He has besieged me and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship.
Parallel translations
- WEB He has built against me, and surrounded me with gall and travail.
- KJV He hath builded against me, and compassed me with gall and travail.
- NKJV He has besieged me And surrounded me with bitterness and woe.
- NASB He has besieged and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship.
- NLT He has besieged and surrounded me with anguish and distress.
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 besieged by God and surrounded with bitterness and hardship. It pictures affliction as an inescapable siege.
Overview
Using military imagery, the sufferer feels God has 'built against' him as a besieger, hemming him in with 'gall and travail.' The bitterness (gall) and weariness surround him on every side. This sense of being besieged by trouble finds its answer in Christ, who endured the bitterest cup so his people might be delivered from final distress (Matthew 26:39).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Lam 3:19Remember my affliction and wandering, the wormwood and the gall.
- Jer 23:15Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts says concerning the prophets: “I will feed them wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink, for from the prophets of Jerusalem ungodliness has spread throughout the land.”
- Job 19:8He has blocked my way so I cannot pass; He has veiled my paths with darkness.
- Jer 9:15Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Behold, I will feed this people wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink.
- Ps 69:21They poisoned my food with gall and gave me vinegar to quench my thirst.
- Lam 3:7–9He has walled me in so I cannot escape; He has weighed me down with chains.
- Jer 8:14Why are we just sitting here? Gather together, let us flee to the fortified cities and perish there, for the LORD our God has doomed us. He has given us poisoned water to drink, because we have sinned against the LORD.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 3:5 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.