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Lamentations 1:8

Old Testament Poetry ASV (1901)

What does Lamentations 1:8 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “Jerusalem hath grievously sinned; therefore she is become as an unclean thing; All that honored her despise her, because they have seen her nakedness: Yea, she sigheth, and turneth backward.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

Jerusalem hath grievously sinned; therefore she is become as an unclean thing; All that honored her despise her, because they have seen her nakedness: Yea, she sigheth, and turneth backward.
Lamentations 1:8 — American Standard Version

Context — Lamentations 1

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
5Her adversaries are become the head, her enemies prosper; For Jehovah hath afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions: Her young children are gone into captivity before the adversary.
6And from the daughter of Zion all her majesty is departed: Her princes are become like harts that find no pasture, And they are gone without strength before the pursuer.
7Jerusalem remembereth in the days of her affliction and of her miseries all her pleasant things that were from the days of old: When her people fell into the hand of the adversary, and none did help her, The adversaries saw her, they did mock at her desolations.
8Jerusalem hath grievously sinned; therefore she is become as an unclean thing; All that honored her despise her, because they have seen her nakedness: Yea, she sigheth, and turneth backward.
9Her filthiness was in her skirts; she remembered not her latter end; Therefore is she come down wonderfully; she hath no comforter: Behold, O Jehovah, my affliction; for the enemy hath magnified himself.
10The adversary hath spread out his hand upon all her pleasant things: For she hath seen that the nations are entered into her sanctuary, Concerning whom thou didst command that they should not enter into thine assembly.
11All her people sigh, they seek bread; They have given their pleasant things for food to refresh the soul: See, O Jehovah, and behold; for I am become abject.
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What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“Jerusalem hath grievously sinned, etc.] Or, “hath sinned a sin” f17; a great sin, as the Targum; the sin of idolatry, according to some; or of covenant breaking, as others; though perhaps no particular sin is meant, but many grievous sins; since she was guilty of a multitude of them, as in (<250105>Lamentations 1:5); therefore she is removed; out of her own land, and carried captive into another: or, is “for commotion” f18; for scorn and derision; the head being moved and shook at her by way of contempt: or rather, “for separation” f19; she being like a menstruous woman, defiled and separate from society: all that honoured her despise her; they that courted her friendship and alliance in the…”
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Jamieson, Fausset & Brown
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“(Kg1 8:46). is removed--as a woman separated from the congregation of God for legal impurity, which is a type of moral impurity. So Lam 1:17; Lev 12:2; Lev 15:19, &c. her nakedness--They have treated her as contumeliously as courtesans from whom their clothes are stripped. turneth backward--as modest women do from shame, that is, she is cast down from all hope of restoration [CALVIN].”
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Barnes' Notes
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · Notes on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“Grievously sinned - literally, “Jerusalem hath sinned a sin,” giving the idea of a persistent continuance in wickedness. Removed - Or, become an abomination. Sin has made Jerusalem an object of horror, and therefore she is cast away. Yea, she sigheth ... - Jerusalem groans over the infamy of her deeds thus brought to open shame, and turns her back upon the spectators in order to hide herself. return to 'Top of Page'”
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Tyndale Open Study Notes
Tyndale House Publishers · Tyndale Open Study Notes · Modern study notes
“1:8-9 Jerusalem was stripped of everything of physical and spiritual value that the people cherished.”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“hath: Lam 1:5, Lam 1:20; Kg1 8:46, Kg1 8:47, Kg1 9:7, Kg1 9:9; Isa 59:2-13; Jer 6:28; Eze 14:13-21; Eze 22:2-15 removed: Heb. become a removing, or wandering, Jer 15:4, Jer 24:9, Jer 34:17; Eze 23:46 \*marg. all: Lam 4:15, Lam 4:16, Lam 5:12-16; Sa1 2:30 they: Lam 4:21; Isa 47:3; Jer 13:22, Jer 13:26; Eze 16:37-39, Eze 23:29; Hos 2:3, Hos 2:10; Rev 3:18 she sigheth: Lam 1:4, Lam 1:11, Lam 1:21, Lam 1:22, Lam 2:10; Jer 4:31 Lamentations 1:9”
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Keil & Delitzsch
C. F. Keil & F. Delitzsch · Commentary on the Old Testament · 19th-century historical commentary
“But Jerusalem has brought this unutterable misery on herself through her grievous sins. חטאה is intensified by the noun חטא, instead of the inf. abs., as in Jer 46:5. Jerusalem has sinned grievously, and therefore has become an object of aversion. נידה does not mean εἰς σάλον (lxx), or instabilis (Vulgate); nor is it, with the Chaldee, Raschi, and most of the ancient expositors, to be derived fromנוּד: we must rather, with modern expositors, regard it as a lengthened form of נדּה, which indeed is the reading given in twenty codices of Kennicott. Regarding these forms, cf. Ewald, 84, a. נדּה (prop. what one should flee from) signifies in particular the uncleanness of the menstrual discharge…”
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Sources and verification