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.
• 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.
• New Living Translation (NLT)“See them lying in the streets— young and old, boys and girls, killed by the swords of the enemy. You have killed them in your anger, slaughtering them without mercy.

Context of Lamentations 2:21

19"Arise, cry out in the night, at the beginning of the night watches! Pour out your heart like water before the presence of the Lord! Lift your hands to him for the lives of your children, who faint for hunger at the head of every street." 20Look, 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? 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. 22You summoned as if to a festival day my terrors on every side, and on the day of the anger of the Lord no one escaped or survived; those whom I held and raised my enemy destroyed.

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 hard-faced nation who shall not respect the old or show mercy to the young.
• Joshua 6:21Then they devoted all in the city to destruction, both men and women, young and old, oxen, sheep, and donkeys, with the edge of the sword.
• 1 Samuel 15:3Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.'"
• 2 Chronicles 36:17Therefore he brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary and had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or aged. He gave them all into his hand.
• Esther 3:13Letters were sent by couriers to all the king's provinces with instruction to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all Jews, young and old, women and children, in one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods.
• Jeremiah 51:22with you I break in pieces man and woman; with you I break in pieces the old man and the youth; with you I break in pieces the young man and the young woman;
• Ezekiel 9:6Kill old men outright, young men and maidens, little children and women, but touch no one on whom is the mark. And begin at my sanctuary." So they began with the elders who were before the house.
• Lamentations 1:15"The Lord rejected all my mighty men in my midst; he summoned an assembly against me to crush my young men; the Lord has trodden as in a winepress the virgin daughter of Judah.
• Psalms 78:63Fire devoured their young men, and their young women had no marriage song.
• Jeremiah 9:21For death has come up into our windows; it has entered our palaces, cutting off the children from the streets and the young men from the squares.
• Jeremiah 11:22therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: "Behold, I will punish them. The young men shall die by the sword, their sons and their daughters shall die by famine,
• Jeremiah 18:21Therefore deliver up their children to famine; give them over to the power of the sword; let their wives become childless and widowed. May their men meet death by pestilence, their youths be struck down by the sword in battle.
• Amos 4:10"I sent among you a pestilence after the manner of Egypt; I killed your young men with the sword, and carried away your horses, and I made the stench of your camp go up into your nostrils; yet you did not return to me," declares the Lord.
• Lamentations 2:2The Lord has swallowed up without mercy all the habitations of Jacob; in his wrath he has broken down the strongholds of the daughter of Judah; he has brought down to the ground in dishonor the kingdom and its rulers.
• Lamentations 3:43"You have wrapped yourself with anger and pursued us, killing without pity;
• Isaiah 27:11When its boughs are dry, they are broken; women come and make a fire of them. For this is a people without discernment; therefore he who made them will not have compassion on them; he who formed them will show them no favor.

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