Lamentations 1:16 (DBY)

Passage

For these things I weep; mine eye, mine eye runneth down with water: for the comforter that should revive my soul is far from me; my children are desolate, for the enemy hath prevailed.

Nearby Context

Lamentations 1:14 The yoke of my transgressions is bound by his hand: they are wreathed, they are come up upon my neck; he hath made my strength to fail; the Lord hath delivered me into hands out of which I am not able to rise up.

Lamentations 1:15 The Lord hath cast down all my mighty men in the midst of me; he hath called an assembly against me to crush my young men; the Lord hath trodden as a winepress the virgin daughter of Judah.

Lamentations 1:16 For these things I weep; mine eye, mine eye runneth down with water: for the comforter that should revive my soul is far from me; my children are desolate, for the enemy hath prevailed.

Lamentations 1:17 Zion spreadeth forth her hands; there is none to comfort her; Jehovah hath commanded concerning Jacob, [that] his adversaries [should be] round about him; Jerusalem is as an impurity among them.

Lamentations 1:18 Jehovah is righteous; for I have rebelled against his commandment. Hear, I pray you, all ye peoples, and behold my sorrow. My virgins and my young men are gone into captivity.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "things", "weep", "mine", "runneth", "down", "water", and "comforter". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "things" and "weep", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 15's "The Lord hath cast down all my..." into verse 17's "Zion spreadeth forth her hands there is...", so "things" and "weep" belong inside that flow. In Lamentations context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "things" and "weep" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.