Lamentations 2:20 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?
Lamentations 2:20 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?
Lamentations 2:20 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?
Lamentations 2:20 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?
Lamentations 2:20 nlt
"O LORD, think about this!
Should you treat your own people this way?
Should mothers eat their own children,
those they once bounced on their knees?
Should priests and prophets be killed
within the Lord's Temple?
Lamentations 2 20 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Lamentations 2:19 | Arise, cry out in the night, at the beginning of the watches! Pour out your heart like water... | Lam 2:19 (Comparison of outpouring) |
| Lamentations 1:18 | The LORD is in the right, for I have rebelled against his word... | Lam 1:18 (Acknowledgement of sin) |
| Isaiah 26:17 | Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs... | Isa 26:17 (Labor pains imagery) |
| Jeremiah 50:45 | My fury is poured out upon them, saith the LORD... | Jer 50:45 (God's poured-out wrath) |
| Psalm 69:24 | Pour out thine indignation upon them, and let thy wrath take hold of them. | Psa 69:24 (Plea for God's wrath) |
| Psalm 42:3 | My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God? | Psa 42:3 (Affliction, God's absence) |
| Psalm 74:11 | Why withdrawest thou thy hand, even thy right hand, from thy bosom? | Psa 74:11 (God's hidden face) |
| Isaiah 47:3 | I will not sit as a widow, nor know the loss of children: but they shall be without children, and none shall take thy name in vain... | Isa 47:3 (Idolatrous comfort) |
| Jeremiah 22:23 | Thou that dwellest in Lebanon, that makest thy nest in cedars, how gracious shalt thou be when sorrows come upon thee, the pain as of a woman in travail! | Jer 22:23 (Similar labor pain) |
| Hosea 13:13 | The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him: he is an unwise son; for he stayeth not the breaking forth at the time of the breaking forth of children. | Hos 13:13 (Unwise travail imagery) |
| Matthew 24:8 | All these are but the beginning of the birth pains. | Matt 24:8 (Beginning of sorrows) |
| Revelation 12:2 | And she with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. | Rev 12:2 (Birth pangs for new life) |
| Psalm 30:2 | O LORD my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me. | Psa 30:2 (Healing after cries) |
| Jeremiah 2:13 | For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water. | Jer 2:13 (Forsaking God) |
| Psalm 77:2 | My soul refused to be comforted. | Psa 77:2 (Refusal of comfort) |
| Isaiah 38:14 | Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter: I did mourn as a dove: mine eyes fail with looking upward: O LORD, I am oppressed; undertake for me. | Isa 38:14 (Mourning, oppression) |
| Psalm 102:9 | For I have eaten ashes as bread, and mingled my drink with weeping, | Psa 102:9 (Eating ashes, weeping) |
| Jeremiah 9:1 | Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of my people! | Jer 9:1 (Weeping for the slain) |
| Lamentations 3:49 | Mine eye trickleth, and fainteth by reason of the affliction wherewith the LORD hath afflicted me from the continually of my punishments. | Lam 3:49 (Afflicted eye) |
| Lamentations 2:13 | What testimony will I bear concerning you? What will I compare you to, O daughter of Jerusalem? To what will I liken you, that I may comfort you, O virgin daughter of Zion? For your ruin is as vast as the sea; who can heal you? | Lam 2:13 (Comparison for comfort) |
| Lamentations 4:4 | The tongue of the nursing infant clings to the roof of its mouth for thirst; the young children ask for bread, but no one breaks it for them. | Lam 4:4 (Thirst of children) |
Lamentations 2 verses
Lamentations 2 20 Meaning
This verse is a direct plea to God from Jerusalem, now devastated by her enemies, comparing her suffering to the torment of a woman in childbirth. The focus is on the unnatural and extreme nature of her suffering, emphasizing her desolation and the abandonment she feels from God.
Lamentations 2 20 Context
Chapter 2 of Lamentations details the intense destruction and sorrow that befell Jerusalem after its conquest by the Babylonians. The prophet Jeremiah, writing from the perspective of Jerusalem, describes the desolation, the divine judgment, and the overwhelming suffering. This verse, chapter 2 verse 20, comes in the midst of an apostrophe to God, a desperate cry in the face of utter ruin. It highlights the profound pain and unnaturalness of the city's suffering, comparing it to the agony of a woman in difficult labor, a pain so severe that it defies natural explanation and brings a dire outcome. This imagery underscores Jerusalem's complete helplessness and her plea for God to witness and respond to her extreme distress.
Lamentations 2 20 Word Analysis
- See (Hebrew: רְאֵה - reʾēh): "Look," "behold," "see." An imperative verb urging God to observe the dire situation.
- O LORD (Hebrew: יְהוָה - YHWH): The personal covenant name of God, emphasizing the relationship and the expectation of divine intervention.
- consider (Hebrew: הַבִּיטָה - habbīṭāh): "Look upon," "regard," "consider." A similar imperative, calling for God's attention and assessment.
- and behold (Hebrew: וְרָאֵה - wərāʾēh): "And look," "and see." A further emphasis on visual attention, repeating the idea of observation.
- in that (Hebrew: כִּי - kī): "That," "for," "because." Introduces the reason for God to look.
- thou hast dealt so with us (Hebrew: כֹּה־עָשִׂיתָ לָנוּ - kōh-ʿās̲ītā lānû): "Thus have you done to us." A direct statement attributing the suffering to God's actions, acknowledging His sovereignty even in judgment.
- wherefore (Hebrew: עַל־כֵּן - ʿal-kēn): "Therefore," "because of this." Connects the following statement as a consequence.
- art thou become (Hebrew: הָיִיתָ — hāyītā): "You are," "you have become."
- as if we had no right (Hebrew: כַּאֲשֶׁר אֵין לָנוּ — kaʾăšer ʾên lānû): "As if we had no [heritage/possession/right]." Refers to loss of inheritance, a key concept in God's covenant with Israel, implying they are being disinherited.
- we have no child (Hebrew: אֵין־יֶלֶד — ʾên-yeled): "No child," "no offspring." This relates to barrenness and the destruction of family lines, a profound curse in ancient Israelite thought. It also connects to the loss of the people of Jerusalem, implying the extinction of a generation.
Word Group Analysis
- "See, O LORD, and consider...": This entire phrase is a desperate summons to God. It's not just a passive observation, but an active appeal for divine intervention based on the assessment of the situation.
- "in that thou hast dealt so with us": This highlights the theological framework of judgment. Jerusalem recognizes that the suffering is divinely permitted or ordained, not an accident. The "so" points to the extreme severity of the dealing.
- "wherefore art thou become as if we had no right, we have no child?": This complex phrasing speaks to a sense of utter dispossession. The loss of their "right" (perhaps the right to God's protection, or the right to their land and inheritance) and the lack of "child" (meaning the obliteration of their people and lineage) are presented as the ultimate indicators of this dispossession. It implies a loss of identity and future. The lack of a child also speaks to the profound grief and emptiness experienced when one's legacy is cut off.
Lamentations 2 20 Bonus Section
The imagery of labor pains is potent throughout Scripture. In the Old Testament, it often signifies the birth of a nation or significant historical events, but here, it represents the culmination of judgment and the end of an era for Jerusalem. In the New Testament, Jesus uses similar "birth pangs" to describe the beginnings of the end times (Matthew 24:8), and Revelation speaks of travailing in birth (Revelation 12:2), but often connected to the birth of something new—the Messianic kingdom. In Lamentations 2:20, the pain leads not to a new beginning for Jerusalem, but to the ultimate end of her political and spiritual existence as she had known it. The "no right" and "no child" also touch on the devastating effects of sin on inheritance and legacy, emphasizing how sin can sever the divinely intended continuity of life and covenant blessing. The question posed is not one of theological doubt in God's power, but a raw, desperate cry asking about the implications of His seemingly severe actions for His covenant people.
Lamentations 2 20 Commentary
Jerusalem's cry to God is an admission of their complete ruin, an extreme state described by the metaphor of a woman in agonizing labor. This labor is not leading to new life but to death and destruction. The prophet is imploring God to witness this horrific situation and to intervene. The realization that God "dealt so with us" shows a deep understanding of divine judgment. They acknowledge His sovereignty but question why His covenant dealings now resemble complete abandonment, as if Israel had forfeited its inheritance and its very future—its people ("no child"). The agony described is not just physical destruction but a profound spiritual desolation, a loss of identity and hope, rooted in their relationship with God. The suffering is so profound it feels like a negation of God's covenant promises.