Lamentations 4:20

¹⁸ They stalked our every step, so that we could not walk in our streets. Our end drew near, our time ran out, for our end had come!

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

The LORD’s anointed, the breath of our life, was captured in their pits. We had said of him, “Under his shadow we will live among the nations.”

²¹ So rejoice and be glad, O Daughter of Edom, you who dwell in the land of Uz. Yet the cup will pass to you as well; you will get drunk and expose yourself.

²² O Daughter of Zion, your punishment is complete; He will not prolong your exile. But He will punish your iniquity, O Daughter of Edom; He will expose your sins.

Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB: The LORD’s anointed, the breath of our life, was captured in their pits. We had said of him, “Under his shadow we will live among the nations.”
KJV: The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the LORD, was taken in their pits, of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the heathen.
WEB: The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the LORD, was taken in their pits; of whom we said, under his shadow we will live among the nations.
ASV: The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of Jehovah, was taken in their pits; Of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the nations.
DARBY: The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of Jehovah, was taken in their pits; of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the nations.
BLB: The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of YHWH, was caught in their pits, of whom we said, “Under his shadow we shall live among the nations.”

ÅB: Vår livsånde, Herrens salvede, ble fanget i deres graver, han om hvem vi sa: I hans skygge vil vi leve blant folkene.
OTB: Våre nesers pust, Herrens salvede, ble fanget i deres feller. Vi trodde at under hans skygge skulle vi leve blant nasjonene.
B1930: Vår livsånde, Herrens salvede, blev fanget i deres graver, han om hvem vi sa: I hans skygge vil vi leve blandt folkene.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

2 Samuel 1:14
So David asked him, “Why were you not afraid to lift your hand to destroy the LORD’s anointed?”
Read in context
Genesis 2:7
Then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.
Read in context
Ezekiel 12:13
But I will spread My net over him, and he will be caught in My snare. I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans; yet he will not see it, and there he will die.
Read in context
Jeremiah 39:5
But the army of the Chaldeans pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. They seized him and brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he pronounced judgment on him.
Read in context
2 Samuel 19:21
But Abishai son of Zeruiah said, “Shouldn’t Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed the LORD’s anointed?”
Read in context
Psalms 89:20–21
I have found My servant David; with My sacred oil I have anointed him.
Read in context
Lamentations 2:9
Her gates have sunk into the ground; He has destroyed and shattered their bars. Her king and her princes are exiled among the nations, the law is no more, and even her prophets find no vision from the LORD.
Read in context
2 Samuel 1:21
O mountains of Gilboa, may you have no dew or rain, no fields yielding offerings of grain. For there the shield of the mighty was defiled, the shield of Saul, no longer anointed with oil.
Read in context