Lamentations 2:14
in Lamentations 2The visions of your prophets were empty and deceptive; they did not expose your guilt to ward off your captivity. The burdens they envisioned for you were empty and misleading.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thy prophets have seen for thee false and foolish visions; And they have not uncovered thine iniquity, to bring back thy captivity, But have seen for thee false oracles and causes of banishment.
KJV
Thy prophets have seen vain and foolish things for thee: and they have not discovered thine iniquity, to turn away thy captivity; but have seen for thee false burdens and causes of banishment.
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This verse in Lamentations 2
Commentary
9 notes on this verseThey have not discovered thine iniquity - They did not reprove for sin, they flattered them in their transgressions; and instead of turning away thy captivity, by turning thee from thy sins, they have pretended visions of good in thy favor, and false burdens for thy enemies.
This site's exposition
What can I say for you
on Lamentations 2:13-17
The poet speaks in his own voice, “What can I say for you?”, and finds no comparison for a wound “as deep as the sea”. Verse 17 reads the enemy's triumph as an old word fulfilled: “He has accomplished His decree, which He ordained in days of old”.
This site's exposition
The visions of your prophets were empty
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown read the Hebrew as a veil the prophets left over her guilt. To expose that guilt would have warded off captivity, the charge of Jeremiah 23:22. Albert Barnes calls their burdens oracles that proved empty.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
A reason for the incurable pain is here assigned. For, doctors, in their practice, neglect to cure, just as do prophets. So, first is shown the falseness of prophets, while they foretell false ideas. As Verse 14 states: "Your prophets have seen for you false …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
(2.) Prophets should warn people of the judgments of God coming upon them, but these saw for them false burdens; the messages they pretended to deliver to them from God they knew to be false, and falsely ascribed to God; so that, by soothing them up in carnal security, they caused that banishment which, by plain dealing, they might have prevented.
The prophets - False prophets told you vain stories. Not discovered - Whereas they ought to have made you sensible of your sins, and this might have prevented your captivity. False burdens - False stories to encourage you in sin, and so cause your banishment.
Thy prophets have seen vain and foolish things for thee,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Literally, "They have not taken off (the veil) which was on thine iniquity, so as to set it before thee." burdens--Their prophecies were soothing and flattering; but the result of them was heavy calamities to the people, worse than even what the prophecies of Jeremiah, which they in derision called "burdens," threatened.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Thy prophets have seen vain and foolish things for thee - The Septuagint and Vulgate give the true meaning, “stupidity” (see Jer 23:13 note). To turn away thy captivity - The right sense is, “They have not disclosed to thee thy sins, that so thou mightest repent, and I might have turned away thy captivity.” Burdens - Applied contemptuously to predictions which proved “false” or “empty,” i. e. failed of accomplishment. On the deduction to be drawn from this, see Jer 28:9. Causes of banishment - The result of the teaching of the false prophets would be that God would “drive out” the Jews from their land. Some render the words “false ... banishment” by “oracles of falsehood and seduction.”
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Falsehood and stupidity. Words that have no taste, in O.F. aplastrement.
2 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
What testimony can I offer you, to what can I compare you. To say to you, “Why do you wonder about your destruction?
They hiss. To blow with the mouth, [i.e., to whistle], sibler in O.F. It is customary for a person to do so upon seeing an important thing that was ruined and destroyed.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 2 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| נְבִיאַ֗יִךְ | neviayikh | prophets your | H5030 → | 314 times |
| חָ֤זוּ | chazu | they have seen | H2372 → | |
| לָךְ֙ | lokh | for you | ||
| שָׁ֣וְא | shav' | worthlessness | H7723 → | |
| וְתָפֵ֔ל | vetafel | and sham | H8602 → | |
| וְלֹֽא־ | velo'- | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| גִלּ֥וּ | gilu | they have made known | H1540 → | 186 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| עֲוֹנֵ֖ךְ | ʾavonekh | iniquity your | H5771 → | 233 times |
| לְהָשִׁ֣יב | lehashiv | to turn back | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| שְׁבוּתֵ֑ךְ | shevitekh | captivity your | H7622 → | |
| וַיֶּ֣חֱזוּ | vaiyechezu | and they have seen | H2372 → | |
| לָ֔ךְ | lakh | for you | ||
| מַשְׂא֥וֹת | masot | oracles of | H4853 → | |
| שָׁ֖וְא | shav' | worthlessness | H7723 → | |
| וּמַדּוּחִֽים׃ ס | umaduchim | and enticement<s> | H4065 → |
נְבִיאַ֗יִךְprophets your
neviayikhH5030 →314 times
חָ֤זוּthey have seen
chazuH2372 →
לָךְ֙for you
lokh
שָׁ֣וְאworthlessness
shav'H7723 →
וְתָפֵ֔לand sham
vetafelH8602 →
וְלֹֽא־and not
velo'-H3808 →5168 times
גִלּ֥וּthey have made known
giluH1540 →186 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
עֲוֹנֵ֖ךְiniquity your
ʾavonekhH5771 →233 times
לְהָשִׁ֣יבto turn back
lehashivH7725 →1056 times
שְׁבוּתֵ֑ךְcaptivity your
shevitekhH7622 →
וַיֶּ֣חֱזוּand they have seen
vaiyechezuH2372 →
לָ֔ךְfor you
lakh
מַשְׂא֥וֹתoracles of
masotH4853 →
שָׁ֖וְאworthlessness
shav'H7723 →
וּמַדּוּחִֽים׃ סand enticement<s>
umaduchimH4065 →
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
Isaiah 58:1“Cry aloud, do not hold back! Raise your voice like a ram’s horn. Declare to My people their transgression and to the house of Jacob their sins.
it leads to
- Titus 2:15
Speak these things as you encourage and rebuke with all authority. Let no one despise you.
- Hosea 8:1
Put the ram’s horn to your lips! An eagle looms over the house of the LORD, because the people have transgressed My covenant and rebelled against My law.
- Acts 20:26–27
Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men.
- Ezekiel 3:17–21
“Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from My mouth, give them a warning from Me.
- Acts 7:51–52
You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did.
- Titus 2:15
Through
Jeremiah 5:31The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority. My people love it so, but what will you do in the end?
it leads to
- Ezekiel 13:6
They see false visions and speak lying divinations. They claim, ‘Thus declares the LORD,’ when the LORD did not send them; yet they wait for the fulfillment of their message.
- Jeremiah 14:14
“The prophets are prophesying lies in My name,” replied the LORD. “I did not send them or appoint them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a false vision, a worthless divination,…
- Ezekiel 13:6
Through
Ezekiel 22:28Her prophets whitewash these deeds by false visions and lying divinations, saying, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says,’ when the LORD has not spoken.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 13:6–7
They see false visions and speak lying divinations. They claim, ‘Thus declares the LORD,’ when the LORD did not send them; yet they wait for the fulfillment of their message.
- Ezekiel 13:6–7
Where this verse is studied
About Lamentations
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Lamentations.