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Lamentations 3:13

He pierced my kidneys with His arrows.
Lamentations 3:13 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB He has caused the shafts of his quiver to enter into my kidneys.
  • KJV He hath caused the arrows of his quiver to enter into my reins.
  • NKJV He has caused the arrows of His quiver To pierce my loins.
  • NASB He made the arrows of His quiver Enter my inward parts.
  • NLT He shot his arrows deep into my heart.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

He feels God's arrows piercing deep into his vital organs. It expresses suffering that strikes the innermost being.

Overview

The 'shafts of his quiver' entering the kidneys (the seat of deep emotion in Hebrew thought) depict affliction reaching the core of his being. The wound is internal and intense. Such piercing anguish anticipates the suffering of Christ, who was pierced for our transgressions for his people (Isaiah 53:5; Zechariah 12:10).

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 3

  • Job 6:4For the arrows of the Almighty have pierced me; my spirit drinks in their poison; the terrors of God are arrayed against me.
  • Deut 32:23I will heap disasters upon them; I will spend My arrows against them.
  • Job 41:28No arrow can make him flee; slingstones become like chaff to him.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Lamentations videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Lamentations 3:13YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on LamentationsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

The weeping over a ruined city and the steadfast mercies that are new every morning point to the man of sorrows who wept over Jerusalem and whose mercy rises new from the grave.

How Lamentations 3:13 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.