The Lord's Wrath and Zion's Destruction
Lamentations 2:1-22
Lam.2.1 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- איכה: INTJ
- יעיב: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- באפו: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs+pr:3,m
- אדני: NOUN,m,sg,abs,1,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- בת: NOUN,f,sg,cs
- ציון: NOUN,prop,f,sg,abs
- השליך: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- משמים: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- ארץ: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- תפארת: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ישראל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ולא: CONJ
- זכר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- הדם: NOUN,m,sg,abs,def
- רגליו: NOUN,m,pl,abs,suff:3,m
- ביום: PREP
- אפו: NOUN,m,sg,abs,suff3ms
Parallels
- Ezekiel 10:18-19 (structural): The glory of the LORD departs from the temple—an image of God removing his presence from Zion that parallels Lamentations’ language of casting down and abandoning the footstool.
- Ezekiel 11:23 (structural): God’s glory goes up from the city and stands on a mount—another depiction of the withdrawal of divine presence that echoes ‘not remembered his footstool.’
- 2 Chronicles 36:17-19 (thematic): Narrative of Jerusalem’s destruction and the burning of the house of God by the Chaldeans; provides the historical-theological context for Lamentations’ claim that the calamity is the LORD’s wrath.
- Psalm 74:1-3 (thematic): A communal lament over God’s apparent abandonment and the desolation of his sanctuary—shares the mood and themes of divine anger, forgetting, and Zion’s ruin.
- Isaiah 63:9-11 (thematic): Speaks of suffering under God’s anger and the withdrawal of his saving presence because of Israel’s rebellion—echoes the motif of divine wrath and loss of divine protection in Lamentations 2:1.
Alternative generated candidates
- How the Lord has covered with anger the daughter of Zion! He has cast down from heaven to earth the majesty of Israel; he has not remembered his footstool on the day of his anger.
- How the LORD has covered Daughter Zion with a cloud of his anger; he has cast down from heaven to earth the splendor of Israel, and did not remember his footstool in the day of his wrath.
Lam.2.2 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- בלע: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אדני: NOUN,m,sg,abs,1,sg
- ולא: CONJ
- חמל: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- כל: DET
- נאות: ADJ,m,sg,abs
- יעקב: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- הרס: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בעברתו: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs,3,m
- מבצרי: NOUN,m,pl,cstr
- בת: NOUN,f,sg,cs
- יהודה: NOUN,m,sg,prop
- הגיע: VERB,qal,perf,3,ms
- לארץ: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- חלל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ממלכה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ושריה: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Deuteronomy 32:22 (verbal): Both speak of a fire kindled by God's anger that consumes to the foundations—language of wrath as a devouring fire (parallel imagery and wording).
- Nahum 1:6-8 (verbal): Describes the irresistible, poured-out fury of God and the consuming power of his anger—close verbal and thematic resonance with 'poured out his fierce anger' and 'kindled a fire.'
- Isaiah 1:7 (thematic): Images of country and cities laid waste and palaces burned mirror Lamentations’ depiction of Judah’s ruined strongholds and desolated palaces under divine judgment.
- Psalm 74:3-8 (thematic): A communal lament over enemies invading and destroying God's sanctuary and palaces, echoing the theme of Jerusalem’s desolation and the ruin of its strongholds and princes.
Alternative generated candidates
- The Lord has swallowed up and has not spared; he has destroyed all the pastures of Jacob; in his wrath he has ruined the strongholds of the daughter of Judah; he has brought down to disgrace the kingdom and its princes.
- The LORD has swallowed without pity all the habitations of Jacob; in his burning rage he has destroyed the strongholds of the daughter of Judah; he has brought her down to the ground; her king and her princes are exiled.
Lam.2.3 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- גדע: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- בחרי: PREP
- אף: ADV
- כל: DET
- קרן: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ישראל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- השיב: VERB,hiphil,perf,3,m,sg
- אחור: ADV
- ימינו: NOUN,m,sg,suff-3ms
- מפני: PREP
- אויב: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ויבער: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- ביעקב: PREP+NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- כאש: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- להבה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- אכלה: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- סביב: ADV
Parallels
- Nahum 1:6-7 (verbal): Portrays the Lord’s fury as a consuming fire—his indignation poured out like fire—echoing Lamentations’ image of God burning against Jacob like a blazing flame.
- Psalm 78:49 (verbal): Speaks of God casting the fierceness of his anger and destructive judgments upon the people; parallels the depiction of divine wrath laid upon Israel.
- Deuteronomy 28:20-22 (thematic): Covenantal curses include the Lord sending consuming disease and allowing enemies to prevail—thematically parallels withdrawal of divine favor and destructive judgment in Lamentations 2:3.
- Ezekiel 7:8-9 (thematic): Announces that God will pour out his fury and accomplish his anger on the land—similar prophetic language of imminent, consuming divine judgment.
- Psalm 44:11-12 (thematic): Describes God giving the people over to the sword and to reproach—reflects the theme of God withdrawing his right hand and Israel’s strength (horn) being cut off.
Alternative generated candidates
- He cut off in fierce anger all the horn of Israel; he withdrew his right hand before the enemy; he kindled a fire in Jacob that consumed around his palaces.
- He cut off in fierce anger every horn of Israel; he drew back his right hand before the enemy. He burned against Jacob like a flaming fire that devoured round about.
Lam.2.4 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- דרך: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- קשתו: NOUN,f,sg,abs+3ms
- כאויב: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- נצב: VERB,qal,ptc,3,m,sg
- ימינו: NOUN,m,sg,suff-3ms
- כצר: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ויהרג: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- כל: DET
- מחמדי: NOUN,m,pl,abs+1cs
- עין: NOUN,f,sg,cons
- באהל: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בת: NOUN,f,sg,cs
- ציון: NOUN,prop,f,sg,abs
- שפך: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- כאש: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- חמתו: NOUN,f,sg,abs+pr,3,m
Parallels
- Psalm 7:12-13 (verbal): Uses the same image of God bending his bow as an instrument of judgment (“If he does not turn back, he will sharpen his sword; he has bent his bow, prepared it, and made it ready”), paralleling Lamentations’ depiction of God as an archer/enemy.
- Nahum 1:6 (verbal): Speaks of God’s wrath poured out like fire (“Who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure the heat of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire”), echoing Lamentations’ language of wrath poured out like fire.
- 2 Kings 25:9-11 (structural): Historical narrative of the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem and the burning of the temple and palaces—events Lamentations describes theologically as God standing as enemy and slaying the cherished in Zion.
- Deuteronomy 32:39-41 (thematic): God’s declaration of divine vengeance (“I am he who kills and brings to life... I will sharpen my flashing sword; I will lift up my hand to the nations”) thematically parallels Lamentations’ portrayal of God as hostile warrior executing judgment with hand and weapon imagery.
Alternative generated candidates
- He set his bow like an enemy; his right hand stood as foe; he killed all the precious ones of the eye in the tent of the daughter of Zion; he poured out his fury like fire.
- He bent his bow like an enemy; his right hand stood as a foe. He slaughtered all the precious ones of the eye in the tent of the daughter of Zion; he poured out his wrath like fire.
Lam.2.5 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- היה: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- אדני: NOUN,m,sg,abs,1,sg
- כאויב: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בלע: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ישראל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בלע: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- כל: DET
- ארמנותיה: NOUN,f,pl,abs+PRON,3,f,sg
- שחת: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- מבצריו: NOUN,m,pl,poss3ms
- וירב: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- בבת: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,cons
- יהודה: NOUN,m,sg,prop
- תאניה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ואניה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
Parallels
- Isaiah 63:10 (verbal): Uses the same idea and language of God ‘becoming an enemy’ because of Israel’s sin; closely parallels Lamentations’ portrayal of the Lord as hostile toward his people.
- Habakkuk 1:6-7 (thematic): Describes God raising up the Chaldeans/Babylonians as an instrument of judgment—connects to Lamentations’ depiction of calamity as divine action, where an enemy devastates Israel.
- Psalm 74:3-7 (verbal): Speaks of enemies trampling and destroying the sanctuary, breaking carved work and setting signs—parallels Lamentations’ imagery of palaces and strongholds swallowed and destroyed.
- Jeremiah 52:12-13 (structural): Narrates the historical burning of the house of the LORD and destruction of Jerusalem’s defenses by Babylon—historical correlate to Lamentations’ lament over swallowed palaces and ruined strongholds.
- 2 Kings 25:8-10 (thematic): Describes the capture and razing of Jerusalem and the deportation of people by the Babylonians—the concrete historical event behind Lamentations’ depiction of devastation by an overwhelming enemy.
Alternative generated candidates
- The Lord became like an enemy; he swallowed up Israel, he swallowed up all her palaces; he destroyed his strongholds and multiplied mourning and lamentation in the daughter of Judah.
- The LORD became like an enemy—he swallowed up Israel, he swallowed up all her palaces; he ruined his strongholds and made mourning and lamentation increase in the daughter of Judah.
Lam.2.6 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויחמס: CONJ+VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- כגן: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- שכו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- שחת: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- מועדו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+SUFF,3,m,sg
- שכח: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- בציון: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- מועד: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ושבת: VERB,qal,perf,2,m,sg
- וינאץ: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- בזעם: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אפו: NOUN,m,sg,abs,suff3ms
- מלך: NOUN,m,sg,cons
- וכהן: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Psalm 74:3-8 (thematic): Describes the enemy trampling and defiling God's sanctuary and the seeming absence of God’s protection—parallels Lamentations’ theme of the sanctuary despoiled and God’s dwelling violated.
- Psalm 78:60-61 (verbal): Speaks of God abandoning the tent/house he had set among men (Shiloh), echoing Lamentations’ language of God having 'forgotten his dwelling' in Zion.
- Ezekiel 10:18-19 (structural): The glory of the LORD departs from the temple—a prophetic/ritual portrayal of divine withdrawal that parallels Lamentations’ sense of God’s dwelling removed and the sanctuary forsaken.
- 2 Kings 25:9-11 (thematic): Report of Jerusalem and the temple burned and of the king and priests taken/exposed in the siege—historical fulfillment paralleling Lamentations’ depiction of the city's and cultic leadership’s ruin.
- Isaiah 63:10-11 (allusion): Speaks of the people provoking God so that he turns away in anger and becomes an enemy, yet memory of earlier guidance remains—echoes Lamentations’ emphasis on divine wrath, abandonment, and the loss of kingly/priestly protection.
Alternative generated candidates
- He has made desolate his appointed place like a garden; the Lord has forgotten his appointed time in Zion and has abandoned the feast; in the insolence of his anger he has rejected the king and the priest.
- He kindled his wrath like a garden fire and destroyed his appointed place. The LORD forgot his appointed feasts in Zion; in the heat of his anger he rejected king and priest.
Lam.2.7 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- זנח: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- אדני: NOUN,m,sg,abs,1,sg
- מזבחו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+3ms
- נאר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- מקדשו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,sg
- הסגיר: VERB,hiph,perf,3,m,sg
- ביד: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- אויב: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- חומת: NOUN,f,sg,cons
- ארמנותיה: NOUN,f,pl,abs+PRON,3,f,sg
- קול: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- נתנו: VERB,qal,perf,3,pl
- בבית: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,def
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- כיום: ADV
- מועד: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Ezekiel 10:18-19 (thematic): The glory of the LORD departs from the temple—parallels Lamentations' image of the Lord abandoning his altar and sanctuary.
- Psalm 78:60 (verbal): Speaks of God abandoning the tabernacle and delivering its stronghold into captivity; language echoes Lamentations' 'rejected his altar' and 'delivered ... into the hand of the enemy.'
- Psalm 74:3-8 (thematic): Describes enemies roaring in and defiling the meeting place and the resulting outcry in God's house—parallels the profaning of the sanctuary and the cry in the house of the LORD.
- 2 Kings 25:9 (structural): Narrative of the Babylonian destruction—burning of the temple, burning of the palaces and strongholds—historical parallel to walls/palaces delivered to the enemy and the sanctuary forsaken.
Alternative generated candidates
- The Lord has cast off his altar, despised his sanctuary; he has given the walls of her palaces into the hand of the enemy; their voice in the house of the Lord is like the sound on a day of festival.
- The LORD cast off his altar, abandoned his sanctuary; he handed the wall of her palaces into the hand of the enemy. Their voice is heard in the house of the LORD like on a feast day.
Lam.2.8 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- חשב: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- להשחית: VERB,hif,inf
- חומת: NOUN,f,sg,cons
- בת: NOUN,f,sg,cs
- ציון: NOUN,prop,f,sg,abs
- נטה: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- קו: INTJ
- לא: PART_NEG
- השיב: VERB,hiphil,perf,3,m,sg
- ידו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,sg
- מבלע: PREP+VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- ויאבל: CONJ+VERB,qal,imprf,3,m,sg
- חל: ADJ,m,sg
- וחומה: CONJ+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- יחדו: ADV
- אמללו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
Parallels
- 2 Chronicles 36:19 (structural): Describes the Babylonian destruction that broke down Jerusalem’s walls and burned the temple—historical parallel to Lamentations’ depiction of Yahweh’s act in bringing down Zion’s defenses.
- Jeremiah 52:12-13 (structural): Gives the eyewitness account of Nebuzaradan burning the house of the LORD and the king’s house and destroying Jerusalem—direct historical correlate to the ruin of Zion’s walls in Lamentations.
- Psalm 74:6-7 (verbal): Speaks of enemies casting down bulwarks and profaning/destroying the sanctuary; the imagery of broken defenses and a violated holy place echoes Lamentations’ lament over the ruined wall of Zion.
- Isaiah 64:10 (thematic): Portrays Zion as a wilderness and Jerusalem as a desolation—the same theme of the city’s devastation and desolation that lies behind the mourning imagery of Lamentations 2:8.
Alternative generated candidates
- The Lord planned to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion; he stretched out a measuring line, he would not withdraw his hand from swallowing up; therefore the rampart and the wall languished together.
- The LORD determined to lay waste the wall of the daughter of Zion; he stretched out a measuring line and did not withdraw his hand; he brought down rampart and wall together; they lamented as they fell.
Lam.2.9 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- טבעו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- בארץ: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,def
- שעריה: NOUN,m,pl,suff
- אבד: VERB,qal,infabs
- ושבר: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בריחיה: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs,poss3,f,sg
- מלכה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ושריה: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בגוים: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- אין: PART,neg
- תורה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- גם: ADV
- נביאיה: NOUN,m,pl,suff
- לא: PART_NEG
- מצאו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- חזון: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- מיהוה: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Jeremiah 23:16 (thematic): Condemns prophets who speak false visions and warns that true revelation from the LORD is absent—parallels Lamentations’ claim that the prophets find no vision from Yahweh.
- Amos 8:11 (thematic): Predicts a ‘famine’ of hearing the words of the LORD—echoes Lamentations’ depiction of a collapse in access to law and prophetic word.
- 2 Kings 25:21 (structural): Describes the removal and custody of the king’s sons and princes in Babylon after Jerusalem’s fall—parallels Lamentations’ note that the king and princes are among the nations.
- Hosea 4:6 (thematic): ‘My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge’ (Torah/teaching) — resonates with Lamentations’ claim that the law is no more.
Alternative generated candidates
- Her gates sank into the ground; her bars were broken; her king and her princes have gone among the nations—there is no law, even her prophets find no vision from the Lord.
- Her gates sank into the ground; he destroyed and broke her bars; her king and her princes are among the nations. The law is no longer — even her prophets found no vision from the LORD.
Lam.2.10 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ישבו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- לארץ: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ידמו: VERB,qal,imprf,3,m,pl
- זקני: NOUN,m,pl,cons
- בת: NOUN,f,sg,cs
- ציון: NOUN,prop,f,sg,abs
- העלו: VERB,hifil,perf,3,pl
- עפר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- על: PREP
- ראשם: NOUN,m,sg,abs,3,pl
- חגרו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,sg
- שקים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- הורידו: VERB,hiph,impv,2,pl
- לארץ: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ראשן: NOUN,m,pl,suff3mp
- בתולת: NOUN,f,sg,cons
- ירושלם: NOUN,f,sg,abs
Parallels
- Jonah 3:5-6 (verbal): Nineveh's people 'proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least' — a close verbal and ritual parallel to the wearing of sackcloth as public mourning/penitence in Lamentations.
- Esther 4:1-3 (thematic): Mordecai 'ripped his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the city' — a public display of grief and humiliation (sackcloth/ashes) like the elders and virgins of Zion.
- Job 2:11-13 (thematic): Job's friends 'sat with him on the ground' for seven days and nights without speaking — a communal posture of sitting on the ground in shared mourning similar to the elders of Zion sitting on the earth.
- Daniel 9:3 (verbal): Daniel turned to the Lord 'with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes' — the same triad of mourning practices (sackcloth/ashes/fasting) reflected in Lamentations' depiction of national lament.
- Genesis 37:34-35 (verbal): Jacob 'tore his garments, put sackcloth on his loins, and mourned for his son many days' — an earlier instance of wearing sackcloth and prolonged lamentation comparable to the mourners of Jerusalem.
Alternative generated candidates
- The elders of the daughter of Zion sit upon the ground; they have cast off their garments and put on sackcloth; the virgins of Jerusalem have bowed their heads to the ground.
- Zion’s elders sit on the ground in silence; they have sprinkled dust on their heads, they have girded themselves with sackcloth; the virgins of Jerusalem have bowed their heads to the ground.
Lam.2.11 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- כלו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- בדמעות: PREP+NOUN,f,pl,abs
- עיני: NOUN,f,pl,cons+1s
- חמרמרו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- מעי: NOUN,m,sg,abs,1cs
- נשפך: VERB,niphal,perf,3,m,sg
- לארץ: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- כבדי: NOUN,m,sg,abs,poss1s
- על: PREP
- שבר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בת: NOUN,f,sg,cs
- עמי: NOUN,m,sg,abs+1s
- בעטף: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- עולל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ויונק: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ברחבות: PREP+NOUN,f,pl,abs
- קריה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
Parallels
- Jeremiah 9:1 (thematic): Same prophetically framed lament over overwhelming sorrow and tears for the ruined people; expresses desire for abundant tears and intense mourning for Jerusalem's devastation.
- Lamentations 1:16 (verbal): In the same book—very similar language and imagery of eyes running with water and deep personal grief over the city's suffering and the plight of its children.
- Psalm 31:9 (verbal): Uses parallel bodily language ('my eye is consumed with grief; yea, my soul and my belly') to describe interior anguish and weeping comparable to Lamentations' poured‑out inward parts.
- Psalm 6:6 (thematic): Emphasizes prolonged weeping and tearful lamentation ('I water my couch with my tears'), resonating with the exhausted, continual mourning depicted in Lam. 2:11.
- Psalm 137:1–4 (thematic): Exilic weeping for Zion—sitting by the rivers and weeping when remembering Jerusalem—parallels the public, communal sorrow and the image of a desolate city with suffering children.
Alternative generated candidates
- My eyes flow with rivers of water without ceasing, without respite; my inward parts boil; my heart is poured out on the ground because of the destruction of the daughter of my people, for little ones and infants faint in the streets of the city.
- My eyes flow with rivers of tears for the destruction of the daughter of my people; my eyes overflow, my inward parts are poured out on the ground because the young children and infants faint in the streets of the city.
Lam.2.12 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- לאמתם: PREP+NOUN,f,pl,abs+3,m,pl
- יאמרו: VERB,qal,imprf,3,m,pl
- איה: ADV,interr
- דגן: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ויין: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בהתעטפם: PREP+VERB,hitp,ptc,3,m,pl
- כחלל: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ברחבות: PREP+NOUN,f,pl,abs
- עיר: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- בהשתפך: PREP+VERB,hitp,perf,3,f,sg
- נפשם: NOUN,f,sg,abs+3,m,pl
- אל: NEG
- חיק: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אמתם: NOUN,f,sg,abs+SUFF,3,pl
Parallels
- Lam.4:4-5 (verbal): Same book uses related famine imagery—nursing infants’ tongues cleaving for thirst and children dying of hunger, echoing the picture of souls poured out into mothers’ bosoms and lack of grain/wine.
- 2 Kings 6:25-29 (thematic): Description of a siege-famine in Samaria with extreme scarcity and mothers/children driven to horror—parallels the city-street corpses and longing for grain and wine.
- Deuteronomy 28:53-57 (allusion): Covenantal curse for siege and famine—images of desperate mothers, lack of food, and eating within the family echo Lamentations’ depiction of starvation and death.
- Joel 1:17-20 (thematic): Prophetic lament over ruined crops and livestock, with human misery and fainting children—theme of agricultural collapse and communal suffering mirrors Lamentations’ scene.
Alternative generated candidates
- They cry to their mothers, “Where is grain and wine?” as they swoon like the wounded in the streets of the city, as their life pours out into the bosom of their mothers.
- They say to their mothers, “Where is grain and wine?” as they gasp like the wounded in the streets of the city, as their life is poured out into the bosom of their mothers.
Lam.2.13 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- מה: PRON,int
- אעידך: VERB,qal,impf,1,?,sg
- מה: PRON,int
- אדמה: NOUN,prop,f,sg
- לך: PRON,2,m,sg
- הבת: NOUN,f,sg,def
- ירושלם: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- מה: PRON,int
- אשוה: VERB,qal,impf,1,?,sg
- לך: PRON,2,m,sg
- ואנחמך: CONJ+VERB,qal,impf,1,?,sg
- בתולת: NOUN,f,sg,cons
- בת: NOUN,f,sg,cs
- ציון: NOUN,prop,f,sg,abs
- כי: CONJ
- גדול: ADJ,m,sg,abs
- כים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- שברך: NOUN,m,sg,abs,suff,2,f,sg
- מי: PRON,interr,sg
- ירפא: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- לך: PRON,2,m,sg
Parallels
- Jeremiah 8:22 (verbal): Uses medicinal imagery—'Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician?'—and asks who can heal the people, closely echoing Lamentations' 'who can heal you?'.
- Jeremiah 30:12-13 (thematic): Speaks of an incurable wound and the absence of healing ('Your hurt is incurable'), paralleling Lamentations' image of a vast ruin ('great as the sea is your wound') and the question of remedy.
- Lamentations 1:1 (structural): Both verses personify Jerusalem as 'daughter'/'daughter of Zion' and portray the city as a desolate, afflicted woman—the same lamenting address and motif.
- Lamentations 2:11-12 (structural): Immediate literary context: preceding verses describe tears, fainting hearts, and the mourning of virgins and elders, leading directly into 2:13's rhetorical questioning and sense of irreparable devastation.
Alternative generated candidates
- What shall I testify to you? To what shall I liken you, O daughter of Jerusalem? To what shall I compare you, that I may comfort you, O virgin daughter of Zion? For your ruin is great as the sea—who can heal you?
- What can I say to you, or to what compare you, O daughter Jerusalem? What comfort can I give you, O virgin daughter of Zion? For great is your wound, like the sea — who can heal you?
Lam.2.14 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- נביאיך: NOUN,m,pl,abs+2ms
- חזו: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לך: PRON,2,m,sg
- שוא: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ותפל: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- ולא: CONJ
- גלו: VERB,qal,imp,2,pl
- על: PREP
- עונך: NOUN,m,sg,abs+2ms
- להשיב: VERB,qal,inf
- שבותך: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ויחזו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- לך: PRON,2,m,sg
- משאות: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- שוא: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ומדוחים: NOUN,f,pl,abs
Parallels
- Jeremiah 23:16-17 (verbal): Condemns prophets who prophesy lies and false visions rather than the word of YHWH—parallels Lamentations' charge that the prophets saw 'false and worthless visions.'
- Jeremiah 23:25-27 (verbal): Accuses prophets of claiming dreams and visions from their own hearts and giving false assurances—matching Lamentations' critique that prophets did not disclose sin to restore the people but produced vain visions.
- Ezekiel 13:6-9 (thematic): God's indictment of false prophets who see vain visions and give comfort is closely parallel: false prophecy brings ruin rather than restoration.
- Micah 3:5-7 (thematic): Speaks of prophets who divine for money and who forecast things that suit the people, leading ultimately to exile—echoes Lamentations' link between misleading prophets and the nation's downfall.
- Deuteronomy 18:20-22 (structural): Gives the Torah's criterion for identifying false prophets (whose predictions fail); provides the normative background against which Lamentations accuses prophets of speaking falsehood.
Alternative generated candidates
- Your prophets saw for you false and empty visions and did not uncover your iniquity to restore you; they gave you visions of futility and divinations.
- Your prophets have seen for you false and worthless things and have not uncovered your iniquity to turn back your captivity; they have prophesied for you visions of futility and deceit.
Lam.2.15 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ספקו: VERB,qal,perf,3,pl
- עליך: PREP+2ms
- כפים: NOUN,f,du,abs
- כל: DET
- עברי: ADJ,m,sg
- דרך: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- שרקו: VERB,qal,perf,3,pl
- וינעו: VERB,qal,imprf,3,m,pl
- ראשם: NOUN,m,sg,abs,3,pl
- על: PREP
- בת: NOUN,f,sg,cs
- ירושלם: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- הזאת: DEM,f,sg,def
- העיר: NOUN,f,sg,def
- שיאמרו: VERB,qal,impf,3,pl
- כלילת: NOUN,f,sg,const
- יפי: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- משוש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לכל: PREP
- הארץ: NOUN,f,sg,def
Parallels
- Nahum 3:19 (verbal): Uses virtually the same image of ones who hear the news clapping their hands over the fallen city and mocking its continual wickedness—close verbal and thematic parallel to passersby clapping and hissing at Jerusalem.
- Psalm 44:13-14 (thematic): Speaks of Israel becoming a reproach and a byword among neighbors—the theme of public mockery and scorn that Lamentations 2:15 depicts.
- Psalm 79:4 (thematic): Describes being made a reproach and derision to surrounding peoples and mocked by neighbors—parallels the taunting and shaking of heads directed at Jerusalem.
- Ezekiel 16:52-55 (allusion): Ezekiel portrays Jerusalem exposed to shame and taunting by other cities and nations for her sins, a prophetic background for Lamentations’ image of public derision and abasement.
Alternative generated candidates
- All who pass along the way clap their hands at you; they hiss and shake their heads at the daughter of Jerusalem: “Is this the city that was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of all the earth?”
- All who pass by clap their hands at you; they hiss and wag their heads at the daughter Jerusalem, saying, “Is this the city that was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of all the earth?”
Lam.2.16 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- פצו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- עליך: PREP+2ms
- פיהם: NOUN,m,sg,abs,3,m,pl
- כל: DET
- אויביך: NOUN,m,pl,cstr+2ms
- שרקו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- ויחרקו: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,pl
- שן: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- אמרו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- בלענו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl+1,pl,obj
- אך: PART
- זה: PRON,dem,m,sg
- היום: NOUN,m,sg,def
- שקוינהו: VERB,qal,perf,1,pl+3,f,sg,obj
- מצאנו: VERB,qal,perf,1,_,pl
- ראינו: VERB,qal,perf,1,c,pl
Parallels
- Proverbs 1:12 (verbal): Uses the same swallowing imagery ('let us swallow them alive') as Lamentations' בלענו — enemies pictured as consuming their victim.
- Psalm 37:12-13 (verbal): The motif of the wicked gnashing their teeth at the righteous parallels Lamentations' 'they hiss and gnash their teeth' (hostile gloating and violent intent).
- Psalm 137:7-8 (thematic): Enemies gloating over Jerusalem's destruction and calling for its ruin; both passages portray taunting rejoicing at the city's fall.
- Jeremiah 20:10 (thematic): Jeremiah reports many whispering and plotting the prophet's ruin — a comparable scene of enemies' conspiracy and exultant talk ('this is the day we longed for') against God's people.
Alternative generated candidates
- All your enemies open their mouths against you; they hiss and gnash their teeth; they say, “We have swallowed her—this is the day we longed for; we have found it, we have seen it.”
- All your enemies open their mouths against you; they hiss and gnash their teeth and say, “We have swallowed her up—this is the day we longed for; we have found it, we have seen it.”
Lam.2.17 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- עשה: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- אשר: PRON,rel
- זמם: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- בצע: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אמרתו: NOUN,f,sg,abs,3,m
- אשר: PRON,rel
- צוה: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- מימי: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,cons
- קדם: NOUN,m,sg,cons
- הרס: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ולא: CONJ
- חמל: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- וישמח: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- עליך: PREP+2ms
- אויב: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- הרים: NOUN,m,pl,cons
- קרן: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- צריך: ADJ,m,sg
Parallels
- Isaiah 46:10 (verbal): Both passages emphasize God's sovereign plan declared from of old and its sure fulfillment — God declares the end from the beginning and accomplishes what he purposed.
- Jeremiah 1:12 (verbal): Jeremiah's affirmation 'I am watching over my word to perform it' parallels Lamentations' theme that the LORD has done what he planned and fulfilled his ancient word.
- Isaiah 10:5-6 (thematic): Isaiah depicts God raising a foreign power as an instrument of his wrath ('the rod of my anger'), paralleling Lamentations' note that God allowed/enabled enemies to rejoice and exalt their horn.
- Psalm 44:11 (thematic): Psalm 44 speaks of being handed over to enemies who mock and rejoice — echoing Lamentations' portrayal of the people abandoned to foes who exult over them.
Alternative generated candidates
- The Lord has accomplished what he purposed; he has fulfilled the word that he commanded long ago; he has thrown down and has not shown pity. On your account the enemy rejoiced; they exalted the horn of your adversaries.
- The LORD has done what he intended; he has fulfilled his word that he commanded long ago. He has destroyed without pity and has made your enemies rejoice; he has exalted the horn of your foes.
Lam.2.18 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- צעק: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- לבם: NOUN,m,sg,poss
- אל: NEG
- אדני: NOUN,m,sg,abs,1,sg
- חומת: NOUN,f,sg,cons
- בת: NOUN,f,sg,cs
- ציון: NOUN,prop,f,sg,abs
- הורידי: VERB,hiphil,imp,2,f,sg
- כנחל: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- דמעה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- יומם: ADV
- ולילה: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אל: NEG
- תתני: VERB,qal,impf,2,f,sg
- פוגת: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- לך: PRON,2,m,sg
- אל: NEG
- תדם: VERB,qal,impf,2,f,sg
- בת: NOUN,f,sg,cs
- עינך: NOUN,f,pl,abs+2ms
Parallels
- Psalm 42:3 (verbal): Speaks of tears as sustenance 'my tears have been my food day and night,' echoing Lamentations' image of continuous, day-and-night weeping.
- Jeremiah 9:1 (verbal): Jeremiah longs that his eyes were a fountain of tears to weep 'day and night' for the slain of his people—language and theme closely parallel to the sustained lament in Lam. 2:18.
- Psalm 137:1 (thematic): The exiled community weeping by the rivers and remembering Zion parallels the imperative to cry out and shed abundant tears for 'daughter Zion' in Lamentations.
- Lamentations 1:16 (structural): Within the same book, Lamentations 1:16 also emphasizes intense personal weeping and lack of comfort for Zion—reinforcing the book's recurring motif of tears and unrelieved sorrow.
Alternative generated candidates
- Their heart cried to the Lord: “O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears flow like a river day and night; give yourself no rest, do not let the apple of your eye cease.
- Their hearts cried to the LORD: “O wall of the daughter Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night; give yourself no rest; let not the apple of your eye cease.”
Lam.2.19 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- קומי: VERB,qal,imp,2,f,sg
- רני: VERB,qal,imp,2,f,sg
- בלילה: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לראש: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אשמרות: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- שפכי: VERB,qal,imp,2,f,sg
- כמים: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- לבך: NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,2,m,sg
- נכח: PREP
- פני: NOUN,m,sg,cons
- אדני: NOUN,m,sg,abs,1,sg
- שאי: VERB,qal,imp,2,f,sg
- אליו: PREP+PRON,3,m,sg
- כפיך: NOUN,f,pl,abs+PRON,2,m,sg
- על: PREP
- נפש: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- עולליך: NOUN,m,pl,abs+SUF,2,ms
- העטופים: ADJ,m,pl,def
- ברעב: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בראש: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,cstr
- כל: DET
- חוצות: NOUN,f,pl,abs
Parallels
- Psalm 62:8 (verbal): “Pour out your heart before him” closely echoes Lamentations’ “שפכי כמים לבך” (pour out your heart like water), both urging open lament/prayer before God.
- Psalm 142:2 (verbal): “I pour out my complaint before him; I tell my trouble before him” parallels the image of pouring out one’s heart and presenting one’s distress to the Lord.
- Psalm 28:2 (verbal): “Hear the voice of my pleas for mercy… when I lift up my hands to your holy sanctuary” parallels Lamentations’ command to lift up hands to the Lord (שא י אליו כפיך) in petition.
- 1 Timothy 2:8 (allusion): Paul’s injunction that men pray “lifting holy hands” echoes the Lamentations motif of raised hands as a posture of prayer and intercession.
- Psalm 63:6 (thematic): “When I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night” matches Lamentations’ call to cry out in the night at the beginning of the watches—both depict nocturnal lament/communion with God.
Alternative generated candidates
- Arise, cry aloud in the night at the beginning of the watches; pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord; lift up your hands for the life of your young children who faint for hunger at the head of every street.
- Arise, cry aloud in the night, at the beginning of the watches; pour out your heart like water before the face of the LORD; lift up your hands to him for the lives of your little ones who faint for hunger at every street corner.
Lam.2.20 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ראה: VERB,qal,imperat,2,m,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- והביטה: CONJ+VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- למי: PREP,interr
- עוללת: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- כה: ADV
- אם: CONJ
- תאכלנה: VERB,qal,imperfect,3,f,pl
- נשים: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- פרים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- עללי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
- טפחים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- אם: CONJ
- יהרג: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- במקדש: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,def
- אדני: NOUN,m,sg,abs,1,sg
- כהן: NOUN,m,sg,const
- ונביא: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Lamentations 4:10 (verbal): Same horrific image of women cooking/eating their own children during Jerusalem's destruction; Lamentations repeats and intensifies this motif.
- Jeremiah 19:9 (verbal): Jeremiah uses the same threat—making people eat their sons and daughters—as a divine judgment; Lamentations echoes Jeremiah's prophetic language.
- Ezekiel 5:10 (verbal): Ezekiel depicts fathers and sons eating one another in siege-induced famine, a parallel prophetic image of cannibalism as judgment.
- 2 Kings 6:28-29 (thematic): Narrative account of a woman boiling her son during a siege; a concrete historical episode reflecting the horrific famine pictured in Lamentations.
- 2 Chronicles 24:20-22 (thematic): The prophet Zechariah is murdered in the temple court—an instance of prophets/holy persons being killed in sacred precincts, echoing Lamentations' lament over priests and prophets slain in the sanctuary.
Alternative generated candidates
- See, O Lord, and behold! Whom have you treated thus? Should a mother eat her nursing offspring, are priests and prophets slain in the sanctuary of the Lord?
- See, O LORD, and behold whom you have treated thus—shall women eat their own offspring, the children at their breasts? Shall the priest and the prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the LORD?
Lam.2.21 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- שכבו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- לארץ: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- חוצות: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- נער: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- וזקן: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בתולתי: NOUN,f,pl,abs+1cs
- ובחורי: CONJ+NOUN,m,pl,cs
- נפלו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- בחרב: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- הרגת: VERB,qal,perf,2,m,sg
- ביום: PREP
- אפך: NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,2,m,sg
- טבחת: VERB,qal,perf,2,m,sg
- לא: PART_NEG
- חמלת: VERB,qal,perf,2,m,sg
Parallels
- Ezekiel 9:6 (verbal): God commands the slaughter of 'old men, young men, maidens, little children and women' in Jerusalem as an act of divine judgment—close verbal and thematic echo of Lamentations' list of victims ('young and old,' 'virgins and young men').
- Isaiah 13:9–16 (thematic): The oracle announcing the 'day of the LORD' as a time of fierce anger and widespread slaughter parallels Lamentations' language of divine wrath and mass killing in the city.
- Psalm 79:1–3 (thematic): Describes nations laying Jerusalem waste and slaughtering God's servants (their bodies given to birds), echoing the image of people slain and the national mourning found in Lamentations.
- Jeremiah 21:7–9 (structural): Yahweh declares that those who remain in Jerusalem will be delivered to the sword—an explicit prophetic announcement of exile and slaughter that provides the immediate prophetic-historical context for Lamentations' depiction of massacre by God's judgment.
- 2 Kings 25:7 (structural): Narrates brutal acts at Jerusalem's fall (e.g., the king's sons killed before him) during Nebuchadnezzar's destruction—historical parallel to the street killings and slaughter lamented in Lamentations.
Alternative generated candidates
- They lie on the ground in the streets—young and old lie together; my virgins and my young men have fallen by the sword. You have slain in your anger; you have slaughtered without pity.
- Young and old lie on the ground in the streets; my virgins and young men have fallen by the sword. You have killed in the day of your wrath; you have slaughtered and shown no pity.
Lam.2.22 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- תקרא: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- כיום: ADV
- מועד: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- מגורי: NOUN,m,pl,cons
- מסביב: ADV,loc
- ולא: CONJ
- היה: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- ביום: PREP
- אף: ADV
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- פליט: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ושריד: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אשר: PRON,rel
- טפחתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,com,sg
- ורביתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,com,sg
- איבי: NOUN,m,sg,abs,poss=1s
- כלם: PRON,3,m,pl
Parallels
- Joel 2:11 (thematic): Joel depicts the ‘day of the LORD’ as a great and terrible day when Yahweh’s presence brings devastation—paralleling Lamentations’ sense that God’s fierce anger has caused ruin and enemies to prevail.
- Zephaniah 1:14-15 (verbal): Zephaniah calls the coming judgment a ‘day of wrath, trouble and distress,’ language that closely echoes Lamentations’ reference to the day of the LORD’s anger and the transformation of a festival/assembly into calamity.
- Nahum 1:2-3 (thematic): Nahum emphasizes God’s jealous wrath and consuming fury against foes—similar theological language about Yahweh’s fierce anger and its destructive effects found in Lamentations 2:22.
- Psalm 79:1-4 (thematic): This communal lament over the defilement and devastation of Jerusalem and the triumph of enemies parallels Lamentations’ lament that enemies have increased and no survivors remain in the day of the LORD’s wrath.
Alternative generated candidates
- You called as on a day of festival; you made my terrors all around. There was no escape on the day of the Lord’s anger; those I nursed and reared, my enemy has destroyed them all.
- You called out as at a festival in the settlements all around, yet in the day of the LORD’s anger there was no deliverer or remnant. Those I nursed and reared have perished—my enemies have consumed them all.
How the LORD has covered in his fury the daughter of Zion; he has cast down from heaven to earth the glory of Israel; he has not remembered his footstool in the day of his anger.
The LORD has swallowed up without pity all the dwellings of Jacob; he has ruined in his wrath the strongholds of the daughter of Judah; he has brought her kingdom and her princes low to shame.
He has cut off in fierce anger every horn of Israel; he has turned back his right hand before the foe; he kindled a fire in Jacob that consumed round about.
He bent his bow as an enemy; his right hand stood as a foe; he killed all that was pleasant to the eye in the tent of the daughter of Zion—he poured out his wrath like fire.
The LORD became as an enemy; he swallowed up Israel, he swallowed up all her palaces; he destroyed his strongholds and increased lamentation and mourning in the daughter of Judah.
He violently took away his dwelling and destroyed his appointed meeting; the LORD has forgotten in Zion the appointed time and the sabbath; with the fierceness of his anger he has rejected both king and priest.
The LORD has forsaken his altar; he has despised his sanctuary; he has given the walls of her palaces into the hand of the foe; their voice is become mourning in the house of the LORD as on the day of an appointed feast.
The LORD devised to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion; he stretched out a measuring line and did not withdraw his hand from destroying; he made lamentation of her ramparts and her wall together—they have languished.
Her gates sink into the ground; he has destroyed and broken her bars; her king and her princes among the nations have no law; her prophets cannot find a vision from the LORD.
Her elders sit upon the ground in silence; the old men of the daughter of Zion have lifted up dust on their heads, they have girded themselves with sackcloth; the virgins of Jerusalem have bowed down to the ground.
My eyes flow with rivers of tears; my entrails are poured out on the earth because of the destruction of the daughter of my people; the infant and the child faint in the streets of the city.
They say to their mothers, 'Where is bread and wine?' as they faint like the wounded in the streets; they pour out their soul into the bosom of their mothers.
What shall I testify to you, O daughter Jerusalem? To what shall I liken you, that I may comfort you, O virgin daughter of Zion? For great as the sea is your ruin—who can heal you?
Your prophets have seen for you false and worthless visions and have not disclosed your iniquity to turn back your captivity; they prophesied for you false burdens and misleading oracles.
All who pass along clap their hands at you; they hiss and shake their heads at the daughter of Jerusalem: 'Is this the city that was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of all the earth?'
All your enemies open their mouths against you; they hiss and gnash their teeth and say, 'We have swallowed her up—this is the day we longed for; we have found it, we have seen it.'
The LORD has executed the thing he planned; he has carried out his word from of old—he has destroyed and shown no mercy; the enemy has rejoiced over you and exalted a victorious horn.
Their heart cried to the LORD: 'O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night; give no respite to your eyes; do not let them cease.'
Arise, cry aloud in the night at the outset of the watches; pour out your heart like water before the face of the LORD; lift up your hands for the life of your children who faint for hunger at the head of every street.
See, O LORD, and behold to whom you have done this! Shall women eat their offspring, the children of their womb? Shall priest and prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the LORD?
Young and old lie on the ground in the streets; my virgins and my young men have fallen by the sword—you have slain in the day of your anger; you have slaughtered and shown no pity.
You called as in the appointed festival from the outlying settlements, but on the day of the LORD's anger there was no remnant or survivor; those I reared and brought up—my enemy has consumed them all.