2 Kings 19:21
in 2 Kings 19This is the word that the LORD has spoken against him: ‘The Virgin Daughter of Zion despises you and mocks you; the Daughter of Jerusalem shakes her head behind you.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
This is the word that Jehovah hath spoken concerning him: The virgin daughter of Zion hath despised thee and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee.
KJV
This is the word that the Lord hath spoken concerning him; The virgin the daughter of Zion hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee.
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This verse in 2 Kings 19
Commentary
4 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Concerning him - i. e., “concerning Sennacherib.” 2Ki 19:21-28 are addressed to the great Assyrian monarch himself, and are God’s reply to his proud boastings. The virgin, the daughter of Zion, - Rather, holy eastern city, is here distinguished from Jerusalem, the western one, and is given the remarkable epithet “virgin,” which is not applied to her sister; probably because the true Zion, the city of David, had remained inviolable from David’s time, having never been entered by an enemy. Jerusalem, on the other hand, had been taken, both by Shishak 1Ki 14:26 and by Jehoash 2Ki 14:
This site's exposition
The Virgin Daughter of Zion despises you
Jerusalem is pictured as "The Virgin Daughter of Zion", untouched, mocking the king. "Daughter of Zion" becomes Isaiah's standing poetic name for the city across his later chapters. The mockery runs against Sennacherib's own claim to be irresistible: this city alone "shakes her head behind you" and goes unharmed.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Thy impotent malice is ridiculous; he that sits in heaven laughs at thee, and therefore so do those that abide under his shadow." By this word God intended to silence the fears of Hezekiah and his people. Though to an eye of sense the enemy looked formidable, to an eye of faith he looked despicable. As an enemy to God; and that was enough to make him miserable.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
The virgin the daughter of Zion hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee - “So truly contemptible is thy power, and empty thy boasts, that even the young women of Jerusalem, under the guidance of Jehovah, shall be amply sufficient to discomfit all thy forces, and cause thee to return with shame to thy own country, where the most disgraceful death awaits thee.” When Bishop Warburton had published his Doctrine of Grace, and chose to fall foul on some of the most religious people of the land, a young woman of the city of Gloucester exposed his graceless system in a pamphlet, to which she affixed the above words as a motto!
The words behind it
18 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| זֶ֣ה | zeh | this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| הַדָּבָ֔ר | hadavar | [is] the word | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| דִּבֶּ֥ר | diber | he has spoken | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| יְהוָ֖ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| עָלָ֑יו | ʾalav | on him | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| בָּזָ֨ה | bazah | she has despised | H959 → | |
| לְךָ֜ | lekha | <to> you | ||
| לָעֲגָ֣ה | laagah | she has mocked | H3932 → | |
| לְךָ֗ | lekha | <to> you | ||
| בְּתוּלַת֙ | betulat | [the] virgin of | H1330 → | |
| בַּת־ | bat- | [the] daughter of | H1323 → | 588 times |
| צִיּ֔וֹן | tziyon | Zion | H6726 → | |
| אַחֲרֶ֙יךָ֙ | ʾachareikha | behind you | H310 → | 715 times |
| רֹ֣אשׁ | rosh | a head | H7218 → | 599 times |
| הֵנִ֔יעָה | heniah | she has shaken | H5128 → | |
| בַּ֖ת | bat | [the] daughter of | H1323 → | 588 times |
| יְרוּשָׁלִָֽם׃ | yerushalim | Jerusalem | H3389 → | 643 times |
זֶ֣הthis
zehH2088 →1180 times
הַדָּבָ֔ר[is] the word
hadavarH1697 →1440 times
אֲשֶׁר־which
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
דִּבֶּ֥רhe has spoken
diberH1696 →1141 times
יְהוָ֖הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
עָלָ֑יוon him
ʾalavH5921 →5755 times
בָּזָ֨הshe has despised
bazahH959 →
לְךָ֜<to> you
lekha
לָעֲגָ֣הshe has mocked
laagahH3932 →
לְךָ֗<to> you
lekha
בְּתוּלַת֙[the] virgin of
betulatH1330 →
בַּת־[the] daughter of
bat-H1323 →588 times
צִיּ֔וֹןZion
tziyonH6726 →
אַחֲרֶ֙יךָ֙behind you
ʾachareikhaH310 →715 times
רֹ֣אשׁa head
roshH7218 →599 times
הֵנִ֔יעָהshe has shaken
heniahH5128 →
בַּ֖ת[the] daughter of
batH1323 →588 times
יְרוּשָׁלִָֽם׃Jerusalem
yerushalimH3389 →643 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Matthew 27:39And those who passed by heaped abuse on Him, shaking their heads
it leads to
- Psalms 109:25
I am an object of scorn to my accusers; when they see me, they shake their heads.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 109:25
Through
Lamentations 2:13What can I say for you? To what can I compare you, O Daughter of Jerusalem? To what can I liken you, that I may console you, O Virgin Daughter of Zion? For your…
it leads to
- Lamentations 1:12
Is this nothing to you, all you who pass by? Look around and see! Is there any sorrow like mine, which was inflicted on me, which the LORD made me suffer on the day…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Lamentations 1:12
Through
Jeremiah 14:17You are to speak this word to them: ‘My eyes overflow with tears; day and night they do not cease, for the virgin daughter of my people has been shattered by a crushing blow,…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 8:21
For the brokenness of the daughter of my people I am crushed. I mourn; horror has gripped me.
- Jeremiah 9:1
Oh, that my head were a spring of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep day and night over the slain daughter of my people.
- Jeremiah 13:17
But if you do not listen, I will weep in secret because of your pride. My eyes will overflow with tears, because the LORD’s flock has been taken captive.
- Lamentations 2:13
What can I say for you? To what can I compare you, O Daughter of Jerusalem? To what can I liken you, that I may console you, O Virgin Daughter of Zion? For your…
- Lamentations 1:15–16
The Lord has rejected all the mighty men in my midst; He has summoned an army against me to crush my young warriors. Like grapes in a winepress, the Lord has trampled the Virgin…
- Jeremiah 8:21
Through
Job 16:4I could also speak like you if you were in my place; I could heap up words against you and shake my head at you.
it leads to
- Psalms 22:7
All who see me mock me; they sneer and shake their heads:
- Psalms 22:7
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 2 Kings
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PlaceJerusalemZionThe eastern ridge David took from the Jebusites and made his stronghold, the name the Psalms and the prophets give the city the LO…
- PlaceJerusalemJerusalemThe city David took from the Jebusites and made his capital, where Solomon built the temple, where Christ was crucified and rose,…
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); F. W. Farrar, The Second Book of Kings (Expositor's Bible); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.