Lamentations 1:17 (DBY)

Passage

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.

Nearby Context

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.

Lamentations 1:19 I called for my lovers, they have deceived me; my priests and mine elders have expired in the city, while they sought them food to revive their soul.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "zion", "spreadeth", "forth", "hands", "none", "comfort", "jehovah", and "hath". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "zion" and "spreadeth", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 16's "For these things I weep mine eye..." into verse 18's "Jehovah is righteous for I have rebelled...", so "zion" and "spreadeth" 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 "zion" and "spreadeth" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.