Lamentations 2:20

Lamentations 2:20 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Behold, O Lord, and consider to whom thou hast done this. Shall the women eat their fruit, and children of a span long? shall the priest and the prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord?
• New International Version (NIV)“Look, Lord, and consider: Whom have you ever treated like this? Should women eat their offspring, the children they have cared for? Should priest and prophet be killed in the sanctuary of the Lord?
• English Standard Version (ESV)Look, O Lord, and see! With whom have you dealt thus? Should women eat the fruit of their womb, the children of their tender care? Should priest and prophet be killed in the sanctuary of the Lord?
• New King James Version (NKJV)“See, O Lord, and consider! To whom have You done this? Should the women eat their offspring, The children they have cuddled? Should the priest and prophet be slain In the sanctuary of the Lord?

Context of Lamentations 2:20

18Their hearts cried out to the Lord. “O wall of the Daughter of Zion, Let your tears run down like a river day and night; Give yourself no relief, Let your eyes have no rest. 19Arise, cry aloud in the night, At the beginning of the night watches; Pour out your heart like water Before the presence of the Lord; Lift up your hands to Him For the life of your little ones Who are faint from hunger At the head of every street.” See, O Lord, and look! With whom have You dealt this way? Should women eat their offspring, The little ones who were born healthy and beautiful? Should priest and prophet be killed In the sanctuary of the Lord? 21The young and the old Lie on the ground in the streets; My virgins and my young men Have fallen by the sword. You have killed them in the day of Your anger, You have slaughtered, not sparing. 22You [Lord] called as in the day of an appointed feast My terrors (dangers) on every side; And there was no one who escaped or survived In the day of the Lord’s anger. Those I have cared for and brought up with tenderness, My enemy annihilated them.

Lamentations 2:20 word by word

רְאֵ֤ה יְהוָה֙ וְֽהַבִּ֔יטָה לְמִ֖י עוֹלַ֣לְתָּ כֹּ֑ה אִם־תֹּאכַ֨לְנָה נָשִׁ֤ים פִּרְיָם֙ עֹלֲלֵ֣י טִפֻּחִ֔ים אִם־יֵהָרֵ֛ג בְּמִקְדַּ֥שׁ אֲדֹנָ֖י כֹּהֵ֥ן וְנָבִֽיא׃ סRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Beholdרָאָהrâ'âh · to see: seeH7200
• O Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• and considerנָבַטnâbaţ · to lookH5027
• to whom thou hast doneעָלַל‛âlal · to abuseH5953
• thisכֹּהkôh · thusH3541
• Shall the womenאִשָּׁה'ishshâh nâshîym · womanH802
• eatאָכַל'âkal · to eatH398
• their fruitפְּרִיperîy · fruitH6529
• childrenעוֹלֵל‛ôlêl ‛ôlâl · infantH5768
• of a span longטִפֻּחִיםţippûch · tender careH2949
• shall the priestכֹּהֵןkôhên · priestH3548
• and the prophetנָבִיאnâbîy' · prophetH5030
• be slainהָרַגhârag · to killH2026
• in the sanctuaryמִקְדָּשׁmiqdâsh miqqedâsh · sanctuaryH4720
• of the Lordאֲדֹנָי'ădônây · LordH136

Cross-references for Lamentations 2:20

• Exodus 32:11But Moses appeased and entreated the Lord his God, and said, “Lord, why does Your anger burn against Your people whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand?
• Deuteronomy 9:26Then I prayed to the Lord and said, ‘O Lord God, do not destroy Your people, even Your inheritance, whom You have redeemed through Your greatness, whom You have brought from Egypt with a mighty hand.
• Isaiah 63:16For [most certainly] You are our Father, even though Abraham [our ancestor] does not know us And Israel does not acknowledge us. You, O Lord, are [still] our Father, Our Redeemer from everlasting is Your name.
• Isaiah 64:8Yet, O Lord, You are our Father; We are the clay, and You our Potter, And we all are the work of Your hand.
• Jeremiah 14:20We know and acknowledge, O Lord, Our wickedness and the iniquity of our fathers; for we have sinned against You.
• Lamentations 4:10The hands of compassionate women Boiled their own children; They became food for them Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people [Judah].
• Leviticus 26:29You will eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters.
• Deuteronomy 28:53Then you will eat the offspring of your own body [to avoid starvation], the flesh of your sons and daughters whom the Lord your God has given you, during the siege and the misery by which your enemy will oppress you.
• 2 Kings 6:28And the king said to her, “What is the matter with you?” She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son so we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’
• Jeremiah 19:9And I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and their daughters, and each one will eat one another’s flesh during the siege and distress brought by their enemies and those who seek their lives.” ’
• Ezekiel 5:10Therefore, fathers will eat their sons among you, and sons will eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments on you and I will scatter to all the winds the remnant of you.
• Lamentations 1:19I [Jerusalem] called to my lovers (political allies), but they deceived me. My priests and my elders perished in the city While they looked for food to restore their strength.
• Lamentations 4:13Because of the sins of her [counterfeit] prophets And the wickedness of her [unfaithful] priests, Who have shed in her midst The blood of the just and righteous;
• Psalms 78:64His priests [Hophni and Phinehas] fell by the sword, And His widows could not weep.
• Isaiah 9:14Therefore the Lord cuts off head and tail [the highest and the lowest] from Israel, Both [the high] palm branch and [the low] bulrush in one day.
• Jeremiah 5:31The prophets prophesy falsely, And the priests rule on their own authority; And My people love [to have] it so! But what will you do when the end comes?

Commentaries on Lamentations 2:20

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 20Consider to whom thou hast done this - Perhaps the best sense of this difficult verse is this: "Thou art our Father, we are thy children; wilt thou destroy thy own offspring? Was it ever heard that a mother devoured her own child, a helpless infant of a span long?" That it was foretold that there should be such distress in the siege, - that mothers should be obliged to eat their own children, is evident enough from Leviticus 26:29; Deuteronomy 28:53…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 20The sense is: “See, Yahweh, and look! whom hast Thou treated thus? Shall women eat their fruit - children whom they must still carry?” the swaddled child being one still needing to be nursed and borne in their arms.Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 10-22Verses 10-22 Causes for lamentation are described. Multitudes perished by famine. Even little children were slain by their mother's hands, and eaten, according to the threatening, Deut. 28:53. Multitudes fell by the sword. Their false prophets deceived them. And their neighbours laughed at them. It is a great sin to jest at others' miseries, and adds much affliction to the afflicted. Their enemies triumphed over them. The enemies of the church are apt to…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 20Jeremiah had warned that the same cannibalism (people eating human flesh during extreme hunger) that happened during the siege of Samaria (2 Kings 6:28–29) would also happen in Jerusalem (Jeremiah 19:9; see also Lamentations 4:10; Ezekiel 5:10; compare Deuteronomy 28:53–57).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2020. women eat ... fruit--as threatened (Le 26:29; De 28:53, 56, 57; Jr 19:9). children ... span long--or else, "children whom they carry in their arms" [Maurer]. Schin.Read the comment

Topics related to Lamentations 2:20

• Cannibalism
• Church
• Famine
• Measure
• Nation
• Sanctuary

In the dictionaries

• Bosom
• Cord
• Poetry
• Acrostic
• Alphabet
• Intercession
• Lamentations, Book of
• Poetry, Hebrew
• Proverbs, the Book of
• Siege

Commentaries on Lamentations 2

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings