Lamentations 3:15 (KJV)

What does Lamentations 3:15 mean?

Lamentations 3:15 describes the speaker feeling overwhelmed by suffering and sorrow, using the images of being filled with bitterness and made drunk with wormwood. The verse expresses a deep sense of emotional and spiritual pain, as if the speaker’s life is saturated with hardship.

The speaker is traditionally understood to be Jeremiah, voicing the grief of Jerusalem after its destruction. The verse uses strong, bitter imagery to show how completely suffering has taken over, comparing it to being forced to drink something extremely bitter and unpleasant. This line is part of a larger poem where the speaker details the depth of his anguish and the feeling of being afflicted by God.

The Hebrew behind Lamentations 3:15

• "filled" (שָׂבַע, savaʿ): This word often means to be satisfied or full, but here it is used negatively—the speaker is filled up, not with good things, but with bitterness.
• "bitterness" (מְרוֹרָה, merorah): This term refers to something intensely bitter, both in taste and in emotional experience, highlighting the depth of the speaker’s suffering.
• "drunken" (רָוָה, ravah): This word means to be saturated or made drunk, emphasizing the overwhelming and inescapable nature of the pain.
• "wormwood" (לַעֲנָה, laʿanah): Wormwood is a very bitter plant, often used in the Bible as a symbol for extreme sorrow or calamity, reinforcing the idea of suffering that is hard to endure.

Why Lamentations 3:15 matters

• The verse makes clear that the suffering described is not minor or passing, but total and consuming, using the strongest available language for bitterness.
• By describing the pain as something forced upon the speaker, Lamentations 3:15 shows the feeling of helplessness and lack of control in the face of disaster.
• The verse connects to the wider theme of Lamentations, where the destruction of Jerusalem is mourned not just as a physical loss, but as a deep spiritual crisis that affects every part of life.