Lamentations 2:8
in Lamentations 2The LORD determined to destroy the wall of the Daughter of Zion. He stretched out a measuring line and did not withdraw His hand from destroying. He made the ramparts and walls lament; together they waste away.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Jehovah hath purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion; He hath stretched out the line, he hath not withdrawn his hand from destroying; And he hath made the rampart and wall to lament; they languish together.
KJV
The Lord hath purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion: he hath stretched out a line, he hath not withdrawn his hand from destroying: therefore he made the rampart and the wall to lament; they languished together.
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This verse in Lamentations 2
Commentary
8 notes on this verseThe wall - The strength and security of the Jews. A line - Artificers used with lines not only to mark out places for building, but also for destruction, to direct them what to cut off; and such a line is here meant.
This site's exposition
The Lord has rejected His altar
on Lamentations 2:7-9
The enemy shouts in the temple “as on the day of an appointed feast”, the sound of worship turned to mockery. The silence is named as judgment too: “the law is no more, and even her prophets find no vision from the LORD”.
This site's exposition
The LORD determined to destroy the wall
The LORD stretched a measuring line to mark the wall of Zion for ruin, the line of Isaiah 34:11 and 2 Kings 21:13. Albert Barnes calls the destruction systematic and thorough. John Wesley notes workmen used a line to mark what to cut down as well as what to build.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
The destruction of the ark of Zion is here considered. First it is viewed as a divine revelation. "The Lord determined to lay in ruins the wall": Namely, as if the Lord, so considering, determines not to fulfill immediately. Then: "the wall of the daughter …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
But, when it is done, he has stretched out a line, a measuring line, to do it exactly and by measure: hitherto the destruction shall go, and no further; no more shall be cut off than what is marked to be so. Or it is meant of the line of confusion ( Isa. xxxiv.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
The Lord hath purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
He hath stretched out a line - The line of devastation; marking what was to be pulled down and demolished.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
A line - Compare Isa 34:11. The destruction is systematic and thorough.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| חָשַׁ֨ב | chashav | he has planned | H2803 → | |
| יְהוָ֤ה׀ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| לְהַשְׁחִית֙ | lehashchit | to destroy | H7843 → | 146 times |
| חוֹמַ֣ת | chomat | [the] wall of | H2346 → | 133 times |
| בַּת־ | bat- | [the] daughter of | H1323 → | 588 times |
| צִיּ֔וֹן | tziyon | Zion | H6726 → | 154 times |
| נָ֣טָה | natah | he has stretched out | H5186 → | |
| קָ֔ו | kav | a measuring-line | H6957 → | |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| הֵשִׁ֥יב | heshiv | he has turned back | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| יָד֖וֹ | yado | hand his | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| מִבַּלֵּ֑עַ | mibalea' | from swallowing up | H1104 → | 49 times |
| וַיַּֽאֲבֶל־ | vaiyaavel- | and he has caused to mourn | H56 → | |
| חֵ֥ל | chel | rampart | H2426 → | |
| וְחוֹמָ֖ה | vechomah | and wall | H2346 → | 133 times |
| יַחְדָּ֥ו | yachdav | together | H3162 → | |
| אֻמְלָֽלוּ׃ ס | ʾumlalu | they have languished | H535 → |
חָשַׁ֨בhe has planned
chashavH2803 →
יְהוָ֤ה׀Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
לְהַשְׁחִית֙to destroy
lehashchitH7843 →146 times
חוֹמַ֣ת[the] wall of
chomatH2346 →133 times
בַּת־[the] daughter of
bat-H1323 →588 times
צִיּ֔וֹןZion
tziyonH6726 →154 times
נָ֣טָהhe has stretched out
natahH5186 →
קָ֔וa measuring-line
kavH6957 →
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
הֵשִׁ֥יבhe has turned back
heshivH7725 →1056 times
יָד֖וֹhand his
yadoH3027 →1618 times
מִבַּלֵּ֑עַfrom swallowing up
mibalea'H1104 →49 times
וַיַּֽאֲבֶל־and he has caused to mourn
vaiyaavel-H56 →
חֵ֥לrampart
chelH2426 →
וְחוֹמָ֖הand wall
vechomahH2346 →133 times
יַחְדָּ֥וtogether
yachdavH3162 →
אֻמְלָֽלוּ׃ סthey have languished
ʾumlaluH535 →
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
Jeremiah 14:2“Judah mourns and her gates languish. Her people wail for the land, and a cry goes up from Jerusalem.
it leads to
- Isaiah 3:26
And the gates of Zion will lament and mourn; destitute, she will sit on the ground.
- Jeremiah 8:21
For the brokenness of the daughter of my people I am crushed. I mourn; horror has gripped me.
- 1 Samuel 5:12
Those who did not die were afflicted with tumors, and the outcry of the city went up to heaven.
- Isaiah 3:26
Through
2 Kings 21:13I will stretch out over Jerusalem the measuring line used against Samaria and the plumb line used against the house of Ahab, and I will wipe out Jerusalem as one wipes out a bowl—wiping…
it leads to
- Amos 7:7–8
This is what He showed me: Behold, the Lord was standing by a wall true to plumb, with a plumb line in His hand.
- Isaiah 34:11
The desert owl and screech owl will possess it, and the great owl and raven will dwell in it. The LORD will stretch out over Edom a measuring line of chaos and a plumb…
- Amos 7:7–8
Through
Isaiah 34:11The desert owl and screech owl will possess it, and the great owl and raven will dwell in it. The LORD will stretch out over Edom a measuring line of chaos and a plumb…
it leads to
- 2 Kings 21:13
I will stretch out over Jerusalem the measuring line used against Samaria and the plumb line used against the house of Ahab, and I will wipe out Jerusalem as one wipes out a bowl—wiping…
- Zephaniah 2:14
Herds will lie down in her midst, creatures of every kind. Both the desert owl and screech owl will roost atop her pillars. Their calls will sound from the window, but desolation will lie…
- 2 Kings 21:13
Through
Isaiah 3:26And the gates of Zion will lament and mourn; destitute, she will sit on the ground.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 14:2
“Judah mourns and her gates languish. Her people wail for the land, and a cry goes up from Jerusalem.
- Jeremiah 14:2
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 on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); 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.