Lamentations 5:11 (YLT)

Passage

Wives in Zion they have humbled, Virgins--in cities of Judah.

Nearby Context

Lamentations 5:9 With our lives we bring in our bread, Because of the sword of the wilderness.

Lamentations 5:10 Our skin as an oven hath been burning, Because of the raging of the famine.

Lamentations 5:11 Wives in Zion they have humbled, Virgins--in cities of Judah.

Lamentations 5:12 Princes by their hand have been hanged, The faces of elders have not been honoured.

Lamentations 5:13 Young men to grind they have taken, And youths with wood have stumbled.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "wives", "zion", "humbled", "virgins--in", "cities", and "judah". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "wives" and "zion", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 10's "Our skin as an oven hath been..." into verse 12's "Princes by their hand have been hanged...", so "wives" and "zion" 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 "wives" and "zion" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.