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LAMENTATIONS 2

PARAGRAPH DIVISIONS OF MODERN TRANSLATIONS

 NASB  NKJV  NRSV  TEV   NJB
(MT versing)
God's Anger Over Israel God's Anger with Jerusalem The People's Agony and Their Cry to God for Mercy The Lord's Punishment of Jerusalem Second Lamentation
2:1 2:1-10
 (1)
 (2)
 (3)
 (4)
 (5)
 (6)
 (7)
 (8)
 (9)
 (10) 		2:1-22
 (1)
 (2)
 (3)
 (4)
 (5)
 (6)
 (7)
 (8)
 (9)
 (10) 		2:1-22
 (1)
 (2)
 (3)
 (4)
 (5)
 (6)
 (7)
 (8)
 (9)
 (10) 		2:1 Aleph
2:2 2:2 Bet
2:3 2:3 Gimel
2:4 2:4 Dalet
2:5 2:5 He
2:6 2:6 Waw
2:7 2:7 Zain
2:8 2:8 Het
2:9 2:9 Tet
2:10 2:10 Yod
2:11 2:11-17
 (11)
 (12)
 (13)
 (14)
 (15)
 (16)
 (17)
 (11)
 (12)
 (13)
 (14)
 (15)
 (16)
 (17)
 (11)
 (12)
 (13)
 (14)
 (15)
 (16)
 (17)
2:11 Kaph
2:12 2:12 Lamed
2:13 2:13 Mem
2:14 2:14 Nun
2:15 2:15 Samek
2:16 2:16 Ain
2:17 2:17 Pe
2:18 2:18-19
 (18)
 (18)
 (18)		 2:18 Zade
2:19  (19)  (19)  (19) 2:19 Qoph
2:20 2:20-22
 (20)
 (21)
 (22)
 (20)
 (20)		 2:20 Resh
2:21  (21)  (21) 2:21 Shin
2:22  (22)  (22) 2:22 Taw

READING CYCLE THREE (see "Bible Interpretation Seminar")

FOLLOWING THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR'S INTENT AT THE PARAGRAPH LEVEL

This is a study guide commentary, which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.

Read the chapter in one sitting. Identify the subjects. Compare your subject divisions with the five translations above. Paragraphing is not inspired, but it is the key to following the original author's intent, which is the heart of interpretation. Every paragraph has one and only one subject.

  1. First paragraph
  2. Second paragraph
  3. Etc.

WORD AND PHRASE STUDY

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 2:1
  1How the Lord has covered the daughter of Zion
 With a cloud in His anger!
 He has cast from heaven to earth
 The glory of Israel,
 And has not remembered His footstool
 In the day of His anger.

2:1 "How" This is a textual marker for a lament (i.e., funeral dirge). See full note at Lam. 1:1.

▣ "Lord" This is Adon (BDB 10). It was found in only two verses of chapter 1 (i.e., Lam. 1:14,15). The use of YHWH dominates the first lament but the title Adon predominates the second (cf. Lam. 2:1,2,5,7,18,19,20).

SPECIAL TOPIC: LORD (kurios)

▣
NASB, NKJV, TEV  "covered"
NRSV  "humiliated"
NJB  "enveloped"
JPSOA  "shamed"
LXX  "brought gloom"

The VERB (BDB 729, KB 794, Hiphil IMPERFECT) is found only here. The root is related to "dark cloud" or "cloud mass which covers." In this verse it has the ominous connotation of something God did to Israel (i.e., His Temple, cf. Isa. 64:11) in anger over rebellion.

  1. He apparently hides them from Himself (as the incense did in the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur, Revelation 16).
  2. He cast their glory (i.e., their special relationship with Himself) from His presence (cf. 2 Kgs. 13:23) to the earth (same as He does to the King of Babylon, Isa. 14:12-15 and King of Tyre, Ezek. 28:14-16).
  3. He rejects the covenant, symbolized in the ark of the covenant, which was His footstool (cf. 1 Chr. 28:2; Ps. 99:1,15; 132:7; Isa. 66:1; Matt. 5:34-35). This was where heaven and earth, the invisible and the visible, met. AB (p. 35) suggests an emendation to
    1. disgraced (Arabic root, see NRSV)
    2. with contempt (NIDOTTE, vol. 3, p. 333)

▣ "the daughter of Zion" See notes at Lam. 1:6.

▣ "His anger" (twice) See SPECIAL TOPIC: THE PROBLEMS AND LIMITATIONS OF HUMAN LANGUAGE.

▣ "the glory of Israel" It could refer to

  1. the Temple, see Isa. 64:11
  2. Jerusalem, see Isa. 13:19
  3. their covenant relationship with YHWH (cf. 1 Sam. 15:29)

Number 1 fits best the context from heaven to earth.

▣ "has not remembered" In the OT mankind repeatedly is admonished to remember his/her sin, but God is called on to forget/forgive mankind's sin. The forgiveness reflects

  1. the character of God
  2. His remembrance of His covenant promises to the Patriarchs

SPECIAL TOPIC: CHARACTERISTICS OF ISRAEL'S GOD (OT)

SPECIAL TOPIC: COVENANT PROMISES TO THE PATRIARCHS

▣ "footstool" In the ANE it was a royal system for a victorious king.

  1. YHWH as creator is king (cf. 1 Sam. 8:7; Ps. 10:16; 29:10).
  2. It often refers to Jerusalem/Zion, the place God caused His ark/temple to dwell (Psalm 99; Lam. 2:1).
  3. It specifically refers to the ark in the Holy of Holies overshadowed by the Cherubim.
  4. The Davidic Kings represented God's power and presence. Their enemies were depicted as "footstools" (Ps. 110:1; also Messiah, 1 Cor. 15:25; Eph. 1:22).

SPECIAL TOPIC: ZION

SPECIAL TOPIC: ARK OF THE COVENANT

SPECIAL TOPIC: MERCY SEAT

SPECIAL TOPIC: CHERUBIM

SPECIAL TOPIC: MESSIAH

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 2:2
  2The Lord has swallowed up; He has not spared
 All the habitations of Jacob.
 In His wrath He has thrown down
 The strongholds of the daughter of Judah;
 He has brought them down to the ground;
 He has profaned the kingdom and its princes.

2:2 "The Lord has swallowed up" This VERB in the Piel (BDB 118, KB 134, cf. Lam. 2:8) is an idiom of destruction (cf. Lam. 2:5 (twice), 8; Job 2:3; 10:8; Ps. 21:9; 5:9; 107:27). The Qal stem is also used of destruction, cf. Num. 16:32-34; Deut. 11:6 (Sheol); Ps. 69:15 (the deep); Ps. 124:3 (enemies).

The imagery is of the totality of the event. YHWH's complete and full justice swallowed up faithless Judeans! He did not change His mind or spare them!

  1. swallowed up (cf. Lam. 2:2,5,16)
  2. did not spare (cf. Lam. 2:2,17,21; 1 Chr. 36:17; Jer. 13:14; 21:7; Ezek. 7:9)
  3. threw down (cf. Lam. 2:17; Mic. 5:11)
  4. brought to the ground
  5. profaned (cf. Ps. 89:39; Isa. 43:28; 47:6)

These as all PERFECTS denoting completed action.

▣ "habitations. . .strongholds" These two terms refer to unwalled villages and walled cities (fortresses surrounding Jerusalem at key topological places like Lachish). All are destroyed.

▣ "He has not spared" The MT has "without mercy." The Masoretic scholars have suggested "has shown no mercy" (Qere). See Lam. 2:17d, also a Qal PERFECT of BDB 328, KB 328.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 2:3
  3In fierce anger He has cut off
 All the strength of Israel;
 He has drawn back His right hand
 From before the enemy.
 And He has burned in Jacob like a flaming fire
 Consuming round about.

2:3 During the exodus and conquest, YHWH was a warrior for Israel (i.e., Holy War), but now He no longer fights for them. He fights against them (cf. Lam. 2:5; Jer. 30:14) by using pagan invaders to judge His covenant people.

▣ "All the strength of Israel" The word "might" is literally "horn" (BDB 901). See full note at Lam. 2:17.

▣ "His right hand" See SPECIAL TOPIC: HAND and SPECIAL TOPIC: GOD DESCRIBED AS HUMAN.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 2:4
  4He has bent His bow like an enemy;
 He has set His right hand like an adversary
 And slain all that were pleasant to the eye;
 In the tent of the daughter of Zion
 He has poured out His wrath like fire.

2:4 This continues the thought of Lam. 2:3, but adds specifically YHWH's destruction (i.e., YHWH as warrior, cf. Isa. 59:17; Eph. 6:14) of the Temple.

The sovereignty of the one true God was expressed in the theology of "one causality" (cf. 2 Chr. 20:6; Eccl. 7:14; Isa. 14:24-27; 43:13; 45:7; 54:16; Jer. 18:11; Lam. 3:33-38; Amos 3:6). YHWH used pagan nations but they did not know it was Israel's God who gave them the victory. This is reverse Holy War!

SPECIAL TOPIC: MONOTHEISM

▣ "fire" Notice how often "fire" has been mentioned (Lam. 2:3,4; 1:13; 4:11). Fire is first used as a judgment of God's people in Korah's rebellion of Num. 11:1-3.

SPECIAL TOPIC: FIRE

▣ "all that were pleasant to the eye" From the two previous lines of poetry, this may refer

  1. from the poetic context, to "soldiers"
  2. from Ezek. 24:16,25 (NET Bible), to "children/descendants"
  3. from 1 Kgs. 20:6, to "possessions" (Lam. 1:10)

▣ "In the tent" This could refer to

  1. the Tabernacle of the wilderness (anachronism)
  2. imagery for weakness and vulnerability
  3. a way of referring to Judean homes (cf. Ps. 91:10; 132:3)

Option #2 or 3 seems best because a different word, "booth" (BDB 968) is used of the Tabernacle/Temple in Lam. 2:6.

▣ "He has poured out" This VERB (BDB 1049, KB 1629, Qal PERFECT) has several usages (examples).

  1. related to the sacrificial system's placement of blood ‒ Exod. 29:12; Lev. 4:7,18,25,30,34; 17:13
  2. related to proper drainage of blood from animal meat ‒ Deut. 12:16,24,27; 15:23
  3. the shedding of human blood
  4. imagery of how one prays ‒ 1 Sam. 1:15; Ps. 42:4; 62:8; 102 (i.e., title); 142:2; Lam. 2:11,19
  5. imagery of one's strength ‒ Job 30:16; Ps. 22:14
  6. God giving His Spirit ‒ Isa. 32:15; Ezek. 39:29 (cf. 36:27; 37:14); Joel 2:28,29; Zech. 12:10
  7. God's wrath ‒ Ps. 69:24; 79:6; Isa. 42:25; Jer. 6:11; 10:25; 14:16; Lam. 2:4; 4:11; Ezek. 7:8; 9:8; 14:19; 20:8,13,33,34; 21:31; 22:22,31; Hos. 5:10; Zeph. 3:8; same concept but different word, BDB 677, used in 2 Chr. 34:21; Jer. 7:20; 42:18; Ezek. 22:22

SPECIAL TOPIC: POURED OUT (NT)

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 2:5
  5The Lord has become like an enemy.
 He has swallowed up Israel;
 He has swallowed up all its palaces,
 He has destroyed its strongholds
 And multiplied in the daughter of Judah
 Mourning and moaning.

2:5 "The Lord has become like an enemy" This is the reverse of Holy War! YHWH, the true covenant God, is the covenant people's adversary (cf. Isa. 63:10; Jer. 30:14). Oh my, oh my!

The MT has "Lord" (Adon) but the Masoretic scholars suggested a change to YHWH (Qere), cf. Lam. 1:14; 2:2,7,18,19,20.

▣ "swallowed" See full note at Lam 2:2a.

▣ "Israel. . .the daughter of Judah" It is possible that

  1. Israel and Judah refer to the northern kingdom
  2. Israel refers to the Assyrian exile and Judah refers to the Babylonian exile

Because of the last two poetic lines of Lam. 2:5, option #1 fits best.

▣ "Mourning and moaning" This is a purposeful sound play.

  1. mourning ‒ תאביה
  2. moaning ‒ ואביה

▣ "He has destroyed" This VERB (BDB 1007, KB 1469) is used several times of YHWH's judgment.

  1. Lam. 2:5, Judah's strongholds (i.e., walled cities)
  2. Lam. 2:6, Judah's feasts and Temple
  3. Lam. 2:8, the defensive walls of Jerusalem

This VERB is found only in these three places in Lamentations, but is common in Jeremiah.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 2:6
  6And He has violently treated His tabernacle like a garden booth;
 He has destroyed His appointed meeting place.
 The Lord has caused to be forgotten
 The appointed feast and sabbath in Zion,
 And He has despised king and priest
 In the indignation of His anger.

2:6-9 YHWH has rejected the festival calendar (cf. Exodus 23; Leviticus 25) and the sacrificial system (Leviticus 1-7). He has abandoned and destroyed

  1. king and capital
  2. priest and temple
  3. prophets (cf. Lam. 2:9e-f, 14)

1 Chronicles 28:9 says it will be permanent but Lam. 3:1 offers a future hope based on Israel's repentance and YHWH's mercy (cf. Hosea 11:8-11; Zech. 6:10).

2:6
NASB  "like a garden booth"
NKJV  "as if it were a garden"
NRSV  "his booth like a garden"
NJB, JPSOA  "like a garden"
LXX  "like a vine"

YHWH destroyed His Temple.

  1. like a watchman's shed/booth in a field
  2. stripped (JPSOA, REB) like a vineyard (cf. Isa. 5:5-6; Jer. 5:10; 12:10)

This agricultural imagery denotes the removal of all restraints and allows animals and thieves to plunder the field/vineyard (cf. Lam. 2:12), here, plunder the Temple.

C. D. Ginsburg suggests a reading of "like a thief" from the context but it is not supported by the MT or any ancient version.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 2:7
  7The Lord has rejected His altar,
 He has abandoned His sanctuary;
 He has delivered into the hand of the enemy
 The walls of her palaces.
 They have made a noise in the house of the Lord
 As in the day of an appointed feast.

2:7 Notice the parallelism between the first two poetic lines.

  1. rejected His altar ‒ BDB 276, KB 276, Qal PERFECT; Robert Gordis, in his commentary, p. 162, suggests this VERB is from an Arabic root, "to smell bad" (cf. Isa. 19:6; Hos. 8:5 [BDB 276 II])
  2. abandoned His sanctuary ‒ BDB 611, KB 658, Piel PERFECT; this VERB occurs only twice, both in Piel, here and Ps. 89:39. Suggestions from context and Arabic cognate roots:
    1. abhor
    2. insult

In Ps. 89:39 it is parallel to "defile" or "pollute" (BDB 320 III, Piel PERFECT).

2:7e This refers to pagan invaders rejoicing in the destroyed Temple (i.e., Ps. 74:4). This possibly relates to Lam. 1:10-11 and Lam. 2:17e.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 2:8
  8The Lord determined to destroy
 The wall of the daughter of Zion.
 He has stretched out a line,
 He has not restrained His hand from destroying,
 And He has caused rampart and wall to lament;
 They have languished together.

2:8a "The Lord determined to destroy" This VERB (BDB 362, KB 359, Qal PERFECT) basically means "to think" or "to account." But it is often used of "purposed plans of actions."

  1. God plans judgment
    1. against Edom, Jer. 49:20
    2. against Hazor, Jer. 49:30
    3. against Babylon, Jer. 50:45
    4. against His people, Jer. 28:8,15; 36:3; Lam. 2:8; Mic. 5:3; (because they planned against Him, Mic. 2:1)
  2. Humans plan evil actions
    1. against Jeremiah, Jer. 11:18,19
    2. against God or His people, Ezek. 11:2; 38:10; Dan. 11:24,25; Hos. 7:15; Mic. 2:1
  3. God plans good things
    1. for those who repent, Jer. 18:8,18; 36:3
    2. for Jeremiah, Jer. 29:11

2:8c This is an idiom of judgment (cf. 2 Kgs. 21:13; Isa. 28:17; 34:11; Amos 7:7-9).

2:8e "rampart" This NOUN (BDB 298, cf. Isa. 26:1) has several possible meanings.

  1. a little wall(s) of outer defense(s), see Roland deVaux, Ancient Israel, p. 233
  2. the space between the outer and inner fortifications
  3. a moat ("ditch," Tregelles' Gesenius Hebrew Lexicon), cf. Nah. 3:8

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 2:9
  9Her gates have sunk into the ground,
 He has destroyed and broken her bars.
 Her king and her princes are among the nations;
 The law is no more.
 Also, her prophets find
 No vision from the Lord .

2:9a The imagery of Lam. 2:8-9 is the personification of Jerusalem's defensive structures bowing to the ground in grief.

  1. rampart (see notes), Lam. 2:8
  2. wall, Lam. 2:8
  3. gates, Lam. 2:9

Notice the "virgins" (i.e., Temple singers, musicians, dancers) of Lam. 2:10 also are bowed in grief.

2:9d Think how devastating this statement would be to Judeans! It may refer only to priestly instruction, cf. Jer. 18:18; Hag. 2:11; Mal. 2:6.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 2:10
  10The elders of the daughter of Zion
 Sit on the ground, they are silent.
 They have thrown dust on their heads;
 They have girded themselves with sackcloth.
 The virgins of Jerusalem
 Have bowed their heads to the ground.

2:10 "The elders" See SPECIAL TOPIC: ELDER.

▣ "Sit on the ground" All the surrounding VERBS are PERFECTS except for this line of poetry (two Qal IMPERFECTS, which would mean they threw themselves on the ground repeatedly). The LXX, Targums, and Vulgate versions emend them to PERFECT TENSE VERBS.

SPECIAL TOPIC: GRIEVING RITES

▣ "the virgins" Probably "the elders" ‒ "the virgins" was an idiomatic way (merism) to refer to all society.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 2:11
  11My eyes fail because of tears,
 My spirit is greatly troubled;
 My heart is poured out on the earth
 Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people,
 When little ones and infants faint
 In the streets of the city.

2:11 "My eyes fail because of tears" See note at Lam. 1:2. This may be the wail of the author of Lamentations or Jerusalem itself personified. It seems the author addresses Jerusalem directly in Lam. 2:13-16.

▣ "My spirit" See full note at Lam. 1:20.

▣ "My heart" This is literally "liver" (BDB 458). This is parallel to the "inward parts" (BDB 588; Lam. 1:20; NJB, "inner most being"; NRSV, "stomach"). It was the seat of the emotions. The word itself denotes the heavy, thick, middle organ. The "liver" may be the true reading of Ps. 7:5c. This would mean changing "glory" (kabod) to "liver."

  1. glory ‒ כבודי, BDB 458
  2. liver ‒ כבדי, BDB 458

This is the suggestion of AB, p. 45.

▣ "When little ones and infants faint" The children die for lack of food (Lam. 2:19). Then they are eaten by their parents (v. 20; Lam. 1:11).

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 2:12
  12They say to their mothers,
 "Where is grain and wine?"
 As they faint like a wounded man
 In the streets of the city,
 As their life is poured out
 On their mothers' bosom.

2:12 "They say. . ." This is IMPERFECT. These children ask again and again for food.

▣ "life" This is the Hebrew word nephesh (BDB 659). See online note at Ezekiel 18:4.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 2:13
  13How shall I admonish you?
 To what shall I compare you,
 O daughter of Jerusalem?
 To what shall I liken you as I comfort you,
 O virgin daughter of Zion?
 For your ruin is as vast as the sea;
 Who can heal you?

2:13e "O virgin daughter of Zion" This is a collective phrase of endearment. It is used of

  1. Zion ‒ 2 Kgs. 19:21; Ps. 9:14; Isa. 1:8; 16:1; 62:11; Jer. 6:23; Lam. 4:22; Mic. 4:8; Zeph. 3:14
  2. Jerusalem ‒ 2 Kgs. 19:21; Isa. 37:22; Lam. 2:13,15

Notice both are used in parallel in Lam. 2:13 and 2 Kgs. 19:21. This is another example of family terms used to describe God and His people.

The irony here is that God's special unmarried daughter has played the harlot by being involved in ANE fertility worship or treaties with pagan nations.

SPECIAL TOPIC: THE FATHERHOOD OF GOD, II. C.

SPECIAL TOPIC: FERTILITY WORSHIP OF THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST

2:13g "Who can heal you" Healing in this context refers to sin and its consequences (cf. Isa. 1:5-6; Ps. 103:3; Jer. 3:22; 30:12-13) but there is hope if repentance occurs, Jer. 33:6-9. If God has become your enemy, who can reverse His actions?

SPECIAL TOPIC: HEALING

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 2:14
  14Your prophets have seen for you
 False and foolish visions;
 And they have not exposed your iniquity
 So as to restore you from captivity,
 But they have seen for you false and misleading oracles.

2:14 The prophets of Jeremiah (cf. Jer. 23:25-32) and Ezekiel's day (cf. Ezek. 22:25,28) were prophesying false hope. They were assuring Judah that Jerusalem would never fall (i.e., Jer. 8:11; 14:13-16; Ezek. 13:10-16), probably based on the prophecies of Isaiah. However, they failed to note the conditional nature of YHWH's covenant with the Patriarchs.

SPECIAL TOPIC: COVENANT PROMISES TO THE PATRIARCHS

▣
NASB, LXX  "foolish"
NKJV, NRSV, Peshitta  "deceptive"
NJB  "whitewash"
JPSOA  "folly"
REB  "painted sham"

This root (BDB 1074, KB 1776) has several possible meanings.

  1. spoiled fish (Arabic root)
  2. tasteless (cf. Job 6:6)
  3. unseemliness
  4. whitewash (i.e., deceptive, cf. Ezek. 13:10,13,14,15; 22:28)

BDB suggests #2 here, while KB suggested either #2 or #4. NIDOTTE, vol. 4, p. 323, prefers "deceptive" (NKJV, NRSV, JPSOA).

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 2:15
  15All who pass along the way
 Clap their hands in derision 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,
 A joy to all the earth'?"

2:15 This verse uses several physical gestures of surprise and contempt (JPSOA claims that this verse refers to superstition related to curses, using Job 27:23 and Jer. 18:16).

  1. clap their hands ‒ Num. 24:10; Job 27:23
  2. hiss ‒ Lam. 2:16; 1 Kgs. 9:8; 2 Chr. 29:8; Job 27:23; Jer. 18:16; 19:8; 25:9,18; 49:17; 50:13; 51:37; Ezek. 27:36; Zeph. 2:15
  3. shake their heads ‒ possibly Lam. 1:8b; 2 Kgs. 19:21; Job 16:4; Ps. 22:7; 109:25; Isa. 37:22; Jer. 18:16; Zeph. 2:15; Matt. 27:39; Mark 15:29

God's people had claimed to be "the perfection of beauty" and "a joy to all the earth" (cf. Ps. 48:2; 50:2; Ezek. 16:14,15). If so, why has their God let them be so utterly destroyed (cf. Deut. 29:24-26; Jer. 22:8-9)? Their rebellion and covenant disobedience has caused this (cf. Lam. 1:5-6,14; Ezek. 16:25), not any character fault or weakness on YHWH's part. They had been warned (by Moses, Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 28; and the prophets), but they would not see or hear (cf. Isa. 6:9-13).

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 2:16
  16All your enemies
 Have opened their mouths wide against you;
 They hiss and gnash their teeth.
 They say, "We have swallowed her up!
 Surely this is the day for which we waited;
 We have reached it, we have seen it."

2:16 "gnash their teeth" This was a gesture of anger and aggression (cf. Job 16:9); Ps. 35:16; 37:12; 112:10; Lam. 2:16; Matt. 8:12; 13:42; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30; Luke 13:28; Acts 7:54.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 2:17
  17The Lord has done what He purposed;
 He has accomplished His word
 Which He commanded from days of old.
 He has thrown down without sparing,
 And He has caused the enemy to rejoice over you;
 He has exalted the might of your adversaries.

2:17 Judah's demise, caused by her sin and rebellion, was predicted in Lev. 26:21-39; Deuteronomy 28; and Joshua 24:19-28. Now it has come to pass!

For "He purposed" (BDB 273, KB 273, Qal PERFECT) see Jer. 4:28; 51:12,29; Zech. 8:14; note the opposite plan in Zech. 8:15.

▣ "the might" This is literally "horn." Animal's horns were idiomatic and proverbial for power. Note the different usages.

  1. on the altars (cf. Exod. 27:2; 29:12; 30:2,3,10; 37:25,26; Lev. 4:7,18,25,30,34; Rev. 9:13)
  2. imagery of human strength/power (cf. Deut. 33:17; 1 Sam. 2:1,10; Ps. 89:17)
  3. imagery of national strength (cf. Jer. 48:25; Lam. 2:3)
  4. imagery of God (cf. 2 Sam. 22:3)
  5. imagery of Messiah (cf. Ps. 132:17; Ezek. 29:21; Luke 1:69; Rev. 5:6)
  6. imagery of anti-God nations and persons (cf. Daniel 8; Rev. 12:3; 13:1,11; 17:3,7,12,16)

How different is the "horn" of the pagan invaders compared to Judah's horn (Lam. 2:3).

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 2:18
  18Their heart cried out to the Lord,
 "O wall of the daughter of Zion,
 Let your tears run down like a river day and night;
 Give yourself no relief,
 Let your eyes have no rest.

2:18-19 This describes how Judah should pray.

  1. "Let your tears run down like a river day and night" ‒ BDB 432, KB 434, Hiphil IMPERATIVE
  2. "Give yourself no relief" ‒ BDB 678, KB 733, Qal IMPERFECT used in a JUSSIVE sense
  3. "Let your eyes" (lit. "the daughter of your eye," an idiom of affection, cf. Deut. 32:10; Ps. 17:8; Pro. 7:2; Lam. 2:18; Zech. 2:8) ‒ BDB 198, KB 226, Qal IMPERFECT used in a JUSSIVE sense
  4. "Arise" ‒ BDB 877, KB 1086, Qal IMPERATIVE (usually prayer was done standing, eyes open, hands up [cf. Lam. 2:19e], out loud [2:19a])
  5. "Cry aloud" ‒ BDB 943, KB 1247, Qal IMPERATIVE
  6. "Pour out your heart like water" ‒ BDB 1049, KB 1629, Qal IMPERATIVE (cf. Ps. 62:8; see note on VERB at Lam. 2:4)
  7. "Lift up your hands to Him" ‒ BDB 669, KB 724, Qal IMPERATIVE

2:18 "Their heart cried out to the Lord" The MT has the VERB (BDB 858, KB 1042) as a Qal PERFECT, but many scholars and translations support an emendation to a Qal IMPERATIVE (NRSV, TEV, NJB, and JPSOA footnote).

There are two Qal IMPERFECTS used as JUSSIVES in Lam. 2:18 and these are followed by four Qal IMPERATIVES in Lam. 2:19.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 2:19
  19"Arise, cry aloud in the night
 At the beginning of the night watches;
 Pour out your heart like water
 Before the presence of the Lord;
 Lift up your hands to Him
 For the life of your little ones
 Who are faint because of hunger
 At the head of every street."

2:19 "Before the presence of the Lord" This is literally "face." It is imagery that denotes

  1. personhood
  2. closeness

SPECIAL TOPIC: THE PROBLEMS AND LIMITATIONS OF HUMAN LANGUAGE

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 2:20
  20See, O Lord, and look!
 With whom have You dealt thus?
 Should women eat their offspring,
 The little ones who were born healthy?
 Should priest and prophet be slain
 In the sanctuary of the Lord?

2:20 This verse starts with the same two MPERATIVES as Lam. 1:11,12; and the VERB "see" by itself in Lam. 1:9,20.

▣ "Should women eat their offspring" This was the terrible reality of siege warfare. The overloaded, walled cities ran out of food and water. This very thing was prophesied in Lev. 26:29 and Deut. 28:53,55 and recorded in Jer. 19:9; Lam. 4:10; Ezek. 5:10 (note 2 Kgs. 6:28).

▣ "born healthy" This is literally "tenderly cared for" (BDB 381, KB 378). This root is found only here but a related one (BDB 381) is in Lam. 2:22e. KB suggests "health and beauty of a newborn child."

▣ "Should priest and prophet be slain" Notice the powerful word in Jer. 23:11-12. The apostasy of the religious leaders caused the downfall of the whole society.

  1. children die of hunger
  2. children are then eaten
  3. leaders killed
  4. young and old die
  5. virgins and young men die
  6. none spared (cf. Lam. 2:20-21)

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 2:21
  21On the ground in the streets
 Lie young and old;
 My virgins and my young men
 Have fallen by the sword.
 You have slain them in the day of Your anger,
 You have slaughtered, not sparing.

2:21 "Your anger" See SPECIAL TOPIC: THE PROBLEMS AND LIMITATIONS OF HUMAN LANGUAGE.

▣ "not sparing" Often YHWH relented of His planned judgment on His people (cf. Jer. 18:8,18), but they continued to become more idolatrous. The only way to heal the spiritual cancer was to perform radical surgery (i.e., the exiles) and begin again. As YHWH removed the idolatrous Canaanites from His land (cf. Gen. 15:12-21), so now He removes His own covenant people from His Promised Land. He is no respecter of persons. We reap what we sow (cf. Job 34:11; Ps. 28:4; 62:12; Pro. 24:12; Eccl. 12:14; Jer. 17:10; 32:19; Matt. 16:27; 25:31-46; Rom. 2:6; 14:12; 1 Cor. 3:8; 2 Cor. 5:10; Gal. 6:7-10; 2 Tim. 4:14; 1 Pet. 1:17; Rev. 2:23; 20:12; 22:12)!

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 2:22
  22You called as in the day of an appointed feast
 My terrors on every side;
 And there was no one who escaped or survived
 In the day of the Lord's anger.
 Those whom I bore and reared,
 My enemy annihilated them.

2:22 "the day of an appointed feast" The feast was for the victorious pagan invaders (cf. Lam. 1:15). Judah's feast days have ceased (cf. Lam. 2:6d).

▣ "My terrors on every side" This phrasing is reminiscent of Ps. 31:13; Isa. 24:17-18; Jer. 6:25; 20:3,10; 46:5; 49:29.

▣ "there was no one who escaped or survived" This is hyperbolic language (i.e., Isa. 24:17-18; Jer. 11:11; 42:17; 44:14; Amos 5:18-20). Obviously no part of Judah's society, no family, was unaffected by YHWH's judgment (cf. Jer. 1:11).

▣ "In the day of the Lord's anger" Notice this lament starts with this phrase (Lam. 2:1f) and ends with it. This whole chapter is about YHWH's judgment on faithless Judah.

▣ "Those whom I bore and reared" This is imagery of YHWH as Israel/Judah's parent (cf. Isa. 1:2; Jer. 3:22; Hos. 11:3).

The VERB "bore" (BDB 381, KB 378, Piel PERFECT) basically means "healthy children." Notice the contrast.

  1. Judah ate her healthy children, Lam. 2:20
  2. YHWH's children (i.e., the descendants of Abraham) were born healthy but rebelled and acted unhealthily and now are all dead (by YHWH's will and the hand of Babylonian invaders).

SPECIAL TOPIC: THE FATHERHOOD OF GOD

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

This is a study guide commentary which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.

These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be thought-provoking, not definitive.

  1. Has YHWH cancelled His covenant with Abraham's descendants?
  2. How is the chapter "reverse Holy War"?
  3. What were the false prophets saying about Jerusalem and Babylon?
  4. How is this lament different from Hos. 11:8-9?
  5. Is Lam. 2:18-19 a call to repentance?

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