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?
• New International Version (NIV)“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?
• 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?

Context of Lamentations 2:20

18Their heart cried out to the Lord: O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night. Give yourself no relief, your eyes no rest. 19Arise! Cry out in the night at the beginning of the watches! Pour out your heart like water before the presence of the Lord. Lift up your hands to Him for the life of your children who faint from hunger at the head of every street. Look, Adonai, and consider with whom You have dealt so severely! Should women eat their offspring, their healthy newborn infants? Should kohen and prophet be slain in the Sanctuary of the Lord? 21On the ground in the streets lie both young and old. My maidens and my young men have fallen by the sword. You slew them in the day of Your anger. You slaughtered them without pity. 22As on a moed day, You summon against me terrors on every side. On the day of the wrath of Adonai no one escaped or survived. Those whom I bore and raised 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 32:11Then Moses sought Adonai his God and said, “Adonai, why should Your wrath burn hot against Your people, whom You have brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?
• Deuteronomy 9:26I prayed to Adonai and said, ‘O Lord, Adonai, do not destroy Your people—Your inheritance that You have redeemed through Your greatness and brought out from Egypt with a mighty hand.
• Isaiah 63:16For You are our Father— even if Abraham would not know us or Israel not recognize us. You, Adonai, are our Father, our Redeemer— from everlasting is Your Name.
• Isaiah 64:8Do not be angry much more, Adonai, or remember iniquity forever. Oh, please see, we are all Your people!
• Jeremiah 14:20We acknowledge our wickedness, Adonai, the iniquity of our fathers, for we have sinned against You.
• Lamentations 4:10The hands of compassionate women boiled their own children. They became their food when the daughter of my people were destroyed.
• Leviticus 26:29You will eat the flesh of your sons and you will eat the flesh of your daughters.
• Deuteronomy 28:53“You will eat the fruit of your womb, the flesh of your sons and daughters Adonai your God has given you, in the siege and stress with which your enemies will distress you.
• 2 Kings 6:28Then the king asked her, “What’s the matter with you?” She answered, “This woman said to me: ‘Give your son that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’
• Jeremiah 19:9And I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and their daughters, and everyone will eat his companion’s flesh during the siege and distress, which their enemies and those who seek their life will inflict on them.
• Ezekiel 5:10Therefore the fathers will eat the sons in your midst, and sons will eat their fathers. I will execute judgments on you and I will scatter the remainder of you to all the winds.
• Lamentations 1:19I called to my lovers— they deceived me! My kohanim and my elders perished in the city when they sought food to keep themselves alive.
• Lamentations 4:13Yet it happened because of the sins of her prophets, and the iniquities of her kohanim, who shed in her midst the blood of the tzadikim .
• Psalms 78:64Their priests fell by the sword, and their widows could not weep.
• Isaiah 9:14The elder and the man of rank— he is the head. The prophet who teaches falsehood— he is the tail.
• Jeremiah 5:31The prophets prophesy falsely, the kohanim 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