Devine Scripture

Lamentations 3:1

What does Lamentations 3:1 mean?

A plain-English look at Lamentations 3:1 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.

What Lamentations 3:1 means

The speaker steps forward as a single sufferer who has personally endured severe discipline from Jehovah. He recognizes his pain as not random, but as the effect of God’s corrective wrath against sin. By saying he has “seen affliction,” he claims lived experience, not theory. The “rod” pictures a shepherd’s staff turned to chastening, or a judge’s scepter used in justice. This is the honest acknowledgment that God’s hand can be heavy when His people stray. The verse introduces not blame-shifting, but confession that the Holy One has every right to contend with His covenant people and with the individual who represents them.

Parallel translations

WEB

World English Bible · 2000

I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.

KJV

King James Version · 1611

I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.

ASV

American Standard Version · 1901

I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.

BBE

Bible in Basic English · 1949

I am the man who has seen trouble by the rod of his wrath.

YLT

Young's Literal Translation · 1862

I <FI>am<Fi> the man <FI>who<Fi> hath seen affliction By the rod of His wrath.

DRA

Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752

Aleph. I am the man that see my poverty by the rod of his indignation.

DBY

Darby Bible · 1890

I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.

Context

This opening line sets the tone for the chapter’s first half: a deeply personal lament. The “I” voice may be Jeremiah or a representative sufferer for Jerusalem. Verses 2–18 will expand the experience of darkness, isolation, and pain under God’s judgment. The reader should feel the weight and nearness of affliction before the remarkable turn to hope in verses 21–24. Beginning here prepares us to see how true comfort never ignores the reality of God’s discipline but moves through it to renewed trust.

v.1This passage

v.2He hath led me and caused me to walk in darkness, and not in light.

Cross references

Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

  • Job 19:21

    Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends; For the hand of God hath touched me.

  • Jeremiah 15:17

    I sat not in the assembly of them that make merry, nor rejoiced; I sat alone because of thy hand; for thou hast filled me with indignation.

  • Lamentations 1:12

    Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? Behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is brought upon me, Wherewith Jehovah hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger.

  • Psalms 88:7

    Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, And thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves. [Selah

  • Isaiah 53:3

    He was despised, and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and as one from whom men hide their face he was despised; and we esteemed him not.

  • Jeremiah 38:6

    Then took they Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon of Malchijah the king’s son, that was in the court of the guard: and they let down Jeremiah with cords. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire; and Jeremiah sank in the mire.

Related questions readers ask

Keep reading

Want to dig deeper? Explore Lamentations 3

Hand-picked devotionals, topical studies, and pastoral answers that draw on Lamentations 3.

Keep exploring

Follow this verse across Scripture

Topics, devotionals, original-language word studies, and figures connected to Lamentations 3:1.

Browse every hub

BibleTopicsBible answersDevotionalsFamous passagesWord studiesPeoplePlacesVerses for…Reading plansCommentary