He has caused the arrows of His quiver To pierce my loins.
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.
- BSB He pierced my kidneys with His arrows.
- 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 are within me. My spirit drinks up their poison. The terrors of God set themselves in array against me.
- Deut 32:23“I will heap evils on them. I will spend my arrows on them.
- Job 41:28The arrow can’t make him flee. Sling stones are like chaff to him.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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.