Lamentations 3:12
What does Lamentations 3:12 mean?
A plain-English look at Lamentations 3:12 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Lamentations 3:12 means
Jehovah is pictured as a skilled archer, bow bent, with the sufferer set as the target. This imagery speaks of precision and inevitability; the arrow will not miss. It conveys the rightness of divine judgment: sin is not ignored but is met. Being made a “mark” also expresses the feeling of relentless attention—one cannot escape God’s notice, for blessing or for chastening. While terrifying, this image can also be merciful: the same God who does not miss in judgment does not miss in mercy when He chooses to heal and restore the contrite.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow.
KJV
King James Version · 1611He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949With his bow bent, he has made me the mark for his arrows.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862He hath trodden His bow, And setteth me up as a mark for an arrow.
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752Daleth. He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for his arrows.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow.
Context
From tearing predators, the poem moves to a deliberate warrior. Verse 13 will describe the arrows’ impact deep within. These images continue to articulate how intentional and penetrating God’s discipline is. The chapter will only pivot to hope once it has fully told the truth about the weight and accuracy of God’s opposition to sin. Only then can the declarations about His compassion (vv. 22–23) be heard as holy, not sentimental.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Psalms 7:12
If a man turn not, he will whet his sword; He hath bent his bow, and made it ready;
- Job 7:20
If I have sinned, what do I unto thee, O thou watcher of men? Why hast thou set me as a mark for thee, So that I am a burden to myself?
- Psalms 38:2
For thine arrows stick fast in me, And thy hand presseth me sore.
- Job 16:12
I was at ease, and he brake me asunder; Yea, he hath taken me by the neck, and dashed me to pieces: He hath also set me up for his mark.
- Lamentations 2:4
He hath bent his bow like an enemy, he hath stood with his right hand as an adversary, And hath slain all that were pleasant to the eye: In the tent of the daughter of Zion he hath poured out his wrath like fire.
- Job 6:4
For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, The poison whereof my spirit drinketh up: The terrors of God do set themselves in array against me.
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