Lamentations 3:45 kjv
Thou hast made us as the offscouring and refuse in the midst of the people.
Lamentations 3:45 nkjv
You have made us an offscouring and refuse In the midst of the peoples.
Lamentations 3:45 niv
You have made us scum and refuse among the nations.
Lamentations 3:45 esv
You have made us scum and garbage among the peoples.
Lamentations 3:45 nlt
You have discarded us as refuse and garbage
among the nations.
Lamentations 3 45 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference Note |
|---|---|---|
| Deut 28:37 | "And you shall become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among all nations..." | Disobedience leads to scorn among nations. |
| Jer 24:9 | "I will make them a horror and an evil to all the kingdoms of the earth..." | God causes their reproach. |
| Eze 22:15 | "I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you through the countries..." | Consequences of pollution leading to dispersion. |
| Psa 44:13 | "You make us a reproach to our neighbors, a scorn and derision..." | God allowing His people to be mocked. |
| Psa 89:41 | "All who pass by plunder him; He is a reproach to his neighbors." | King/nation's downfall leads to public disgrace. |
| 1 Cor 4:13 | "being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure; being slandered, we entreat. We have become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now." | Apostolic suffering parallels being 'scum'. |
| Job 30:8 | "They are children of fools, yes, children of base men; they were viler than the earth." | Description of contempt and low social standing. |
| Isa 49:7 | "Thus says the Lord, The Redeemer of Israel...To Him whom man despises, to Him whom the nation abhors..." | Israel despised, but then lifted up. |
| Jer 13:13-14 | "Thus says the Lord: 'Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land...with drunkenness...And I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together...'" | God's severe judgment on His people. |
| Zep 3:19 | "At that time I will deal with all who afflict you...and gather those who have been scattered." | God promises restoration after shame. |
| Joel 2:17 | "...let them say, ‘Spare your people, O Lord, and do not make your heritage a reproach, a byword among the nations.’" | Prayer to prevent national shame. |
| Neh 1:8-9 | "Remember the word...‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations; but if you return...I will gather them...’" | Prophecy of scattering and ultimate gathering. |
| Lev 26:33 | "I will scatter you among the nations..." | Curses for disobedience, including dispersion. |
| Lam 1:8 | "Jerusalem has sinned grievously; therefore she has become an unclean thing..." | Her sin led to her becoming despised. |
| Dan 9:11-12 | "Indeed all Israel has transgressed Your law...Therefore the curse and the oath written...have been poured out on us..." | Acknowledging God's just judgment for sin. |
| Rom 1:28 | "...God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting..." | Consequence of rejecting God, leading to debasement. |
| Php 2:7-8 | "but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bondservant...and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross." | Christ's profound humiliation for humanity. |
| Heb 12:6 | "For whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and scourges every son whom He receives." | God's discipline includes hard experiences. |
| Jas 4:6 | "...God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." | Principle of humbling leading to grace. |
| Isa 52:10 | "The Lord has made bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God." | Reversal of humiliation; God's display to nations. |
Lamentations 3 verses
Lamentations 3 45 Meaning
Lamentations 3:45 describes the utter humiliation and debasement of the people of Judah. It conveys that God, as an act of judgment, has made them completely despised, worthless, and abhorrent in the sight of the surrounding nations. They are treated as mere waste or filth, discarded and detested by all.
Lamentations 3 45 Context
Lamentations chapter 3 is the emotional and theological heart of the book, contrasting deep suffering with a glimmer of hope in God's steadfast love and mercies. Verses 1-39 recount the speaker's (likely Jeremiah's, personifying Jerusalem/Judah) profound personal and communal agony under God's severe judgment following the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 586 BC. This particular verse, 3:45, articulates the extreme social and international disgrace inflicted upon the Jewish people. They are not merely defeated; they are treated as public detritus, confirming that God's judgment encompassed not only their physical well-being and land but also their social standing and reputation among other nations, directly fulfilling covenant curses.
Lamentations 3 45 Word analysis
- You: Refers directly to God. This pronoun attributes the state of their humiliation entirely to God's active, divine agency, emphasizing that this suffering is not random or merely an outcome of war, but a purposeful act of divine judgment. This challenges any notion of capricious fate or powerlessness.
- have made us: This verb phrase underscores God's direct role in their degradation. It signifies that God is not a passive observer but the active orchestrator of their current plight, bringing to fruition the covenant curses for disobedience (Lev 26; Deut 28). This "making" is a form of discipline and consequence.
- as offscouring (Hebrew: סְחִי, sᵉḥî): This term literally means "sweepings," "refuse," or "filth." It denotes discarded material, dirt, or waste that is swept away and considered worthless. The imagery is of something so insignificant and polluted that it is fit only for the trash heap. This conveys profound worthlessness and ignominy.
- and refuse (Hebrew: מָאוּס, māʾûs): This word signifies something "rejected," "detested," or "abhorrent." It conveys a stronger sense of repulsion and disgust than sᵉḥî. It suggests that not only are they deemed worthless, but they are also repulsive and actively unwanted. The pairing of sᵉḥî and māʾûs intensifies the sense of extreme degradation, depicting them as utter dregs that evoke revulsion.
- in the midst of the peoples (Hebrew: בְּקֶרֶב הָעַמִּים, bᵉqereb hāʿammîm): This phrase highlights the public and international aspect of their humiliation. It implies that their disgraceful state is openly visible and recognized by all nations, bringing about a collective shame and mockery. There is no hiding place for their ignominy. It is a very public condemnation.
Words-group by words-group analysis:
- "You have made us": This establishes divine sovereignty and responsibility for their condition. It positions God as the primary actor behind their current reality, underscoring the theological weight of their suffering as a consequence of His dealings with His people.
- "as offscouring and refuse": This powerful metaphorical pairing defines the depth of their debasement. It vividly portrays their perceived worthlessness and repulsion in the eyes of others. This imagery emphasizes their lowest possible status, comparable to that which is utterly discarded and loathed.
- "in the midst of the peoples": This specifies the sphere of their humiliation—it is public, pervasive, and globally recognized by their contemporaries. This highlights the broken covenantal blessing of being exalted among nations, replaced by international scorn.
Lamentations 3 45 Bonus section
This verse encapsulates a crucial theological reversal. Historically, Israel was meant to be a blessed and distinct nation, a light to the Gentiles, revered and set apart by God (Deut 4:6-8; Exo 19:5-6). Lam 3:45 portrays the diametric opposite—they are utterly defiled and contemptible among these very nations. This serves as a stark warning about the consequences of covenant disobedience, demonstrating God's unwavering commitment to His Word, whether in blessing or curse. Furthermore, the experience of being "offscouring and refuse" has an echo in the New Testament with the apostles, who willingly became "the scum of the earth" (1 Cor 4:13) for the sake of the Gospel. This parallelism suggests that humility and debasement can, paradoxically, be pathways through which God's redemptive purposes are unfolded, whether through the nation of Israel or His chosen messengers.
Lamentations 3 45 Commentary
Lamentations 3:45 paints a stark picture of Jerusalem's desolate state, presenting the city and its people not merely as defeated but as profoundly defiled and despicable. The verse explicitly attributes this debasement to God ("You have made us"), firmly establishing the suffering as a direct consequence of divine judgment for Israel's pervasive sin and rebellion. This is not accidental adversity but intentional divine discipline. The twin descriptors, "offscouring" (sᵉḥî, swept-away waste) and "refuse" (māʾûs, detested abomination), create a powerful metaphor for absolute degradation. They signify that Judah has become the dregs of society, publicly scorned and considered utterly worthless by surrounding nations. This lament expresses the crushing weight of their perceived status—from a holy nation chosen by God to being less than human in the eyes of the world. Yet, this extreme low point is ironically a prerequisite for spiritual humility and a deeper reliance on God's mercy, a theme that emerges in other verses of Lamentations 3, signifying that even in such deep despair, the seeds of repentance and hope remain.