Lamentations 2:15
in Lamentations 2All who pass by clap their hands at you in scorn. They hiss and shake their heads at the Daughter of Jerusalem: “Is this the city that was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of all the earth?”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
All that pass by clap their hands at thee; They hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying, Is this the city that men called The perfection of beauty, The joy of the whole earth?
KJV
All that pass by clap their hands at thee; they hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying, Is this the city that men call The perfection of beauty, The joy of the whole earth?
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This verse in Lamentations 2
Commentary
8 notes on this verseThe perfection of beauty - This probably only applied to the temple. Jerusalem never was a fine or splendid city; but the temple was most assuredly the most splendid building in the world.
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
All who pass by clap their hands
The passers-by of Lamentations 1:12 return here, now mocking. Their taunt echoes Psalm 48:2 and Psalm 50:2, where Zion is praised as the joy of all the earth and perfect in beauty. Albert Barnes compares the crowd that shook their heads at the cross in Matthew 27:39.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
The wonders of seeing are here exposed. First, as to seeing friends, second as to enemies. There: "All your enemies rail against you; they hiss, they gnash their teeth, they cry: 'We have destroyed her'" (Verse 16). Regarding friends their compassion is expressed by four …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
2 ), which rejoiced in the gifts of God's bounty and grace more than any other place, and which all the earth rejoiced in? Where is all its joy now and all its glorying? It is a great sin thus to make a jest of others' miseries, and adds very much affliction to the afflicted.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number+unbalanced-parens
All that pass by clap their hands at thee,.... Travellers that passed by, and saw Jerusalem in ruins, clapped their hands at it, by way of rejoicing, as well pleased at the sight.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The Jews' enemies quote their very words in scorn. For the transposition of Hebrew letters (Pe and Ain, La 2:16, 17) in the order of verses, see Introduction. opened . . . mouth--as ravening, roaring wild beasts (Job 16:9, 10; Herein Jerusalem was a type of Messiah. gnash . . . teeth--in vindictive malice. we have seen it-- (Ps 35:21).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Compare the scene round the cross of the Redeemer Mat 27:39.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
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.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Falsehood and stupidity. Words that have no taste, in O.F. aplastrement.
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
20 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| סָֽפְק֨וּ | safeku | they have clapped | H5606 → | |
| עָלַ֤יִךְ | ʾalayikh | on you | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כַּפַּ֙יִם֙ | kapayim | hands | H3709 → | 192 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| עֹ֣בְרֵי | oerei | [those who] pass by of | H5674 → | 556 times |
| דֶ֔רֶךְ | derekh | [the] road | H1870 → | 707 times |
| שָֽׁרְקוּ֙ | shareku | they have hissed | H8319 → | |
| וַיָּנִ֣עוּ | vaiyaniu | and they have shaken | H5128 → | 40 times |
| רֹאשָׁ֔ם | rosham | head their | H7218 → | 599 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| בַּ֖ת | bat | [the] daughter of | H1323 → | 588 times |
| יְרוּשָׁלִָ֑ם | yerushalim | Jerusalem | H3389 → | 643 times |
| הֲזֹ֣את | hazot | ¿ [is] this | H2063 → | |
| הָעִ֗יר | hair | the city | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| שֶׁיֹּֽאמְרוּ֙ | sheiyomeru | that people said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| כְּלִ֣ילַת | kelilat | perfect of | H3632 → | |
| יֹ֔פִי | yofi | beauty | H3308 → | |
| מָשׂ֖וֹשׂ | masos | a joy | H4885 → | |
| לְכָל־ | lekhol | to all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הָאָֽרֶץ׃ ס | haaretz | the earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
סָֽפְק֨וּthey have clapped
safekuH5606 →
עָלַ֤יִךְon you
ʾalayikhH5921 →5755 times
כַּפַּ֙יִם֙hands
kapayimH3709 →192 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
עֹ֣בְרֵי[those who] pass by of
oereiH5674 →556 times
דֶ֔רֶךְ[the] road
derekhH1870 →707 times
שָֽׁרְקוּ֙they have hissed
sharekuH8319 →
וַיָּנִ֣עוּand they have shaken
vaiyaniuH5128 →40 times
רֹאשָׁ֔םhead their
roshamH7218 →599 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
בַּ֖ת[the] daughter of
batH1323 →588 times
יְרוּשָׁלִָ֑םJerusalem
yerushalimH3389 →643 times
הֲזֹ֣את¿ [is] this
hazotH2063 →
הָעִ֗ירthe city
hairH5892 →1090 times
שֶׁיֹּֽאמְרוּ֙that people said
sheiyomeruH559 →5305 times
כְּלִ֣ילַתperfect of
kelilatH3632 →
יֹ֔פִיbeauty
yofiH3308 →
מָשׂ֖וֹשׂa joy
masosH4885 →
לְכָל־to all
lekholH3605 →5413 times
הָאָֽרֶץ׃ סthe earth
haaretzH776 →2504 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
Psalms 48:2Beautiful in loftiness, the joy of all the earth, like the peaks of Zaphon is Mount Zion, the city of the great King.
it leads to
- Psalms 50:2
From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth.
- Matthew 5:35
or by the earth, for it is His footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.
- Psalms 50:2
Through
Psalms 50:2From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth.
it leads to
- Revelation 21:23
And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, because the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its lamp.
- Psalms 48:2
Beautiful in loftiness, the joy of all the earth, like the peaks of Zaphon is Mount Zion, the city of the great King.
- Psalms 80:1
Hear us, O Shepherd of Israel, who leads Joseph like a flock; You who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth
- Revelation 1:16
He held in His right hand seven stars, and a sharp double-edged sword came from His mouth. His face was like the sun shining at its brightest.
- Revelation 21:23
Through
Jeremiah 18:16They have made their land a desolation, a perpetual object of scorn; all who pass by will be appalled and shake their heads.
it leads to
- Psalms 22:7
All who see me mock me; they sneer and shake their heads:
- Psalms 22:7
Through
Jeremiah 19:8I will make this city a desolation and an object of scorn. All who pass by will be appalled and will scoff at all her wounds.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 18:16
They have made their land a desolation, a perpetual object of scorn; all who pass by will be appalled and shake their heads.
- Jeremiah 18:16
Where this verse is studied
About Lamentations
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
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); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Lamentations.