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Lamentations 3:34

To crush underfoot all the prisoners of the land,
Lamentations 3:34 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB To crush under foot all the prisoners of the earth,
  • KJV To crush under his feet all the prisoners of the earth,
  • NKJV To crush under one’s feet All the prisoners of the earth,
  • NASB To crush under one’s feet All the prisoners of the land,
  • NLT If people crush underfoot all the prisoners of the land,

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

God does not approve of crushing prisoners underfoot; injustice against the helpless is contrary to His will.

Overview

This verse begins a series describing oppressions God does not sanction. To trample captives is to violate justice that the Lord upholds. Such concern for the oppressed reflects God's righteous character and foreshadows the Messiah who comes to set captives free (Isa. 61:1; Luke 4:18).

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 10

  • Zech 9:11–12As for you, because of the blood of My covenant, I will release your prisoners from the waterless pit.
  • Isa 51:22–23Thus says your Lord, the LORD, even your God, who defends His people: “See, I have removed from your hand the cup of staggering. From that goblet, the cup of My fury, you will never drink again.
  • Isa 49:9to say to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’ and to those in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’ They will feed along the pathways, and find pasture on every barren hill.
  • Jer 51:33–36For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “The Daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time it is trampled. In just a little while her harvest time will come.”
  • Ps 69:33For the LORD listens to the needy and does not despise His captive people.
  • Ps 102:20to hear a prisoner’s groaning, to release those condemned to death,
  • Isa 14:17who turned the world into a desert and destroyed its cities, who refused to let the captives return to their homes?”
  • Ps 79:11May the groans of the captives reach You; by the strength of Your arm preserve those condemned to death.
  • Jer 50:33–34This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “The sons of Israel are oppressed, and the sons of Judah as well. All their captors hold them fast, refusing to release them.
  • Jer 50:17Israel is a scattered flock, chased away by lions. The first to devour him was the king of Assyria; the last to crush his bones was Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.”

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

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 3:34YouTube · 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 3:34 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.