Lamentations 5:11 (GNV)

Passage

They defiled the women in Zion, and the maydes in the cities of Iudah.

Nearby Context

Lamentations 5:9 Wee gate our bread with the perill of our liues, because of the sword of the wildernesse.

Lamentations 5:10 Our skinne was blacke like as an ouen because of the terrible famine.

Lamentations 5:11 They defiled the women in Zion, and the maydes in the cities of Iudah.

Lamentations 5:12 The princes are hanged vp by their hande: the faces of the elders were not had in honour.

Lamentations 5:13 They tooke the yong men to grinde, and the children fell vnder the wood.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "defiled", "women", "zion", "maydes", "cities", and "iudah". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "defiled" and "women", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 10's "Our skinne was blacke like as an..." into verse 12's "The princes are hanged vp by their...", so "defiled" and "women" 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 "defiled" and "women" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.