Lamentations 5:6 Meaning: The Shame of Begging from Enemies
We have given our hands to the Egyptians, and to the Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread.
We have given the hand to the Egyptians, and to the Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread.
We have given the hand to the Egyptians, And to the Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread.
To Egypt we have given a hand, To Asshur, to be satisfied with bread.
We have given the hand to Egypt, [and] to Asshur, to be satisfied with bread.
Meaning in one sentence
Lamentations 5:6 shows Judah's shame as they submit to Egypt and Assyria for bread. 'Given our hand' is a sign of desperate surrender to former enemies.
Context
This verse comes near the end of Lamentations, a book of five poems mourning Jerusalem's destruction. Chapter 5 is a communal prayer: the people cry out to God, listing every loss they have suffered. Their inheritance is gone, their homes taken. They pay for water and wood. They are pursued and exhausted. In the middle of this inventory of grief, verse 6 records a particularly bitter humiliation: they have stretched out their hand to the very nations that once oppressed them, begging for the simplest thing, bread. The chapter will go on to confess that their fathers sinned and that they now bear the weight of those choices. But here, in one raw sentence, they name the cost of survival.
Key Words
Two Hebrew words carry the weight of this line. The verb natan (to give) combined with yad (hand) forms an idiom that appears throughout the Old Testament. In Genesis 24, Abraham's servant puts his hand under his master's thigh to swear an oath. In 2 Kings 10, Jehonadab gives his hand as a pledge of alliance. But here the gesture is turned toward enemies. The hand is not extended in friendship or contract. It is stretched out as a beggar does, or as a sign of surrender, a gesture of complete dependence that would have burned with shame. The word lechem usually means bread, but it stands for food in general, the most basic need. And the infinitive lisbo'a (to be satisfied) carries a note of longing: they are not asking for luxury, just enough to fill their stomachs. The combination paints a picture of a people so hollowed out by famine and exile that they would reach for help from anyone, even those who had once crushed them.
How Christians Read This Verse
Commentators across traditions have heard the same anguish in this verse. Calvin, writing as a Reformed pastor, calls it a disgrace and a reproach, that the chosen people should have to beg bread from the Egyptians and Assyrians who had hated them. Matthew Henry, representing the Puritan stream, sees it as part of a long list of afflictions that the people pour out before God, not hiding their shame. The Cambridge Bible (Anglican) notes that the distance of Assyria from Judah makes the reference surprising, yet it survived even into Persian times as a symbol of the old enemy. All agree: the phrase speaks of a desperation so deep that patriotism and pride are crushed. The only thing left is survival, and even that humiliates them.
A common misunderstanding
Some readers take 'we have given our hand to the Egyptians' as a gesture of friendship or trade. In fact, in the Old Testament, giving the hand to a foreign power nearly always means submission or making a treaty under pressure. The people are not offering help; they are begging for it. The sting of the verse is that they are reduced to asking their former oppressors for bread, a humiliation that underscores the depth of their fall.
Living This Out
Lamentations 5:6 asks you to look at where you turn when you are desperate. Hunger for something, security, approval, relief, can push you toward people or patterns that have hurt you before. Maybe you are tempted to return to an old relationship that drained you, just to feel wanted. Or to make compromises at work that violate your conscience, just to keep food on the table. The verse does not scold you for needing bread. But it names the cost: you may find yourself bowing to what once broke you. This week, let the honesty of this prayer give you permission to bring your shame to God. He already sees it. You do not have to hide your need or the ugly places you have gone to fill it.
Main takeaway: Bowing to former enemies for basic needs is a humiliation that only God fully sees and understands.
For Families
For ages 5, 8
Sometimes the people were so hungry they had to ask their enemies for food. That made them very sad. God saw them and heard their prayer.
For ages 9, 12
The people had to humble themselves and even beg from countries that had hurt them before, just to get bread. This shows how much they had lost. But in Lamentations, they are telling God everything, including their shame, because they know He listens.
Questions People Ask
What does 'given our hand' mean in Lamentations 5:6?
It is an Old Testament idiom that can mean making a treaty, submitting to someone, or begging. In this verse, the context of famine and desperation suggests the people are humbling themselves before Egypt and Assyria, possibly as beggars or as subjects, just to get enough food.
Why does the verse mention both Egypt and Assyria?
Egypt and Assyria were the two great powers that oppressed Israel and Judah throughout their history. By Jeremiah's time, Assyria had been replaced by Babylon, but the name survived in poetry as a symbol of the old enemy. Mentioning both highlights how far the people had fallen, they would turn even to traditional oppressors for help.
Is this verse about literal begging or making a political treaty?
Commentators are divided on whether the gesture is literal begging (extending a hand like a beggar) or political submission (signing a treaty). Either way, the core meaning is the same: the people are in such desperate need that they are willing to humble themselves before former enemies for bread.
How does this verse connect to the rest of Lamentations?
Chapter 5 is a communal lament that lists specific sufferings: lost inheritance, orphans, paying for water, no rest, famine, and disgrace. Verse 6 fits as one example of that disgrace. The whole prayer cries out for God to remember and see their reproach, and verse 6 shows exactly how deep that reproach goes.
What does this teach about God's view of desperation?
The fact that this verse is part of a prayer shows that the people brought even their shameful choices before God. They do not hide that they begged from enemies. This suggests that God welcomes honest lament, He does not turn away from our most humiliating needs, but invites us to bring them to Him.
For pastors & researchers
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