Lamentations 2:13

Lamentations 2:13 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)What thing shall I take to witness for thee? what thing shall I liken to thee, O daughter of Jerusalem? what shall I equal to thee, that I may comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Zion? for thy breach is great like the sea: who can heal thee?
• New International Version (NIV)What can I say for you? With what can I compare you, Daughter Jerusalem? To what can I liken you, that I may comfort you, Virgin Daughter Zion? Your wound is as deep as the sea. Who can heal you?
• English Standard Version (ESV)What can I say for you, to what compare you, O daughter of Jerusalem? What can I liken to you, that I may comfort you, O virgin daughter of Zion? For your ruin is vast as the sea; who can heal you?
• New King James Version (NKJV)How shall I console you? To what shall I liken you, O daughter of Jerusalem? What shall I compare with you, that I may comfort you, O virgin daughter of Zion? For your ruin is spread wide as the sea; Who can heal you?

Context of Lamentations 2:13

11My eyes are worn out from weeping; I am churning within. My heart is poured out in grief because of the destruction of my dear people, because infants and nursing babies faint in the streets of the city. 12They cry out to their mothers, “Where is the grain and wine?” as they faint like the wounded in the streets of the city, as their life pours out in the arms of their mothers. What can I say on your behalf? What can I compare you to, Daughter Jerusalem? What can I liken you to, so that I may console you, Virgin Daughter Zion? For your ruin is as vast as the sea. Who can heal you? 14Your prophets saw visions for you that were empty and deceptive; they did not reveal your iniquity and so restore your fortunes. They saw pronouncements for you that were empty and misleading. 15All who pass by scornfully clap their hands at you. They hiss and shake their heads at Daughter Jerusalem: Is this the city that was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth?

Lamentations 2:13 word by word

מָֽה־אֲעִידֵ֞ךְ מָ֣ה אֲדַמֶּה־לָּ֗ךְ הַבַּת֙ יְר֣וּשָׁלִַ֔ם מָ֤ה אַשְׁוֶה־לָּךְ֙ וַאֲנַֽחֲמֵ֔ךְ בְּתוּלַ֖ת בַּת־צִיּ֑וֹן כִּֽי־גָד֥וֹל כַּיָּ֛ם שִׁבְרֵ֖ךְ מִ֥י יִרְפָּא־לָֽךְ׃ סRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• What thing shall I take to witnessעוּד‛ûd · to testifyH5749
• for thee? what thingמָהmâh mah mâ ma meh · what?H4100
• shall I likenדָּמָהdâmâh · to resembleH1819
• to thee, O daughterבַּתbath · daughterH1323
• of Jerusalemיְרוּשָׁלִַ֫ם, יְרוּשְׁלֵםyerûshâlaim yerûshâlayim · JerusalemH3389
• what shall I equalשָׁוָהshâvâh · be likeH7737
• to thee, that I may comfortנָחַםnâcham · to be sorry: comfortH5162
• thee, O virginבְּתוּלָהbethûlâh · virginH1330
• of Zionצִיּוֹןtsîyôn · ZionH6726
• for thy breachשֶׁ֫בֶרsheber shêber · breakingH7667
• greatגָּדוֹלgâdôl gâdôl · great: largeH1419
• like the seaיָםyâm · seaH3220
• who can healרָפָאrâphâ' râphâh · to healH7495

Cross-references for Lamentations 2:13

• Lamentations 1:12Is this nothing to you, all you who pass by? Look and see! Is there any pain like mine, which was dealt out to me, which the Lord made me suffer on the day of his burning anger?
• Daniel 9:12He has carried out his words that he spoke against us and against our rulers by bringing on us a disaster that is so great that nothing like what has been done to Jerusalem has ever been done under all of heaven.
• 2 Samuel 5:20So David went to Baal-perazim and defeated them there and said, “Like a bursting flood, the Lord has burst out against my enemies before me.” Therefore, he named that place The Lord Bursts Out.
• Psalms 60:2You have shaken the land and split it open. Heal its fissures, for it shudders.
• Jeremiah 14:17You are to speak this word to them: Let my eyes overflow with tears; day and night may they not stop, for my dearest people have been destroyed by a crushing blow, an extremely severe wound.
• Ezekiel 26:3therefore this is what the Lord God says: See, I am against you, Tyre! I will raise up many nations against you, just as the sea raises its waves.
• Jeremiah 8:22Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? So why has the healing of my dear people not come about?
• Jeremiah 30:12For this is what the Lord says: Your injury is incurable; your wound most severe.
• Jeremiah 51:8Suddenly Babylon fell and was shattered. Wail for her; get balm for her wound — perhaps she can be healed.

Commentaries on Lamentations 2:13

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 13What thing shall I take - Or, rather, as Dr. Blayney, "What shall I urge to thee?" How shall I comfort thee? Thy breach is great like the sea - Thou hast a flood of afflictions, a sea of troubles, an ocean of miseries.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 13Equal - i. e. “compare.” Zion‘s breach, i. e. her destruction, is measureless, like the ocean.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. 13Who can ever heal you?: There was no one left who could bring healing. The prophets and healers who were trusted by the people had spoken lies and given false hope (Jeremiah 6:13–14).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1313. What thing shall I take to witness--What can I bring forward as a witness, or instance, to prove that others have sustained as grievous ills as thou? I cannot console thee as mourners are often consoled by showing that thy lot is only what others, too, suffer. The "sea" affords the only suitable emblem of thy woes, by its boundless extent and depth (La 1:12; Da 9:12). Nun.Read the comment

Topics related to Lamentations 2:13

• Famine

In the dictionaries

• Jerusalem
• the sea, the Great Sea, the western sea
• Bosom
• Cord
• Poetry
• Acrostic
• Alphabet
• Breach
• Lamentations, Book of
• Poetry, Hebrew

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