Lamentations 2:13 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?
Lamentations 2:13 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?
Lamentations 2:13 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?
Lamentations 2:13 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?
Lamentations 2:13 nlt
What can I say about you?
Who has ever seen such sorrow?
O daughter of Jerusalem,
to what can I compare your anguish?
O virgin daughter of Zion,
how can I comfort you?
For your wound is as deep as the sea.
Who can heal you?
Lamentations 2 13 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Lam 2:13 | What shall I testify to you? To what shall I compare you, O daughter of Jerusalem? To what shall I liken you, that I may comfort you, O virgin daughter of Zion? For your ruin is as wide as the sea; who can heal you? | Isaiah 58:12 |
| Lam 3:49 | My eye pours down rivers of tears because of the destruction of the daughter of my people. | Psalm 119:136 |
| Lam 3:51 | My eye pains me for all my adversaries, because of the ruin of the daughter of my people. | Jeremiah 9:1 |
| Lam 3:14 | I have become a laughingstock to all my people, their taunting song all day long. | Job 30:9 |
| Lam 2:11 | My eyes pour down tears; my cry is the cry of the poor and the sons of Israel and Judah for the destruction that has come upon Jerusalem. | Psalm 69:3 |
| Isaiah 3:8 | For Jerusalem has stumbled, and Judah has fallen, because their actions and their doings are against the LORD, provoking his glorious presence. | Jeremiah 8:19 |
| Isaiah 14:15 | But you are brought down to Sheol, to the depths of the Pit. | Isaiah 24:18 |
| Jeremiah 1:14 | Then the LORD said to me, "Out of the north disaster shall be set loose upon all the inhabitants of the land." | Jeremiah 6:12 |
| Jeremiah 13:13 | If you are discouraged and utter such words, they will be carried to Nebuchadnezzar. | Jeremiah 1:16 |
| Jeremiah 17:6 | He shall be like a lonely tree in the desert and shall not see when joy comes, but he shall lodge in parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. | Job 30:4 |
| Jeremiah 30:14 | All your lovers have forgotten you; they do not seek you. For I have struck you with the blow of an enemy, with the punishment of a fierce enemy, because of the magnitude of your iniquity, because your sins were so many. | Ezekiel 5:11 |
| Ezekiel 36:3 | Therefore prophesy and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: Because they have made you desolate, and have swallowed you up on every side, so that you became the possession of the rest of the nations, and you are made the talk of the lips and the infamy of the people... | Ezekiel 6:3 |
| Amos 8:9 | And in that day, declares the Lord GOD, I will make the sun go down at noon, and darken the earth in broad daylight. | Isaiah 13:10 |
| Revelation 17:1 | Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters... | Isaiah 47:8 |
| Revelation 18:10 | They will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say, ‘Alas! Alas! You great city, you mighty city, Babylon! For in one hour your judgment has come.’ | Jeremiah 50:40 |
| Matthew 23:37 | O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! | Luke 13:34 |
| Luke 19:42 | saying, "If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace! But now it is hidden from your eyes. | Isaiah 45:2 |
| John 3:16 | For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. | Romans 5:8 |
| 1 Corinthians 15:55 | O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? | Hosea 13:14 |
| Hosea 13:8 | I will meet them like a bear robbed of her cubs, and I will tear open the covering of their heart; I will devour them there like a lion; the wild beast shall rend them. | Jeremiah 2:30 |
| Nahum 2:7 | And it is decreed: she is carried captive; her maids groan like doves, beating upon their breasts. | Zephaniah 1:11 |
| Zephaniah 2:14 | ...and flocks will lie down in the midst of her, all kinds of wild animals. Both the osprey and the porcupine shall spend the night in its capitals, because a voice is howling from the window; devastation is on the threshold; for he has stripped the cedar from Lebanon. | Isaiah 34:11 |
Lamentations 2 verses
Lamentations 2 13 Meaning
Jerusalem's destruction is compared to the gaping mouth of a vast, consuming chasm. This profound simile emphasizes the totality and hopelessness of the city's ruin, portraying it as irrecoverable and swallowed by disaster.
Lamentations 2 13 Context
Lamentations chapter 2 vividly portrays the utter devastation of Jerusalem following its destruction by the Babylonians. The prophet Jeremiah (traditionally credited with authoring Lamentations) mourns the catastrophe that has befallen the city and its people. This verse reflects the specific horror of witnessing the city's collapse, a consequence of Israel's sin and God's judgment. The backdrop is one of profound national trauma, loss, and a search for understanding amidst immense suffering. The contemporary audience would have experienced firsthand the ruin described, making the prophet's lament deeply resonant.
Lamentations 2 13 Word Analysis
- What (Mah / מַה): An interrogative pronoun, starting the verse with a rhetorical question that conveys the prophet's inability to find words adequate to describe Jerusalem's plight.
- shall I testify (e'ed / אָעִיד): From the root 'uwd (עד - to witness, testify). It signifies bearing witness or giving evidence. Here, it suggests a search for a testimony or an illustration to convey the extent of the disaster.
- to you (lakem / לָכֶם): Plural masculine pronoun, referring to the people of Israel or Jerusalem to whom the lament is addressed.
- To what (la'an / לְאָן): An interrogative adverb meaning "to what place" or "where to." It underscores the unanswerable nature of the prophet's questions.
- shall I compare (leshawweh / לְשַׁוֵּה): From the root shawah (שׁוה - to be like, compare). It signifies making something similar or like another.
- you (otakh / אוֹתָךְ): Singular feminine pronoun, referring to Jerusalem itself, personified as a daughter.
- O daughter of Jerusalem (bat yerushalayim / בַּת יְרוּשָׁלַיִם): Personifies the city as a daughter, evoking tenderness and vulnerability, which heightens the tragedy of her ruin. A common prophetic motif.
- To what (la'an / לְאָן): Repeats the interrogative, emphasizing the perplexity and lack of comparison.
- shall I liken (l'dimmah / לְדַמָּה): From the root damah (דמה - to compare, liken, resemble). Another verb emphasizing the difficulty in finding a fitting analogy for Jerusalem's suffering.
- you (otakh / אוֹתָךְ): Again, referring to Jerusalem.
- that I may comfort (vekhenkhem / וְנַחֲמֵךְ): From the root naham (נחם - to comfort, console). Expresses the prophet's desire, though futile, to find words that could offer solace.
- O virgin daughter of Zion (bat betulah tziyon / בַּת בְּתוּלַת צִיּוֹן): "Virgin daughter" highlights innocence, purity, and a state before defilement, making the devastation more poignant. Zion often refers to the stronghold of Jerusalem or Jerusalem as a whole.
- For (ki / כִּי): Introduces the reason for the inability to find comfort.
- your ruin (hamash'ithayikh / הַמַּשְׁחִית): From the root shachath (שׁחת - to destroy, corrupt, ruin). Refers to the devastating destruction.
- is as wide as the sea (ki yami yam / כִּי־יָם יָם): Literally "for sea, sea." This is a striking Hebrew idiom for immense, immeasurable vastness. The sea, especially the Great Sea (Mediterranean), represented the boundary of the known world and something immense and uncontrollable.
- who can heal you (mi yirpa lek / מִי־יִרְפָּא לָךְ): From the root rapah (רפא - to heal, mend). A rhetorical question emphasizing the incurability of the wound inflicted upon the city, implying no human or earthly means can restore it.
Word Group Analysis
- The rhetorical questions (What shall I testify... To what shall I liken you...): This opening phrase establishes the prophet's profound sense of overwhelm. The repetition of interrogatives ("what," "to what") signals the inadequacy of language and analogy to capture the magnitude of Jerusalem's destruction.
- Personification of Jerusalem (daughter of Jerusalem, virgin daughter of Zion): Using terms like "daughter" and "virgin" humanizes the city and its suffering. It evokes empathy and highlights the grievousness of what has happened—the defilement and ruin of what was once precious and pure.
- "As wide as the sea" (ki yami yam): This powerful hyperbole signifies absolute, overwhelming, and unfathomable destruction. It's not just a wound, but an abyss from which there is no recovery. The repetition "sea, sea" amplifies this sense of boundless desolation.
- "Who can heal you?": This climactic question seals the sense of hopelessness. It declares that the damage is beyond repair, a final and devastating state.
Lamentations 2 13 Bonus Section
The comparison of destruction to the "sea" speaks to ancient anxieties about its vastness, its depth, and its uncontrollability. For the Israelites, the sea also represented chaos, and separation from the ordered land. The ruin of Jerusalem is presented as a descent into this chaos. The profound sense of finality in "Who can heal you?" might also echo the prophetic understanding that the restoration of Jerusalem, in a truly complete sense, would ultimately depend on divine intervention beyond human capacity.
Lamentations 2 13 Commentary
This verse captures the unfathomable depths of despair following the catastrophic fall of Jerusalem. The prophet is overcome, unable to find a fitting comparison for the city's complete ruin, which he likens to the boundless, uncontrollable expanse of the sea. The personification of Jerusalem as a vulnerable daughter and virgin heightens the tragedy, emphasizing the desecration and loss of purity. The ultimate question, "Who can heal you?" underscores the perceived finality of the judgment and the utter helplessness of the situation. It's a cry from the abyss, acknowledging a devastation so profound that no earthly remedy can suffice.