Lamentations 4:19

19 Our pursuers were swifter than eagles in the sky; they chased us over the mountains and lay in wait for us in the desert.

Lamentations 4:19 in Other Translations

19 Our persecutors are swifter than the eagles of the heaven: they pursued us upon the mountains, they laid wait for us in the wilderness.

19 Our pursuers were swifter than the eagles in the heavens; they chased us on the mountains; they lay in wait for us in the wilderness.

19 Our enemies were swifter than eagles in flight. If we fled to the mountains, they found us. If we hid in the wilderness, they were waiting for us there.

19 They came after us faster than eagles in flight, pressed us hard in the mountains, ambushed us in the desert.

19 Our pursuers were swifter than the eagles of the heavens: They chased us upon the mountains, they laid wait for us in the wilderness.

19 Those who were hunting us were faster than eagles in the sky. They chased us in the mountains and ambushed us in the wilderness.

19 Those who chased us were swifter than eagles in the sky; they relentlessly pursued us over the mountains and ambushed us in the wilderness.

19 Those who were hunting us down were faster than eagles in the sky. They chased us over the mountains. They hid and waited for us in the desert.

Lamentations 4:19 Meaning and Commentary

Lamentations 4:19

Our persecutors are swifter than the eagles of the heavens,
&c.] That fly in the heavens; and which, as they have a quick sight to discern their prey afar off, are very swift to pursue it; they are the swiftest of birds, and are so to a proverb. Apuleius ^F9 represents the swift pursuit of their prey, and sudden falling upon it, to be like thunder and lightning. Cicero ^F11 relates of a certain racer, that came to an interpreter of dreams, and told him, that in his dream he seemed to become an eagle; upon which, says the interpreter, thou wilt be the conqueror; for no bird flies with such force and swiftness as that. And this bird is also remarkable for its constancy in flying: it is never weary, but keeps on flying to places the most remote. The poets have a fiction, that Jupiter, being desirous of knowing which was the middle of the world, sent out two eagles of equal swiftness, the one from the east, and the other from the west, at the same moment; which stopped not till they came to Delphos, where they met, which showed that to be the spot; in memory of which, two golden eagles were placed in the temple there ^F12. The swiftness and constancy of these creatures in flying are here intended to set forth the speed and assiduity of the enemies of the Jews, in their pursuit after them; who followed them closely, and never ceased till they had overtaken them. The Chaldeans are designed, who pursued the Jews very hotly and eagerly, such as fled when the city was broken up; though not so much they themselves, as being thus swift of foot, as their horses on which they rode; see ( Jeremiah 4:13 ) . they pursued us upon the mountains, they laid wait for us in the
wilderness:
or "plain" ^F13; there was no safety in either; such as fled to the mountains were pursued and overtaken there; and such who attempted to make their escape through the valleys were intercepted there: the reference is to the flight of Zedekiah, his nobles, and his army with him, who were pursued by the Chaldeans, and taken in the plains of Jericho, ( Jeremiah 52:7-9 ) ; hence it follows:

---

FOOTNOTES:

F9 Florida, l. 2.
F11 De Divinatione, l. 2. p. 2001.
F12 Vid. Strabo Geograph. l. 9. p. 289. & Pindar. Pythia, Ode 4. l. 7, 8. & Schmidt in ib. p. 174, 175.
F13 (rbdmb) "in plano", Gataker.

Lamentations 4:19 In-Context

17 Moreover, our eyes failed, looking in vain for help; from our towers we watched for a nation that could not save us.

18 People stalked us at every step, so we could not walk in our streets. Our end was near, our days were numbered, for our end had come.

19 Our pursuers were swifter than eagles in the sky; they chased us over the mountains and lay in wait for us in the desert.

20 The LORD’s anointed, our very life breath, was caught in their traps. We thought that under his shadow we would live among the nations.

21 Rejoice and be glad, Daughter Edom, you who live in the land of Uz. But to you also the cup will be passed; you will be drunk and stripped naked.

Cross References

• 1. S Deuteronomy 28:49
• 2. S Leviticus 26:36; Isaiah 5:26-28
• 3. Jeremiah 52:7