Fear and a snare is come upon us, desolation and destruction.

LAMENTATIONS 3:47KJV
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Lamentations 3:47 (KJV)

What does Lamentations 3:47 mean?

Lamentations 3:47 describes how the people of Jerusalem are overwhelmed by fear, trapped by dangers, and devastated by ruin and destruction. The verse expresses the deep distress and hopelessness felt by those experiencing the aftermath of Jerusalem’s fall.

The speaker is traditionally understood to be the prophet Jeremiah, voicing the collective suffering of the people after the Babylonian conquest. This verse comes in the middle of a long lament, where the community’s hardships are listed plainly: they face constant terror, feel ensnared with no escape, and see their city and lives laid waste.

The Hebrew behind Lamentations 3:47

  • "Fear" (פַּחַד, pachad, H6343) refers to a deep, paralyzing terror. Here, it highlights the psychological torment the people feel, not just physical danger.
  • "Snare" (פַּח, pach, H6354) means a trap or net used for catching animals. In this context, it suggests the people feel caught with no way out, emphasizing their helplessness.
  • "Desolation" (שֹׁד, shod, H7612) often means devastation or ruin. It points to the physical destruction of the city and the loss of normal life.
  • "Destruction" (שֶׁבֶר, shever, H7667) means breaking or collapse. It adds to the sense of total breakdown, both of structures and of hope.

Why Lamentations 3:47 matters

  • This verse makes clear that the suffering is not just physical but also emotional and psychological, showing the full weight of what the people endured.
  • The use of both "snare" and "destruction" emphasizes that the people feel trapped in their misery, unable to escape the consequences of the disaster.
  • Lamentations 3:47 fits into a wider passage where the speaker moves from personal pain to describing the shared experience of the whole community, helping readers see the collective trauma of Jerusalem’s fall.

Where else these words appear

“snare” Hebrew H6354 · used in 8 verses

  • 2 Samuel 17:9 Behold, he is hid now in some pit, or in some other place: and it will come to pass, when some of them be overthrown at the first, that whosoever heareth it will say, There is a slaughter among the people that follow Absalom.
  • Isaiah 24:17 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.
  • Jeremiah 48:28 O ye that dwell in Moab, leave the cities, and dwell in the rock, and be like the dove that maketh her nest in the sides of the hole's mouth.

“destruction” Hebrew H7667 · used in 41 verses

  • Leviticus 21:19 Or a man that is brokenfooted, or brokenhanded,
  • Isaiah 30:26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.
  • Jeremiah 30:12 For thus saith the LORD, Thy bruise is incurable, and thy wound is grievous.

“Fear” Hebrew H6343 · used in 48 verses

  • Genesis 31:42 Except the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely thou hadst sent me away now empty. God hath seen mine affliction and the labour of my hands, and rebuked thee yesternight.
  • Job 3:25 For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.
  • Psalms 105:38 Egypt was glad when they departed: for the fear of them fell upon them.