Lamentations 3:6
What does Lamentations 3:6 mean?
A plain-English look at Lamentations 3:6 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Lamentations 3:6 means
He lives as if entombed, dwelling in dark places like those long dead. The sorrow has the feel of burial—cut off from the living, from joy, and from God’s favor. Darkness here signifies more than mood; it evokes covenant curse, where life under God’s face turns to shadow because of sin. The verse acknowledges that judgment can make one feel beyond recovery. Yet by naming this condition before Jehovah, the sufferer implicitly seeks the light he lacks. Honest confession of how deathlike our condition feels is the doorway to the life God alone can restore.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000He hath made me to dwell in dark places, as those that have been long dead.
KJV
King James Version · 1611He hath set me in dark places, as they that be dead of old.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901He hath made me to dwell in dark places, as those that have been long dead.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949He has kept me in dark places, like those who have been long dead.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862In dark places He hath caused me to dwell, As the dead of old.
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752Beth. He hath set me in dark places as those that are dead for ever.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890He hath made me to dwell in dark places as those that have been long dead.
Context
The siege image now shades into the grave. Verses 7–9 will move from the darkness of death to the prison of heavy chains and blocked roads. The effect is to close all escape routes. Such a thorough depiction of ruin is crucial in the chapter’s flow: when the pivot to hope comes, it is not because circumstances lighten, but because the sufferer remembers truths about Jehovah’s character that shine even in the tomb-like dark.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Psalms 143:7
Make haste to answer me, O Jehovah; my spirit faileth: Hide not thy face from me, Lest I become like them that go down into the pit.
- Psalms 88:5
Cast off among the dead, Like the slain that lie in the grave, Whom thou rememberest no more, And they are cut off from thy hand.
- Psalms 143:3
For the enemy hath persecuted my soul; He hath smitten my life down to the ground: He hath made me to dwell in dark places, as those that have been long dead.
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