Lamentations 3:34 (DBY)

Passage

To crush under foot all the prisoners of the earth,

Nearby Context

Lamentations 3:32 but if he have caused grief, he will have compassion according to the multitude of his loving-kindnesses:

Lamentations 3:33 for he doth not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men.

Lamentations 3:34 To crush under foot all the prisoners of the earth,

Lamentations 3:35 to turn aside the right of a man before the face of the Most High,

Lamentations 3:36 to wrong a man in his cause, will not the Lord see it?

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "crush", "under", "foot", "prisoners", and "earth". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "crush" and "under", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 33's "for he doth not willingly afflict or..." into verse 35's "to turn aside the right of a...", so "crush" and "under" 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 "crush" and "under" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.