Lamentations 3:52 — Word Study
WLCצ֥וֹד צָד֛וּנִי כַּצִּפּ֖וֹר אֹיְבַ֥י חִנָּֽם׃
BSAWithout causechinnâm [for nothing, in vain] my enemiesʼôyêb [those who oppose me] ◂hunted metsûwd [chased relentlessly, pursued] like a birdtsippôwr [a little sparrow, a fragile creature]
| Greek | English | Parsing |
|---|---|---|
| צ֥וֹד | certainly | Verb, Qal, infinitive absolute |
| צָד֛וּנִי | they hunted me | Verb qal perfect third person common plural, suffix |
| כַּצִּפּ֖וֹר | like bird | Preposition, noun common both singular absolute |
| אֹיְבַ֥י | enemies my | Verb qal participle (active) masculine plural common, suffix |
| חִנָּֽם׃ | without cause | Adverb |
Every word in the verse. Click a row to open it in the panel on the left.
| BSB | Without cause my enemies hunted me like a bird. |
| KJV | Mine enemies chased me sore, like a bird, without cause. |
| ASV | They have chased me sore like a bird, they that are mine enemies without cause. |
| YLT | Hunted me sore as a bird have my enemies without cause. |
| WEB | They have chased me relentlessly like a bird, those who are my enemies without cause. |
| BBE | They who are against me without cause have gone hard after me as if I was a bird; |
The translations agree closely on the main ideas expressed in this verse.
The sentence is structured around a main action with descriptive elements that emphasize the unjust nature of the pursuit.
8 commentators on this verse
Gill, Jamieson, Poole, Trapp & more — read them ›
clause
verbצוּד
The sentence as the grammar sees it Open the tree ›
Every word here is used elsewhere in the Old Testament.
Bars are logarithmic — אֵת, the commonest word in the Hebrew Bible, stands about 11,000 times, so a linear scale would leave everything else invisible. Click a row to open that word.
Deep Study — Lamentations 3:52
Sections marked generated are written from the data on this page rather than by a named author. Everything else — the lexicon entries, the cross references, the manuscript readings, the counts — is quoted from its source unchanged.
Context — The Lament of the Afflictedgenerated
Lamentations 3:52 expresses a profound sense of betrayal and sorrow, as the speaker feels hunted by their enemies without cause. This verse is part of a larger lamentation where the speaker reflects on their suffering and the unjust actions of those who oppose them. The context reveals a deep emotional struggle, as seen in the preceding verse, Lamentations 3:51, where the speaker's grief is highlighted.
Cross References
| Reference | Text (BSB) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jeremiah 37:15–16 | The officials were angry with Jeremiah, and they beat him and placed him in jail in the house of Jonathan the scribe, for it had been made into a prison. |
| 2 | Jeremiah 38:4–6 | Then the officials said to the king, “This man ought to die, for he is discouraging the warriors who remain in this city, as well as all the people, by speaking such words to them; this man is not seeking the well-being of these people, but their ruin.” |
| 3 | 1 Samuel 24:10–15 | Behold, this day you have seen with your own eyes that the LORD delivered you into my hand in the cave. I was told to kill you, but I spared you and said, ‘I will not lift my hand against my lord, since he is the LORD’s anointed.’ |
| 4 | 1 Samuel 25:28–29 | Please forgive your servant’s offense, for the LORD will surely make a lasting dynasty for my lord, because he fights the LORD’s battles. May no evil be found in you as long as you live. |
| 5 | 1 Samuel 26:18–20 | And he continued, “Why is my lord pursuing his servant? What have I done? What evil is in my hand? |
The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — 11 references, hung on the phrase they belong to
The Key Word — צ֥וֹד, Tzodgenerated
The verb צוּד (tzuwd) means to hunt. It conveys a sense of relentless pursuit, suggesting that the enemies are not merely chasing but are eagerly and aggressively seeking to capture the speaker. The parsing as an infinitive absolute emphasizes the action's intensity.
This word carries connotations of both physical hunting and a figurative sense of being pursued or attacked, which aligns with the emotional weight of the verse. The connection to provisioning hints at the enemies' intent to overpower and consume.
How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated
The verse is presented in the Berean Standard Bible, which uses hunted for צ֥וֹד and enemies for אֹיְבַ֥י.
Sentence Structuregenerated
The main clause is centered around the verb צָד֛וּ, they hunted, which governs the action of the enemies. The structure includes a prepositional phrase indicating the manner of the pursuit, a noun phrase for the subject, and an adverbial phrase describing the lack of cause.
This sentence structure highlights the emphasis on the unjust nature of the enemies' actions, as the verb stands prominently at the start, drawing attention to the act of hunting.
Septuagint Backgroundgenerated
The Septuagint translates צ֥וֹד as θηρεύοντες, which suggests a focus on the act of hunting in a more formal or literary sense. This choice reflects a narrowing of the Hebrew's broader implications of pursuit.
The Greek term used for כַּצִּפּ֖וֹר is στρουθίον, which specifically refers to a small bird, reinforcing the fragility of the speaker's situation.
In plain words — the whole versegenerated
Lamentations 3:52 reveals the speaker's pain as they describe how their enemies are pursuing them without any reason. This feeling of being unjustly hunted is a central theme in the lament, emphasizing the emotional turmoil experienced.
Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated
It indicates that the speaker feels unjustly targeted and pursued by those who oppose them, highlighting a sense of betrayal.
The comparison to a bird emphasizes the speaker's vulnerability and fragility in the face of relentless pursuit.
Hunting conveys a sense of aggression and intent to harm, reflecting the seriousness of the speaker's plight.
The lament illustrates the deep emotional pain that comes from feeling hunted and persecuted without justification.
Reflection Questionsgenerated
- How do I respond when I feel unjustly pursued or attacked by others?
- In what ways can I find comfort in my own times of suffering?
- What does this verse teach me about the nature of my enemies?
- How can I support others who feel hunted or oppressed?
Commentators on this verse — 8 expositors, verse by verse
Each of these wrote on Lamentations 3:52 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.
John Gill1697–1771Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleMine enemies chased me sore like a bird,.... That is weak and helpless, fearful and timorous; that flees from place to place when pursued; so it was with the prophet, or rather with the people of the
Read John Gill on Lamentations 3 →Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's CommentaryMine enemies chased me sore, like a bird, without cause. Mine enemies chased me sore, like a bird - which is destitute of counsel and strength. The allusion seems to be to Proverbs 1:17 (Calvin).
Read Robert Jamieson on Lamentations 3 →Matthew Poole1624–1679Matthew Poole's Commentary on the Holy BibleAs boys beat a bird from bush to bush, suffering it to rest no where, so mine enemies, to whom I gave no cause, pursued me.
Read Matthew Poole on Lamentations 3 →John Trapp1601–1669Trapp's Complete Commentary on the Old and New TestamentsLamentations 3:52 Mine enemies chased me sore, like a bird, without cause.Ver. 52. Mine enemies chased me sore.] In a most eager and extreme manner, with utmost cruelty and craft. As a bird.] Beaten from bush to bush. Without cause.] Jeremiah and the godly party might say so; but not Zedekiah and other perfidious ones.
Read John Trapp on Lamentations 3 →Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(52) Without cause . . .—The words connect themselves in the Hebrew with “mine enemies” (comp. Psalms 35:7; Psalms 35:19; Psalms 69:4), and it has been inferred from this that Jeremiah speaks not of the Chaldeans as enemies of his nation, but of those who were individually his persecutors. The hypothesis receives some confirmation from the apparent reference in the “dungeon” and the “waters” to the narrative of Jeremiah 38. It has been urged, on the other hand, that those expressions may be figurative here, as they are in Psalms 42:7; Psalms 88:7; Psalms 124:4.
Read Charles John Ellicott on Lamentations 3 →AdamClarkeAdam Clarke's Commentary on the BibleVerse 52. Mine enemies chased me] From this to the end of the chapter the prophet speaks of his own personal sufferings, and especially of those which he endured in the dungeon. See Jeremiah 38:6, &c.
Read AdamClarke on Lamentations 3 →Albert Barnes1798–1870Barnes' Notes on the BibleOr, “They who without cause are mine enemies have hunted me sore like a bird.” Probably the prophet is speaking of his personal sorrows.
Read Albert Barnes on Lamentations 3 →Daniel Denison Whedon1808–1885Whedon's Commentary on the Bible52. Without cause — The order of the words in this verse should be, to express the precise sense of the original, “without cause mine enemies chased me.”
Read Daniel Denison Whedon on Lamentations 3 →The verse in English, compared — 17 translations, and where they part company
Every translation on this page is a decision someone had to make and commit to. Read down a column and you see one translator's judgement; read across a row and you see the range the Greek actually allows. The BSB is the wording the rest of this page is measured against, so it is listed first.
Modern formal
Without cause my enemies hunted me like a bird.
They have chased me relentlessly like a bird, those who are my enemies without cause.
Without cause my enemies hunted me like a bird.
For no good reason my enemies hunted me down like a bird.
Tyndale line
Mine enemies chased me sore, like a bird, without cause.
They have chased me sore like a bird, they that are mine enemies without cause.
They have chased me sore like a bird, that are mine enemies without cause.
My enemies chased me fiercely, like a bird without cause.
Mine enemies chased me sore like a birde, without cause.
Strictly literal
They that are mine enemies without cause have chased me sore like a bird.
Hunted me sore as a bird have my enemies without cause.
Hunting—my enemies have hunted me without cause like the bird.
Those who are my enemies, without a cause, have chased me about like a bird.
I have been hunted like a bird by those who were my enemies; they hunted me without a reason.
From the Latin
Sade. My enemies have chased me and caught me like a bird, without cause.
Simplified
For no reason my enemies trapped me like a bird.
They who are against me without cause have gone hard after me as if I was a bird;
Counted from the translations carried on this site, not from a survey of every English Bible. A rendering shared by many versions is usually inherited rather than independently arrived at — the Tyndale line in particular runs through most of them.
The sentence as the grammar sees it — from the MACULA Hebrew treebank
This is not our own analysis: it is the scholarly syntax tree for the verse, showing how the clause actually holds together.
Boxes are the grammarian's groupings — clause, noun phrase, prepositional phrase.
The four witnesses to this verse — Masoretic, Septuagint, Samaritan, Qumran
The Masoretic Text is supported by the Septuagint, which matches all five words in the verse. The Dead Sea Scrolls provide a version where the words are partially restored by an editor, indicating some textual transmission issues.
צ֥וֹד צָד֛וּנִי כַּצִּפּ֖וֹר אֹיְבַ֥י חִנָּֽם׃
5 of the 5 words are matched. This is the word-by-word correspondence, not the Septuagint's own sentence — its word order and its articles are its own.
[צוד] [צדו׳ני] [כצפור] [איב׳י] [חנם]
nothing on the leather here — 5 supplied entire by an editor.
Four traditions, not one. “On the leather” means the letters physically survive on the scroll, as against letters an editor has supplied to fill a hole in it — a restoration is a scholar’s reading, not a reading of the manuscript. Words in [square brackets] are supplied; the notes count them apart from what survives.
The map of this verse — what each word keeps company with
This is a map of two things, both counted rather than judged. Company kept: which words stand within three words of each of these, anywhere in the Hebrew Bible — the thicker the line, the more often the pair meet compared with chance. Built from: the words a word is made out of, taken from its own Strong’s entry. It is not a map of meaning: nothing here claims two words mean the same thing. Click any circle to see the numbers behind it.
Lexicons — every word in Lamentations 3:52
One dossier per word, with every reference work grouped by kind — Hebrew lexicons, morphology, Bible dictionaries, topical chains and the English of the translators themselves. The verse sits at the head of each block with the word under study lit, so you never lose your place. The panel above gives the short answer; this is the long one, and it is the part of the page worth indexing.
Every entry below is the lexicographer's own text. On the Hebrew: Brown-Driver-Briggs entire and its gloss set, Strong's Hebrew Dictionary, and Tyndale House's Translators Brief lexicon. Where a cell says a work has no entry, that work genuinely has none for this word.
צוּד (tsuwd) primarily means to hunt, with variations indicating a keen or eager pursuit. It also has a denominative form related to provisioning oneself for a journey. The entries suggest a connection to the act of catching animals and imply a figurative sense of capturing people. There is a note of similarity with another word, צָיַר (tsayar), which also relates to taking provision.
צוּד vb. hunt
Qal hunt
Pō‛l. hunt (keenly, eagerly?)
base
[צִיד] vb. denom. Hithp. supply oneself with provisions, take as one's provision
base
H6679a צוּד hunt H6679b צִיד vb. denom Hithp. supply oneself with provisions, take as one's provision
6679 tsuwd tsood
a primitive root; to lie alongside (i.e. in wait); by
implication, to catch an animal (figuratively, men);
(denominative from 6718) to victual (for a journey):--chase,
hunt, sore, take (provision).
see HEBREW for 06718
צוּד (tsud) — to hunt.
1) to hunt
1a) (Qal) to hunt
1b) (Poel) to hunt, hunt eagerly or keenly
צוּד (tsud) — to provision.
(Hithpael) take provision
Another spelling of tsa.yar (צָיַר "to take provision" H6737)
V-Qal-Ptc — Verb · Qal · infinitive absoluteHVqaa
צוּד (tsuwd) primarily means to hunt, with variations indicating a keen or eager pursuit. It also has a denominative form related to provisioning oneself for a journey. The entries suggest a connection to the act of catching animals and imply a figurative sense of capturing people. There is a note of similarity with another word, צָיַר (tsayar), which also relates to taking provision.
צוּד vb. hunt
Qal hunt
Pō‛l. hunt (keenly, eagerly?)
base
[צִיד] vb. denom. Hithp. supply oneself with provisions, take as one's provision
base
H6679a צוּד hunt H6679b צִיד vb. denom Hithp. supply oneself with provisions, take as one's provision
6679 tsuwd tsood
a primitive root; to lie alongside (i.e. in wait); by
implication, to catch an animal (figuratively, men);
(denominative from 6718) to victual (for a journey):--chase,
hunt, sore, take (provision).
see HEBREW for 06718
צוּד (tsud) — to hunt.
1) to hunt
1a) (Qal) to hunt
1b) (Poel) to hunt, hunt eagerly or keenly
צוּד (tsud) — to provision.
(Hithpael) take provision
Another spelling of tsa.yar (צָיַר "to take provision" H6737)
HVqp3cp/Sp1bs — Verb qal perfect third person common plural · suffixHVqp3cp/Sp1bs
צִפּוֹר (tsippowr) means 'bird' and can refer to a singular bird or birds collectively. It is derived from a root meaning 'to hop' and is associated with small birds like sparrows. The Aramaic equivalent is צְפַר (tse.phar).
צִפּוֹר, צִפֹּר 40 n.f. bird
base
H6833 צִפּוֹר, צִפֹּר bird
6833 tsippowr tsip-pore'
or tsippor {tsip-pore'}; from 6852; a little bird (as
hopping):--bird, fowl, sparrow.
see HEBREW for 06852
צִפּוֹר (tsip.por) — bird.
1) bird, fowl
1a) bird (singular)
1b) birds (coll)
Aramaic equivalent: tse.phar (צְפַר "bird" H6853)
Prep | N-cs — Preposition · noun common both singular absoluteHRd/Ncbsa
Bird
Birds are divided in the Mosaic law into two classes, (1) the clean (Lev. 1:14-17; 5:7-10; 14:4-7), which were offered in sacrifice; and (2) the unclean (Lev. 11:13-20). When offered in sacrifice, they were not divided as other victims were (Gen. 15:10). They are mentioned also as an article of food (Deut. 14:11). The art of snaring wild birds is referred to (Ps. 124:7; Prov. 1:17; 7:23; Jer. 5:27). Singing birds are mentioned in Ps. 104:12;
אֹיֵב (oyeb) means 'enemy' or 'foe,' indicating hostility. It can refer to personal or national adversaries. The word is derived from the active participle of another root, אָיַב (ayab), which also conveys the sense of being hostile.
[אָיַב] 283 vb. be hostile to (enemy = אֹיֵב)
base
H341 אָיַב be hostile to (enemy = אֹיֵב)
341 'oyeb o-yabe'
or (fully) owyeb {o-yabe'}; active participle of 340;
hating; an adversary:--enemy, foe.
see HEBREW for 0340
אֹיֵב (o.yev) — enemy.
1) (Qal) enemy
1a) personal
1b) national
V-Qal | Suff — Verb qal participle (active) masculine plural common · suffixHVqrmpc/Sp1bs
חִנָּם (chinnam) means 'for nothing' or 'gratis,' indicating something given without cost or reason. It conveys ideas of being free, undeserved, or in vain. The word is derived from a root meaning 'to be devoid of advantage.' Various lexicons emphasize its use in contexts that highlight lack of purpose or cause.
חִנָּם subst., used chiefly in the accus. as adv.—lit. out of favour; i.e.
gratis, gratuitously, for nothing
for no purpose, in vain
gratuitously, without cause, undeservedly
base
H2600 חִנָּם lit. out of favour; i.e. . gratis, gratuitously, for nothing
. for no purpose, in vain
. gratuitously, without cause, undeservedly
2600 chinnam khin-nawm'
from 2580; gratis, i.e. devoid of cost, reason or
advantage:--without a cause (cost, wages), causeless, to cost
nothing, free(-ly), innocent, for nothing (nought, in vain.
see HEBREW for 02580
חִנָּם (chin.nam) — for nothing.
1) freely, for nothing, without cause
1a) gratis, gratuitously, for nothing
1b) for no purpose, in vain
1c) gratuitously, without cause, undeservedly
Adv — AdverbHD
kos: In both the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American) "for this cause" (the King James Version "cause") occurs in Ex 9:16 as the rendering of ba`abhur zo'th = "in order that"; "to the end that"; so also in Da 2:12 for kol-qebhel denah, and in 2Ch 32:20 the King James Version for `al-zo'th, where RVS read "because of." In the New Testament the word is used adverbially in the translation of several Greek phrases: heneka toutou (Mt 19:5; Mr 10:7); dia touto, Joh 12:27; Ro 1:26; 13:6; 15:9…
→ See ACTIONS AT LAW