Lamentations 5:8 (YLT)

Passage

Servants have ruled over us, A deliverer there is none from their hand.

Nearby Context

Lamentations 5:6 <FI> To<Fi> Egypt we have given a hand, <FI>To<Fi> Asshur, to be satisfied with bread.

Lamentations 5:7 Our fathers have sinned--they are not, We their iniquities have borne.

Lamentations 5:8 Servants have ruled over us, A deliverer there is none from their hand.

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.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "servants", "ruled", "over", "deliverer", "none", and "hand". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "servants" and "ruled", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 7's "Our fathers have sinned--they are not We..." into verse 9's "With our lives we bring in our...", so "servants" and "ruled" 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 "servants" and "ruled" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.