New International Version
Lamentations 2:8
8The Lord determined to tear down the wall around Daughter Zion. He stretched out a measuring line and did not withhold his hand from destroying. He made ramparts and walls lament; together they wasted away.
Lamentations 2:8 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)The Lord hath purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion: he hath stretched out a line, he hath not withdrawn his hand from destroying: therefore he made the rampart and the wall to lament; they languished together.
- English Standard Version (ESV)The Lord determined to lay in ruins the wall of the daughter of Zion; he stretched out the measuring line; he did not restrain his hand from destroying; he caused rampart and wall to lament; they languished together.
- New King James Version (NKJV)The Lord has purposed to destroy The wall of the daughter of Zion. He has stretched out a line; He has not withdrawn His hand from destroying; Therefore He has caused the rampart and wall to lament; They languished together.
- New Living Translation (NLT)The Lord was determined to destroy the walls of beautiful Jerusalem. He made careful plans for their destruction, then did what he had planned. Therefore, the ramparts and walls have fallen down before him.
Context of Lamentations 2:8
6He has laid waste his dwelling like a garden; he has destroyed his place of meeting. The Lord has made Zion forget her appointed festivals and her Sabbaths; in his fierce anger he has spurned both king and priest. 7The Lord has rejected his altar and abandoned his sanctuary. He has given the walls of her palaces into the hands of the enemy; they have raised a shout in the house of the Lord as on the day of an appointed festival. The Lord determined to tear down the wall around Daughter Zion. He stretched out a measuring line and did not withhold his hand from destroying. He made ramparts and walls lament; together they wasted away. 9Her gates have sunk into the ground; their bars he has broken and destroyed. Her king and her princes are exiled among the nations, the law is no more, and her prophets no longer find visions from the Lord. 10The elders of Daughter Zion sit on the ground in silence; they have sprinkled dust on their heads and put on sackcloth. The young women of Jerusalem have bowed their heads to the ground.
Read all of Lamentations 2Lamentations 2:8 word by word
חָשַׁ֨ב יְהוָ֤ה׀ לְהַשְׁחִית֙ חוֹמַ֣ת בַּת־צִיּ֔וֹן נָ֣טָה קָ֔ו לֹא־הֵשִׁ֥יב יָד֖וֹ מִבַּלֵּ֑עַ וַיַּֽאֲבֶל־חֵ֥ל וְחוֹמָ֖ה יַחְדָּ֥ו אֻמְלָֽלוּ׃ סRead the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- The Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
- hath purposedחָשַׁבchâshab · to devise: deviseH2803
- to destroyשָׁחַתshâchath · to ruinH7843
- the wallחוֹמָהchômâh · wallH2346
- of the daughterבַּתbath · daughterH1323
- of Zionצִיּוֹןtsîyôn · ZionH6726
- he hath stretched outנָטָהnâţâh · to stretchH5186
- a lineקַוqav qâv · lineH6957
- he hath not withdrawnשׁוּבshûb · to return: turn backH7725
- his handיָדyâd · handH3027
- from destroyingבָּלַעbâla‛ · to swallow upH1104
- therefore he made the rampartחֵלchêyl chêl · rampartH2426
- to lamentאָבַל'âbal · to mournH56
- they languishedאָמַל'âmal · be weakH535
- togetherיָחְדָּוyachad · togetherH3162
Cross-references for Lamentations 2:8
- Lamentations 2:17The Lord has done what he planned; he has fulfilled his word, which he decreed long ago. He has overthrown you without pity, he has let the enemy gloat over you, he has exalted the horn of your foes.
- Isaiah 5:5Now I will tell you what I am going to do to my vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be destroyed; I will break down its wall, and it will be trampled.
- Jeremiah 5:10“Go through her vineyards and ravage them, but do not destroy them completely. Strip off her branches, for these people do not belong to the Lord.
- 2 Samuel 8:2David also defeated the Moabites. He made them lie down on the ground and measured them off with a length of cord. Every two lengths of them were put to death, and the third length was allowed to live. So the Moabites became subject to David and brought him tribute.
- 2 Kings 21:13I will stretch out over Jerusalem the measuring line used against Samaria and the plumb line used against the house of Ahab. I will wipe out Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down.
- Isaiah 28:17I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the plumb line; hail will sweep away your refuge, the lie, and water will overflow your hiding place.
- Isaiah 34:11The desert owl and screech owl will possess it; the great owl and the raven will nest there. God will stretch out over Edom the measuring line of chaos and the plumb line of desolation.
- Amos 7:7This is what he showed me: The Lord was standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb, with a plumb line in his hand.
- Job 13:21Withdraw your hand far from me, and stop frightening me with your terrors.
- Ezekiel 20:22But I withheld my hand, and for the sake of my name I did what would keep it from being profaned in the eyes of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out.
- 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.
- Isaiah 3:26The gates of Zion will lament and mourn; destitute, she will sit on the ground.
- Jeremiah 14:2“Judah mourns, her cities languish; they wail for the land, and a cry goes up from Jerusalem.
Commentaries on Lamentations 2:8
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 8He hath stretched out a line - The line of devastation; marking what was to be pulled down and demolished.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 8A line - Compare Isaiah 34:11. The destruction is systematic and thorough.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 8Ramparts were stone walls or earth mounds built around a city to protect it from enemy attacks.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 88. stretched ... a line--The Easterns used a measuring-line not merely in building, but in destroying edifices (2Ki 21:13; Is 34:11); implying here the unsparing rigidness with which He would exact punishment. Teth.Read the comment
In the dictionaries
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
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Commentaries