standard Version
he has besieged and enveloped me with bitterness and tribulation;
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
He has built ramparts against me, and compassed me with bitterness and travail.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
He has built up against me and bitterness and desolation surrounded me*
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
He hath builded against me, and compassed me With gall and travail.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
BETH. He has built against me, and compassed my head, and brought travail upon me.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Jeremiah's Afflictions
4He has worn away my flesh and skin; He has shattered my bones. 5He has besieged me and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship. 6He has made me dwell in darkness like those dead for ages.…

Cross References
Psalm 88:6-7
You have laid me in the lowest Pit, in the darkest of the depths. / Your wrath weighs heavily upon me; all Your waves have submerged me. Selah

Job 19:12
His troops advance together; they construct a ramp against me and encamp around my tent.

Isaiah 63:10
But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit. So He turned and became their enemy, and He Himself fought against them.

Jeremiah 6:6
For this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Cut down the trees and raise a siege ramp against Jerusalem. This city must be punished; there is nothing but oppression in her midst.

Psalm 69:1-3
For the choirmaster. To the tune of “Lilies.” Of David. Save me, O God, for the waters are up to my neck. / I have sunk into the miry depths, where there is no footing; I have drifted into deep waters, where the flood engulfs me. / I am weary from my crying; my throat is parched. My eyes fail, looking for my God.

Isaiah 5:5
Now I will tell you what I am about to do to My vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be consumed; I will tear down its wall, and it will be trampled.

Ezekiel 13:10-15
Because they have led My people astray, saying, ‘Peace,’ when there is no peace, and whitewashing any flimsy wall that is built, / tell those whitewashing the wall that it will fall. Rain will come in torrents, I will send hailstones plunging down, and a windstorm will burst forth. / Surely when the wall has fallen, you will not be asked, ‘Where is the whitewash with which you covered it?’ ...

Psalm 31:9-10
Be merciful to me, O LORD, for I am in distress; my eyes fail from sorrow, my soul and body as well. / For my life is consumed with grief and my years with groaning; my iniquity has drained my strength, and my bones are wasting away.

Jeremiah 4:7
A lion has gone up from his thicket, and a destroyer of nations has set out. He has left his lair to lay waste your land. Your cities will be reduced to ruins and lie uninhabited.

Isaiah 10:5-6
Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger; the staff in their hands is My wrath. / I will send him against a godless nation; I will dispatch him against a people destined for My rage, to take spoils and seize plunder, and to trample them down like clay in the streets.

2 Corinthians 4:8-9
We are hard pressed on all sides, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; / persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.

Romans 8:35-37
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? / As it is written: “For Your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” / No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

2 Corinthians 1:8-9
We do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the hardships we encountered in the province of Asia. We were under a burden far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. / Indeed, we felt we were under the sentence of death, in order that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God, who raises the dead.

Hebrews 12:6-11
For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastises every son He receives.” / Endure suffering as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? / If you do not experience discipline like everyone else, then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. ...

1 Peter 4:12-13
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial that has come upon you, as though something strange were happening to you. / But rejoice that you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed at the revelation of His glory.


Treasury of Scripture

He has built against me, and compassed me with gall and travail.

builded

Lamentations 3:7-9
He hath hedged me about, that I cannot get out: he hath made my chain heavy…

Job 19:8
He hath fenced up my way that I cannot pass, and he hath set darkness in my paths.

gall

Lamentations 3:19
Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall.

Psalm 69:21
They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

Jeremiah 8:14
Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the defenced cities, and let us be silent there: for the LORD our God hath put us to silence, and given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against the LORD.

Jump to Previous
Besieged Bitter Bitterness Builded Built Compassed Encompassed Enveloped Gall Hardship Labor Poverty Round Shutting Sorrow Surrounded Toil Travail Tribulation Wall Weariness
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Besieged Bitter Bitterness Builded Built Compassed Encompassed Enveloped Gall Hardship Labor Poverty Round Shutting Sorrow Surrounded Toil Travail Tribulation Wall Weariness
Lamentations 3
1. The prophet bewails his own calamities
22. By the mercies of God, he nourishes his hope
37. He acknowledges God's justice
55. He prays for deliverance
64. And vengeance on his enemies














He has besieged me
The phrase "He has besieged me" evokes the imagery of a city under siege, a common occurrence in ancient times, particularly in the context of the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem. The Hebrew root word for "besieged" is "tsur," which means to bind, confine, or lay siege. This reflects the overwhelming sense of entrapment and pressure that the author, traditionally believed to be Jeremiah, feels. Historically, sieges were brutal and relentless, often leading to famine and despair. Spiritually, this can be seen as a metaphor for the soul's struggle when it feels surrounded by trials and tribulations, emphasizing the need for reliance on God's deliverance.

and surrounded me
The word "surrounded" further intensifies the feeling of entrapment. The Hebrew word "naqaph" suggests being encircled or encompassed, leaving no room for escape. This reflects the totality of the suffering experienced by the people of Jerusalem. In a spiritual sense, it can represent the believer's experience of feeling overwhelmed by life's challenges. Yet, it also serves as a reminder that God is sovereign over all circumstances, and His presence can be a source of comfort even when we feel hemmed in by difficulties.

with bitterness
"Bitterness" in Hebrew is "marah," which conveys a sense of deep sorrow and grief. This term is often associated with the taste of something unpleasant, symbolizing the emotional and spiritual anguish that accompanies suffering. In the context of Lamentations, it reflects the profound mourning over the destruction of Jerusalem and the loss of God's favor. For the believer, bitterness can be a natural response to hardship, but it also calls for a turning towards God, who can transform bitterness into hope through His grace and mercy.

and hardship
The word "hardship" is translated from the Hebrew "amal," which denotes toil, labor, and trouble. It signifies the physical and emotional strain that comes with enduring severe trials. Historically, the people of Jerusalem faced immense hardship during the siege, including starvation and violence. In a broader spiritual context, hardship is a part of the human condition, but it also serves as a crucible for faith, refining and strengthening the believer's reliance on God. The verse as a whole, while expressing deep lament, also implicitly invites the reader to seek God's presence and strength amidst life's adversities.

(5) He hath builded.--The attack of sorrow is presented under the figure of a siege. In the next clause the figure is dropped. "Gall" stands, as in Jeremiah 8:14, for bitterest sorrow. "Travel" is the old English form of "travail," the two forms, originally identical, being now used with different meanings.

Verse 5. - He hath builded against me, and compassed me. A figure from the siege of a town. Gall. For the true meaning of the word, see on Jeremiah 8:14. We need not trouble ourselves about it here, for the word is evidently used as a kind of "ideograph" for bitterness. Travel; literally, weariness.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
He has besieged
בָּנָ֥ה (bā·nāh)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1129: To build

me
עָלַ֛י (‘ā·lay)
Preposition | first person common singular
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

and surrounded me
וַיַּקַּ֖ף (way·yaq·qap̄)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 5362: To strike, to knock together, surround, circulate

with bitterness
רֹ֥אשׁ (rōš)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 7219: A poisonous plant, the poppy, poison

and hardship.
וּתְלָאָֽה׃ (ū·ṯə·lā·’āh)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 8513: Weariness, hardship


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OT Prophets: Lamentations 3:5 He has built against me and surrounded (Lam. La Lm)
Lamentations 3:4
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