The Meaning of Lamentations 3:30 Explained

Lamentations 3:30

KJV: He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him: he is filled full with reproach.

YLT: He giveth to his smiter the cheek, He is filled with reproach.

Darby: he giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him; he is filled full with reproach.

ASV: Let him give his cheek to him that smiteth him; let him be filled full with reproach.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

He giveth  [his] cheek  to him that smiteth  him: he is filled full  with reproach. 

What does Lamentations 3:30 Mean?

Verse Meaning

The afflicted do well to yield to the antagonism of others and to allow others to heap reproach on them, rather than retaliating (cf. Matthew 26:67; Luke 22:64; John 18:22; John 19:3).
"Many take patiently afflictions from God, but when man wrongs them, they take it impatiently. The godly bear resignedly the latter, like the former, as sent by God ( Psalm 17:13)." [1]

Chapter Summary: Lamentations 3

1  The prophet bewails his own calamities
22  By the mercies of God, he nourishes his hope
37  He acknowledges God's justice
55  He prays for deliverance
64  And vengeance on his enemies

What do the individual words in Lamentations 3:30 mean?

Let him give to the one who strikes him [his] cheek [And] be full of reproach -
יִתֵּ֧ן לְמַכֵּ֛הוּ לֶ֖חִי יִשְׂבַּ֥ע בְּחֶרְפָּֽה ס

יִתֵּ֧ן  Let  him  give 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: יָתַן 
Sense: to give, put, set.
לְמַכֵּ֛הוּ  to  the  one  who  strikes  him 
Parse: Preposition-l, Verb, Hifil, Participle, masculine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: נָכָה  
Sense: to strike, smite, hit, beat, slay, kill.
לֶ֖חִי  [his]  cheek 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: לְחִי  
Sense: jaw, cheek.
יִשְׂבַּ֥ע  [And]  be  full 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: שָׂבַע  
Sense: to be satisfied, be sated, be fulfilled, be surfeited.
בְּחֶרְפָּֽה  of  reproach 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, feminine singular
Root: חֶרְפָּה  
Sense: reproach, scorn.
ס  - 
Parse: Punctuation