Lamentations 3:12 — Word Study
WLCדָּרַ֤ךְ קַשְׁתוֹ֙ וַיַּצִּיבֵ֔נִי כַּמַּטָּרָ֖א לַחֵֽץ׃ ס
BSAHe bentdârak■ [trod, stepped on] His bowqesheth [an archer's weapon] and set menâtsab▸ as the targetmaṭṭârâʼ [appointed, stationed, mark, guardhouse] for His arrowchêts [sharp object, instrument of judgment]
| Greek | English | Parsing |
|---|---|---|
| דָּרַ֤ךְ | he has bent | Verb, Qal, perfect third person masculine singular |
| קַשְׁתוֹ֙ | bow his | Noun common feminine singular construct, suffix |
| וַיַּצִּיבֵ֔נִי | and he has set up me | Verb hiphil sequential imperfect third person masculine singular, suffix |
| כַּמַּטָּרָ֖א | like target | Preposition, noun common feminine singular absolute |
| לַחֵֽץ׃ ס | for arrow | Preposition, noun common masculine singular absolute |
Every word in the verse. Click a row to open it in the panel on the left.
| BSB | He bent His bow and set me as the target for His arrow. |
| KJV | He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow. |
| ASV | He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow. |
| YLT | He hath trodden His bow, And setteth me up as a mark for an arrow. |
| WEB | He has bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow. |
| BBE | With his bow bent, he has made me the mark for his arrows. |
Where they part company is in the nuances of the imagery used, particularly in the translation of key terms like 'bow' and 'target.'
The sentence structure emphasizes the action of God bending the bow and the resulting positioning of the speaker as a target.
8 commentators on this verse
Gill, Jamieson, Poole, Trapp & more — read them ›
clause
verbדָּרַךְ
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 3:12
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 Sufferinggenerated
Lamentations 3:12 is part of a poignant expression of suffering, where the speaker feels targeted by God's actions. The surrounding verses (11 and 13) describe a sense of being attacked and pierced, highlighting the emotional turmoil faced by the speaker. This lament reflects deep anguish and the struggle to understand God's role in their suffering.
Cross References
| Reference | Text (BSB) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Job 6:4 | For the arrows of the Almighty have pierced me; my spirit drinks in their poison; the terrors of God are arrayed against me. |
| 2 | Job 7:20 | If I have sinned, what have I done to You, O watcher of mankind? Why have You made me Your target, so that I am a burden to You ? |
| 3 | Job 16:12–13 | I was at ease, but He shattered me; He seized me by the neck and crushed me. He has set me up as His target; |
| 4 | Psalm 7:12–13 | If one does not repent, God will sharpen His sword; He has bent and strung His bow. |
| 5 | Psalm 38:2 | For Your arrows have pierced me deeply, and Your hand has pressed down on me. |
The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — 5 references, hung on the phrase they belong to
The Key Word — דָּרַךְ, da.Rakhgenerated
The verb דָּרַךְ (da.Rakh) means 'to tread' or 'to bend,' and here it is used in the context of bending a bow. The action suggests a deliberate and forceful act, indicating God's power and intent in the speaker's suffering.
This perfect tense indicates a completed action, emphasizing that the bow has been bent and the target set. The use of this word connects to themes of judgment and divine action, portraying God as an archer who has chosen the speaker as a target.
How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated
In the Berean Standard Bible, the verse reads, 'He bent His bow and set me as the target for His arrow.' The KJV and ASV agree with this wording, maintaining the imagery of archery.
Sentence Structuregenerated
The main verb is דָּרַךְ, he has bent, which governs the sentence. The structure follows a pattern where the action of bending the bow is emphasized, followed by the direct object and the description of the target.
The phrase וַיַּצִּיבֵ֔נִי (and he has set up me) follows, indicating the result of the action. This structure highlights the relationship between the action of God and the speaker's position as a target.
Septuagint Backgroundgenerated
The Septuagint translates דָּרַךְ as ἐνέτεινεν, which means 'he stretched out.' This choice emphasizes the action of preparing for a shot, suggesting a more dynamic image of God's judgment.
The Greek word for 'target' is σκοπὸν, indicating a focus or aim, aligning with the Hebrew meaning but also suggesting a broader context of being watched or observed.
In plain words — the whole versegenerated
Lamentations 3:12 describes how the speaker feels like a target for God's judgment, using the imagery of an archer who has bent his bow and aimed at them. This verse is part of a larger lament expressing deep sorrow and confusion over suffering.
Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated
This imagery suggests that God is actively involved in the speaker's suffering, preparing to enact judgment.
The target imagery conveys vulnerability, indicating that the speaker feels exposed to God's judgment.
The surrounding verses describe a series of afflictions, creating a context of deep distress and highlighting the speaker's feelings of being attacked.
Archery imagery represents precision and intent, illustrating the idea that the speaker's suffering is not random but a deliberate act of judgment.
Reflection Questionsgenerated
- In what ways have I felt targeted or attacked in my own life?
- How can I understand God's actions in my suffering?
- What does it mean to me that God is depicted as an archer?
- How can I find hope in the midst of my struggles, like the speaker in this lament?
The early church on this verse — how the Fathers read it
Thomas Aquinas comments on this verse to illustrate the nature of God's affliction, using the archery metaphor to describe the manner of suffering.
The manner for afflicting is stated here. First the manner is insidious, second, it is open. Verse 12 then says: "He bent his bow and set me as a markfor his arrow." Third, the manner for afflicting is widespread.Early Church Fathers on Lamentations 3 →
Commentators on this verse — 8 expositors, verse by verse
Each of these wrote on Lamentations 3:12 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.
John Gill1697–1771Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleHe hath bent his bow,.... Which is put for all the instruments, of war; the Chaldeans were archers, and shot their arrows into the city: and set me as a mark for the arrow; as a target to shoot at;
Read John Gill on Lamentations 3 →Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's CommentaryHe was unto me as a bear lying in wait, and as a lion in secret places.
Read Robert Jamieson on Lamentations 3 →Matthew Poole1624–1679Matthew Poole's Commentary on the Holy BibleHe hath prepared himself for acts of vindicative justice, and he hath made me the object of it.
Read Matthew Poole on Lamentations 3 →John Trapp1601–1669Trapp's Complete Commentary on the Old and New TestamentsLamentations 3:12 He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow.Ver. 12. He hath bent his bow.] Lamentations 2:4. And set me as a mark.] Which he is sure to hit. The Benjamites, the Parthians, Alcon the Cretan, Domitian the Emperor, were excellent archers; but “ Non semper feriet quodcunque minabitur arcus; ” God’ s arrow never misseth the mark.
Read John Trapp on Lamentations 3 →Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(12) He hath bent his bow.—(Comp. Job 16:12.) The figure is changed, but there is a natural sequence of thought. The lion suggests the huntsman. but he appears on the scene not to save the victim, but to complete the work of destruction.
Read Charles John Ellicott on Lamentations 3 →AdamClarkeAdam Clarke's Commentary on the BibleVerse 12. He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow.] One might conjecture that the following thought in the Toozek i Teemour was borrowed from this: - "One addressed the caliph Aaly, and said, 'If the heavens were a bow, and the earth the cord thereof; if calamities were arrows, man the butt for those arrows; and the holy blessed God the unerring marksman; where could the sons of Adam flee for succour?' The caliph replied, 'The children of Adam must flee unto the Lord.'" This was the state of poor Jerusalem. It seemed as a butt for all God's arrows; and each arrow of calamity entered into the soul, for God was the unerring marksman.
Read AdamClarke on Lamentations 3 →CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges12, 13. Jehovah is now likened not to the beast of prey, but to the hunter. Cp. Job 16:12 f.
Read Cambridge on Lamentations 3 →Daniel Denison Whedon1808–1885Whedon's Commentary on the Bible12. Bent his bow — From the wild beast which is hunted, the figure now changes to the hunter, who is armed with bow and arrow. So the intensity of the whole passage is promoted.
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
He bent His bow and set me as the target for His arrow.
He has bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow.
He bent His bow and set me as the target for His arrow.
He drew his bow and made me the target for his arrow.
Tyndale line
He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow.
He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow.
He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow.
He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow.
He hath bent his bow and made me a marke for the arrow.
Strictly literal
He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow.
He hath trodden His bow, And setteth me up as a mark for an arrow.
He has bent His bow, || And sets me up as a mark for an arrow.
He hath bent his bow, and placed me as a mark for the arrow.
He bent his bow and set me as a target for his arrow.
From the Latin
Daleth. He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for his arrows.
Simplified
He loaded his bow with an arrow and used me as his target,
With his bow bent, he has made me the mark for his arrows.
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 and the Septuagint agree on the wording of this verse, with all five words matched in the translation. This consistency indicates a shared understanding of the imagery and themes present in the text.
דָּרַ֤ךְ קַשְׁתוֹ֙ וַיַּצִּיבֵ֔נִי כַּמַּטָּרָ֖א לַחֵֽץ׃ ס
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.
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 3:12
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.
דָּרַךְ (darakh) is a Hebrew verb meaning to tread or march. It encompasses a range of actions including walking, leading, and bending a bow. The word appears in various forms, such as Qal and Hiphil, indicating both simple and causative actions. Notably, it can refer to treading down or guiding others.
דָּרַךְ vb. tread, march
Qal
tread, march, march forth
tread upon
tread wine- (or oil-) press
tread (i.e. bend) the bow
Hiph.
tread, tread down
tread (bend) the bow
causat. cause to tread or march, lead
base
H1869 דָּרַךְ tread, march
1869 darak daw-rak'
a primitive root; to tread; by implication, to walk; also to
string a bow (by treading on it in bending):--archer, bend,
come, draw, go (over), guide, lead (forth), thresh, tread
(down), walk.
דָּרַךְ (da.rakh) — to tread.
1) to tread, bend, lead, march
1a) (Qal)
1a1) to tread, march, march forth
1a2) to tread on, tread upon
1a3) to tread (a press)
1a4) to tread (bend) a bow
1a5) archer, bow-benders (participle)
1b) (Hiphil)
1b1) to tread, tread down
1b2) to tread (bend with the foot) a bow
1b3) to cause to go, lead, march, tread
V-Qal-Perf-3ms — Verb · Qal · perfect third person masculine singularHVqp3ms
קֶ֫שֶׁת (qesheth) primarily means 'bow,' referring to a weapon for hunting or battle, and can also denote 'rainbow.' It is derived from a root meaning to bend, suggesting strength. The term encompasses both literal and figurative uses, including references to archers and might.
קֶ֫שֶׁת n.f. bow
bow
rainbow
base
H7198 קֶ֫שֶׁת bow . bow
. rainbow
7198 qesheth keh'-sheth
from 7185 in the original sense (of 6983) of bending: a bow,
for shooting (hence, figuratively, strength) or the iris:--X
arch(-er), + arrow, bow((-man, -shot)).
see HEBREW for 07185
see HEBREW for 06983
קֶ֫שֶׁת (qe.shet) — bow.
1) bow
1a) bow (for hunting, battle)
1b) bowmen, archers
1c) bow (fig. of might)
1d) rainbow
N-fs | Suff — Noun common feminine singular construct · suffixHNcfsc/Sp3ms
נָצַב (natsab) is a Hebrew verb meaning to stand or take one's stand, with various applications including to be stationed, appointed, or established. It can refer to standing upright, setting up a pillar, or fixing a boundary. The entries highlight its use in different forms, such as Niphal and Hiphil, indicating both active and passive meanings.
[נָצַב] vb. Niph. take one's stand, stand
Niph.
station oneself, take one's stand, for definite purpose
stand = be stationed (by appointment, or in fulfillment of duty)
take an upright position, stand
be stationed = appointed over
Pt. as subst. deputy = prefect (as appointed, deputed)
stand firm
Hiph.
station, set
set up, erect pillar
cause to stand erect, waters
fix, establish boundary
Hoph. fixed, determined
base
H5324 נָצַב Niph. take one's stand, stand . . . station oneself, take one's stand, for definite purpose
. stand = be stationed (by appointment, or in fulfillment of duty)
. take an upright position, stand
. be stationed = appointed over
. Pt. as subst. deputy = prefect (as appointed, deputed)
. stand firm
. . station, set
. set up, erect pillar
. cause to stand erect, waters
. fix, establish boundary
. fixed, determined
5324 natsab naw-tsab'
a prim root; to station, in various applications (literally
or figuratively):--appointed, deputy, erect, establish, X
Huzzah (by mistake for a proper name), lay, officer, pillar,
present, rear up, set (over, up), settle, sharpen, establish,
(make to) stand(-ing, still, up, upright), best state.
נָצַב (na.tsav) — to stand.
1) to stand, take one's stand, stand upright, be set (over), establish
1a) (Niphal)
1a1) to station oneself, take one's stand
1a2) to stand, be stationed
1a3) to stand, take an upright position
1a4) to be stationed, be appointed
1a5) deputy, prefect, appointed, deputed (subst)
1a6) to stand firm
1b) (Hiphil)
1b1) to station, set
1b2) to set up, erect
1b3) to cause to stand erect
1b4) to fix, establish
1c) (Hophal) to be fixed, be determined, be stationary
Conj | V-Hiphil-ConsecImperf-3ms | Suff — Verb hiphil sequential imperfect third person masculine singular · suffixHc/Vhw3ms/Sp1bs
מַטָּרָה (mattara') refers to a guard or prison, indicating a place of confinement or protection. It can also mean a target or mark, suggesting a focus or aim. The word is derived from a root meaning to watch closely, and it encompasses both literal and figurative uses related to guarding and aiming.
מַטָּרָה and מַטָּרָא n.f. 1. guard, ward, prison. 2. target, mark
base
H4307 מַטָּרָה, מַטָּרָא
4307 mattara' mat-taw-raw'
or mattarah {mat-taw-raw'}; from 5201; a jail (as a
guard-house); also an aim (as being closely watched):--mark,
prison.
see HEBREW for 05201
מַטָּרָה (mat.ta.rah) — (Gate of the) Guard.
This name means guard, prison
מַטָּרָה (mat.ta.rah) — guardhouse.
1) guard, ward, prison, mark, target
1a) guard, ward, prison
1b) target, mark (fig. of chastisement)
Prep | N-fs — Preposition · noun common feminine singular absoluteHRd/Ncfsa
tar'-get.
See MARK.
Target
(1 Sam. 17:6, A.V., after the LXX. and Vulg.), a kind of small shield. The margin has “gorget,” a piece of armour for the throat. The Revised Version more correctly renders the Hebrew word (kidon) by “javelin.” The same Hebrew word is used in Josh. 8:18 (A.V., “spear;” R.V., “javelin”); Job 39:23 (A.V., “shield;” R.V., “javelin”); 41:29 (A.V., “spear;” R.V., “javelin”).
חֵץ (chets) means 'arrow,' primarily found in poetic and prophetic contexts. It is derived from a root meaning 'to pierce' and can imply a wound or refer to a thunderbolt in a figurative sense. The word also encompasses related terms like 'dart' and 'shaft,' indicating its use in various forms of weaponry.
חֵץ n.m. arrow, mostly poet. and proph.
base
H2671 חֵץ arrow, mostly poet. and proph.
2671 chets khayts
from 2686; properly, a piercer, i.e. an arrow; by
implication, a wound; figuratively, (of God) thunder-bolt; (by
interchange for 6086) the shaft of a spear:--+ archer, arrow,
dart, shaft, staff, wound.
see HEBREW for 02686
see HEBREW for 06086
חֵץ (chets) — arrow.
arrow
Prep | N-ms — Preposition · noun common masculine singular absoluteHRd/Ncmsa
ar'-o. See ARCHERY; ARMOR.
Used by the Jews both in hunting and in war; sometimes merely a sharpened reed, sometimes feathered, barbed, and even poisoned, Job 6:4. The bow was of various forms and materials, and many could be used only by the strongest men, Ps 18:34. Arrows were used to convey fire to an enemy’s house, and for divination, Eze 21:21. The word is applied symbolically to children, Ps 127:4,5; to the lightning, Ps 18:14 Hab 3:11; to sudden calamities, Job 6:4 Ps 38:2 91:5