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Lamentations 5:11

Old Testament Poetry ASV (1901)

What does Lamentations 5:11 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “They ravished the women in Zion, The virgins in the cities of Judah.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

They ravished the women in Zion, The virgins in the cities of Judah.
Lamentations 5:11 — American Standard Version

Context — Lamentations 5

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
8Servants rule over us: There is none to deliver us out of their hand.
9We get our bread at the peril of our lives, Because of the sword of the wilderness.
10Our skin is black like an oven, Because of the burning heat of famine.
11They ravished the women in Zion, The virgins in the cities of Judah.
12Princes were hanged up by their hand: The faces of elders were not honored.
13The young men bare the mill; And the children stumbled under the wood.
14The elders have ceased from the gate, The young men from their music.
← Lamentations 5:10Lamentations 5:12 →
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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
“They ravished the women in Zion, etc.] Or “humbled” them f141; an euphemism; the women that were married to men in Zion, as the Targum; and if this wickedness was committed in the holy mountain of Zion, it was still more abominable and afflicting, and to be complained of; and if by the servants before mentioned, as Aben Ezra interprets it, it is another aggravating circumstance of it; for this was done not in Babylon when captives there; but at the taking of the city of Jerusalem, and by the common soldiers, as is too often practised: [and] the maids in the cities of Judah; in all parts of the country, where the Chaldean army ravaged, there they ravished the maids. The Targum is, “the women…”
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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
“So in just retribution Babylon itself should fare in the end. Jerusalem shall for the last time suffer these woes before her final restoration (Zac 14:2).”
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Barnes' Notes
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · Notes on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“They ravished - They humbled. return to 'Top of Page'”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“Deu 28:30; Isa 13:16; Zac 14:2 Lamentations 5:12”
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Related study paths

Read Lamentations 5 in contextBrowse Hebrew word studiesOpen this verse in the study reader

Sources and verification