He hath hedged me about, that I cannot get out: he hath made my chain heavy.

Ghimel. He hath built against me round about, that I may not get out: he hath made my fetters heavy.

He hath fenced me about, that I cannot go forth; he hath made my chain heavy.

He hath hedged me about, and I go not out, He hath made heavy my fetter.

He has put a wall round me, so that I am not able to go out; he has made great the weight of my chain.

He hath hedged me about, that I cannot go forth; He hath made my chain heavy.

He has walled me in, so I can't escape; he has made my chains heavy.

GHIMEL. He has built against me all around, so that I may not depart. He has increased the burden of my confinement.

Sepsit me, ut non egrediar; aggravavit compedem meum.

Here he says, first, that he was held shut up; for gdr, gidar, is to enclose, and gdrh, gidare, means a fence or a mound, or an enclosure of any kind. He then says, that he was shut up as it were by a fence, so that he could not go forth; literally, it is, and I shall not go forth; but the conjunction here is to be taken as denoting the end. He has shut me up, he says, or he has enclosed me, that I might not get out. It then follows, He hath made heavy my fetter. His meaning is, that he was not only bound with fetters, but so bound that he could not raise up his feet, as though he had said, that he not only had fetters, but that they were so heavy that he could not even move his feet.

The prophet feels as if enclosed within walls, and fettered.

He hath hedged me about - This also may refer to the lines drawn round the city during the siege. But these and similar expressions in the following verses may be merely metaphorical, to point out their straitened, oppressed, and distressed state.

He hath hedged me about, that I cannot go out,.... When in prison, or in the dungeon, or during the siege of Jerusalem; though the phrase may only denote in general the greatness of his troubles, with which he was encompassed, and how inextricable they were; like a hedge about a vineyard, or a wall about a city, which could not easily be got over:
he hath made my chain heavy; his affliction intolerable. It is a metaphor taken from malefactors that have heavy chains put upon their legs, that they may not make their escape out of prison: or, "my brass" (g); that is, chains, or a chain made of brass; so the Targum,
"he hath made heavy upon my feet fetters of brass.''
(g) Sept. "aes meum, vel chalybem meum", Piscator.

hedged-- (Job 3:23; Hosea 2:6).
chain--literally, "chain of brass."

God has hedged him round like a prisoner, cut off all communication from without, so that he cannot escape, and He has loaded him with heavy chains. This figure is based on Job 19:8 and Hosea 2:8. גּדר בּעדי, "He hath made an hedge round me," does not suggest prison walls, but merely seclusion within a confined space, where he is deprived of free exit. "I cannot go out," as in Psalm 88:9. The seclusion is increased by fetters which are placed on the prisoner. נחשׁת, "brass," for fetters, as in German and English, "irons," for iron chains.