What Does Lamentations 3:55 Mean in the King James?
I called upon thy name, O LORD, out of the low dungeon.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
From the lowest place, the speaker calls on the LORD’s name as the LORD’s nature, so the cry addresses who the LORD is.
THE MEANING
The name the speaker calls is the LORD’s nature, the character by which the LORD is known. The cry comes from the lowest place itself, so depth and address coexist in the present. The verse leaves the distress visible while keeping the LORD directly addressed.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that the lowest place makes address impossible dissolves here: the call begins inside the dungeon.
THE ROOT
שִׁמְךָ
shimkha
GROWS FROM
שֵׁם
shem
Name; reputation; the nature by which someone is known.
Here, the name is the LORD’s nature as it is known and encountered, not a detached label. Calling the LORD’s name from the dungeon is addressing who the LORD is from within the depth.
ALSO GROWS
shemo: His name.
שְׁמוֹ
This possessive form shows the name belongs to the one being addressed.
shemot: Names.
שֵׁמוֹת
The plural keeps the same word-family visible while the verse focuses on the LORD’s singular nature.
קָרָאתִי
qara'ti
GROWS FROM
קרא
qara
To call, summon, or proclaim aloud.
“called” in this verse is qara'ti. The root qara joins calling aloud with proclamation and reading. This is voiced address rising from the pit, a call made audible from within the depth.
ALSO GROWS
miqra: A convocation or public reading.
מִקְרָא
What is called aloud can gather others or make a message heard.
qeri'ah: A calling or reading aloud.
קְרִיאָה
This noun preserves the same movement from voice to audible address.
תַּחְתִּיּוֹת
taḥtiyyot
GROWS FROM
תחת
taḥat
Under, beneath, or in the place below.
“low” in this verse is taḥtiyyot. The word places the speaker in the lower places, beneath the surface of safety. The text keeps the depth concrete while the voice rises from inside it.
ALSO GROWS
taḥat: Under, beneath; also in place of.
תַּחַת
The same root can mark what lies below or what takes another’s place.
taḥton: Lower or beneath.
תַּחְתּוֹן
This form carries the same downward position named in the verse.
THE PATTERN
A cry to the LORD can rise from inside distress and enter the language of hearing or deliverance.
In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.THE THREAD
And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.Joel joins the same Hebrew ideas found here: calling (קרא, qara) and the LORD’s name (שֵׁם, shem). Lamentations locates that call in the low pit; Joel joins calling the name with deliverance, letting the cry open toward what follows.
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