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.
• English Standard Version (ESV)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.
• 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

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. 20“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? “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 2:21 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 fierce-looking nation without respect for the old or pity for the young.
• Joshua 6:21They devoted the city to the Lord and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it—men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys.
• 1 Samuel 15:3Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.’ ”
• 2 Chronicles 36:17He brought up against them the king of the Babylonians, who killed their young men with the sword in the sanctuary, and did not spare young men or young women, the elderly or the infirm. God gave them all into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar.
• Esther 3:13Dispatches were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces with the order to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews—young and old, women and children—on a single day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods.
• Jeremiah 51:22with you I shatter man and woman, with you I shatter old man and youth, with you I shatter young man and young woman,
• Ezekiel 9:6Slaughter the old men, the young men and women, the mothers and children, but do not touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at my sanctuary.” So they began with the old men who were in front of the temple.
• Lamentations 1:15“The Lord has rejected all the warriors in my midst; he has summoned an army against me to crush my young men. In his winepress the Lord has trampled Virgin Daughter Judah.
• Psalms 78:63Fire consumed their young men, and their young women had no wedding songs;
• Jeremiah 9:21Death has climbed in through our windows and has entered our fortresses; it has removed the children from the streets and the young men from the public squares.
• Jeremiah 11:22therefore this is what the Lord Almighty says: “I will punish them. Their young men will die by the sword, their sons and daughters by famine.
• Jeremiah 18:21So give their children over to famine; hand them over to the power of the sword. Let their wives be made childless and widows; let their men be put to death, their young men slain by the sword in battle.
• Amos 4:10“I sent plagues among you as I did to Egypt. I killed your young men with the sword, along with your captured horses. I filled your nostrils with the stench of your camps, yet you have not returned to me,” declares the Lord.
• Lamentations 2:2Without pity the Lord has swallowed up all the dwellings of Jacob; in his wrath he has torn down the strongholds of Daughter Judah. He has brought her kingdom and its princes down to the ground in dishonor.
• Lamentations 3:43“You have covered yourself with anger and pursued us; you have slain without pity.
• Isaiah 27:11When its twigs are dry, they are broken off and women come and make fires with them. For this is a people without understanding; so their Maker has no compassion on them, and their Creator shows 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