💧WEB · Lamentations 3:11
What does Lamentations 3:11 mean?
"He has turned away my ways, and pulled me in pieces. He has made me desolate."
— Lamentations 3:11 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
Yes, when I cry, and call for help, he shuts out my prayer.
He has walled up my ways with cut stone. He has made my paths crooked.
He is to me as a bear lying in wait, as a lion in secret places.
He has turned away my ways, and pulled me in pieces. He has made me desolate.
He has bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow.
He has caused the shafts of his quiver to enter into my kidneys.
I have become a derision to all my people, and their song all day long.
Explanation
Lamentations 3:11 gives voice to raw, visceral suffering. In plain language, the speaker says that God has diverted him from his intended path, torn him apart as a wild animal tears its prey, and left him utterly alone and ruined. The imagery is violent and physical — being "pulled in pieces" suggests something predatory, as if the speaker has been mauled, and "desolate" conveys the emptiness that follows such devastation. This is not abstract theological language; it is the cry of someone who feels destroyed from the inside out.
The book of Lamentations was written in the aftermath of the fall of Jerus
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