Lamentations 2:17
in Lamentations 2The LORD has done what He planned; He has accomplished His decree, which He ordained in days of old; He has overthrown you without pity. He has let the enemy gloat over you and exalted the horn of your foes.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Jehovah hath done that which he purposed; he hath fulfilled his word that he commanded in the days of old; He hath thrown down, and hath not pitied: And he hath caused the enemy to rejoice over thee; he hath exalted the horn of thine adversaries.
KJV
The Lord hath done that which he had devised; he hath fulfilled his word that he had commanded in the days of old: he hath thrown down, and hath not pitied: and he hath caused thine enemy to rejoice over thee, he hath set up the horn of thine adversaries.
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This verse in Lamentations 2
Commentary
8 notes on this verseThe Lord hath done that which he had devised,.... It was not so much the Chaldeans that did it, though they ascribed it to themselves; but it was the Lord's doing, and what he had deliberately thought of, purposed and designed within himself; all whose purposes and devices certainly come to pass: he hath fulfilled his word that he had commanded in the days of old; not only by the mouth of Jeremiah, years ago, or in the times of Isaiah, long before him; but even in the days of Moses; see Lev 26:17, &c. Deu 28:20, &c.
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 LORD has done what He planned
The enemy boasts in Lamentations 2:16 of swallowing Zion, and this verse answers that the LORD did it. John Gill traces the decree ordained in days of old to Moses, Leviticus 26:17 and Deuteronomy 28:20. The horn cut off in Lamentations 2:3 now rises for her foes.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
The condemnation of the divine judge (the Lord God), is considered. First is exposed the constancy of the proposal. As said: "The Lord has done what he purposed." And as Isaiah 14:24 states: "and as I have purposed, so shall it stand!" Second, is shown …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Note, In all the providences of God concerning his church it is good to take notice of the fulfilling of his word; for there is an exact agreement between the judgments of God's hand and the judgments of his mouth, and when they are compared they will mutually explain and illustrate each other.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Lord--Let not the foe exult as if it was their doing. It was "the Lord" who thus fulfilled the threats uttered by His prophets for the guilt of Judea (Le 26:16-25;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
The Lord hate done that - This and the sixteenth verse should be interchanged, to follow the order of the letters in the Hebrew alphabet; as the sixteenth has פ phe for its acrostic letter, and the seventeenth has ע ain, which should precede the other in the order of the alphabet.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
That which he had devised - Or, what he purposed. Zion’s ruin was the fulfillment of God’s determination, of which they had been forwarned from the days of old (see the margin reference). Fulfilled - Or, finished.
The words behind it
19 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עָשָׂ֨ה | ʾasah | he has done | H6213 → | |
| יְהוָ֜ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | what | H834 → | 5497 times |
| זָמָ֗ם | zamam | he purposed | H2161 → | |
| בִּצַּ֤ע | bitza' | he has fulfilled | H1214 → | |
| אֶמְרָתוֹ֙ | ʾemrato | word his | H565 → | |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| צִוָּ֣ה | tzivah | he commanded | H6680 → | 494 times |
| מִֽימֵי־ | mimei- | from days of | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| קֶ֔דֶם | kedem | antiquity | H6924 → | 87 times |
| הָרַ֖ס | haras | he has torn down | H2040 → | |
| וְלֹ֣א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| חָמָ֑ל | chamal | he has spared | H2550 → | 41 times |
| וַיְשַׂמַּ֤ח | vaysamach | and he has caused to rejoice | H8055 → | |
| עָלַ֙יִךְ֙ | ʾalayikh | on you | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| אוֹיֵ֔ב | ʾoyev | an enemy | H341 → | 282 times |
| הֵרִ֖ים | herim | he has lifted up | H7311 → | |
| קֶ֥רֶן | keren | [the] horn of | H7161 → | |
| צָרָֽיִךְ׃ ס | tzarayikh | opponents your | H6862 → | 109 times |
עָשָׂ֨הhe has done
ʾasahH6213 →
יְהוָ֜הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֲשֶׁ֣רwhat
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
זָמָ֗םhe purposed
zamamH2161 →
בִּצַּ֤עhe has fulfilled
bitza'H1214 →
אֶמְרָתוֹ֙word his
ʾemratoH565 →
אֲשֶׁ֣רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
צִוָּ֣הhe commanded
tzivahH6680 →494 times
מִֽימֵי־from days of
mimei-H3117 →2304 times
קֶ֔דֶםantiquity
kedemH6924 →87 times
הָרַ֖סhe has torn down
harasH2040 →
וְלֹ֣אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
חָמָ֑לhe has spared
chamalH2550 →41 times
וַיְשַׂמַּ֤חand he has caused to rejoice
vaysamachH8055 →
עָלַ֙יִךְ֙on you
ʾalayikhH5921 →5755 times
אוֹיֵ֔בan enemy
ʾoyevH341 →282 times
הֵרִ֖יםhe has lifted up
herimH7311 →
קֶ֥רֶן[the] horn of
kerenH7161 →
צָרָֽיִךְ׃ סopponents your
tzarayikhH6862 →109 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
Ezekiel 5:11Therefore as surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, because you have defiled My sanctuary with all your detestable idols and abominations, I Myself will withdraw My favor; I will not look upon…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 7:20
His beautiful ornaments they transformed into pride and used them to fashion their vile images and detestable idols. Therefore I will make these into something unclean for them.
- Jeremiah 7:9–11
Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal, and follow other gods that you have not known,
- 2 Chronicles 36:14
Furthermore, all the leaders of the priests and the people multiplied their unfaithful deeds, following all the abominations of the nations, and they defiled the house of the LORD, which He had consecrated in…
- Ezekiel 8:5–6
“Son of man,” He said to me, “now lift up your eyes to the north.” So I lifted up my eyes to the north, and in the entrance north of the Altar Gate I…
- Ezekiel 7:4
I will not look on you with pity, nor will I spare you, but I will punish you for your ways and for the abominations among you. Then you will know that I am…
- Ezekiel 7:20
Through
Lamentations 1:5Her foes have become her masters; her enemies are at ease. For the LORD has brought her grief because of her many transgressions. Her children have gone away as captives before the enemy.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 32:15–27
But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked—becoming fat, bloated, and gorged. He abandoned the God who made him and scorned the Rock of his salvation.
- Psalms 90:7–8
For we are consumed by Your anger and terrified by Your wrath.
- Deuteronomy 32:15–27
Through
Psalms 89:42You have exalted the right hand of his foes; You have made all his enemies rejoice.
it leads to
- Revelation 11:10
And those who dwell on the earth will gloat over them, and will celebrate and send one another gifts, because these two prophets had tormented them.
- Revelation 11:10
Where this verse is studied
About Lamentations
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 (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Lamentations.