H6836 H6836
watchtower, outlook-post; act of watching
This noun appears only in Lamentations describing Judah's futile watching for help during Jerusalem's siege. The term likely derives from roots meaning 'to watch' or 'look out,' suggesting either a physical watchtower or the act of watching itself. The phrase 'in our watching we watched' uses this noun alongside its verbal form, creating emphasis through repetition—they kept watching and watching, but no rescuer came. The hoped-for military ally never materialized.
Senses
1. sense 1 — Denotes a place of watching or the activity of keeping watch, used in Lamentations 4:17 to describe Jerusalem's desperate vigil for military help. The context suggests either a watchtower from which they observed or the extended period of watchful waiting that proved futile when their expected ally failed to arrive. 1×
AR["فِي-انْتِظَارِنَا"]·ben["আমাদের-অপেক্ষায়"]·DE["[בצפיתנו]"]·EN["in-our-watching"]·FR["[בצפיתנו]"]·heb["ב-צפייתנו"]·HI["हमारी-बाट-जोहते-हुए"]·ID["dalam-pengawasan-kami"]·IT["[בצפיתנו]"]·jav["ing-pangantos-antos-kita"]·KO["우리-기다림-에서"]·PT["em-nossa-expectativa"]·RU["в-ожидании-нашем"]·ES["en-nuestra-vigilia"]·SW["Katika-kungojea-kwetu"]·TR["gözlemlemizde"]·urd["ہمارے-انتظار-میں"]
Related Senses
H4421 1. war, battle, armed conflict (319×)H0341 1. enemy, adversary, foe (284×)H3898a 1. Nifal: to fight, wage war (167×)H2026 1. kill, slay (active) (146×)H2451 1. wisdom, discernment (146×)H5483b 1. horse (the animal) (138×)H0006 1. to perish, be destroyed (105×)H7843 1. Hifil: destroy, annihilate (83×)H2491a 1. slain, fatally pierced (74×)H6862c 1. adversary, enemy, foe (69×)H8045 1. destroy, exterminate (69×)G0615 1. kill, put to death (60×)H6571b 1. horseman, cavalryman (52×)H8077a 1. desolation, waste (abstract state) (52×)G4678 1. of wisdom (51×)G4717 1. crucify, fasten to a cross (46×)H2763a 1. utterly destroy (Hifil active) (44×)G0622 1. perish, be destroyed (intransitive) (41×)H0006 2. to destroy, annihilate (Piel) (38×)H8074 1. be desolate, lie waste (36×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† [צִפִּיָּה] n.f. outlook-post(?);—sf. בְּצִפִּיָּתֵנוּ צִפִּינוּ La 4:17 (BaNB 139; Bi [for both] בְּצַפּוֹתֵנוּ).