Lamentations 2:3
in Lamentations 2In fierce anger He has cut off every horn of Israel and withdrawn His right hand at the approach of the enemy. He has burned in Jacob like a flaming fire that consumes everything around it.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
He hath cut off in fierce anger all the horn of Israel; He hath drawn back his right hand from before the enemy: And he hath burned up Jacob like a flaming fire, which devoureth round about.
KJV
He hath cut off in his fierce anger all the horn of Israel: he hath drawn back his right hand from before the enemy, and he burned against Jacob like a flaming fire, which devoureth round about.
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This verse in Lamentations 2
Commentary
9 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Since the horn is the symbol of power, the cutting off of every horn means the depriving Israel of all power of resistance. The drawing back of God’s right hand signifies the withdrawal of that special Providence which used to protect the chosen people. And he burned ... - Or, “and” he kindled a fire in Jacob: as the active enemy of “Jacob,” Himself applying the torch.
This site's exposition
How the Lord has covered the Daughter of Zion with the cloud of His anger
on Lamentations 2:1-3
Lamentations 2 is a twenty-two verse acrostic, and it names who stood behind the enemy. The Lord is the subject of its opening verbs: He “has abandoned His footstool in the day of His anger”. The footstool is the ark's resting place in 1 Chronicles 28:2 and Psalm 99:5.
This site's exposition
In fierce anger He has cut off every horn
Adam Clarke explains the horn as strength, an image taken from cattle. Albert Barnes reads the withdrawn right hand as the end of the care that guarded Israel, and he adds that the Lord lights the fire. The horn returns in Lamentations 2:17, raised for her foes.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Herein Verse 3 is expressed the impotency for resisting. First is excluded human strength, or power. As said: "all the might of Israel." For, Psalm 75:10 claims: "All the horns of the wicked he will cut off, but the horns of the righteous shall be …
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
The horn - All their beauty and strength. Drawn back - God hath drawn back his assistance which he was wont to give the Jews against their enemies. Round about - God consumed them, not in this or that part, but round about, as a fire seizing an house at once on all sides.
), and it is a consuming fire; it devours round about, devours all her honours, all her comforts. This is the fury that is poured out like fire (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation
He hath cut off in his fierce anger all the horn of Israel,....
But now the lord has in anger swallowed them up; they are quite gone; the forts and barriers are taken away, and the invaders meet with no opposition: the stately structures, which were their strength and beauty, are pulled down and laid waste.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
The horn of Israel - His power and strength. It is a metaphor taken from cattle, whose principal strength lies in their horns. Hath drawn back his right hand - He did not support us when our enemies came against us.
The words behind it
17 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| גָּדַ֣ע | gada' | he has cut off | H1438 → | |
| בָּֽחֳרִי | bochori- | in [the] heat of | H2750 → | |
| אַ֗ף | ʾaf | anger | H639 → | 276 times |
| כֹּ֚ל | kol | every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| קֶ֣רֶן | keren | <the> horn of | H7161 → | |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| הֵשִׁ֥יב | heshiv | he has turned back | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| אָח֛וֹר | ʾachor | backward | H268 → | 41 times |
| יְמִינ֖וֹ | yemino | right [hand] his | H3225 → | |
| מִפְּנֵ֣י | mipenei | from before | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| אוֹיֵ֑ב | ʾoyev | [the] enemy | H341 → | 282 times |
| וַיִּבְעַ֤ר | vaiyivar | and he has burned | H1197 → | |
| בְּיַעֲקֹב֙ | beyaako | <in> Jacob | H3290 → | 350 times |
| כְּאֵ֣שׁ | keesh | like a fire of | H784 → | 378 times |
| לֶֽהָבָ֔ה | lehavah | flame | H3852 → | |
| אָכְלָ֖ה | ʾakhelah | [which] it has consumed | H398 → | 810 times |
| סָבִֽיב׃ ס | saviv | all around | H5439 → | 336 times |
גָּדַ֣עhe has cut off
gada'H1438 →
בָּֽחֳרִיin [the] heat of
bochori-H2750 →
אַ֗ףanger
ʾafH639 →276 times
כֹּ֚לevery
kolH3605 →5413 times
קֶ֣רֶן<the> horn of
kerenH7161 →
יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
הֵשִׁ֥יבhe has turned back
heshivH7725 →1056 times
אָח֛וֹרbackward
ʾachorH268 →41 times
יְמִינ֖וֹright [hand] his
yeminoH3225 →
מִפְּנֵ֣יfrom before
mipeneiH6440 →2123 times
אוֹיֵ֑ב[the] enemy
ʾoyevH341 →282 times
וַיִּבְעַ֤רand he has burned
vaiyivarH1197 →
בְּיַעֲקֹב֙<in> Jacob
beyaakoH3290 →350 times
כְּאֵ֣שׁlike a fire of
keeshH784 →378 times
לֶֽהָבָ֔הflame
lehavahH3852 →
אָכְלָ֖ה[which] it has consumed
ʾakhelahH398 →810 times
סָבִֽיב׃ סall around
savivH5439 →336 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 75:10“All the horns of the wicked I will cut off, but the horns of the righteous will be exalted.”
it leads to
- Psalms 92:10
But You have exalted my horn like that of a wild ox; with fine oil I have been anointed.
- Psalms 89:17
For You are the glory of their strength, and by Your favor our horn is exalted.
- Jeremiah 48:25
The horn of Moab has been cut off, and his arm is broken,” declares the LORD.
- Zechariah 1:20–21
Then the LORD showed me four craftsmen.
- Psalms 101:8
Every morning I will remove all the wicked of the land, that I may cut off every evildoer from the city of the LORD.
- Psalms 92:10
Through
Psalms 89:46How long, O LORD? Will You hide Yourself forever? Will Your wrath keep burning like fire?
it leads to
- Psalms 79:5
How long, O LORD? Will You be angry forever? Will Your jealousy burn like fire?
- Psalms 79:5
Through
Psalms 75:5Do not lift up your horn against heaven or speak with an outstretched neck.’”
it leads to
- Isaiah 48:4
For I knew that you are stubborn; your neck is iron and your forehead is bronze.
- Isaiah 48:4
Through
Isaiah 42:25So He poured out on them His furious anger and the fierceness of battle. It enveloped them in flames, but they did not understand; it consumed them, but they did not take it to…
it leads to
- Hosea 7:9
Foreigners consume his strength, but he does not notice. Even his hair is streaked with gray, but he does not know.
- Hosea 7:9
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); Carl Friedrich Keil, Lamentations; 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.