Lamentations 5:16

16 The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us, for we have sinned!

Lamentations 5:16 in Other Translations

KJV
16 The crown is fallen from our head: woe unto us, that we have sinned!
ESV
16 The crown has fallen from our head; woe to us, for we have sinned!
NLT
16 The garlands have fallen from our heads. Weep for us because we have sinned.
MSG
16 The crown of glory has toppled from our head. Woe! Woe! Would that we'd never sinned!
CSB
16 The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us, for we have sinned.

Lamentations 5:16 Meaning and Commentary

Lamentations 5:16

The crown is fallen [from] our head
Or, "the crown of our head is fallen" F1; all their honour and glory as a nation were gone; the glory of their kingdom and priesthood, to both which a crown or mitre belonged; the glory of church and state. Aben Ezra interprets it of the temple, the place of the divine Majesty. Sanctius thinks there is an allusion to the crowns they wore upon their heads at their feasts and festivals; and so the words have a close connection with what goes before: woe unto us that we have sinned!
which had brought all these evils upon them: this is not to be considered as an imprecation or denunciation of misery; but as a commiseration of their case; calling upon others to it, and particularly God himself, to have mercy upon them; for, alas for them! they had sinned, and justly deserved what was come upon them; and therefore throw themselves at the feet of mercy, and implore divine compassion.


FOOTNOTES:

F1 (wnvar trje hlpn) "cecidit corona capitis nostri", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Calvin, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.

Lamentations 5:16 In-Context

14 The elders are gone from the city gate; the young men have stopped their music.
15 Joy is gone from our hearts; our dancing has turned to mourning.
16 The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us, for we have sinned!
17 Because of this our hearts are faint, because of these things our eyes grow dim
18 for Mount Zion, which lies desolate, with jackals prowling over it.

Cross References 3

  • 1. Psalms 89:39; S Jeremiah 13:18
  • 2. S Job 19:9
  • 3. S Isaiah 3:11; Jeremiah 14:20
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