Lamentations 2:21

Lamentations 2:21 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)The young and the old lie on the ground in the streets: my virgins and my young men are fallen by the sword; thou hast slain them in the day of thine anger; thou hast killed, and not pitied.
• New International Version (NIV)“Young and old lie together in the dust of the streets; my young men and young women have fallen by the sword. You have slain them in the day of your anger; you have slaughtered them without pity.
• English Standard Version (ESV)In the dust of the streets lie the young and the old; my young women and my young men have fallen by the sword; you have killed them in the day of your anger, slaughtering without pity.
• New King James Version (NKJV)“Young and old lie On the ground in the streets; My virgins and my young men Have fallen by the sword; You have slain them in the day of Your anger, You have slaughtered and not pitied.

Context of Lamentations 2:21

19Arise, cry out in the night from the first watch of the night. Pour out your heart like water before the Lord’s presence. Lift up your hands to him for the lives of your children who are fainting from hunger at the head of every street. 20Lord, look and consider to whom you have done this. Should women eat their own children, the infants they have nurtured? Should priests and prophets be killed in the Lord’s sanctuary? Both young and old are lying on the ground in the streets. My young women and young men have fallen by the sword. You have killed them in the day of your anger, slaughtering without compassion. 22You summon those who terrorize me on every side, as if for an appointed festival day; on the day of the Lord’s anger no one escaped or survived. My enemy has destroyed those I nurtured and reared.

Lamentations 2:21 word by word

שָׁכְב֨וּ לָאָ֤רֶץ חוּצוֹת֙ נַ֣עַר וְזָקֵ֔ן בְּתוּלֹתַ֥י וּבַחוּרַ֖י נָפְל֣וּ בֶחָ֑רֶב הָרַ֙גְתָּ֙ בְּי֣וֹם אַפֶּ֔ךָ טָבַ֖חְתָּ לֹ֥א חָמָֽלְתָּ׃ סRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• The youngנַ֫עַרna‛ar · youthH5288
• and the oldזָקֵןzâqên · oldH2205
• lieשָׁכַבshâkab · to lie down: lay downH7901
• on the groundאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: soilH776
• in the streetsחוּץchûts chûts · outsideH2351
• my virginsבְּתוּלָהbethûlâh · virginH1330
• and my young menבָּחוּרbâchûr bâchûr · youthH970
• are fallenנָפַלnâphal · to fall: fallH5307
• by the swordחֶ֫רֶבchereb · swordH2719
• thou hast slainהָרַגhârag · to killH2026
• in the dayיוֹםyôm · dayH3117
• of thine angerאַף'aph · face: angerH639
• thou hast killedטָבַחţâbach · to slaughterH2873
• not pitiedחָמַלchâmal · to spareH2550

Cross-references for Lamentations 2:21

• Deuteronomy 28:50a ruthless nation, showing no respect for the old and not sparing the young.
• Joshua 6:21They completely destroyed everything in the city with the sword — every man and woman, both young and old, and every ox, sheep, and donkey.
• 1 Samuel 15:3Now go and attack the Amalekites and completely destroy everything they have. Do not spare them. Kill men and women, infants and nursing babies, oxen and sheep, camels and donkeys.’”
• 2 Chronicles 36:17So he brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their fit young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary. He had no pity on young men or young women, elderly or aged; he handed them all over to him.
• Esther 3:13Letters were sent by couriers to each of the royal provinces telling the officials to destroy, kill, and annihilate all the Jewish people — young and old, women and children — and plunder their possessions on a single day, the thirteenth day of Adar, the twelfth month.
• Jeremiah 51:22With you I will smash man and woman; with you I will smash the old man and the youth; with you I will smash the young man and the young woman.
• Ezekiel 9:6Slaughter the old men, the young men and women, as well as the children and older women, but do not come near anyone who has the mark. Begin at my sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were in front of the temple.
• Lamentations 1:15The Lord has rejected all the mighty men within me. He has summoned an army against me to crush my young warriors. The Lord has trampled Virgin Daughter Judah like grapes in a winepress.
• Psalms 78:63Fire consumed his chosen young men, and his young women had no wedding songs.
• Jeremiah 9:21for Death has climbed through our windows; it has entered our fortresses, cutting off children from the streets, young men from the squares.
• Jeremiah 11:22Therefore, this is what the Lord of Armies says: “I am about to punish them. The young men will die by the sword; their sons and daughters will die by famine.
• Jeremiah 18:21Therefore, hand their children over to famine, and give them over to the power of the sword. Let their wives become childless and widowed, their husbands slain by deadly disease, their young men struck down by the sword in battle.
• Amos 4:10I sent plagues like those of Egypt; I killed your young men with the sword, along with your captured horses. I caused the stench of your camp to fill your nostrils, yet you did not return to me. This is the Lord’s declaration.
• Lamentations 2:2Without compassion the Lord has swallowed up all the dwellings of Jacob. In his wrath he has demolished the fortified cities of Daughter Judah. He brought them to the ground and defiled the kingdom and its leaders.
• Lamentations 3:43“You have covered yourself in anger and pursued us; you have killed without compassion.
• Isaiah 27:11When its branches dry out, they will be broken off. Women will come and make fires with them, for they are not a people with understanding. Therefore their Maker will not have compassion on them, and their Creator will not be gracious to them.

Commentaries on Lamentations 2:21

• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 21Omit “them” and “and,” which weaken the intensity of the passage.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. 1-22This chapter vividly shows the Lord acting as the one who destroys Jerusalem.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2121. (2Ch 36:17). Tau.Read the comment

Topics related to Lamentations 2:21

• Famine
• Nation
• Women

In the dictionaries

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

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