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 with tears. My stomach is churning. My heart is poured out on the ground because of the destruction of my people. Little children and infants faint in the city streets. 12They’re asking their mothers for some bread and wine as they faint like wounded people in the city streets. Their lives dwindle away in their mothers’ arms. “What example can I give you? What parallel can I show you, people of Jerusalem? What comparison can I make that will comfort you, beloved people of Zion? Your wounds are as deep as the sea. Who can heal you? 14Your prophets saw misleading visions about you. They painted a good picture of you. They didn’t expose your guilt in order to make things better again. They gave you false prophecies that misled you. 15Everyone who walks along the road shakes a fist at you. They hiss and shake their heads at Jerusalem’s people: ‘Is this the city they used to call absolutely beautiful, the joy of the whole world?’

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 1:12“Doesn’t this affect all of you who pass by? Look and see if there’s any pain like the pain that the Lord has caused me, like the pain that he has made me suffer on the day of his fierce anger.
• Daniel 9:12So you did what you said you would do to us and our rulers by bringing a great disaster on us. Nowhere in the world has anything ever happened like what has happened to Jerusalem.
• 2 Samuel 5:20So David went to Baal Perazim and defeated the Philistines there. He said, “The Lord has overwhelmed my enemies in front of me like an overwhelming flood.” That is why that place is called Baal Perazim [The Lord Overwhelms].
• Psalms 60:2You made the land quake. You split it wide open. Heal the cracks in it because it is falling apart.
• Jeremiah 14:17“Say this to them: ‘My eyes flow with tears day and night without stopping because my dear people will suffer massive destruction. It will be a very serious blow.’ ”
• Ezekiel 26:3So this is what the Almighty Lord says: I am against you, Tyre. I will bring many nations against you as the waves on the sea rise.
• Jeremiah 8:22Isn’t there medicine in Gilead? Aren’t there doctors there? Then why hasn’t the health of my dear people been restored?
• Jeremiah 30:12“This is what the Lord says: Your wound is incurable. Your injury is beyond healing.
• Jeremiah 51:8Babylon will suddenly fall and be shattered. Cry for it. Bring medicine for its pain. Maybe it 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