Lamentations 2:4

Lamentations 2:4 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)He hath bent his bow like an enemy: he stood with his right hand as an adversary, and slew all that were pleasant to the eye in the tabernacle of the daughter of Zion: he poured out his fury like fire.
• New International Version (NIV)Like an enemy he has strung his bow; his right hand is ready. Like a foe he has slain all who were pleasing to the eye; he has poured out his wrath like fire on the tent of Daughter Zion.
• English Standard Version (ESV)He has bent his bow like an enemy, with his right hand set like a foe; and he has killed all who were delightful in our eyes in the tent of the daughter of Zion; he has poured out his fury like fire.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Standing like an enemy, He has bent His bow; With His right hand, like an adversary, He has slain all who were pleasing to His eye; On the tent of the daughter of Zion, He has poured out His fury like fire.

Context of Lamentations 2:4

2The Lord destroyed mercilessly all the homes of Jacob’s descendants. In his anger he tore down the fortified cities of Daughter Judah. He knocked to the ground and humiliated the kingdom and its rulers. ג (Gimel) 3In fierce anger he destroyed the whole army of Israel. He withdrew his right hand as the enemy attacked. He was like a raging fire in the land of Jacob; it consumed everything around it. ד (Dalet) He prepared his bow like an enemy; his right hand was ready to shoot. Like a foe he killed everyone, even our strong young men; he has poured out his anger like fire on the tent of Daughter Zion. ה (He) 5The Lord, like an enemy, destroyed Israel. He destroyed all her palaces; he ruined her fortified cities. He made everyone in Daughter Judah mourn and lament. ו (Vav) 6He destroyed his temple as if it were a vineyard; he destroyed his appointed meeting place. The Lord has made those in Zion forget both the festivals and the Sabbaths. In his fierce anger he has spurned both king and priest. ז (Zayin)

Lamentations 2:4 word by word

דָּרַ֨ךְ קַשְׁתּ֜וֹ כְּאוֹיֵ֗ב נִצָּ֤ב יְמִינוֹ֙ כְּצָ֔ר וַֽיַּהֲרֹ֔ג כֹּ֖ל מַחֲמַדֵּי־עָ֑יִן בְּאֹ֙הֶל֙ בַּת־צִיּ֔וֹן שָׁפַ֥ךְ כָּאֵ֖שׁ חֲמָתֽוֹ׃ סRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• He hath bentדָּרַךְdârak · to treadH1869
• his bowקֶ֫שֶׁתqesheth · bowH7198
• like an enemyאֹיֵב'ôyêb 'ôyêb · enemyH341
• he stoodנָצַבnâtsab · to standH5324
• with his right handיָמִיןyâmîyn · rightH3225
• as an adversaryצַרtsar tsâr · enemyH6862
• and slewהָרַגhârag · to killH2026
• pleasantמַחְמָדmachmâd · desireH4261
• to the eyeעַ֫יִן‛ayin · eyeH5869
• in the tabernacleאֹ֫הֶל'ôhel · tentH168
• of the daughterבַּתbath · daughterH1323
• of Zionצִיּוֹןtsîyôn · ZionH6726
• he poured outשָׁפַךְshâphak · to pour: pourH8210
• his furyחֵמָהchêmâh chêmâ' · rageH2534
• like fireאֵשׁ'êsh · fireH784

Cross-references for Lamentations 2:4

• Lamentations 2:5The Lord, like an enemy, destroyed Israel. He destroyed all her palaces; he ruined her fortified cities. He made everyone in Daughter Judah mourn and lament. ו (Vav)
• Lamentations 3:3He repeatedly attacks me, he turns his hand against me all day long. ב (Bet)
• Job 6:4For the arrows of the Almighty are within me; my spirit drinks their poison; God’s sudden terrors are arrayed against me.
• Job 16:12I was in peace, and he has shattered me. He has seized me by the neck and crushed me. He has made me his target;
• Isaiah 63:10But they rebelled and offended his holy Spirit, so he turned into an enemy and fought against them.
• Jeremiah 21:5In anger, in fury, and in wrath I myself will fight against you with my mighty power and great strength!
• Jeremiah 30:14All your allies have abandoned you. They no longer have any concern for you. For I have attacked you like an enemy would. I have chastened you cruelly. For your wickedness is so great and your sin is so much.
• Ezekiel 24:25“And you, son of man, this is what will happen on the day I take from them their stronghold – their beautiful source of joy, the object in which their eyes delight, and the main concern of their lives, as well as their sons and daughters:
• Lamentations 4:1Alas! Gold has lost its luster; pure gold loses value. Jewels are scattered on every street corner. ב (Bet)
• 2 Chronicles 34:21“Go, seek an oracle from the Lord for me and those who remain in Israel and Judah. Find out about the words of this scroll that has been discovered. For the Lord’s fury has been ignited against us, because our ancestors have not obeyed the word of the Lord by doing all that this scroll instructs!”
• Isaiah 42:25So he poured out his fierce anger on them, along with the devastation of war. Its flames encircled them, but they did not realize it; it burned against them, but they did notice.
• Isaiah 51:17Wake up! Wake up! Get up, O Jerusalem! You drank from the cup the Lord passed to you, which was full of his anger! You drained dry the goblet full of intoxicating wine.
• Isaiah 63:6I trampled nations in my anger, I made them drunk in my rage, I splashed their blood on the ground.”
• Jeremiah 4:4Just as ritual circumcision cuts away the foreskin as an external symbol of dedicated covenant commitment, you must genuinely dedicate yourselves to the Lord and get rid of everything that hinders your commitment to me, people of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. If you do not, my anger will blaze up like a flaming fire against you that no one will be able to extinguish. That will happen because of the evil you have done.”
• Jeremiah 7:20So,” the Lord God says, “my raging fury will be poured out on this land. It will be poured out on human beings and animals, on trees and crops. And it will burn like a fire which cannot be extinguished.”
• Jeremiah 36:7Perhaps then they will ask the Lord for mercy and will all stop doing the evil things they have been doing. For the Lord has threatened to bring great anger and wrath against these people.”

Commentaries on Lamentations 2:4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4He hath bent his bow - he stood with his right hand - This is the attitude of the archer. He first bends his bow; then sets his arrow upon the string; and, lastly, placing his right hand on the lower end of the arrow, in connection with the string, takes his aim, and prepares to let fly.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4He stood with his right hand … - i. e. that right hand so often stretched out to help now grasped a weapon ready for Judah‘s destruction. Were pleasant - Or, was “pleasant.” Put full stop after “eye.” Begin the third distich thus: In the tabernacle - (or, tent) of the daughter of Zion.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3-4bent His bow: In the past, the Lord had been a powerful warrior for Israel (see Exodus 14:13–15:21; Joshua 23:9–11; Judges 7; 2 Kings 19:32–35). Now he waged war against Jerusalem (see Isaiah 63:10; Ezekiel 24:25).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. (Is 63:10). stood with ... right hand--He took His stand so as to use His right hand as an adversary. Henderson makes the image to be that of an archer steadying his right hand to take aim. Not only did He withdraw His help, but also took arms against Israel. all ... pleasant to ... eye--(Eze 24:25). All that were conspicuous for youth, beauty, and rank. in ... tabernacle--the dwellings of Jerusalem. He.Read the comment

Topics related to Lamentations 2:4

• Bow

In the dictionaries

• Bosom
• Cord
• Poetry
• Acrostic
• Alphabet
• Lamentations, Book of
• Poetry, Hebrew
• Proverbs, the Book of
• bow and arrow, a bow

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