Lamentations 5:7 meaning summary explained with word-by-word analysis enriched with context, commentary and Cross References from KJV, NIV, ESV and NLT.
Lamentations 5:7 kjv
Our fathers have sinned, and are not; and we have borne their iniquities.
Lamentations 5:7 nkjv
Our fathers sinned and are no more, But we bear their iniquities.
Lamentations 5:7 niv
Our ancestors sinned and are no more, and we bear their punishment.
Lamentations 5:7 esv
Our fathers sinned, and are no more; and we bear their iniquities.
Lamentations 5:7 nlt
Our ancestors sinned, but they have died ?
and we are suffering the punishment they deserved!
Lamentations 5 7 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Exod 20:5 | "...I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation..." | God's justice and generational consequences. |
| Deut 5:9 | (Similar to Exod 20:5) "...visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation..." | Reiteration of divine principle in the Law. |
| Num 14:18 | "...He forgives iniquity and transgression, but by no means clears the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children..." | God's justice, mercy, and judgment. |
| 2 Sam 12:10 | "...Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house..." | Consequences of David's sin affecting his lineage. |
| 1 Kin 14:16 | "And he will give over Israel because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he sinned and made Israel to sin." | National suffering due to a king's sins. |
| 2 Kin 24:3-4 | "Surely this came upon Judah at the command of the LORD, to remove them from His presence, because of the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done..." | Exile directly linked to Manasseh's idolatry. |
| Neh 9:2 | "The descendants of Israel separated themselves from all foreigners, and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers." | Corporate confession of inherited and personal sin. |
| Psa 79:8 | "Do not remember against us the iniquities of our forefathers; Let Your tender mercies come speedily to meet us..." | A prayer asking God to overlook ancestral sins. |
| Psa 106:6 | "We have sinned like our fathers, We have committed iniquity, We have behaved wickedly." | Acknowledgment of following in ancestors' footsteps. |
| Isa 65:6-7 | "...I will surely pay back into their bosom their iniquities and the iniquities of their fathers together..." | God promises to punish both present and past sins. |
| Jer 14:20 | "We acknowledge, O LORD, our wickedness and the iniquity of our fathers, for we have sinned against You." | Corporate confession and shared responsibility. |
| Jer 16:11-12 | "...because your fathers have forsaken Me... and you yourselves have done worse than your fathers..." | Present generation surpassed ancestors' evil. |
| Jer 31:29-30 | "In those days they shall no longer say: 'The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge.' But everyone shall die for his own iniquity..." | Prophecy of individual responsibility, breaking the cycle. |
| Ezek 18:2-4 | "...As I live, declares the Lord GOD, you shall no longer use this proverb... The soul who sins shall die." | Emphasis on individual responsibility. |
| Zech 1:4 | "Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets proclaimed, saying, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, Turn now from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.' But they did not listen or pay attention to Me..." | Warning against repeating ancestral rebellion. |
| Matt 23:35-36 | "...so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth... Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation." | Christ speaks of the cumulative guilt affecting a generation. |
| Rom 5:12 | "...just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—" | Universal impact of ancestral (Adamic) sin. |
| Rom 5:19 | "For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one Man's obedience the many will be made righteous." | Adam's sin affecting all; Christ's obedience undoing it. |
| Gal 3:13 | "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us..." | Redemption from all curses, including generational ones. |
| Heb 12:1 | "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely..." | Encouragement to overcome sin, acknowledging its burden. |
| 1 Pet 1:18 | "...you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers..." | Liberation from inherited vain traditions/ways. |
Lamentations 5 verses
Lamentations 5 7 meaning
Lamentations 5:7 is a profound lament expressing the current generation's perception of suffering due to the past sins of their ancestors. It conveys a deep sense of inherited burden and injustice, where those who committed the offenses are dead, while the present survivors bear the devastating consequences of that historical disobedience, primarily the destruction of Jerusalem and the resulting desolation. It reflects the people's wrestling with the concept of corporate responsibility and the prolonged suffering for past transgressions.
Lamentations 5 7 Context
Lamentations chapter 5 is the final lamentation, differing from the previous four in its form. It is a communal prayer to God, a plea from the suffering remnant of Judah after the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC. Unlike the alphabetic acrostic structure of chapters 1-4, chapter 5 consists of 22 verses, matching the number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet, but without an acrostic arrangement, perhaps symbolizing the complete disarray and breakdown of order. The chapter catalogs a litany of grievances and miseries endured by the people: invasion, enslavement, hunger, orphaned children, violated women, lack of water, humiliation, the elderly suffering, and a complete loss of joy. Verse 7 specifically attempts to grapple with the theological implications of their profound suffering, seeking to understand the justice of their dire circumstances by pointing to ancestral guilt. This verse stands as a raw expression of the people's perceived inheritance of a burden for which they feel directly unresponsible.
Lamentations 5 7 Word analysis
- Our fathers (Hebrew: אֲבוֹתֵינוּ, Avoteynu): Refers to direct male ancestors, specifically past generations of the covenant people of Israel. This term evokes their historical connection to God's law and their collective identity.
- sinned (Hebrew: חָטְאוּ, chat'u): A fundamental biblical term for sin, meaning to "miss the mark" or to go astray from God's path. It encompasses deliberate transgression, rebellion against God's commands, and moral failure. The past tense indicates actions already committed.
- and are no more (Hebrew: וְאֵינָם, ve'einam): This phrase succinctly communicates their death. The ancestors are gone, suggesting they are beyond the reach of earthly justice or the direct experience of the present suffering. This creates a perceived discontinuity between those who transgressed and those who suffer the consequence.
- and we bear (Hebrew: וַאֲנַחְנוּ סָבַלְנוּ, va'anachnu savalnu): The pronoun "we" emphasizes the current generation. The verb savalnu means "to bear a heavy burden," "to carry," or "to suffer." It signifies a painful, imposed endurance, an active and often involuntary suffering. This is not just a passive reception but an active carrying of the weight.
- their iniquities (Hebrew: עֲוֹנֹתֵיהֶם, avonoteyhem): Avon (iniquity) refers to twistedness, perversion, or crookedness of character and actions. It often carries the sense of the guilt or punishment for sin, the internal disposition, and its results, rather than just the act (chat'a). Here, it specifically denotes the cumulative guilt and consequences inherited from the ancestors.
Words-group by words-group analysis
- Our fathers sinned, and are no more: This phrase establishes a painful paradox. The originators of the spiritual offense (chat'u) are absent (einam), having presumably paid some consequence (death) or simply escaped the present consequences endured by the survivors. It highlights the perceived injustice of current suffering for past transgressions committed by others.
- and we bear their iniquities: This part identifies the locus of suffering and its nature. "We" signifies the current, afflicted generation, and "bear" (savalnu) powerfully conveys the immense, heavy, and involuntary burden. "Their iniquities" (avonoteyhem) underscores that the results or guilt of the ancestors' sins are being experienced as present suffering by the survivors, rather than necessarily the active sinning themselves.
Lamentations 5 7 Bonus section
The verse reflects the tension between individual responsibility (emphasized in Jeremiah 31:29-30 and Ezekiel 18) and corporate responsibility prevalent in the Old Testament. While the people are held accountable for their own sins, the ripple effects of national transgressions or leaders' decisions often impact subsequent generations (e.g., God's covenant blessings and curses in Deuteronomy 28). This lament should be understood as an emotional outcry in a time of extreme distress, rather than a full theological exposition of sin and guilt. The new covenant in Christ offers liberation from such generational curses and burdens, as believers are redeemed from "futile ways inherited from your forefathers" (1 Pet 1:18), and justified individually by faith in Christ.
Lamentations 5 7 Commentary
Lamentations 5:7 is a poignant expression of the deep suffering felt by the generation surviving Jerusalem's destruction. They lament that their ancestors' sins led to national calamity, yet those responsible are no longer present to endure the immediate aftermath. This creates a profound sense of inherited corporate suffering. While individual accountability is emphasized elsewhere in Scripture (e.g., Ezekiel 18), Lamentations 5:7 captures the very real experience of collective consequence and the intergenerational impact of disobedience. It's a raw cry acknowledging that historical sins have concrete, devastating effects that cascade through time, bringing ongoing pain and difficulty to those who did not directly commit the original transgression. This lament highlights the profound struggle to reconcile God's justice with the experience of seemingly unearned suffering, presenting a theological tension central to the book.