Lamentations 2:20

Lamentations 2:20 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Behold, O Lord, and consider to whom thou hast done this. Shall the women eat their fruit, and children of a span long? shall the priest and the prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord?
• English Standard Version (ESV)Look, 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?
• New King James Version (NKJV)“See, O Lord, and consider! To whom have You done this? Should the women eat their offspring, The children they have cuddled? Should the priest and prophet be slain In the sanctuary of the Lord?
• New Living Translation (NLT)“O Lord, think about this! Should you treat your own people this way? Should mothers eat their own children, those they once bounced on their knees? Should priests and prophets be killed within the Lord’s Temple?

Context of Lamentations 2:20

18The hearts of the people cry out to the Lord. You walls of Daughter Zion, let your tears flow like a river day and night; give yourself no relief, your eyes no rest. 19Arise, cry out in the night, as the watches of the night begin; pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord. Lift up your hands to him for the lives of your children, who faint from hunger at every street corner. “Look, Lord, and consider: Whom have you ever treated like this? Should women eat their offspring, the children they have cared for? Should priest and prophet be killed in the sanctuary of the Lord? 21“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. 22“As you summon to a feast day, so you summoned against me terrors on every side. In the day of the Lord’s anger no one escaped or survived; those I cared for and reared my enemy has destroyed.”

Lamentations 2:20 word by word

רְאֵ֤ה יְהוָה֙ וְֽהַבִּ֔יטָה לְמִ֖י עוֹלַ֣לְתָּ כֹּ֑ה אִם־תֹּאכַ֨לְנָה נָשִׁ֤ים פִּרְיָם֙ עֹלֲלֵ֣י טִפֻּחִ֔ים אִם־יֵהָרֵ֛ג בְּמִקְדַּ֥שׁ אֲדֹנָ֖י כֹּהֵ֥ן וְנָבִֽיא׃ סRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Beholdרָאָהrâ'âh · to see: seeH7200
• O Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• and considerנָבַטnâbaţ · to lookH5027
• to whom thou hast doneעָלַל‛âlal · to abuseH5953
• thisכֹּהkôh · thusH3541
• Shall the womenאִשָּׁה'ishshâh nâshîym · womanH802
• eatאָכַל'âkal · to eatH398
• their fruitפְּרִיperîy · fruitH6529
• childrenעוֹלֵל‛ôlêl ‛ôlâl · infantH5768
• of a span longטִפֻּחִיםţippûch · tender careH2949
• shall the priestכֹּהֵןkôhên · priestH3548
• and the prophetנָבִיאnâbîy' · prophetH5030
• be slainהָרַגhârag · to killH2026
• in the sanctuaryמִקְדָּשׁmiqdâsh miqqedâsh · sanctuaryH4720
• of the Lordאֲדֹנָי'ădônây · LordH136

Cross-references for Lamentations 2:20

• Exodus 32:11But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God. “Lord,” he said, “why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand?
• Deuteronomy 9:26I prayed to the Lord and said, “Sovereign Lord, do not destroy your people, your own inheritance that you redeemed by your great power and brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand.
• Isaiah 63:16But you are our Father, though Abraham does not know us or Israel acknowledge us; you, Lord, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is your name.
• Isaiah 64:8Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.
• Jeremiah 14:20We acknowledge our wickedness, Lord, and the guilt of our ancestors; we have indeed sinned against you.
• Lamentations 4:10With their own hands compassionate women have cooked their own children, who became their food when my people were destroyed.
• Leviticus 26:29You will eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters.
• Deuteronomy 28:53Because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege, you will eat the fruit of the womb, the flesh of the sons and daughters the Lord your God has given you.
• 2 Kings 6:28Then he asked her, “What’s the matter?” She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give up your son so we may eat him today, and tomorrow we’ll eat my son.’
• Jeremiah 19:9I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and daughters, and they will eat one another’s flesh because their enemies will press the siege so hard against them to destroy them.’
• Ezekiel 5:10Therefore in your midst parents will eat their children, and children will eat their parents. I will inflict punishment on you and will scatter all your survivors to the winds.
• Lamentations 1:19“I called to my allies but they betrayed me. My priests and my elders perished in the city while they searched for food to keep themselves alive.
• Lamentations 4:13But it happened because of the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests, who shed within her the blood of the righteous.
• Psalms 78:64their priests were put to the sword, and their widows could not weep.
• Isaiah 9:14So the Lord will cut off from Israel both head and tail, both palm branch and reed in a single day;
• Jeremiah 5:31The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way. But what will you do in the end?

Commentaries on Lamentations 2:20

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 20Consider to whom thou hast done this - Perhaps the best sense of this difficult verse is this: "Thou art our Father, we are thy children; wilt thou destroy thy own offspring? Was it ever heard that a mother devoured her own child, a helpless infant of a span long?" That it was foretold that there should be such distress in the siege, - that mothers should be obliged to eat their own children, is evident enough from Leviticus 26:29; Deuteronomy 28:53…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 20The sense is: “See, Yahweh, and look! whom hast Thou treated thus? Shall women eat their fruit - children whom they must still carry?” the swaddled child being one still needing to be nursed and borne in their arms.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. 20Jeremiah had warned that the same cannibalism (people eating human flesh during extreme hunger) that happened during the siege of Samaria (2 Kings 6:28–29) would also happen in Jerusalem (Jeremiah 19:9; see also Lamentations 4:10; Ezekiel 5:10; compare Deuteronomy 28:53–57).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2020. women eat ... fruit--as threatened (Le 26:29; De 28:53, 56, 57; Jr 19:9). children ... span long--or else, "children whom they carry in their arms" [Maurer]. Schin.Read the comment

Topics related to Lamentations 2:20

• Cannibalism
• Church
• Famine
• Measure
• Nation
• Sanctuary

In the dictionaries

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

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