Lamentations 2:4
in Lamentations 2He has bent His bow like an enemy; His right hand is positioned. Like a foe He has killed all who were pleasing to the eye; He has poured out His wrath like fire on the tent of the Daughter of Zion.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
He hath bent his bow like an enemy, he hath stood with his right hand as an adversary, And hath slain all that were pleasant to the eye: In the tent of the daughter of Zion he hath poured out his wrath like fire.
KJV
He hath bent his bow like an enemy: he stood with his right hand as an adversary, and slew all that were pleasant to the eye in the tabernacle of the daughter of Zion: he poured out his fury like fire.
⋯
This verse in Lamentations 2
Commentary
9 notes on this verseHe hath bent his bow - he stood with his right hand - This is the attitude of the archer. He first bends his bow; then sets his arrow upon the string; and, lastly, placing his right hand on the lower end of the arrow, in connection with the string, takes his aim, and prepares to let fly.
This site's exposition
He has bent His bow like an enemy
on Lamentations 2:4-6
The covenant God is described in an invader's terms: “He has bent His bow like an enemy; His right hand is positioned”. He “has laid waste His tabernacle like a garden booth”. Each loss in the unit is traced to the LORD's own hand, behind Babylon's siege.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Verse 4 laments destruction of possessions pertaining to people's use. First are those things that refer to defense. As Verse 5 later states: "The Lord has become like an enemy, he has destroyed Israel; he has destroyed all its palaces, laid in ruins its strongholds." …
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
He - That is, God, (whom by their sins they had provoked and made their enemy) behaved himself as an enemy. And slew - All their young men, and maidens who were pleasant to look upon.
), like the fire and brimstone which were rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah; but it was their sin that kindled this fire. God is such a tender Father to his children that we may be sure he is never angry with them but when they provoke him, and give him cause to be angry; nor is he ever angry more than there is cause for.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
7 ); none more pleasant in the eyes of all good people than those that did the service of the tabernacle. But now these are slain, and their blood is mingled with their sacrifices. Thus is the priest despised as well as the king.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number+unbalanced-parens
He hath bent his bow like an enemy,....
2 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
But, blessed be God, Christ is our peace, our peacemaker, who has slain the enmity, and in him we may agree with our adversary, which it is our wisdom to do, since it is in vain to contend with him, and he offers us advantageous conditions of peace.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
He stood with his right hand ... - i. e. that right hand so often stretched out to help now grasped a weapon ready for Judah’s destruction. Were pleasant - Or, was “pleasant.” Put full stop after “eye.” Begin the third distich thus: In the tabernacle - (or, tent) of the daughter of Zion.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| דָּרַ֨ךְ | darakh | he has bent | H1869 → | 62 times |
| קַשְׁתּ֜וֹ | kashto | bow his | H7198 → | |
| כְּאוֹיֵ֗ב | keoyev | like an enemy | H341 → | 282 times |
| נִצָּ֤ב | nitzav | [he has] taken a stand | H5324 → | |
| יְמִינוֹ֙ | yemino | right [hand] his | H3225 → | |
| כְּצָ֔ר | ketzar | like an opponent | H6862 → | 109 times |
| וַֽיַּהֲרֹ֔ג | vaiyaharog | and he has killed | H2026 → | 167 times |
| כֹּ֖ל | kol | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| מַחֲמַדֵּי־ | machamadei- | [the] delights of | H4261 → | 13 times |
| עָ֑יִן | ʾayin | eye | H5869 → | 887 times |
| בְּאֹ֙הֶל֙ | beohel | in [the] tent of | H168 → | |
| בַּת־ | bat- | [the] daughter of | H1323 → | 588 times |
| צִיּ֔וֹן | tziyon | Zion | H6726 → | 154 times |
| שָׁפַ֥ךְ | shafakh | he has poured out | H8210 → | 114 times |
| כָּאֵ֖שׁ | kaesh | like <the> fire | H784 → | 378 times |
| חֲמָתֽוֹ׃ ס | chamato | rage his | H2534 → |
דָּרַ֨ךְhe has bent
darakhH1869 →62 times
קַשְׁתּ֜וֹbow his
kashtoH7198 →
כְּאוֹיֵ֗בlike an enemy
keoyevH341 →282 times
נִצָּ֤ב[he has] taken a stand
nitzavH5324 →
יְמִינוֹ֙right [hand] his
yeminoH3225 →
כְּצָ֔רlike an opponent
ketzarH6862 →109 times
וַֽיַּהֲרֹ֔גand he has killed
vaiyaharogH2026 →167 times
כֹּ֖לall
kolH3605 →5413 times
מַחֲמַדֵּי־[the] delights of
machamadei-H4261 →13 times
עָ֑יִןeye
ʾayinH5869 →887 times
בְּאֹ֙הֶל֙in [the] tent of
beohelH168 →
בַּת־[the] daughter of
bat-H1323 →588 times
צִיּ֔וֹןZion
tziyonH6726 →154 times
שָׁפַ֥ךְhe has poured out
shafakhH8210 →114 times
כָּאֵ֖שׁlike <the> fire
kaeshH784 →378 times
חֲמָתֽוֹ׃ סrage his
chamatoH2534 →
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
Job 6:4For the arrows of the Almighty have pierced me; my spirit drinks in their poison; the terrors of God are arrayed against me.
it leads to
- Psalms 38:2
For Your arrows have pierced me deeply, and Your hand has pressed down on me.
- Job 30:15
Terrors are turned loose against me; they drive away my dignity as by the wind, and my prosperity has passed like a cloud.
- Psalms 88:15–16
From my youth I was afflicted and near death. I have borne Your terrors; I am in despair.
- Psalms 38:2
Through
Jeremiah 21:5And I Myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and a mighty arm, with anger, fury, and great wrath.
it leads to
- Isaiah 63:10
But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit. So He turned and became their enemy, and He Himself fought against them.
- Jeremiah 32:17
“Oh, Lord GOD! You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too difficult for You!
- Exodus 6:6
Therefore tell the Israelites: ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians and deliver you from their bondage. I will redeem you with an outstretched…
- Isaiah 5:25
Therefore the anger of the LORD burns against His people; His hand is raised against them to strike them down. The mountains quake, and the corpses lay like refuse in the streets. Despite all…
- Isaiah 63:10
Through
Jeremiah 7:20Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, My anger and My fury will be poured out on this place, on man and beast, on the trees of the field and the produce…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 42:18
For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘Just as My anger and wrath were poured out on the residents of Jerusalem, so will My wrath be poured out…
- Jeremiah 42:18
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.