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 are filled with tears. My stomach is in torment. My heart is poured out on the ground over the destruction of the daughter of my people— as young children and infants languish in the city squares. 12They say to their mothers, “Where is grain and wine?” as they faint like a wounded soldier in the city squares, as their lives ebb away in their mothers’ bosom. How can I admonish you? To what can I compare you, O daughter of Jerusalem? To what can I liken you, so that I might console you, O virgin daughter of Zion? For your wound is as deep as the sea! Who can heal you? 14Your prophets have seen for you false and worthless visions. They did not expose your iniquity, so as to restore your captivity. Rather, they have seen for you false and worthless oracles. 15All who pass your way clap their hands at you. They hiss and shake their heads at the daughter of Jerusalem. “Is this the city of which they said, ‘The perfection of beauty,’ ‘the joy of the whole 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

Words taken from the KJV.

• What thing shall I take to witnessעוּד‛ûd · to testifyH5749
• for thee? what thingמָהmâh mah mâ ma meh · what?H4100
• shall I likenדָּמָהdâmâh · to resembleH1819
• to thee, O daughterבַּתbath · daughterH1323
• of Jerusalemיְרוּשָׁלִַ֫ם, יְרוּשְׁלֵםyerûshâlaim yerûshâlayim · JerusalemH3389
• what shall I equalשָׁוָהshâvâh · be likeH7737
• to thee, that I may comfortנָחַםnâcham · to be sorry: comfortH5162
• thee, O virginבְּתוּלָהbethûlâh · virginH1330
• of Zionצִיּוֹןtsîyôn · ZionH6726
• for thy breachשֶׁ֫בֶרsheber shêber · breakingH7667
• greatגָּדוֹלgâdôl gâdôl · great: largeH1419
• like the seaיָםyâm · seaH3220
• who can healרָפָאrâphâ' râphâh · to healH7495

Cross-references for Lamentations 2:13

• Lamentations 1:12“Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by on the road? Look and see! Is any suffering like my suffering that was brought on me, that Adonai has inflicted in the day of His fierce anger?
• Daniel 9:12So He has confirmed His words that he spoke against us and against our rulers who ruled over us by bringing on us a great calamity. Under the whole heaven nothing like this has ever been done to Jerusalem!
• 2 Samuel 5:20So David came to Baal-perazim and David struck them down there. So he said, “Adonai has broken through my enemies before me like the breakthrough of waters!” That is why he named that place Baal-perazim.
• Psalms 60:2when he fought with Aram-Naharaim and with Aram-Zobah, and Joab returned and struck down twelve thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.
• Jeremiah 14:17You will say this word to them: “Let my eyes overflow with tears. Night and day, may they never stop. For the virgin daughter of my people is crushed with a great blow, with a sorely infected wound.”
• Ezekiel 26:3Therefore thus says Adonai Elohim: Behold, I am against you, Tyre. 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? Then why has no healing gone up for the daughter of my people?
• Jeremiah 30:12For thus says Adonai: “Your hurt is incurable, and your wound is severe.
• Jeremiah 51:8Suddenly Babylon is fallen! Shattered! Howl over her! Bring balm for her wound. 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