Lamentations 3:46 Commentary: Enemies' Mockery and God's Response

Lamentations was written in the wake of Jerusalem’s destruction by Babylon in 586 BC. The city lay in ruins, the temple burned, and the people were killed or led into exile. The surrounding nations, Edom, Moab, Ammon, Philistia, had long resented Judah and now openly rejoiced at its fall. Mockery of a defeated enemy was a standard practice in ancient Near Eastern warfare. Victors would taunt the conquered, insult their gods, and laugh at their suffering. This public shaming intensified the trauma of loss. The verse uses the Hebrew verb pa.tsah (Qal perfect), “they have opened,” conveying a completed action: the enemies already given full vent to their scorn. The phrase “opened their mouth” echoes Lamentations 2:16, where enemies “hiss and gnash the teeth.” In this alphabetic acrostic (the letter Pe, as Cambridge notes), the poet deliberately places the enemy’s taunt at a structural turning point, after the confession of sin (v42) and before a renewed weeping (v48). The cultural shame of being a “byword” (Psalm 44:14) was crushing, and the book gives voice to that very pain.

The consulted sources note no significant textual variants for Lamentations 3:46. The Masoretic Text is consistent across manuscripts. The minor difference between “opened their mouth wide” (WEB, ASV) and “opened their mouths” (KJV, BSB) reflects English translation choices rather than a Hebrew variant; the Hebrew has singular peh with plural suffix, which can be rendered either way.

In Jewish tradition, the Targum on Lamentations expands this verse to say the enemies “open their mouths to decree evil decrees against us” (as cited by Gill). This reflects a reading that sees the mockery not as empty noise but as actively shaping oppressive policies. Christian commentators have often connected this verse to the sufferings of Christ, noting the parallel with Psalm 22:8 where mockers say “He trusts in Yahweh; let Him deliver him.” Matthew Henry, in his early eighteenth-century commentary, used the passage to teach that even praying people may struggle with dark thoughts when God hides His face. The verse has been included in liturgies for times of national tragedy, giving congregations words to voice the shame of public defeat without pretending it does not hurt.

Three-point outline

1. The reality of enemy mockery. In times of judgment or deep suffering, mockery from outsiders becomes an added wound. The enemies “open their mouth wide”, a gesture of total contempt. This is not imagined; it is real and painful.
2. God’s apparent hiddenness. The preceding verses (42, 45) describe God covering Himself with anger and a cloud, so prayer seems to bounce back. The mockery seems to go unanswered. The people cry out but hear only silence.
3. The response of honest lament. The poet does not stop with the enemy’s taunt. He weeps without ceasing (v48) and waits for Yahweh to look down (v50). Lament is not faithlessness; it is faith that refuses to stay quiet.

Five-point outline

1. Sin and judgment (v42): The people confess they have transgressed and rebelled.
2. God’s wrath and hiddenness (vv43, 45): God covers with anger, kills without pity, and blocks prayer.
3. The enemy’s open mouth (v46): Mockery from all sides drives shame deeper into already broken hearts.
4. Fear and destruction (v47): “Terror and the pit” summarize the experience.
5. Relentless lament (vv48, 50): The weeping continues until Yahweh looks down from heaven. Hope is not dead; it is waiting.

Illustration hooks

• A teenager is ridiculed at school for their faith after a personal failure, classmates mock, and God seems far away. The verse names that exact feeling.
• A person loses their job and hears whispers from relatives: “If they had trusted God more, this wouldn’t have happened.” The enemy’s “open mouth” still speaks through religious accusation.
• A church goes through a split or scandal, and outsiders use it to sneer at Christianity. The community feels both the failure and the public scorn.

Questions your congregation is asking

• “Why does God let our enemies mock us when we are already suffering?”
• “Is it a sin to complain to God about the way people treat us?”
• “How do I handle shame that comes from others’ taunts without becoming bitter?”

This verse sits at the heart of a painful section of Lamentations. The people have confessed their sin, but God still seems hidden. Meanwhile, enemies add insult to injury. As a group, work through what this passage teaches about honest prayer in the middle of public shame.

Discussion questions

1. What does the image “opened their mouth wide” suggest about the attitude of the enemies? How does that connect to the surrounding verses (42, 45)?
2. In the Hebrew, the verb “have opened” is a Qal perfect, a completed action. What does that imply about the timing of the mockery within the poem?
3. Why do you think the poet places the enemy’s taunt immediately after describing God as covered in a cloud (v44)? What emotional logic is at work?
4. Compare this verse to Psalm 44:13, 14 and Psalm 79:4. How do other biblical laments handle the same experience of being mocked?
5. The people have already admitted their sin (v42). Why does confession not automatically bring relief from the enemy’s scorn? What does that teach about the timing of restoration?
6. How does the poet respond to the mockery in verses 48, 50? What specific action does he take while waiting for God to “look down”?
7. In your own life, when have you felt both God’s silence and the ridicule of others? What helps you keep crying out to God rather than giving up?