Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Lamentations 3:56 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 56. 56Thou hast heard my voice: hide not thine ear at my breathing, at my cry.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse says God heard the voice and pleads that the divine ear not hide from breath and cry.
The name is called from the lowest pit
This verse is one part of that explanation in Lamentations 3:55-60. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.
Read It With
- Lamentations 3:55-60
Read Lamentations 3:56 with 3:55-60. This verse says God heard the voice and pleads that the divine ear not hide from breath and cry. The complete unit establishes this movement: From the lowest pit the speaker calls on the LORD, remembers or requests divine hearing and nearness, recalls his cause being pleaded and life redeemed, and asks God to judge the wrong and vengeance already seen.
Why This Verse Appears Here
The drowning image turns into addressed prayer and a legal appeal, giving fragile evidence of nearness without ending the enemy conflict. Within that movement, this verse says God heard the voice and pleads that the divine ear not hide from breath and cry.
Follow the Context
- The speaker calls the LORD's name from the lowest pit.
- Hearing, breath, cry, nearness, and 'fear not' are remembered or requested.
- The Lord is addressed as advocate and redeemer of life.
- Seen wrong, vengeance, and schemes become grounds for divine judgment.
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“Thou hast heard my voice”
In plain language: This verse says God heard the voice and pleads that the divine ear not hide from breath and cry.
Remembered hearing and urgent request may overlap in lament.
Why it matters: The wording carries textual, theological, ethical, or pastoral risk requiring its complete unit and stated limits.
How certain? probableWhat This Verse Is Not Saying
This verse does not guarantee immediate rescue or tell a person that faint prayer removes the need for human help.
What Remains True
Remembered hearing and urgent request may overlap in lament.
How It Can Shape Life
- Avoid turning one remembered answer into a universal guarantee.
Teach It Back
Explain how Lamentations 3:56 contributes to Lamentations 3:55-60. Include the surrounding alphabet stanza, the stated uncertainty, and what this verse does not authorize.
Your explanation stays in this browser. It is not sent or saved.
Continue in Context
Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.
Read Lamentations 3:55-60 — Calling from the Pit and Pleading for JusticeSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
Hebrew forms can be read as remembered hearing or prayer-like request.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed Scripture, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and canonical verse coverage.
Exact location: Lamentations 3:55-60, repository-pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Lamentations
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, alphabet sequence, person and number, repeated vocabulary, and translation questions.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Lam.xml, OSIS Lam.3.55-Lam.3.60
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Lamentations with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-level Hebrew, syntax, textual, acrostic, literary, historical, and translation notes.
Exact location: NET Bible Lamentations PDF, printed pp. 1565-1571, translation and notes on 3:55-60
Open source ↗