Lamentations 2:9
in Lamentations 2Her gates have sunk into the ground; He has destroyed and shattered their bars. Her king and her princes are exiled among the nations, the law is no more, and even her prophets find no vision from the LORD.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Her gates are sunk into the ground; he hath destroyed and broken her bars: Her king and her princes are among the nations where the law is not; Yea, her prophets find no vision from Jehovah.
KJV
Her gates are sunk into the ground; he hath destroyed and broken her bars: her king and her princes are among the Gentiles: the law is no more; her prophets also find no vision from the Lord.
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This verse in Lamentations 2
Commentary
11 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Her gates are sunk into the ground - So completely destroyed, that one might suppose they had been swallowed up in an abyss. Her king - The prophet’s lamentation, occupied before chiefly with the buildings of the city and temple, now turns to the people, beginning with their temporal rulers. The law is no more - The Jewish Law, the Torah, came to an end when it no longer had a local habitation.
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
Her gates have sunk into the ground
The king and princes in exile fulfil the warning of Deuteronomy 28:36, as Jamieson, Fausset & Brown note. Albert Barnes reads the end of the law as the loss of the temple that housed it. The prophets without a vision recall Psalm 74:9.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Verse 9 thus refers: "Her gates have sunk into the ground", That is, the ground filled with tribulations, and so unable to be torn up. Psalm 69:2 thus states: "I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold." Again: "her gates", That is, the …
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
Among the Gentiles - In miserable captivity. The law - Is no more read, opened or observed. Her prophets - They had but very few prophets, from this time to the time of the gospel, and very few of those at this time alive had any Revelation from God.
Note, It is just with God to debase those by his judgments who have by sin debased themselves. Time was when the ordinances of God were administered among them in their power and purity, and they had those tokens of God's presence with them; but now those were taken from them, that part of the beauty of Israel was gone which was indeed their greatest beauty.
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.
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); it is no more read by the people, no more expounded by the scribes; the tables of the law are gone with the ark; the book of the law is taken from them, and the people are forbidden to have it.
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3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Her gates are sunk into the ground,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Gentiles-- (De 28:36). law . . . no more-- (2Ch 15:3). The civil and religious laws were one under the theocracy. "All the legal ordinances (prophetical as well as priestly) of the theocracy, are no more" (Ps 74:9;
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Her gates are sunk into the ground - The consequence of their being long thrown down and neglected. From this it appears that the captivity had already lasted a considerable time. Her king and her princes are among the Gentiles - Zedekiah and many of the princes were then prisoners in Babylon, another proof that the captivity had endured some time, unless all this be spoken prophetically, of what should be done.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
They sit on the ground, etc. According to its apparent meaning. But the Midrash Aggadah [states] that Nevuchadnetzar sat them on the ground when Tzidkiyahu rebelled against him and transgressed his oath. He came and stationed himself in Dophnei. Nevuchadnetzar’s headquarters was situated in Rivlah as indicated in Yirmiyahu:5.
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
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| טָבְע֤וּ | taveu | they have sunk | H2883 → | |
| בָאָ֙רֶץ֙ | vaaretz | in the ground | H776 → | 2504 times |
| שְׁעָרֶ֔יהָ | sheareiha | gates its | H8179 → | 374 times |
| אִבַּ֥ד | ʾibad | he has destroyed | H6 → | |
| וְשִׁבַּ֖ר | veshibar | and he has broken | H7665 → | 147 times |
| בְּרִיחֶ֑יהָ | bericheiha | bars its | H1280 → | |
| מַלְכָּ֨הּ | malkah | king its | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| וְשָׂרֶ֤יהָ | vesareiha | and princes its | H8269 → | 421 times |
| בַגּוֹיִם֙ | vagoyim | [are] among the nations | H1471 → | 561 times |
| אֵ֣ין | ʾein | there not | H369 → | 789 times |
| תּוֹרָ֔ה | torah | [is] instruction | H8451 → | |
| גַּם־ | gam- | also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| נְבִיאֶ֕יהָ | nevieiha | prophets its | H5030 → | 314 times |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| מָצְא֥וּ | matzeu | they have found | H4672 → | 455 times |
| חָז֖וֹן | chazon | a vision | H2377 → | |
| מֵיְהוָֽה׃ ס | meyahweh | from Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
טָבְע֤וּthey have sunk
taveuH2883 →
בָאָ֙רֶץ֙in the ground
vaaretzH776 →2504 times
שְׁעָרֶ֔יהָgates its
sheareihaH8179 →374 times
אִבַּ֥דhe has destroyed
ʾibadH6 →
וְשִׁבַּ֖רand he has broken
veshibarH7665 →147 times
בְּרִיחֶ֑יהָbars its
bericheihaH1280 →
מַלְכָּ֨הּking its
malkahH4428 →2525 times
וְשָׂרֶ֤יהָand princes its
vesareihaH8269 →421 times
בַגּוֹיִם֙[are] among the nations
vagoyimH1471 →561 times
אֵ֣יןthere not
ʾeinH369 →789 times
תּוֹרָ֔ה[is] instruction
torahH8451 →
גַּם־also
gam-H1571 →769 times
נְבִיאֶ֕יהָprophets its
nevieihaH5030 →314 times
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
מָצְא֥וּthey have found
matzeuH4672 →455 times
חָז֖וֹןa vision
chazonH2377 →
מֵיְהוָֽה׃ סfrom Yahweh
meyahwehH3068 →6520 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
Nehemiah 1:3And they told me, “The remnant who survived the exile are there in the province, in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are burned with fire.”
it leads to
- Nehemiah 2:17
Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in. Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned down. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, so that we…
- 2 Kings 25:10
And the whole army of the Chaldeans under the captain of the guard broke down the walls around Jerusalem.
- Nehemiah 2:17
Through
Psalms 74:9There are no signs for us to see. There is no longer any prophet. And none of us knows how long this will last.
it leads to
- Amos 8:11
Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord GOD, when I will send a famine on the land—not a famine of bread or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words…
- Ezekiel 7:26
Disaster upon disaster will come, and rumor after rumor. Then they will seek a vision from a prophet, but instruction from the priests will perish, as will counsel from the elders.
- 1 Samuel 3:1
And the boy Samuel ministered to the LORD before Eli. Now in those days the word of the LORD was rare and visions were scarce.
- Amos 8:11
Through
Hosea 3:4For the Israelites must live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, and without ephod or idol.
it leads to
- Judges 17:5
Now this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some household idols, and ordained one of his sons as his priest.
- Judges 17:5
Through
Ezekiel 7:26Disaster upon disaster will come, and rumor after rumor. Then they will seek a vision from a prophet, but instruction from the priests will perish, as will counsel from the elders.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 4:20
Disaster after disaster is proclaimed, for the whole land is laid waste. My tents are destroyed in an instant, my curtains in a moment.
- Micah 3:6
Therefore night will come over you without visions, and darkness without divination. The sun will set on these prophets, and the daylight will turn black over them.
- Jeremiah 4:20
Where this verse is studied
About Lamentations
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & 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); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Lamentations.