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 fail because of tears, My spirit is greatly troubled; My heart is poured out on the earth Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people, When little ones and infants languish In the streets of the city. 12They say to their mothers, “Where is grain and wine?” As they faint like a wounded person In the streets of the city, As their lives are poured out In their mothers’ arms. How shall I admonish you? What shall I compare to you, Daughter of Jerusalem? What shall I liken to you as I comfort you, Virgin daughter of Zion? For your collapse is as vast as the sea; Who can heal you? 14Your prophets have seen for you Worthless and deceptive visions; And they have not exposed your wrongdoing So as to restore you from captivity, But they have seen for you worthless and misleading pronouncements. 15All who pass along the way Clap their hands in ridicule at you; They hiss and shake their heads At the daughter of Jerusalem: “Is this the city of which they said, ‘Perfect in beauty, A joy to all the 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

• Howמָהmâh mah mâ ma meh · what?H4100
• shall I admonishעוּד‛ûd · to testifyH5749
• shall I compareדָּמָהdâmâh · to resembleH1819
• Daughterבַּתbath · daughterH1323
• of Jerusalemיְרוּשָׁלִַ֫ם, יְרוּשְׁלֵםyerûshâlaim yerûshâlayim · JerusalemH3389
• shall I likenשָׁוָהshâvâh · be likeH7737
• to you as I comfortנָחַםnâcham · to be sorry: comfortH5162
• Virginבְּתוּלָהbethûlâh · virginH1330
• of Zionצִיּוֹןtsîyôn · ZionH6726
• For your collapseשֶׁ֫בֶרsheber shêber · breakingH7667
• is as vastגָּדוֹלgâdôl gâdôl · great: largeH1419
• as the seaיָםyâm · seaH3220
• Whoמִיmîy · who?H4310
• healרָפָאrâphâ' râphâh · to healH7495

Cross-references for Lamentations 2:13

• Lamentations 1:12“Is it nothing to all you who pass this way? Look and see if there is any pain like my pain Which was inflicted on me, With which the Lord tormented me on the day of His fierce anger.
• Daniel 9:12So He has confirmed His words which He had spoken against us and against our rulers who ruled us, to bring on us great disaster; for under the entire heaven there has not been done anything like what was done in Jerusalem.
• 2 Samuel 5:20Then David came to Baal-perazim and defeated them there; and he said, “The Lord has broken through my enemies before me like the breakthrough of waters.” Therefore he named that place Baal-perazim.
• Psalms 60:2You have made the land quake, You have split it open; Heal its cracks, for it sways.
• Jeremiah 14:17You will say this word to them, ‘Let my eyes stream down tears night and day, And let them not cease; For the virgin daughter of my people has been crushed with a mighty blow, With a sorely infected wound.
• Ezekiel 26:3therefore this is what the Lord God says: ‘Behold, I am against you, Tyre, and I will bring up many nations against you, as the sea brings up its waves.
• Jeremiah 8:22Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has not the health of the daughter of my people been restored?
• Jeremiah 30:12“For this is what the Lord says: ‘Your broken limb is irreparable, And your wound is incurable.
• Jeremiah 51:8Suddenly Babylon has fallen and been broken; Wail over her! Bring balm for her pain; Perhaps she may 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