He sitteth alone and keepeth silence, because he hath borne it upon him.
Parallel translations
- WEB Let him sit alone and keep silence, because he has laid it on him.
- BSB Let him sit alone in silence, for God has disciplined him.
- ESV Let him sit alone in silence when it is laid on him;
- NKJV Let him sit alone and keep silent, Because God has laid it on him;
- NASB Let him sit alone and keep quiet, Since He has laid it on him.
- NLT Let them sit alone in silence beneath the Lord’s demands.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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
The sufferer should wait quietly before God rather than protest, since God Himself has appointed the affliction.
Overview
Silent, solitary submission is the right response when God lays a burden on a person. Recognizing the affliction as from God's hand removes the impulse to rebel. This quiet trust foreshadows Christ, who 'as a sheep before its shearers is silent' did not open His mouth (Isa. 53:7).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Jer 15:17I sat not in the assembly of the mockers, nor rejoiced; I sat alone because of thy hand: for thou hast filled me with indignation.
- Lam 2:10The elders of the daughter of Zion sit upon the ground, and keep silence: they have cast up dust upon their heads; they have girded themselves with sackcloth: the virgins of Jerusalem hang down their heads to the ground.
- Ps 102:7I watch, and am as a sparrow alone upon the house top.
- Ps 39:9I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; because thou didst it.
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 3:28 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.